iPod Suffle - Hot or Not?

[tyrion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PFRfan Something about the HOT votes sounds the same. I'd like to see a poll of how many exclusively Windows users like this thing. It's just got that vibe of Mac guys coming up with all kinds of reasons why this thing is better than everyone else's BECAUSE you can't do much with it. Huh? I know it will sell a ton, and I guess that makes it HOT. Funny how Apple guys saying that the iPod's dominance in the marketplace is proof positive of it being a superior product (the whole world can't be wrong, can it?), but that the Mac's whopping 1.5% marketshare also demonstrates it's perfection (because only smart people buy Macs, and so yeah - I guess the whole world CAN be wrong). I'll probably buy one of those new mini-pizza box Macs so I don't have to spring for an iMac. But the shuffle is the most unremarkable and unrevolutionary product that Apple has realeased since... wow, I don't know, the Apple II+ (fond memories). So - how many Windows-only users (no Mac & no Linux people) are going to buy or recommend this thing? EDIT: The other players will lower their price to match iPod capacity for capacity. Sheez - y'all act like these things are in stone or something. Either way, it reminds me of something Scott Adams said about mergers. You want to leverage your synergy. For instance if your company is the performance leader in your field (i.e. you make a great product and charge a premium price for it), and the company you bought is the value leader (i.e. you make junk), then you would combine those ideas into a business plan that took advantage of your synergy (i.e. we make junk and charge a premium price).

I am a pc user that will buy one. I have never liked the software that I have had to use with anyother flash mp3 player I've had. The shuffle works with itunes which I use with my ipod and airport express. It is simple and it works. Whether the shuffle is better or not than the others doesn't make a difference to me. I just like the apple products I have so far. They work and are simple to use.

 

[yyoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PFRfan EDIT: The other players will lower their price to match iPod capacity for capacity. Sheez - y'all act like these things are in stone or something.

Not at all. As I mentioned, Apple's competitors will HAVE to cut prices, so their profit margins will be squeezed. This will help usher out the weaker competition, and even the big guys will feel the pinch at their bottom lines. Three years from now Creative might be a leading manufacturer...of iPod acccessories.

Or not. Creative and iRiver may still retain strong footholds in Asia, but the American market is closing to them.

 

[daphox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yyoo Creative and iRiver may still retain strong footholds in Asia, but the American market is closing to them.

...Apple goes for the kill.

 

[ixeo]

ipod shuffle is a winner. the price point..the "ipod" factor..my roommate just placed an order for a 1GB model... he couldn't be bothered about the screen and listen to music shuffle anyway...

i would buy it if it was smaller, i honestly dont look at the screen of my MD unit as well..

 

[jpr703]

Put a small screen on this thing and allow people to remove and replace the flash card (just like on a digital camera) and this product would very quickly rule the market.

As it stands right now, it's just a USB storage device with a headphone jack and I really don't see much of a use for it.

 

[chadbang]

Maybe somebody already said this (I don't think I missed it), but this is an entry level Apple product. $99 bucks and you get to join the cult of Apple, jump in on the iPod craze (and not feel left out) and be on the "cutting edge" of digital music (this week anyway). After you get your Shuffle, well, hm, maybe I should get a real iPod? And the, hm, for only $499 I can hook up one of those Mini imacs and store all my MP3s on it get the real iTunes and have an extra computer! This is a great little idea by Apple to draw folks into the Apple fold (and of course discover how great it's been all along). Bleech, I sounded like Steve Jobs there for a moment.

 

[DigDub]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yyoo At any rate, I'm not talking whether it makes sense for YOU or anyone else in this forum to buy these things, but whether these things are going to sell like hotcakes. They will. The price point makes them extremely attractive. This is the first time that Apple has tried to undercut the major players in the market, and I think it's a brilliant strategy at an opportune moment. Actually, it would have been even more brilliant 9 months ago, but it's still brilliant.

undercutting the features too.

anyway, i guess the shuffle would work for those who want some kind of 'radio station' feel that plays all their favorite songs, who do not have the opportunity to take out their player to change songs and those who are into the singles rather than full albums and classical music. but as others have mentioned, there are players that cost a bit more but lets users have more control over what they want to hear while they are on the go.

 

[DigDub]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadbang Maybe somebody already said this (I don't think I missed it), but this is an entry level Apple product. $99 bucks and you get to join the cult of Apple, jump in on the iPod craze (and not feel left out) and be on the "cutting edge" of digital music (this week anyway). After you get your Shuffle, well, hm, maybe I should get a real iPod? And the, hm, for only $499 I can hook up one of those Mini imacs and store all my MP3s on it get the real iTunes and have an extra computer! This is a great little idea by Apple to draw folks into the Apple fold (and of course discover how great it's been all along).

spoken like a true blue apple fan.

 

[aeriyn]

When it comes to DAPs, Apple hasn't "innovated" much. They've really just taken what already existed and made a better version of it.

When I first caught hints of a possible Apple flash player, I was thinking... hmm... iPod Mini-like shell filled with 4 or 5 1GB flash arrays maybe? Can it be?! Would it be possible to have the exact same music space but with four times the battery life?

Unfortunately no. Guess costs aren't down enough yet.

Whichever company, iRiver, Creative, Apple, Cowan, whatever, does this first, I will be buying it. =P

And as for the iPod Shuffle, I can see tons of people buying it, but really, the creative muvo series is so much better. And more attractive too.

 

[BigD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeB06 To me this just seems like Apple is just giving the finger to all their competitors that offer flash player and waving their domination of the mp3 player market in everyone's faces. Its like Steve Jobs is saying: "Hey Creative, iRiver, iAudio, etc., you think you at least controlled the market for flash players, but I am just going to have to rain white all over your parade! Not only am I creating a trendy white fashionable flash player to come claim the flash market, I am intentionally creating an inferior product just to prove everyone will buy my white products over your's, even if they dont have a screen or the ability to select individual songs! I guarantee that my product, while lacking basic functions your's possess, will sell merely because it is white and will look fashionable hanging around trendy people's necks, and will sell even more because it will allow those who cannot afford the expensive ipods to own and wear a trendy white apple iProduct. While our competition in the hard-drive based market tried to best our product by creating more innovative and feature-rich players, we aren't even going to give you a chance to keep up, because your players are already better, they just aren't white and bear the Apple name!" While I stand by my quote, explaining why the Shuffle will sell, I have to admit I would have probably bought one for running and stuff because it is cheap and small. But since it doesnt support ogg, which I have been re-ripping in and downloading in, I'm gonna eventually go for a iRiver flash player. I'll give Apple credit for making a creative product, but in reality any Apple white flash based player would have sold tons, the Shuffle is just coincidentally cheaper and easier to make and will make more of a profit than if they had put a screen or any other controls on it. I can just see my campus turning even whiter (as in apple) as now even more people can get their hands on an apple white-earbud device.

Couldn't have put it better in words!!! I voted NOT, but the Shuffle will sell BIG time regardless of their feature, look, price, size, ergonomic. It's APPLE iProduct.

Fact is that already there are millions and millions of response thread pages like this one circulating around the world. Fact is that we're all talking about it and continue to talk about it. Fact is that all comments sound like wish lists.
Fact is that although I voted NOT but thinking of buying it to replace my keychain holder.

 

[Nospam]

OK, maybe I just mis-interpreted the Poll question.

I took it to mean: "Will Apple sell a lot of Shuffles?"

Most people seem to be interpreting it as: "Does the Shuffle meet my definition of a good flash player?"

As a few people have already mentioned, this forum pretty much panned the iPod Mini when it was first introduced. Its feature set hasn't changed, but it sure turned out to be a "Hot" item.

 

[Topspin14m]

Dont underestimate how much cheaper this thing is than the real competition (San Disk drives dont count, they are horrible). 512 megs for 99 bucks???

That's a steal.

It is a nice second player to have when you work out to compliment your ipod. No problems there. It is better that it doesnt have a screen so that it is cheaper.

But how about that mini mac. I am a PC user who might just have to buy one of those to hook up to my new LCD TV....yum. 500 bucks for a DVD drive that hooks up to the internet. (more like 850 because I'll get the DVD-burner and the wifi). Who will be the first to get an external firewire drive for Tivo???

 

[Taphil]

Is it laughable that the firewire drive will be bigger than the Mac mini - either because it's so tiny or because it can't be upgraded much?

 

[Cyclone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daphox ...Apple goes for the kill.

ah the apple fan boy at its best, you obviously do not understand monopolies. when creative and iriver go away then you get an even more obsurdly overpriced ipod. if anything you fan boys should welcome competition because its the only thing that keeps you from dropping below the poverty line.

 

[Head Creep]

This thing will sell like crazy. One of my cousin's bought an iPod mini just for less than a gig of music, and he always has it on shuffle. The Shuffle is the midpoint between people with money and trendwhores with not as much money. I personally would stay far away from this even if I was shopping around for a flash player, but it'll easily be the best-selling flash player on the market.