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September 5, 2007
Making the early-adopters feel inconsequential
As if I don't feel badly enough for shelling out nearly $600 for my iPhone. Today Apple unveils a bevy of product updates.
The iPhone's touch screen, internet browsing glory was jacked for the brand new "iPod touch", a Wi-Fi ready iPod with a 8GB or 16GB capacity. This is essentially the iPhone without the phone capabilities and much more thinner. Great. So, what you're telling me is that I'm not going to be one of the few to tout multi-touch screen abilities? The icing on the cake is the Wi-Fi iTunes Store, enabling you to purchase and download new tunes directly through your phone. The 8GB model costs $299 and the 16GB model costs $399.
The original iPod design now comes in 80GB and 160GB sizes with the moniker "iPod Classic". Sleeker than ever before, the new models are .41 inches or .53 inches thick and they have 30 hours of music playback, 5 hours of video or 40 hours of music playback, 7 hours of video.
The "iPod nano" is redesigned and much more lavish with a 2 inch color screen. The model sizes are 4GB and 8GB with 24 hours of music playback, 5 hours of video.
The stimulating cover flow, initially an iPhone only, is now available on all iPod models except the shuffle.
Oh and if you went out on that exorbitant limb and bought the iPhone when it came out, then you're going to feel like a real idiot now. The 4GB model has been discontinued, making the 8GB model the standard, and the price has been significantly lowered from $599 to $399. That means the 8GB "iPod touch" is a mere $100 cheaper than the iPhone. I'm sure that makes the iPhone much more accessible to the masses, but damn I feel like the town idiot for not waiting a mere two months.
The most exciting addition to the iPhone is the new version of iTunes, which facilitates ringer purchases. Just add $.99 on top of the cost of a song and you can purchase any song from the iTunes store, select any 30 second clip you see fit, and make it your new ringer.
The most sickening addition to the iPhone is the Starbucks' functionality. Ever walk into a Starbucks and wonder what's playing? No. Well, now you can find out what song is playing with the touch of a button and buy it while you're waiting for your mochafrappawhatever. I've never seen such flagrant cross promotion. What a gross pairing.
What has the world come to? This is what Apple does to their early-adopter customer base. Screws them by lowering prices, introducing better products, and consequently overshadowing all of our best efforts to be the coolest dudes on the block.
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And I was telling my friend yesterday there's no way Apple would release a touch-screen iPod so soon, it would completely undermine the novelty, to to mention sales, of the iPhone.
Boy was I wrong.
And I'm still trying to figure out, which makes Apple more of a sellout, partnering with AT&T, or partnering with Starbucks?
A small correction, the iPod Classic comes in 80gb and 160 gb models.
That nano looks interesting. :) Thanks for the summary, I kept away from the apple.com site because I know refreshing it won't make me feel any better than reading about it afterward. =P
Apple coming out with something "new and better" is itself nothing new (in both iPod and their laptop series). I remember back in the day when I bought a (3rd Generation) iPod with gray screen only to find they're releasing a color screen a month later -- back when a video iPod was just a pipe dream. Did it bother me? hell yes, at first, but really -- I got what I wanted. Apple comes out with products having more features/memory/etc every 6 months so if you're going to be buying one of their products, ya gotta be happy with what you're spending at THAT moment in time, for the long run. =/ (And sometimes the earlier versions of their products are more reliable than the "improved" models, FWIW. I've heard problems with their MacBooks I don't have to deal with in my iBook.)
That gray-screen stuck with me until the end. I still stray away from the video ipods because I know something "new and better" will come out 6 months from now.
The trick I use is, once you've bought your Apple product, stay away from their site and any product announcements for about 6 months. Otherwise, unnecessary heartache will result.
that's the problem with apple. their product cycle is waaaaaaaaay to fast. as soon as you buy something, they've got a new product out that you've gotta buy. the executives probably don't even realize what they're doing.
I love my Blackberry ...
I always snicker at the way Apple fanatics stand in line waiting to get Job's next gizmo, the whole time telling us how cool it is to be a sycophant.
Proprietary technology blows, whether it comes from Redmond or Cupertino.
i love my iphone. am i a little annoyed ay having shelled out a $200 premium to have it a couple of months early - yes. is it everything i wanted from a "gizmo" - absolutely.
i think this was a wise move. I was not at all jazzed in the iphone, because i like my current phone just fine. a motorola Rockr WITH itunes.
This new product line has finally piqued my interest.
apple knows how to 'em buying.
$400 for 16gb? Gimme a break. I was really excited about the touchscreen and wi-fi but I almost did a spit take at the pathetic capacity. I want to carry my entire music collection with me and 16 gigs just won't cut it.
I'm getting the Archos 605, it's also $400 but it gives you 160gb, TEN TIMES the capacity, with wi-fi and everything else as well.
"that's the problem with apple. their product cycle is waaaaaaaaay to fast"
Actually the last real update to the iPod was about two years ago.