Mini iPods!

Apple did it. iPod Mini is here. I’m not sure about that pricing though… Who the heck are these things aimed at?

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  1. Yeah it was not quite as revolutionary as I was hoping. As it is, it’s just another member of the iPod line. It will probably sell as well as the other models, maybe a little better. But I don’t see it busting open the low-end market like Steve said. It’s still a high-end player.

  2. I don’t think the disk capacity is enough. It’d handle a fair chunk of my current iTunes collection, but one of the attractions of an iPod for me (if I had the spare cash anyway, which I don’t – the Panther update was my last big Apple purchase for the next 6-12 months) would be that I could also use it to back up large chunks of my iMac’s hard disk.

    The UK site still hasn’t been updated to show the new models, so a lot will depend on just where they pitch it in the market. At £100-£125 it’d crush the opposition. At £200 it’d be barely worth buying since another £50 will get you a 15GB model. I have a nasty feeling that Apple will price it towards the high end of the market.

  3. it’s cute and all, and the blue model would go well with my imac, but as john said the capacity is too small. why bother if it is not that much to buy a normal ipod with more GB? the cuteness factor is not enough.

  4. I’ve been reading about it all morning and my opinion has changed. Basically, this thing has been designed to compete with the top-end Flash-based players on the market. These are 256MB max and sell for $50 less than the new miniPod. If you were going to buy one of those (for jogging or whatever), you’d definitely be tempted to throw down the extra fitty for all the extra space. So I can see what Apple are doing. People are just disappointed because it’s not what *they* wanted Apple to do.

  5. I saw Steve’s explanation during the keynote and I just don’t think that flies. $200 is already the very max for the low-end market. At 250 you are asking 50 more from people that are probably already way beyond what they hoped to pay. 150 is clearly the magic number, with 100 being the died and gone to heaven number. I think that going after the low-end market is a really good idea, but I just don’t think this is going to accomplish the job. I say, knock down the storage to cut the price. 4 GB is just an awkward choice anyway. It’s in the no-man’s land of storage. 1 GB would be perfectly adequate, especially when you’re competing with players that are measured in megabytes. I’m not saying the iPod mini is bad; I think it does broaden the appeal of the line (actually, I think it would work well with the hip older people who aren’t as into the whole digital music thing and don’t have as much need for gigabytes like us young’uns.) But I don’t see it bringing all the price-conscious Dell-Walmart types into the fold. At my Apple we can have the 4GB mini as is, but there is also a 1GB mini at 150 which we would use to undercut the market and ensure perpetual iTunes/AAC dominance.

  6. i love the 10 gb ipod i just got for xmas, but i was insanely pissed this morning when i was browsing on the apple site and found out that they just released a new 15 gb model for the same price! bastards! i’m calling best buy right now to see how their returns system works… i wanna trade up!

    p.s. about battery life, i think mine lasts around 10-11 hours, too. however, the battery indicator is totally whack. every time i leave it charging overnight, i wake up to see that the battery only shows like 1/4 full. but then later in the day, it ramps up a bit. totally annoying, but it might just be my excuse for getting the $300 best buy store credit i can use to get the new 15 gb daddy!

  7. Well, Kel, at least you didn’t get the 20 gig version.

  8. Good point, Dan–who’s going to pay $100 more for 20 gigs vs. 15? I’m not super-thrilled with the mini pods either… I think it would have been wiser to drop them to $150-200 and leave them the same size as the current models, which are not exactly bulky themselves.

  9. Kel, I would think that your battery issue *would* be a returnable problem. Did you try it yet?

    As for the 15 vs 20 question, you don’t get the dock, remote, or carrying case with the 15. It’s the same distinction they used to make between the 10 and the rest. So it’s not like you’re paying the $100 just for the extra 5GB. The Apple Store sells those things are optional extras and they each run about $40, so you could argue that by moving up to the 20GB you’re saving $20 on the accessory pack and getting the extra 5GB for free!

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