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Forget the iPod mini, I want an ePod
“For a product like the iPod, I would bet that most of these kids already have them and those who don’t, would want them but can’t afford them. Wouldn’t it be a huge boon to Apple if they could provide students a reasonable reason to buy an iPod? I think that Apple should move towards offering an educational version of the iPod. Let’s call it the ePod. And it wouldn’t just be an iPod for a discount. This would be a modified iPod with a 1GB hard drive, a more robust calendar, and most importantly, a voice recorder. Now students could record their lectures and save them alongside their music. All for a very palatable price of $99.”
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41
Well your wrong, we are talking about iPod/iTunes, not their personal computer line, in which case their market share is a lot more then 5%!
I think they can sustain their current pricing scheme and line up for atleast another year, if not more. I’ll say it again, now is not the time to introduce a bargain iPod.
Posted by jr on January 19, 2004 at 10:59 AM (PDT)
42
I know Apple has a more than 5% market share in the MP3/digital player market. In fact, they rule the roost…right now. But if you had read my post a little more carefully you would realize that I believe a failure to court lower-end users will relegate them to also-ran status in the MP3 player market, also.
When did iPod sales start to take off? When they introduced a Windows player. When did they go through the roof? When iTunes for Windows came out. Why? Because it exposed their product to more users.
If Apple doesn’t change pricing or product lines on iPod in the next year they will no longer hold the lead in market share by next Christmas. Print this and save it.
Posted by rdlink in Denver on January 19, 2004 at 11:29 AM (PDT)
43
What student is going to be able to convince his parents that he needs this thing for school. Plus, if you want a simple sigital calender get a $100 palm zire. This is one of the dumbest ideas i have ever heard. If apple entered the pda buisness that would be one thing but this is just silly.
Posted by nate on January 19, 2004 at 11:44 AM (PDT)
44
many moons ago, Apple tried to develop a PDA. It failed.
http://www.techtv.com/print/story/0,23102,3013675,00.html
http://www.etedeschi.ndirect.co.uk/museum/picts/newton.jpg
Posted by Schiano on January 19, 2004 at 12:25 PM (PDT)
45
“If Apple doesn’t change pricing or product lines on iPod in the next year they will no longer hold the lead in market share by next Christmas. Print this and save it.”
Your on dude.
Posted by jr on January 19, 2004 at 2:15 PM (PDT)
46
“If Apple doesn’t change pricing or product lines on iPod in the next year…”
It’s a given that they’ll change the pricing and the product line within the next year. They make changes in the iPod line every few months. In fact, Apple makes changes in all of its lines more frequently than once a year. That’s such a lame prediction since it’s filled with a huge caveat.
Look, in the last 2 weeks Apple made 3 big changes to the iPod line. 1: Replaced 10GB iPod with 15GB iPod at the bottom of the line, 2: Introduced entire new segment (iPod mini), 3: Re-branded iPods for sale through HP. What, are they done now? Are you saying that’s it for the rest of the year? Right.
Posted by Atomic Bomb in Mid-Atlantic on January 19, 2004 at 2:21 PM (PDT)
47
We are talking about $99 iPod’s and the like. I think the most we’ll see is a $199 iPod mini.
Posted by jr on January 19, 2004 at 4:04 PM (PDT)
48
At $199 the mini starts to make sense….barely. Or perhaps the long view here is that Jobs has it in the back of his mind to leave the mini at $249, and put a 10GB HD in it…?
A-Bomb, I had almost forgotten about the HP-iPod. That is the biggest, and smartest decision since iTunes for Windows.
I’m not saying that Apple will make no moves this year. The point of my post was that they enjoy the market leading position right now, but that they can’t rest on their laurels, and not cater to more budget-minded users.
They have a big target on their backs right now, and a lot of brilliant engineers are aiming for it (Surprise, surprise. All of the geniuses don’t work for Apple).
Two things they need to work on are:
Getting off of this firewire kick. Most of the world uses USB 2.0. Why should I have to pay extra to use it on my iPod?
If I buy a song from the iTunes store I should be able to download it as many times as I want without paying for it again. I don’t mind only having three computers authorized to play it, but why should I have to manually move my files from computer to computer? I mean, geez, Napster lets me do it. There’s no reason Apple can’t.
Posted by rdlink in Denver on January 19, 2004 at 8:33 PM (PDT)
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