Apple Ups' the Ante on the iPod Cash Grab

[nfotxn]

So the new Apple stuff from yesterday. It'd all be a lot more impressive if it weren't so darn over priced. The Mac Mini is now $100 more and now includes... a remote control and an Intel processor? What's with the $349 speakers that require a $300 iPod to work? And to top it all off they now sell a leather case for the iPod.. for $100.

Comments

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Well sorta. I'm pretty cold to the Boombox, no secret love there at all. And the $100 leather case? You know it's made in the same Chinese sweatshop as the rest of the $20 ones.

I like the Mac Mini, but I still have the same reservations I've had about it all along. I don't like the idea of it using notebook components and not being user serviceable. I don't think that's a good value and if it were otherwise I'd probably own one now.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

I'm not buying the price increase still. The USB ports and gigabit ethernet are by-products of moving to an Intel chip-set that probably costs less than Apple's own PPC one. The HDD is a commodity that's always dropping in price and shouldn't reflect a price increase.

I still don't understand why it costs more. All the Intel stuff they're using has got to be cheaper than the PPC stuff they had before. Don't blame me for being skeptical.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

I think I would be a lot more impressed by the Mini if it kept the same price point, got faster and added features. I mean they've gone to a big commodity supplier like Intel, biggest there is. And they're raising prices? I suspect the actual motivation is not increased hardware costs but a bigger push to move people up the price grade towards an iMac or whatever replaces the Powermac (Mac Pro?) when it's released. However logistically impossible I sorta wish they'd kept the Intel transition to one particular date such that consumers like me could make single informed decisions. That is of course not feasible and they're savvy business people to roll out their products as they have. I just don't like the being jerked around, waiting on baited breath for what's Next. Maybe that's my own problem.. maybe I should just dive in?

Jesse

[(Anonymous)]

The key is to get your Apple stuff when it's 5 years old.

[perlcub]

Ah yes. But one less of a headace? The freakin' thing has two separate RAM slots now! Up to 2GB! Finally! It can be used as an actual computer now!

Lollerskates.

[themacbear.livejournal.com]

Even though I may be drummed out of the “cult”, I have to agree with you on the iPod announcements. The leather case is unimpressive and very expensive, especially given all the other iPod case options on the market. As for the Hi-Fi unit, again, very, very pricey. Not that I wouldn’t enjoy having one, but some kind Apple Fairy would have to bestow it upon me.

I’m reserving judgement on the Mac mini, until I can play with it and see if the performance enhancements in any way justify the price hike. At first glance, I too was a bit upset that they upped the price tag.

Oh, and if there really is an “Apple Fairy” out there, what I really want is a new MacBook Pro. You can keep the Hi-Fi.

[meegup.livejournal.com]

think expensive

[chrisglass.livejournal.com]

Pretty much poo all around.
Old poo.
I want newer faster cheaper poo.

[perlcub]

I want newer faster cheaper poo.

Eat massive quantities of Taco Bell and your wish could come true.
...to a degree, at least.

EAT UP MARTHA

[animbear.livejournal.com]

Big *yawn* from me yesterday. Over priced stuff I'm not interested in (and I own a lot of the junk Apple shovels our way).

The boombox is the first new product since the mini. A boombox... that ugly? WTF?

I want small, shiney, blow-me-away, gizmo -- full OS X running on something the size of a Newton message pad.

Re: EAT UP MARTHA

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Yeah I am clearly in the same camp. I am not really into the whole message pad thing though. That sort of medium sized pen-based computing concept has been around a long time. I think maybe if the focus was really specific, like browsing, chatting and whatnot it might fly. But as a computer or PDA? Tiny QWERTY and tap-9 approaches have proven themselves much more effective in a shorter period of time.

[dingdonghello.livejournal.com]

did you go to the animal collective show last week?

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Please don't remind me how little time I have. I'll cry.

[trachalio.livejournal.com]

I'd have to say I'm completely underwhelmed about the announcement yesterday. Boombox is fugly as all hell, the case is way to overpriced, and everyone and their dog knew that the mac mini was destined to be a media server... but what the fuck is with the integrated graphics tech? No one does that shit anymore 'cause it slows the computer down like crazy when you're playing games.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

I really suspect the iPod HiFi is going to join the ranks of the MacTV, Quicktake and the Newton. Neat products but not really terribly enticing.

[trachalio.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

[sinnabor.livejournal.com]

OMG, you remember the MacTV? I thought I was hallucinating when I saw one at Blockbuster Video. Such a strange and short-lived idea.

I still have my QuickTake 100. Got it via Apple employee discount on clearance, not the staggering retail price. Better digital cameras now come free on keychains. But it's prolly mostly Kodak's fault.

But, yea, this set of announcements was a yawner.

Bet they announce the Intel MacBook at end of March.

[deafguy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that stuff sounds overpriced, but its pretty dirt cheap when you consider that the estimated cost of manufacturing a PS3 is going to be 900$ according to this article! (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6144600.html)