Apple once again announced a new batch of iPod devices to lure consumers in the trap of buying just another iPod that can store more Gigabytes, is smaller or offers a touch screen interface. High-End users have the choice between a 8 and 16 Gigabyte iPod Touch which looks pretty similar to the iPhone but ships without phone capabilities or between a 80 and 160 Gigabyte iPod Classic device.
If you prefer small you have the choice between a 8 Gigabyte iPod Nano or a 1 Gigabyte iPod Shuffle. Users are given choices which is fine but the question that no one asked so far is about need. Who actually needs a new iPod ? Even if you own an old generation iPod you probably can’t justify a switch to a new product.
I have an iPod Nano with 4 Gigabytes for instance and a music collection that is above 10 Gigabytes. Do I need all of my music on a new iPod to be happy or is it enough to use smart playlists ?
Users who have a broken device surely have no other choice and I can fully understand that they want to go with the state of the art but everyone else ? Let us take a close look at the specs of the high end iPods:
The iPhone without phone ships with either 8 Gigabytes of space for $299 or 16 Gigabytes for $399. Both use a 3.5-inch multi-touch screen and support Wi-Fi (802.11b/g).
The iPod Classic is the only iPod family that uses a hard drive to store the data. The 80 Gigabyte iPod Classic retails at $249 while the 160 Gigabyte one at $349. The screen has a size of 2.5-inches.
Users who already own a 40+ Gigabyte iPod will surely not swap their device for a iPod Touch with 16 Gigabytes or less because it would mean that they would have to reduce the amount of files that are currently on their player. It is also unlikely that they will make the switch to the 160 Gigabyte model which doubles or even quadruples the capacity.
My prediction is that Apple will sell heaps of the iPod Touch simply because it offers a new user interface. This is a device to brag with; something that makes the owner stick out of the masses of iPod users.
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I think that may interest existing iPod users is that they’ve actually cut the price of the smaller capacity hard drives (8gb one) and are offering vouchers to compensate. This was found on the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6982717.stm
p/s: I don’t own an iPod alas. Maybe in the future? :)
Sorry – I should clarify – the price drop is for the 8gb iPhones rather than the iPods :)
Man, I hate iPods. Nobody ever seems to look for any other type of mp3 that is superior to the iPod (exluding that damned Zune) but i for one have if you realy want a superior flash mp3 notice the “flash” you should check out Mobiblu;
http://www.mobiblu.com/main/ (korea)
http://www.mobiblu.us/ (USA)
their mp3’s dont go past the 2 gb capacity but who cares when you have an mp3 that can play Music and Video, has
FM Tuner
FM/Voice Recording
PODcast ready
12 Hour Battery Life
and VoIP (yeah thats right VoIP)
this mp3 is called “Boxon” by the way
they have other mp3’s too they even have one that has a battery life of 150 hours