I was starting to believe that everyone on my campus, including students and faculty, has an iPod and ibook. I can't go a day without someone in my department singing the praises of Apple products. Despite the fact that I was an iPod billboard for Halloween, I've never owned anything made by Apple and probably will never be able to afford such a product (or just have the sense not to be ripped off). In fact I'm completely Mac illiterate as my peers in the grad lounge can attest. But I have to give it to these Apple folks for digging themselves out of a marketing hole to suddenly become the arbiters of all that is cool. They really hired some stellar product marketing people, coughed up some big bucks and teamed up with some clever advertising folks. Take for instance the iPod. It is big, heavy and very expensive compared to similar products (but their ads are brilliant). Now the iPod Shuffle? Isn't that basically one of those little jump drives with a play button and a plug for headphones? It's marketed as some sort of iPod lite, but really it's so stripped of features it's barely an mp3 player anymore. They named it Shuffle because (I couldn't believe my eyes), it has no screen. And those geniuses built their marketing of the product entirely around something it lacks.
That said, I still want this free iPod Mini because I'm Chinese and I like getting things free.
Here's some sarcastic commentary on the whole Apple craze. (you'll have to mouse around til you get the expand to original size button to read the gifs).
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/images/iProduct.gif
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/ipod/index.php#howto-hack-ipod-into-ipod-shuffle-029509
2 comments:
I have an ipod...I bought it when it first came out and cost an arm and a leg...I still love it...back then there wasn't any competition in the mp3 market...especially at the 20 Gig range...it also didn't hurt that it looked cool as hell...and plus the revolt against Microsoft has been going on for awhile now...the people just needed a reason to believe that Apple could mount a comeback :)
I agree with your surprise at it not having a display, but I noted in my entry "They Did They Shuffle" that with such a limited song selection anyhow, a lot of the "necessity" for a display doesn't stand as strongly anymore.
But people may not have noticed that with the iPod Shuffle, it's a USB connector. That's okay, but the key point is that it's not the dock connector, meaning that you can't use a lot of the iPod accessories available today: speaker sets, in-car adapters from the major stereo and car manufacturers, etc. Keep that in mind, folks.
As for being ripped off, I think you're looking at it like I used to: based solely on goods for the money. But we shouldn't be just looking at the device in your hand. We need to consider the software package and the whole ensemble that you get for the price: the simplicity of iTunes with the iPod, the ease of using it all. It's the same philosophy as I chose in selecting a digital camera: the more usable it is, the more it is likely to get used, and the more you'll "get out of it", thus increasing its value-in-use. Making it that easy to use also introduces those who used to be "too scared" or apprehensive to even explore that.
There's another intangible for buying Apple products (at least for me). It's the joy and pride of ownership. The corners of my mouth turn up just slightly, every time I'm at my Powerbook, everytime I pull it out of my BOOQ (pb17-custom) laptop bag. When I use MacOSX, it pleases me at how it reacts to my bidding, instead of how Windows used to frustrate me. When I use my iPod, the clean interface makes it simple to change songs, volume, ratings, and listen to audiobooks -- it's really a joy to use, to sync up, to change, etc. For me, these are priceless, and worth the higher cost of ownership (though I am Chinese, and will go to the ends of the earth not to pay retail prices).
Granted, some people don't care about any of the above. Then in those cases, you're better off buying the barest, most functional unit you can get your hands on. Nothing wrong with that at all.
I bought my gf an iPod mini late last year, and a lot of it was fueled not just because it was pink, but because it was the right size in her hand and had an informative screen, and because it's "so cute". She loves using it, and it means it will get used a lot, which is worth volumes more than a semi-okay device that doesn't get used much, right?
Yes, my name is Ben and I'm an Apple addict. (I think I'll modify this comment a little and then post it back in my comments, for my readers.)
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