Disappointment Sucks 06.01.04

I too was a bit disappointed overall, especially when you compare it to last years announcements. I’m right there with you on the colors of the mini-iPod, they’re really bad.

Then again I’m pretty happy with the one I’ve got.

I was pretty juiced up about Garageband. I feel like it’s an iPhoto or iMovie for music and I’m really interested to play around with it. It’s products like this that make me love Apple.

Over all I’d say it went off with less than a bang, sure, but what can you do?

garageband may not be spectacular to a non-musician, but it’s gold to me! i’ve been looking for a multi-track recording/editing program for the mac for a while that doesn’t cost insane amounts.
just to clear it up, a midi keyboard is not required; you can record any device connected to the mac by either audio in or usb, and it has built in loops, kind of like soundtrack. the only problem i have with it is that it doesn’t come standard with the powerbook i’m buying this week (19.95 is a lot better than 19.95, though).
i have to admit, the new ipods are ugly! why didn’t they just make the design a miniature of the standard ipod?

I guess it all depends on your perspective.

I’ve got a 30GB iPod, so the iPod mini doesn’t mean much to me (that said, I agree with you that the retun to colors is disheartening, and I also think Apple would sell a LOT more of them if they were 2GB for say $175, rather than 4GB for $250).

I use iPhoto all the time and have a fairly large (6000+) photo collection. The thing drags like you would not believe, even on my brand new PowerBook. “Faster” is the only word I wanted to hear in the same sentence as “iPhoto”.

The new features of iMoive look nice, although I don’t really use it all that often. Same goes for iDVD.

GarageBand looks incredible to me. I understand it’s not as exciting to non-musicians (although I bet you’ll still have fun tinkering with it — everyone I know loves to toy with Soundtrack, and GarageBand should be even better) — but I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

I think Steve and Apple have doomed themselves with these Expos. One of two HUGE Expos in the past has set everyone up for dissapointment when the news is only “good” rather than “unbelievable”. In the past six months or so, Apple’s come out with new PowerMac G5s, a 20” iMac, an all new 15” Powerbook, refreshed 17” and 12” Powerbooks, new G4 iBooks, refreshed iPods, an all new iPod mini, new XServe G5s, new versions of the four iLife proograms, iTunes for Windows, iTunes Music Store, GarageBand, and probably more that I can’t think of right now.

The response of Mac users? Dissapointment.

I understand that everything from today’s keynote wasn’t exactly what you wanted to hear, but I really think people give Apple the shaft — just because they didn’t change the world this quarter.

While I don’t like the price that Apple chose for their initial offering of the iPod Mini, I think I’m starting to like the device itself. This iPod is already small. And my 20GB unit typically only has about 6GB of music on it, half of which I never listen to. So a smaller unit that doesn’t have a lot of extra storage seems like something that I could learn to like.

I didn’t like the current iPod when it was first released. I didn’t like the placement of the four buttons below the screen. I preferred the control layout on my older, 2nd generation iPod. But when I first saw one in person, I was hooked. I still want to sell my old iPod and get one of these.

But maybe I’ll fall in love with the Mini when I finally see one. Maybe I’ll just skip the new iPod altogether and go straight to the Mini, saving a few dollars on the way.

Sure, the Mini isn’t quite suited to carrying your entire music library around in your pocket, but it will certainly fit the bill if all you need is a day or two worth of music at any given time.

Now that it’s capacity is enough to hold almost anyone’s music collection, Apple will have to stop increasing the size of the hard drive, and compete on price and new features.

I’m looking forward to seeing what new tricks Apple can build into the iPod - voice memos is the one I’m really waiting for.

Those mini colors look an awful lot like those accent colors. ;)

I’ve been a Windows guy for over 10 years now. Recently I’ve been wanting to purchase an iBook and (probably) switch. After watching the video stream of Jobs’ keynote, I immediately went to my credit union’s website and transfered a couple hundred dollars to my iBook fund. It’s all really exciting to me - I haven’t used iLife so whenever I do get my Mac, whatever version of iLife it ships with will be golden. GarageBand looks fun - I goof around on the guitar and look forward to trying this software.

I do own an iPod (kind of the purgatory of a switcher?) - I agree that the minis are overpriced at $249. You can fork out an extra $50 and get a 15GB iPod. I’m not a mathematician but I’m not seeing a really good deal here. Are consumers going to pay $249 for size and color options? I’m not that picky - I think the iPod is small enough and iSkins are an inexpensive investment if you want something other than white.

Yes, the colors were not chosen well. I have a feeling they didn’t put much thought into that - lots of people were clamoring for different colors, so they probably just thought they would pick some bright, fun colors to use. Maybe they’ll come out with more colors that make the iPod mini look somewhat more… professional & subtle?

My main disappointment, though, was the price. I was excited the day before the Expo when I heard on TV that Apple might lower the price a lot for their new iPods because of much cheaper competition. I guess they were wrong. It is a little cheaper than the others, but not by much. :(

Other than that though, it looks like a great player for any music junkie.

The new iPod is a disappointment for those of us who are cash strapped. By the way, this is a beautiful site.

I believe the pricing might be explained by today’s announcement that HP is going to be releasing an iPod-derived player. My guess is Apple is going to let them have the market below the iPod, letting Apple keep their boutique, exclusive brand while HP will get the sub-$250, “everyman” market. Apple just has no interest in “low-end”, affordable things for everyone - it’s almost the antithesis of their brand image.

Or not:
“…Apple will manufacture its popular iPod player in a HP corporate blue hue, and Hewlett, the world’s second-largest computer maker, will place an icon on the desktop of its consumer PC’s, directing its customers to Apple’s software and music store.” (NYTimes)

I guess they just don’t care to dabble in the low-end of the market.

Right. I just can agree with you. But there is a thing I appreciate. The improvement of the wheel system. You still loop your finger around the wheel, but it became a ClickWheel, not a TouchWheel that sometimes cause usability problems.

Anyway, it does not justify that price!!!

Sorry, rants on weblogs make exceedingly boring content, and I rarely reply.. but I thought I’d put my 2 cents in.. apologies as I didn’t read the whole rant. The reason you don’t like ipod mini is because you’re not the target market. It is that simple. Apple have not made any kind of mistake.. it’s aimed at all those people who like cheap looking bright cell phones and have obnoxious musical ring tones..

I’m sure they didn’t set down this path on a whim, they probably did some fairly careful market analysis and saw a gap or opportunity to win this segment.. and this is the product that fits that segment.

People who live and die by anouncements made a Macworld should put the keyboard down, and back slowly away from the computer.. go outside get some sun — esacpe the Jobs cult.

Rarely is one product that makes a geek/designer excited (ipod) a good fit for your little sister or your mom (mini). I’m certainly no Mac zealot, but I can see the reasoning behind this product and pricing.

um, why are all of the ipod mini colors represented in your color forecast for 2004? and why is “your” design or this site such a blatant rip-off of simple bits? just curious!

Apple Product Support Sucks…..

I got an iPod for Xmas. The ear buds are defective.After visiting the Apple Support Site and sending threee-mails about it to Apple in the last three weeks, I’vehad no response from them. I took the time to give them the info they demanded to be allowed into the iPod Support section, (I really resented having to give a friend’s phone number as an alternative contact) let them know of my problem and then was ignored.
My first Mac was a Mac Plus. I now have an iMac. Obvious to me is that this problem is not worthy of Apple’s attention. My next box will probably be a Linux box because Apple couoldn’t care less about my ear buds so I don’t care to buy any more Apple products. Their business practices suck.

Lon (arabbit@earthlink.net)