iPhone Price Reduction - To cut right to the biggest announcement of the event, for me at least, the 8GB iPhone now costs $399, a price drop of $200. A lot of people are pissed about the "$200 early adopter tax", but Apple has offered them $100 in Apple Store credit to help alleviate some of the burn. Some still might not be happy, but then you got what you paid for at a price you were obviously willing to pay at the time, that's capitalism. For my part, I'm thrilled, as I may be able to afford one now, especially because the refurbished iPhones on Apple.com are down to $349 now. Woot!
iPod Touch - Second only to the iPhone price drop is the announcement of the all new iPod Touch. It's basically an iPhone without the phone (or camera, or bluetooth), and is available with twice the memory. The iPod Touch features the same interface as the iPhone, and includes WiFi abilities, allowing you to get online from any wireless hotspot. This is big news because many people have been asking for an iPhone without the phone, and also because once again Apple has leapfrogged past the competition in terms of interface design and capability. Comparing the iPod Touch to similar devices, one has to wonder how the others missed the mark so completely.
The classic example is going to be Microsoft's Zune. MS had a huge lead on Apple with WiFi capabilites and did nothing with it. The iPod Touch allows you to browse the internet using a full browser, and lets you browse the iTunes Music Store remotely (more on that later). The Zune lets you "squirt" songs from player to player. Hmm... For $7,000,000,000.00 a year in R&D, you'd think someone at MS would have thought of that first.
Apparently, they also can't hire a decent interface or hardware designer to save their lives. I mean, seriously, just look at the iPod Touch next to the Zune (and an old iPod, for comparison, note that they're not to scale):
Even the old iPod looks outdated by comparison to the iPod Touch. The Zune, well, the less said the better. I can only imagine that the atmosphere at Microsoft (at least the part that made the Zune) is bleak. This is all not to mention companies like Creative and Archos, who keep coming out with competent products that just can't seem to get any attention.
iTunes WiFi Music Store & Starbucks - Using the iPod Touch or iPhone, you can connect to the iTunes Music Store from any WiFi hotspot and buy songs, which will be synced back to your computer when you get back to it. This is huge for Apple, and a brilliant move. So long as you're in a WiFi area, you can snag music almost without thought. Hear a song you like on the radio, or in a store? Just go ahead and buy it right there. Not to beat up on them too much, but why didn't Microsoft think of this one too?
Also announced, in select Starbucks (starting only in major cities over the next year or so), you can purchase music you hear playing in their locations using an iPod Touch or iPhone, right then and there. Upon reflection, this is a bigger deal that I first thought. I couldn't care less about Starbucks, really, and besides that sort of technology won't be hitting Maine until, well, never as far as I can tell. But here's the thing: Apple has just created a whole new revenue stream for itself and Starbucks, one that consumers will likely appreciate since it's convenient, and satisfies the desire for instant gratification. It's brilliant, really, and I can only imagine it catching on with other retailers.
And that's the cool part. Imagine being at a concert and being able to buy the albums of the bands on the bill right there. Imagine listening to the radio and being able to buy any song you hear on the spot. Between the technology being rolled out by Starbucks, and the iTunes WiFi Music Store, there's no reason this and more can't happen. Once again, why isn't Microsoft already doing this? They have so much more money and infrastructure than Apple, I can only imagine they could pull this off just as easily. I'd feel sorry for MS except that they have every advantage, every reason to be on top, and they still can't pull it off.
Long story short, Apple is on top of the world and they're still going strong. Expect to see competitors (like Microsoft), and suppliers unhappy with Apple not letting them gouge customer (like NBC) continue to try and knock Apple down. So long as they can keep doing what they're doing, innovating and doing more with less, expect to see Apple remain on top.
5 comments:
Here's where I make my obligatory "I have been utterly and completely happy with my Zune since the day I sold my iPod and bought it" post.
That said, Apple's done some pretty neat things with the iPod on this go-around. I still ain't getting one, but I'm impressed.
Well, yeah, I was wondering ghow long that would take :)
To be totally fair the Zune seems to be a solid player, despite a few drawbacks (look around, they've been detailed elsewhere better than I could). I'm more astounded that with their resources, and the fact that the hardware was already there, MS didn't do more with the Zune. When I heard it had WiFi, for example, I was certain that the iPod was in some trouble since that should have been the killer feature. Not so, I guess.
By the way, sorry it took a little while to approve your comment, I'm on vacation. Actually, I'm posting this from a display iMac at the Apple Store on Camelback Rd. in Phoenix AZ.
My third Apple Store visited, woot!
No problem - I just figured you weren't going to approve it because it was pro-Zune :)
Also, I don't understand the "drawbacks" people say the Zune has - I really, honestly am not turning some sort of devoted blind eye to Microsoft on this, I just have been thoroughly happy with it, and that's even without ever having shared a single song via the WiFi feature.
I might just be easily pleased?
Fair enough. I've never actually used a Zune, so I can only comment based on what I've read from people who have. The biggest complaint seems to be lack of support for anything except mp3s and Zune Marketplace stuff (including MS's own "Plays for Sure" format, a move that confuses me greatly).
If all you're lsitening to are your own ripped mp3s, then obviously that's not a problem. Mostly, I think people jsut expected more from Microsoft that a good mp3 player, they wanted something spectacular, so now they're griping.
While I've bought a few songs from the Zune Marketplace, you're right - I tend to rip the CDs I own and use them... so I guess it stands to reason I'd not run into any problems.
As for what it supports, aside from WMA and MP3, it also supports AAC stuff. As for video, it supports WMV, M4V, and "some QuickTime videos." To be honest, the video's been the hardest part for me to figure out - what size, type, etc. The stuff I have gotten on it has been great-looking, though.
The FM radio function is neat, even though I haven't used it much. If the station supports it, it will show the artist and title of the song, too, which I only learned in the last year or so that radios could do.
Anyway, yeah, I know you're not going to rush out and buy one - I just like to do my part in letting people know that bad sales don't necessarily mean bad hardware.
Post a Comment