[noxoliver]

According to http://www.macminute.com we can expect a new device.

I think it is a good strategy. So a lot of teenagers and kids who cannot efford an ipod will get them. Do you think they will drop the price for an ipod?

[discotronic]

There was a report back in the summer about this. Apparently Apple has been contracting with a company to build them for some time. Good move if you ask me as long as they are cheap. Considering how the price of flash drives are going down this should bring the Apple name to more and more people at a better price.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by discotronic:
There was a report back in the summer about this. Apparently Apple has been contracting with a company to build them for some time. Good move if you ask me as long as they are cheap. Considering how the price of flash drives are going down this should bring the Apple name to more and more people at a better price.

I doubt that a flash-based player will be much better priced compared to an iPod mini...

Let's see if Apple can suprise us again.

-t

[Landos Mustache]

I can't see it happening. The scroll wheel is the trademark item for the iPod and a small flash based player wouldn't have room for it. Plus Apple always makes fun of the low capacity flash drive players.

[ClownNinja]

Originally posted by Landos Mustache:
I can't see it happening. The scroll wheel is the trademark item for the iPod and a small flash based player wouldn't have room for it. Plus Apple always makes fun of the low capacity flash drive players.

4 GB CF cards are out but i'd rather see a SD device. a flash device wouldnt necessarily have to be too small to use the wheel.

[yoyoman]

flash is out of the question. Apple even said so them selfs. That is why apple teamed up with motorola to tackle the low end 128mb cards etc. I mean now flash now a days on phones get 256 512 etc. My phone v710 will get the mobile itunes and that will be my low end flash player. perfect since every service has motorola any how. Now apple has the low end player middle with the mini and the small high end despite the 100gig and 60 gig players out there. flash player is expensive.

[iPoder]

I believe it will happen, sooner or later, because Apple needs to be in this segment of market to continue its dominance.

Flash memory is getting cheaper. I saw quite a few players with 256 MB around $100. So, Apple might be able to do with $150 price range.

I guess that Apple might fit scroll wheel too on it (smaller scroll wheel with smaller screen), make it like a credit card size, similar to Creative MuVo Slim.

http://www.creative.com/products/pro...&product=10052

Let's wait until next Tuesday to see if it is true or not.

With regarding to Apple's earlier comment on flash memory based players, I would not take it too seriously (it is all marketing talks). As long as there is the money to be made, there is a chance Apple will pursue it. Otherwise, Apple would have never supported Windows (remember the "Hell froze over" message Steve Jobs showed in the MacWorld).

[discotronic]

Originally posted by yoyoman:
flash is out of the question. Apple even said so them selfs. That is why apple teamed up with motorola to tackle the low end 128mb cards etc. I mean now flash now a days on phones get 256 512 etc. My phone v710 will get the mobile itunes and that will be my low end flash player. perfect since every service has motorola any how. Now apple has the low end player middle with the mini and the small high end despite the 100gig and 60 gig players out there. flash player is expensive.

Well, Apple stated that they would not be releasing a 60GB iPod. Looks like they are going to do that. We will just have to wait and see. I believe that Apple is passing up a part of the market that could take them closer to 100% market share.

[yoyoman]

Originally posted by discotronic:
Well, Apple stated that they would not be releasing a 60GB iPod. Looks like they are going to do that. We will just have to wait and see. I believe that Apple is passing up a part of the market that could take them closer to 100% market share.

I don't see a 60 gig ipod on apples site. Apple also stated they won't have one for now. Just like they said no tv/monitor function and they didn't.

How are they loosing market share when they have the low end flash by using motorola the top cell phone company out there. They already have the best low end flash player becuse it uses itunes and itunes is the best music player out there. Therefore they have the low end flash players covered.

[Luca Rescigno]

1 GB of flash memory is only about $70. That's a very low price for a useful capacity of songs.

Steve Jobs has said many things that weren't true. 3 GHz by mid 2004 wasn't true. The "year of the laptop" last year did indeed see laptops exceeding desktops in sales, but it also saw a big old 11 month wait for new PowerBooks. The CRT apparently died in early 2002, but came back just a few months later and lives on in the eMac even today. LCD screens with the guts attached to them were a Bad Thing as well, but they're back now too. Jobs was just saying how a 256 MB flash-based MP3 player doesn't make sense because it has a poor interface and doesn't provide enough space. 1 GB is enough for a lot of people, and a sacrifice they'd be willing to make if it means a cheaper, smaller, skip-free iPod.

[discotronic]

Originally posted by yoyoman:
I don't see a 60 gig ipod on apples site. Apple also stated they won't have one for now. Just like they said no tv/monitor function and they didn't.

How are they loosing market share when they have the low end flash by using motorola the top cell phone company out there. They already have the best low end flash player becuse it uses itunes and itunes is the best music player out there. Therefore they have the low end flash players covered.

I didn't say they where losing market share.

I would like to buy my mother an iPod. She really doesn't need one of the current models because the amount of music she would carry on one wouldn't come close to 20GB or even 4GB. If a 1GB flash model where introduced for around $150 I would grab one in a "flash". A cell phone with the ability to store her music and use with iTunes isn't something she would want since she has no use for a cell phone. I plan on getting her an iPod as a Christmas gift. If a flash model is introduced, she will get one of them.

How many other people out there are like my mother? How many people want to give their kid an iPod but can see paying the price or don't want to take a chance that it will get stolen or broken? How many kids have enough music that could fill a mini? It's easier to justify the lower cost.

[yoyoman]

Originally posted by discotronic:
I didn't say they where losing market share.

I would like to buy my mother an iPod. She really doesn't need one of the current models because the amount of music she would carry on one wouldn't come close to 20GB or even 4GB. If a 1GB flash model where introduced for around $150 I would grab one in a "flash". A cell phone with the ability to store her music and use with iTunes isn't something she would want since she has no use for a cell phone. I plan on getting her an iPod as a Christmas gift. If a flash model is introduced, she will get one of them.

How many other people out there are like my mother? How many people want to give their kid an iPod but can see paying the price or don't want to take a chance that it will get stolen or broken? How many kids have enough music that could fill a mini? It's easier to justify the lower cost.

she doesn't need service to buy a phone. I bought my v710 online 1st before I got it fired up. Saves you money incase later you do get service. Plus at this day and age who doesn't have a cell phone service. Its wayyyyyyyy cheper than your regular phone bill.

a 1 gig would cost 150 u can get a phone with bluetooth from mototola for under 200 bucks. And you can go bluetooth to head phone to listen if you wanted.

[discotronic]

Originally posted by yoyoman:
she doesn't need service to buy a phone. I bought my v710 online 1st before I got it fired up. Saves you money incase later you do get service. Plus at this day and age who doesn't have a cell phone service. Its wayyyyyyyy cheper than your regular phone bill.

a 1 gig would cost 150 u can get a phone with bluetooth from mototola for under 200 bucks. And you can go bluetooth to head phone to listen if you wanted.

Some people don't need a cell phone. I would like to find a cell service that is cheaper than home service. Okay, buy a phone and then pay an extra $50 for a Bluetooth adapter. That's the price of an iPod Mini.

Besides that...you have totally missed the point.

[yoyoman]

cell service can go as low as 29 a month or 39 a month with free night and weekend and no charge for long distance or local. Try that with your local telephone line for that price. My dad gets local phone for 39 and than longdistance for 39 and im in the 619 area and 858 is like a mile away but they charge us for long distance the local zone is small and we are gettin the cheepest deal for phone service.

People asked steve what about a pda? Well the cell phone does that. I am not missing the point if a flash ipod player is 150 bucks and a motorola phone is like 100 bucks retail to 200 depending on the model retail than its like the same price but your getting way more than a mobile itunes your getting a full ipod and pda functions.

How much do you pay for home service? And you don't need bluetooth u can use your traditional head set but I like bluetooth.
U can get a bt adaptor for under 40 bucks any how. ebay.

[iPoder]

Comparing cell phone with iPod is off the base, IMO.

Cell phone has recurring fee (not $29.93 /mo, but $400+ /yr), whereas iPod is one time expense.

Battery life is important to the cell phone, which you don't want to juice it out completely because you listen to the music with it. What if you have emergency call with a dead battery?

So, for now, I would rather use iPod as iPod, cell phone as cell phone.

[iPoder]

Oh well, it looks like that the new flash-memory or color iPod won't be available until 1st half of 2005 based on this article,

http://www.forbes.com/markets/2004/1...ketscan07.html

[Landos Mustache]

I can't see it being under a gig.

[discotronic]

I think 256MB would be a mistake. Hopefully it would be closer to 1GB. Maybe Apple is betting on the iPod name to sell them. Also, with the holiday season coming up, it would make more sense to announce them soon and have them ready.

[OAW]

Let's think about this. At the most recent press event where the iPod Photo and the U2 iPod was introduced, Steve Jobs again ridiculed flash-based music players as things that "people get as gifts and aren't even used." I can't see him doing a complete 180 before Christmas or even in the first quarter of next year.

My prediction is that Apple is working with SigmaTel not for a flash-based iPod ... but instead is producing an AirTunes Remote Control.

You heard it here first!

OAW

[turtle777]

Originally posted by OAW:
You heard it here first!

No, heard it before in many other places.



http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...=2#post2255146

-t

[OAW]

Originally posted by turtle777:
No, heard it before in many other places.



http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...=2#post2255146

-t

I wasn't saying that I was "first" to say that a remote was coming. There's been plenty of discussion about that and I certainly didn't initiate it (though I have participated). However, I don't think anyone has linked this "flash-based iPod" story with the AirTunes remote before on these forums. Anyway ... we shall see.

OAW

[hldan]

Originally posted by discotronic:
Well, Apple stated that they would not be releasing a 60GB iPod. Looks like they are going to do that. We will just have to wait and see. I believe that Apple is passing up a part of the market that could take them closer to 100% market share.

Apple has to rely on Toshiba or whichever company is producing the hard drives for the iPod so it only would make sense for Apple to state that they would not be releasing a 60GB iPod if Toshiba isn't shipping any at the time. The 60GB iPod is here now due to HD availability.

As for a flash based player Apple can make statements saying they will not make one because that would be based on their decision only and not because they can't get parts for it.

[nomimes]

I think that apple will release a small color version of the ipod photo that has a 1GB flash drive in it (probably SD). This would be the size of about a credit card carrying case (anyone remember the apple business card case they were selling at the apple store grand openings?) to accomodate a small LCD and battery lasting of probably 2 hours. This would allow the SD Card (removable/interchangeable) device to be used similar in the way photos are working in your wallet currently but could connect to your tv to show off items... of course apple would allow music to play on there as well since you would want music to play with your photos, but not your ENTIRE library... my thoughts anyway

[Avon]

What I would love to see is a CF ipod. With CF now at 4 GB, I can't see why anyone would prefer that over a 4 gb micro hard disk. In the future when 8, 16 and 32 mb CF cards come out it will be an easy upgrade, plus you can always carry around more than one CF card.

SD, is thin, but it will never have the same storage capacity as a CF card. How thing does an MP3 Player need to be? Too thin and its easy to break.

[endrmtc]

Originally posted by nomimes:
I think that apple will release a small color version of the ipod photo that has a 1GB flash drive in it (probably SD). This would be the size of about a credit card carrying case (anyone remember the apple business card case they were selling at the apple store grand openings?) to accomodate a small LCD and battery lasting of probably 2 hours. This would allow the SD Card (removable/interchangeable) device to be used similar in the way photos are working in your wallet currently but could connect to your tv to show off items... of course apple would allow music to play on there as well since you would want music to play with your photos, but not your ENTIRE library... my thoughts anyway

2 hour battery? I hate to put it this way... but... that's a ****ing stupid idea.

Re: a flash player. Apple would have to add features or drop the price to distinguish it from the iPod mini. Anything smaller than the mini, the screen and wheel is becoming unusable, so what else can they do to it? Thinner? maybe a little. So they would have to compete with price. With the mini selling like hotcakes, Apple has almost no financial gain from selling $100 MP3 players.

Jobs spent a looong time talking about why little tiny flash players are a waste of time when the mini came out, do you really think he's going to have a complete about-face when the current products are outselling everything on the market? I just don't seen an upside for Apple at all.

EDIT: Let me also add that if there was going to be a product like this for the Xmas season, it should be on shelves now.

[iPoder]

Sooner or later, Apple needs to be in flash memory player market, especially when the price/size ratio in flash memory improves.

Remember that every iPod has embedded memory to prevent skipping. By stripping out the needs of embedded memory and its controller, Apple can significantly reduce the cost of iPod.

Apple's goal is to prevent its market share slipping. When 1GB, 2GB or 4GB flash memory based players is priced reasonably enough for every teenager to own one, I don't see why Apple will let other people eat its pie.

Apple will always make premium and pricy products, but it also needs to defend the low-end market slipping away to Windows Media copyright scheme. iPod/iTunes is one product and market for Apple. If more and more peope buys cheap but reasonably good players and use other online music stores than iTunes Music store, Apple will eventually lose out.

Apple is simply waiting the price of flash memory to drop further to enter the market. After all, what technology (HD or flash memory) to use is not the true reason iPod is so popular, its easy-to-use is the key.

[nomimes]

Originally posted by endrmtc:
2 hour battery? I hate to put it this way... but... that's a ****ing stupid idea.

Re: a flash player. Apple would have to add features or drop the price to distinguish it from the iPod mini. Anything smaller than the mini, the screen and wheel is becoming unusable, so what else can they do to it? Thinner? maybe a little. So they would have to compete with price. With the mini selling like hotcakes, Apple has almost no financial gain from selling $100 MP3 players.

Jobs spent a looong time talking about why little tiny flash players are a waste of time when the mini came out, do you really think he's going to have a complete about-face when the current products are outselling everything on the market? I just don't seen an upside for Apple at all.

EDIT: Let me also add that if there was going to be a product like this for the Xmas season, it should be on shelves now.

I only thought a 2 hour life because it might be cheaper to do, plus if it is a "photo" "mostly" device, you wouldnt leave it on as much as your normal ipod - only turn it on to show people pictures or show a photo slide show... being a credit card case size, the battery cannot (i think anyway) be as robust as 2 AA bateries in your cd walkman... however, flash devices normally use little energy, so its possible to be able to get a longer life out of whichever nicad/liion they might use.

[Stogieman]

Originally posted by endrmtc:

Jobs spent a looong time talking about why little tiny flash players are a waste of time when the mini came out, do you really think he's going to have a complete about-face when the current products are outselling everything on the market? I just don't seen an upside for Apple at all.

Well Jobs did do an about-face with the iMac design. Remember when the iMac G4 was introduced, Steve spent a long time explaining why Apple went with the sunflower design. That slapping a computer on the back of a flat screen was a bad idea. I remember one of the reasons he gave was hard drives/CD drives are slower when they are mounted vertically. Now look at the iMac G5.

[iPoder]

If we take Steve's past comments word by word, Apple won't support Windows at all. (Hell has not freezed over, last time I check).

Steve Jobs is a smart marketing and business guy, and will adjust his position when and where there is money to be made. When you try to sell something, you will tell your customers that everything other than your own product is worthless.

[Eug Wanker]

Flash based iPod soon?

Not a chance.

[Miniryu]

I just thought I'd bump this so we could all have a laugh at the absurdity.