Wow, I can't believe there are so many negative posts about such a positive thing. I have a 4G iMod, and will almost certainly purchase a 5G iMod at some point. I think this new iMod is going to sell like crazy, as it is all the positives of before, but now uses the latest gen of iPod AND it still functions as a stock iPod (headphone jack still enabled). I simply had to compile the following list of rebuttals to the negative comments people have made:
1. It's not worth the money:
- It's $250, plus $110 for the cable. That's about $85 (30%) more (total) than the 4G iMod ($200) and equivalent dock cable ($75). I hear people complaining that now it costs almost $400, but you must compare it to the 4G with cable (and let's be real - most everybody buys ALO cables). I always thought the iMod was a little underpriced, considering what typical rates are for mods (seriously, search out some audio mod prices).
- People are thinking of the effort it "must" take to just swap a couple wires and saying the price is too much. Firstly, it's much harder than they realize, as Vinnie has explained. And secondly, who pays for the iPod if it gets broken in the process? Who paid for the many 5G's that were broken as Vinnie used trial and error to create this new product? I consider what Vinnie has done to be an invention, and the price has to compensate him for his R&D in the past, not just the work he's doing to each modded iPod.
- You get lifetime service. Vinnie is not Dell. He doesn't sell you a $150 iMod, and then give you an option of $50 for a 1 year service contract. Or charge you to replace a battery or hard drive later. He builds all that crap into the initial price, so that price needs to be (and should be) higher.
- Inflation - Most people believe the ridiculously understated inflation numbers the government spews out. These numbers are wrong, and if you measure inflation the way they did in the 70s (before hedonic adjustments, "core rate", and other nonsense), we're running about 10% inflation. Each of the dollars Vinnie will get for the 5G mod are worth quite a bit less than those he got for his first 4G mod. The iMod is a service done in the U.S., and therefore he gets no cost reduction help from China's manufacturing boom (this is the reason TVs get cheaper every year, yet health care, schooling, and every other service gets more expensive). (I'm off topic here, but those interested in my take on inflation should go here:
www.shadowstats.com).
- Ultimately, price is driven by supply and demand, and none of my explanations here matter, as people will either buy it or not. But I'm trying to show those who have a knee jerk negative reaction to the price things they may be overlooking.
2. Vinnie lied in the past about 5G not sounding as good:
- Vinnie did not lie. The 5G didn't sound as good...until Vinnie found a way to make it sound as good (or as he is thinking now - better). Let's not get mad that he didn't invent his current invention sooner so he never had to change his mind about whether the 5G was a good mod candidate. Saying he lied about sound quality to benefit his business clashes with the experiences of everyone who has ever done business with him.
- Oh my god, it sounds BETTER!?
