[NEO]

Since it was released in 2001, Apple has came to the 4th generation in 2004. Comparing with other players which seems to hang around longer. Is this the marketing policy to maintain the constant sell of this famous product?

 

[chiefroastbeef]

it would make perfect sense and in part i do agree with the theory. but i don't believe ipods have short lifespan, i've had my 2nd gen ipod for nearly two years and it works like new(though it has a couple trillion scratches)

i think most ipods that have problems rise up within couple months of usage, and then naturally the owner will send it in for repairs

 

[Krypton]

Apple have a rapid iPod product cycle to maintain their lead, which is a good thing for consumers.

My 5Gb 1st generation is still going strong after nearly two years.

 

[NEO]

Sorry if I didnt make it clear at first. I actually meant the lifespan of each generation. There seems to be a year by year release of the new generation from 2001-2004.

 

[lindrone]

Consistent product improvement (even though in small increments, nothing too dramatic) allows them to maintain a lead on their competitors, generate news and market share. They do upgrade the iPod about once every year, it helps to keep iPod consistently in the news, and each time it brings new buyers as well as existing owners who are upgrading. Perhaps existing owners won't upgrade with every generation, but they're likely to upgrade at least a couple of generations down the road.

In comparison, Rio doesn't come out with new players often enough to really generate any sort of a buzz, Rio Karma is still stuck at 20GB. Of course the real issue is more complicated, because the economic issues behind it, has Rio sold enough Karmas to justify the R&D spending on coming out with a new device.. so on.. so forth. Anyway, we know that iPod's sale far exceeds any of its competitors, so the demand is always higher than their production.

At the same time, look at Creative Labs, I believe that they've matched, perhaps even exceeded the number of hard drive based players compared to Apple year by year. There's so many different versions of Zen players and Jukebox players...

 

[Nospam]

I guarantee that if Apple didn't keep introducing new iPod versions, people would complain that the product line is stangnating

 

[lindrone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nospam I guarantee that if Apple didn't keep introducing new iPod versions, people would complain that the product line is stangnating

Agree 100%... in about 4 months from now people will be checking around to see if Apple's updating the iPod again.. they'll be wanting a 60GB iPod at least... it's people's expectation.

In the same way, other companies gets this type of consumer expectation as well, people has been complaining about Rio not updating the Karma for quite a while now. Despite the rumors of Karma 2, there's been nothing in sight, and lot of Rio users are getting quite restless.

Contrarily, I think Creative Lab confused the market with the numerous Zen players that's hard to tell apart and with no definitive qualitative difference in between them.