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iPod Mini Worldwide Rollout Delayed 614

Posted by timothy from the sound-the-tiny-klaxon-immediately dept.
A user writes "Apparently those 4-gig, $249 little buggers are selling faster than anyone expected.... So fast that the original April rollout worldwide has been delayed till July to keep up with the demand in the states and to get enough in production to meet worldwide sales. Given that there where 100,000 pre-orders alone, does this mean that yet again Apple hit on a niche that no one else (including me) thought would sell. I have been hearing a lot of rumors that the biggest buyer of the iPod mini has in fact been those female tech geeks out there. So much for the idea a $249 4-gig iPod was a mistake." Rob Glaser of RealNetworks, though, claims that not opening the iPod (big or small) to other formats is a real mistake; he wants to see iPod support other proprietary formats (like, say, Real's).
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iPod Mini Worldwide Rollout Delayed More

iPod Mini Worldwide Rollout Delayed

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  • Yeah.. right.. (Score:4, Funny)

    by grub ( 11606 ) <slashdot@grub.net> on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:16PM (#8672272) Homepage Journal

    100,000 pre-orders alone [...] the biggest buyer of the iPod mini has in fact been those female tech geeks out there

    Ha ha ha! Next they'll be telling us about the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus buying them.

    • Re:Yeah.. right..(ob RvB quote) (Score:5, Insightful)

      by 74nova ( 737399 ) <jonnbell@gm[ ].com ['ail' in gap]> on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:28PM (#8672512) Homepage Journal
      the initial, on-topic part: i never thought these things would sell to anybody for that price, but i guess it makes sense to me that women would adopt it first. i dont mean that to be sexist, but women tend to care more about aesthetics more, i think. also, i would guess women to care a little more about it being tiny. i mean, id be willing to lug around a bigger, uglier dell player if it was superior in the ways i deemed more important. i just dont see my wife thinking the same way. she would rather have the one that is prettier and smaller. (sure, sure, insert joke about that last sentence *here*)

      now for the RvB quote:
      "didnt i just tell you to stop makin up ficticous animals?"

      later...
      "so, unless anybody has any other names for it, we'll call it the warthog....chipathangy, how bout that? i like it...got a ring to it."

      • Why women would adopt it first... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) * on Thursday March 25, 2004 @06:47PM (#8673642)
        Because foremost, it is a very practical player in ways many others are not (and women are generally more practical than men and want features that are useful to them as opposed to just existing for possible future use for some remote scenario). Getting songs onto it is very fast, you can use it easily, and even the size while adding to "cuteness" is primarily a practically useful feature rather than just a gimmick or fashion statement.

        That really is the key - the primary buyer of the iPod is not buying it for fashion (for what piece of electronics is really fashionable to the level of clothing or accessories) but instead for the practical features it offers to deliver portable music to the user as easily as possible. People keep scoffing at the possible sucess of the iPod because they misunderatand this very key point - as long as you continue to believe people buy an iPod for reasons of apperance you will also continue to be suprised at any sucess they attain in any form because you misunderstand the core of what makes them desireable.
        • no disrespect, but to be honest, im not convinced that is true. i still think most people buy them because they are pretty and small. sure, the wheel thing is very cool and functionality is a high point. i just dont think people get an iPod because they played with the alternatives and it worked the best.

          • Comparison not nessicarily needed (Score:4, Interesting)

            by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) * on Thursday March 25, 2004 @07:39PM (#8674146)
            ...
            the wheel thing is very cool and functionality is a high point. i just dont think people get an iPod because they played with the alternatives and it worked the best.

            The thing is that you can play with them and know that the work really well, without even having used a different model - they work well enough to convince you they would be usable in daily life. That's why I think that functionality may still be a primary reason for choosing them. It would be really interesting to see some kind of breakdown about how many people had had contact with one before buying them as that would go a long way to prove or disprove the theory. My theory comes about from hearing a lot of people relate stories about buying them after playing with one, and seeing people react to them at Apple stores (they show only casual interest as they pick them up, but get really into them when they start using it).

          • Re:Why women would adopt it first... (Score:5, Interesting)

            by Talez ( 468021 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @08:37PM (#8674636)
            i just dont think people get an iPod because they played with the alternatives and it worked the best.

            What crack are you smoking and where can I get me some?

            I got an iPod because scrolling through lists on dpads sucks ass. As soon as I walked into that apple store and touched that wheel I knew that navigating through my MP3 collection wouldn't suck. And then I paid for a 20GB iPod in cash, in full.

          • Gotta throw in my $.02 (Score:4, Interesting)

            by filmsmith ( 608221 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @08:45PM (#8674698)
            I was showing my iPod off to a girl a couple of months ago, touting the features and telling her about the smaller pink ones that were coming out soon.

            She oohed and aahed that thing for quite a while (playing with it the whole time) and then asked one of the silliest questions I'd ever heard.

            "Is it easy to use?"

            My only response... "You tell me. You're using it right now."

            She's since bought her own pink iPod Mini.

            fs

        • Re:Why women would adopt it first... (Score:4, Interesting)

          by glyneth ( 47975 ) on Friday March 26, 2004 @09:33AM (#8678820)
          My sister bought one because the 128mb or 256mb MP3 player she had didn't hold enough songs for her workout.

          She'd considered buying the larger ones and dealing with the weight, but when they announced the mini, she saved her cash and ordered it for her birthday.

          For her, it was the weight, not the cost. It was equivalent to her purchase of the smaller MP3 player, which is the point most people are missing.

          Oh, and she bought the silver, not the colors. Though she wishes now she'd kinda bought one of the colored ones.

      • Re:Yeah.. right..(ob RvB quote) (Score:5, Insightful)

        by marmoset ( 3738 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @07:06PM (#8673846) Homepage Journal
        I visited my sister a couple of weeks ago, coincidentally arriving on the day that her 13-year old daughter's (blue) iPod Mini arrived. She bought it herself, with her babysitting money. In that age group, there aren't "portable mp3 players", there are iPods. Period.

      • Re:Yeah.. right..(ob RvB quote) (Score:5, Funny)

        by nathanh ( 1214 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @07:11PM (#8673891) Homepage
        also, i would guess women to care a little more about it being tiny.

        Are you kidding? Have you ever seen the average woman's handbag? I've seen smaller European cars.

      • Re:Yeah.. right..(ob RvB quote) (Score:4, Funny)

        by ruiner13 ( 527499 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @07:54PM (#8674282) Homepage
        "i would guess women to care a little more about it being tiny"

        Agreed. Luckily, I don't have that problem. ;)

    • To bad there going out of buisness. (or so I heard here)

    • Two points of view (Score:5, Funny)

      by bonch ( 38532 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @06:52PM (#8673699)
      Slashdot: The iPod-mini is overpriced and has no target audience!

      Rest of the world: We don't give a flying fuck!

    • Re:Yeah.. right.. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by mantera ( 685223 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @06:56PM (#8673740)


      "100,000 pre-orders alone [...] the biggest buyer of the iPod mini has in fact been those female tech geeks out there"

      I totally deplore this statement... it reeks of macho sexism especially that the poster states that the price is a mistake... what are you saying about female tech geeks... you're implicitly, though obviously, suggesting they're idiots! idiots en masse... no wonder that this male geek crowd has a reputation of being unattractive to females, especially with such attitude!....

      The ipod, and even more the ipod mini, is no longer a "GEEK" product... it's a mass market and mass popular culture product now... in fact, it probably never was a intended by apple as a geek product, considering their efforts to make it easy to use... Recently, a British tabloid had a feature about the falling dollar and how much cheaper it is now to shop from the US for UK consumers... they used 3 products as an example; the first was the levi's 501, which is the classic example that as far back as i can remember has always been used as the yardstick for sure features, the second product was apple's ipod!... like it or not, apple's ipod now has the mass recognition that levi's 501 has... not a geek product, it's a popular culture product!

  • It's apparent... (Score:5, Funny)

    by TimTheFoolMan ( 656432 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:16PM (#8672278) Homepage Journal
    ...that Apple made a huge blunder there (not supporting Real Networks). I'm sure they're kicking themselves over it.

    Tim

  • Size Doesn't Matter? (Score:5, Funny)

    by drdreff ( 715277 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:17PM (#8672294) Homepage Journal
    Heh, first time I've heard that one. Funny that it's the female demographic too...

    "No, give me the smaller one"

  • I'm sure Real thinks its a Real blunder... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by TedTschopp ( 244839 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:18PM (#8672303) Homepage
    I bet Real doesn't like the idea of Apple not supporting their format.

    That combined with their other losses these last couple of weeks, I just suspect the statement was made to make it sound like they are still a contender.

    Ted

  • Supporting other formats. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:18PM (#8672310)
    Like the original premise (that the iPod mini was a bad idea), the claim that Apple should support niche formats like OGG or Real is stupid. Apple has demonstrated time after time after time that they and they alone define the lead in technology that the rest of the industry follows. If Apple says AAC is where its at, then that's where it's at. Period. All the naysayers and open sores advocates can go buy something else, but like every other time, they will add up to maybe a couple of thousand people. Meanwhile the rest of us will go on enjoying state of the art portable music. Thanks again Apple!

    • Re:Supporting other formats. (Score:5, Funny)

      by Eslyjah ( 245320 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:29PM (#8672528)
      What you say may be true, but how many people do you know really advocate open sores?

  • So much for Slashdot wisdom (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:18PM (#8672318)
    "No one's gonna buy that! It's only 4 gigs, and it's too expensive! Apple is DOOMED!"

    Whatever.

  • Suggestions from Real... great... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by kneecarrot ( 646291 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:19PM (#8672332)
    If the history of Real software is taken into account, Rob Glaser of RealNetworks probably would also like to see users have to wade through deceptive menus on the iPod or have some unlabeled button in iTunes that automatically bills the user for something they didn't want.

    Yes, I'm bitter about Real.

  • It's hard to say whether "it's a mistake". (Score:5, Interesting)

    by James A. M. Joyce ( 764379 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:19PM (#8672355) Journal
    The fact of the matter is that Joe Sixpack will not give a crap what format his music is in, and will mock anybody who tries to explain why he should. As long as it works, that's it. iPods will continue to sell regardless of format because unlike we nerds, normal people only store music on their iPods and listen to it from there. They don't swap their shit around as we would like to. So the iPod Minis will continue to be a raging success.

  • There's a lot of crow sandwiches around here. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by RatBastard ( 949 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:20PM (#8672359) Homepage
    A lot of Slashdotter's should be getting used to the taste of crow right about now. Many people here predicted that teh iPod Mini would be a bust, that no one would buy a 4GB unit for $50.00 (US) less than a 15GB unit.

    And they were 100% dead wrong. Why? Because the iPod Mini isn't aimed at the tech-savy /. market.

    The lesson here: Don't predict the market based solely on your preferences.

  • Slap iPod on ANYTHING and it'll sell... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by httpamphibio.us ( 579491 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:20PM (#8672360)
    I'm not sure if it has anything to due with actually hitting a niche market or if it's just a way to be ultra-hip and spend $50 less. The vast majority of people that are buying these aren't techies, they are just average people that have very little product knowledge beyond knowing the iPod plays mp3s and that it's cool. If people shopped around, or if Apple's competitors did a better job of marketing I don't think it would sell nearly as well.
    • I don't think that's necessarily true. I got mine about 2 weeks ago, and I have to say I love it. I run a couple time a week and the mini is several orders of magnitude better than the iPod it replaced (an original 5GB model). If you're doing anything that requires you to move, the size makes a huge difference. At about one quarter to one third the size and weight of my old one, it is a massive improvement.
      I'm sure someone will point out that it doesn't hold all 7GB of my music. Well, . . . , I

    • Re:Slap iPod on ANYTHING and it'll sell... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by gooberguy ( 453295 ) <gooberguy@gmail.com> on Thursday March 25, 2004 @06:06PM (#8673067)
      If people shopped around, or if Apple's competitors did a better job of marketing I don't think it would sell nearly as well.

      I don't think so. I looked around a lot for different mp3 players, but I could find none with the same quality, reliability, and small size as the mini. I'm a cross country runner, so I wanted an mp3 player as small as possible, but I also wanted more than a few hundred megs of storage. Today I went on an 8 mile run (on a treadmill) and dropped the mini twice (I was just tired and it slipped out of my hand). Twice it hit the treadmill, twice it was shot back against the wall behind me. It didn't skip at all and it escaped with no marks whatsoever. I doubt most players could handle the same beating.
      • I've done that with my original 5GB model and it survived just fine two. I haven't had the problem with the mini because I bought the armband. I highly recommend it for running. A few other companies are starting to make armbands that hold the mini if you think the Apple one is too pricey. I thought it was, but between the education discount and the fact that no one else was making them when I ordered mine, I got the Apple one.

  • No Sh*t, I'm Surprised Too (Score:5, Insightful)

    by da3dAlus ( 20553 ) <dustin.grau@gm[ ].com ['ail' in gap]> on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:20PM (#8672365) Homepage Journal
    My wife says she wants an iPod, after seeing someone at her office with one. I ask which one she wants, and she sends me a damn link to the mini. I said for a bit more you could get the regular iPod with more storage...apparently this one will fit in her purse better or something. Maybe it's the ability to choose a color, but I thought you can get "skins" for your regular iPod already? In any case, chalk up another possible sale for the female geek market.

  • Everybody? Hwah? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by American AC in Paris ( 230456 ) * on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:21PM (#8672372) Homepage
    Given that there where 100,000 pre-orders alone, does this mean that yet again Apple hit on a niche that no one else (including me) thought would sell...So much for the idea a $249 4-gig iPod was a mistake.

    Dude, lots of people thought it was a good idea. True, the majority of people on Slashdot thought it was a bad idea, but Slashdot is hardly representative of everybody.

    Way to spin the issue, though--it wasn't a sound business decision built from careful research and experience, it was Yet Another Example of (beleaguered) Apple somehow succeeding with a dubious product...

  • Apple continues to defy the odds (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ScooterBill ( 599835 ) * on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:22PM (#8672399)
    I was an original Mac person. Way back with the Apple II, then the Mac, etc. Finally I switched to the PC for all the obvious reasons.

    What got me to buy an iPod was the almost sensual way it felt, the intuitive way it operates and the "cool" factor which is worth a lot to me.

    Of course, I wouldn't go near it until the PC interface came out and I still wish it supported more formats. I know most of the /. crowd is obsessed with specs and functionality but I think the iPod is a thing of beauty. What Apple did with the mini is add a color choice which instantly makes it legitimate to the eye of a woman. Most women I know are much more color sensitive than men. The small size helps too.

    I think secretly I like seeing the Apple logo on my desk full of functional PC crap.

    M

  • In Other News.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by vought ( 160908 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:22PM (#8672407)
    Rob Glaser of RealNetworks, though, claims that not opening the iPod (big or small) to other formats is a real mistake; he wants to see iPod support other proprietary formats (like, say, Real's).

    In other news, The head of GM thinks that Germany's Porsche should install Chevrolet LT1 engines in the new 911. "It'll give them a chance to reach a larger audience with that car." a spokesman for the company said.

  • Uh-huh (Score:5, Funny)

    by Unknown Kadath ( 685094 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:25PM (#8672463)
    Glaser...said during a panel discussion Tuesday at PC Forum here that Apple is creating problems for itself by using a file format that forces consumers to buy music from Apple's own iTunes site....Apple could not be reached for comment.

    Yes, that's because Apple was on its way to the bank. Laughing, I might add.

    -Carolyn

  • Apple sold two yesterday (Score:5, Interesting)

    by valkraider ( 611225 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:26PM (#8672479) Journal
    To my family... They came out to visit, they had never seen an iPod before, and they have almost zero Apple products in the city where they are from (only 1 CompUSA is the only place that sells Apple products). They all use PCs. I took them to the Apple store, and they walked out with two iPod Minis. They would buy Apple computers if Apple would get some Retail presence in New Mexico - so that they could have a place to buy software and peripherals and such....

  • Think of it as a bigger little MP3 player (Score:5, Insightful)

    by unfortunateson ( 527551 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:28PM (#8672500) Journal
    ... and not as a smaller jukebox.

    The miniature MP3 players, usually topping out at 256MB or 512MB due to the price of CF/SD cards, sell to a broader audience than the bigger jukeboxes. Even the bigger iPod is a bulky thing to carry around. The clones tend to be even bigger.

    The one thing that Apple has gotten right over the years is ergonomics and human interface: the iPods -- like the iMac -- are small, easy to use (which prompts some to call them crippled), few options to confuse (do I need AFLAC? [no, that's that insurance with the duck] What's an Ogg?), and they're smooth: soothing on the eye, and easy on the fabric of the pocket, if not the wallet.

  • Can we also open up the iPod... (Score:5, Funny)

    by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) ( 613870 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:29PM (#8672532) Journal
    ...so that RealPlayer can install itself on the LCD display in a prominent manner, pop up annoying ads every minute, reset itself to the most annoying set of options after you restart the iPod, play poor quality audio and, most of all, make itself completely unremovable from the iPod once installed?

    And while we're at it, can we give an iPod a wireless interface and GPS so that it can report to RealNetworks exactly where you've been going and what you've been doing while you've been carrying the thing around.

  • You wish! (Score:3, Funny)

    by agslashdot ( 574098 ) <sundararaman DOT ... AT gmail DOT com> on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:29PM (#8672536)

    Rob Glaser of RealNetworks claims that not opening the iPod to other formats is a real mistake. "I can't run .RM files on iPod. What is this, the Soviet Union ?"

    Bill Gates of Microsoft claims that not opening emacs to other formats is a real mistake. "I can't edit .DOC files on emacs. What is this, the Soviet Union ?"

    Howard Stern of Loudmouth Inc claims not opening the airwaves on ClearChannel is a real mistake. "I can't say F*** on radio ! What is this, the Soviet Union ?"

    Janet Jackson of Boob Inc. claims not opening her bra on public television is a real mistake. "I can't expose my nipples ! What is this, the Soviet Union ?"

  • Typo (Score:5, Funny)

    by Trolling4Dollars ( 627073 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:30PM (#8672553) Journal
    Rob Glaser of RealNetworks, though, claims that not opening the iPod (big or small) to other formats is a real mistake

    Ummmm... shouldn't that be RealMistake(tm)? ;)

  • Real reason? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Quixote ( 154172 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:31PM (#8672557) Homepage Journal
    I don't mean to diss the Mac crowd here, but how much of this shortage is due to the fact that the minis have 4GB microdrives [bensbargains.net] in them, which by themselves cost more than $250 [ebay.com] ?

    • Re:Real reason? (Score:3, Informative)

      by transient ( 232842 )
      The hard drives are, in fact, the reason for the shortage -- but not because of their price. Apple has purchased almost every single 4GB microdrive that Hitachi has produced.

      From TFA (which you presumably have not read): '"We're actually consuming just about all the 4GB, one-inch drives they make. As they make more, we'll get more," said Mr Joswiak.'

  • Supported formats (Score:5, Informative)

    by 47Ronin ( 39566 ) <glennNO@SPAM47ronin.com> on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:33PM (#8672593) Homepage
    *sigh* do we have to go over this again and again? The iPod supports:
    AAC (16 to 320 Kbps) with or without Fairplay DRM, MP3 (32 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible, AIFF and WAV [apple.com]

    How many portable players support RealNetworks formats?

  • Geeks are geeks not marketers. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Mr. Flibble ( 12943 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:33PM (#8672594) Homepage
    So the slashdot crowd was wrong. (Yet again) Good thing I did not short those SCO stocks before... However, I feel that most slashdotters don't really understand what marketing is.

    Even though "marketing" is a dread-word around here, Apple seems to have a really good marketing department to me. They get it right quite often.

    Remember, marketing does not just reffer to the selling process of a given item, but also the process by which you conduct research into a given area to determine if there really is a market after all. It is important to check to see if the market is there by research, because what you can divine just by intuition is often wrong for marketing.

    A very interesting read (even if you are a computer only type geek) on marketing is:

    The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing [amazon.com]

    It covers things like how Listerine was the market leader for mouthwash - because everyone wanted to keep their mouth free from germs - and the medicie taste was irrelevant... Enter Scope, with better tasting mouthwash for "fresh breath" not germ killing so much, and now Scope is #1 in the market - Listerine #2.

  • I have an ipod mini. And a big one, too. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by st. jude ( 612033 ) * on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:33PM (#8672596)
    The people who say you can get the 15gig for $50 more don't get it - they serve different purposes.

    I keep my thrid-generation 30 gig at home most of the time, connected to my stereo, because I have put all my CDs in storage. Meanwhile, on my daily commute, I carry the mini - 4 gig is plenty of songs for an hour a day! And the tininess makes a huge difference, plus the new "click wheel" is, for me, the ideal controller. When I travel, the big one comes with me - more music, plus a FW HD. But for quick trips around town, the mini beats it hands down - and the big one (I realize it's demented to call the regular size big, but that's how it feels, now) can be home, serving as my music library.

    Now, of course not everyone buying the mini has both, but I bet there are a fair number. And for those who choose only a mini, well, the tiny size and great interface are powerful draws - and many people think 1000 songs at a time is plenty!

  • Damn its cuteness factor (Score:5, Funny)

    by ClockChaos ( 758432 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:34PM (#8672616)

    Being a female tech geek myself, I was with you all when I thought the the mini was an idiotic concept priced for failure.

    But then they started putting these ads in the InStyle magazine (girly fashion mag touting the latest styles out there). The ad was two facing pages with postcard pop-ups of paper iPod Minis to actual size, one of each color. Damn it if it didn't look as nice as some of those cute little handbags in the same price range a few pages away.

    I still didn't get it, but I swear, if they slap a little Hello Kitty on it, I may have to cave in to the cuteness factor. ;p

  • Falling on Deaf Ears (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SamBaughman ( 74713 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @05:36PM (#8672638) Journal
    Sorry Real, but I don't see any need for the iPod to support yet another proprietary audio format. The iPod can deal with stanard AAC and MP3, and Apple's FairPlay AAC. Ogg Vorbis would be nice, as it is an open standard that anyone can implement royalty-free, but I can live with what I have right now. Real and Windows Media? I wouldn't have bought my iPod if I needed them.

    The beauty (to me, the consumer) of FairPlay DRM is that every track bought from the iTunes Store comes with the same rights. I don't have to wonder what I can do with my purchases, or read any fine print. I like that. I doubt I'll ever buy off of another online store, because it's a problem I don't need... unless someone else starts selling FairPlay AAC files or standard un-mangled files.

  • Yeah, the IPod may be popular.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by cardshark2001 ( 444650 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @06:07PM (#8673071)
    But it only has one button and you have to drag the headphone jack icon to the trash icon to get your headphones out of it.

    Oh yeah, and you can only play one song at a time.

  • I thought it was a great idea (Score:3, Insightful)

    by asv108 ( 141455 ) <asv@@@ivoss...com> on Thursday March 25, 2004 @06:13PM (#8673150) Homepage Journal
    Not just for people who think its "cute" or like the fact that you can pick a color, the mini-ipod is great for people who exercise (ie 1% of /.). I've owned 2 full size ipods in the past and they are simply too big for a run but manageable in the gym.

    A lot of people i know who have mp3 portables use them exclusively for the gym, so Apple probably did a little bit of market research and found that a smaller device would be a hit among active people and women. For most people, the 4GB size limitation is not an issue. Remember, most of these active people are using 128mb flash players. The only big issue is the $250 price tag. Apparently apple priced it right, otherwise the device wouldn't be selling that well.

  • Anecdote - female roommate (Score:5, Informative)

    by Ineffable 27 ( 203704 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @06:39PM (#8673553)
    When my chick roommate first saw my iPod, she was blown away. After a few preliminary questions, the first thing she said was, "I've got to get one for going to the gym." The second thing: "What colours does it come in?"

    She seemed surprisingly disappointed when I said it only came in white.

    Apple's done their market research on this one, folks.

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