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Next Day Analysis: What You Need to Know About Those New iPods

9/6/07, 3:36 pm EST


There were two groups of people who were upset to hear Apple’s announcement of new iPods on Wednesday: The poor schmucks who paid $600 for an iPhone, only to see the price drop by 30 percent in two months, and the poor schmucks who make Microsoft’s Zune. The Zune’s main innovation was its Wi-Fi capability — which lets you share songs between Zunes, if two Zune-equipped people somehow manage to meet — and Apple just trumped that with the iPod Touch, which are equipped with Wi-Fi that actually allows you to buy songs from the iTunes Music Store.

But it’s frustrating that the highest capacity iPod Touch holds a mere sixteen gigs, making it an unlikely choice for hardcore iPod fans. The so-called iPod classic now tops out at 160 gigs, but with no Wi-Fi. Why? To get above sixteen gigs or so, you need to switch from flash memory to battery-draining hard drives — and presumably, the combined battery burden of Wi-Fi and hard drive was just too much.

It’s cool to be able to buy music almost anywhere, but in the end, today’s iPod and iPhone selection still represents a compromise, limited by current technology. Ideally, you’d have a eighty-gig-plus iPod or iPhone that would allow you to surf the web and buy tunes at high speed wherever you are — but free Wi-Fi everywhere is just a fantasy, and the iPhone isn’t even capable of running on fast 3G phone networks. Another dream: Imagine paying ten dollars a month for an iTunes subscription — all the music you want, streamed wirelessly, anytime. Give Apple (and maybe a competitor or two) a couple more years, and we might just get there. In the meantime, as singer KT Tunstall told us yesterday at the Apple event, the iPod Touch is “a nice piece of kit.”

UPDATE: In an open letter on the Apple site, Steve Jobs defends his iPhone price drop but offers a concession to disgruntled consumers — $100 credit toward the purchase of anything at Apple stores. “Details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple’s website next week. Stay tuned.”


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Comments

Joe | 11/4/2008, 6:31 pm EST

i like dicks

dazedandconfused | 9/12/2007, 8:00 pm EST

you only think america is the greatest country in the world because you’ve never been anywhere else…

sam | 9/8/2007, 8:22 am EST

but i would kill for vinyl.

sam | 9/8/2007, 7:52 am EST

ah, cassettes vs. ipods.
the war of the century. personally, i prefer both, with a great warm sound at home and 30 gbs of music on the road.
see, a compromise?

scull&roses | 9/8/2007, 3:58 am EST

America is the GREATEST COUNTRY ON THE PLANET……. YOU DICK!!!!!999

zippy turtle cheeseburger | 9/8/2007, 1:58 am EST

iPods are just tracking devices to control the sheep that are the human race…
or they’re just iPods… whichever.

Jerry | 9/7/2007, 11:40 pm EST

Cassettes? C’mon! Nothing could beat the durability of an 8 track tape. Sounds way better than AM radio too. Now that’s the real “classic”.

simone | 9/7/2007, 7:36 pm EST

The ipod has revolutionized the way I listen to music. I was raised on cassettes and cds, but the ipod for me is a miracle. I agree that the ipod touch is a little low on memory, but it sure looks nice. For the moment that 160 GB baby is the one lust for.

zach | 9/7/2007, 7:03 pm EST

I have the 30gb ipod “classic” and it’s pry the best investment i’ve ever made as far as electronics go. I’m gonna hold out for another 2 or 3 years before I upgrade that would be 5 years on a $300 investment not bad if you ask me. Far better than my last girlfriend.

BEND OBER | 9/7/2007, 5:28 pm EST

Clever ways for some to sell to (douches?) to make more money , suckers! you don’t need all this.

Bouquet | 9/7/2007, 4:45 pm EST

Cassettes are absolutely the best. They’re so durable, you can put them in your pocket, drop them on the floor. CD’s are wothless, you look at them the wrong way they skip. I don’t mind waiting 12 seconds before the 1st song begins! To me they sound better than this digital shit. It’s a much warmer sound. And once the song starts, the hiss goes away. I had a collection of $5,000 worth of cassetes, but my ex fiancee completely robbed and raided it, the bitch. I’ll never be able to put it back together. Oh well, what can you do?

Michelle Badillo | 9/7/2007, 4:19 pm EST

I’d love a ipod touch, I’ll wait for it to get cheaper though. I’m broke.

The Phantom | 9/7/2007, 1:42 pm EST

Dear Dark Prince, where are YOU from, fuckin’ Lebanon?

Anonymous | 9/7/2007, 1:25 pm EST

you stupid kids with your i-pods and i-phones. cassettes rule

shepula | 9/7/2007, 11:21 am EST

i’m waiting for the ipod that makes a sandwhich & does my taxes with special foot massage option when it comes out. i have an iphone & i love it. 600 smackers well spent. cry babies.

gene | 9/7/2007, 11:03 am EST

geez, i like my shuffle. no tiny little screen to try and see, twelve hours of music, who listens to more than that, and i know what songs i have in my library

JD | 9/7/2007, 10:40 am EST

I think its awesome dispite all the drawbacks… i will be one of the first to get the ipod touch

BaxBall | 9/7/2007, 9:47 am EST

I don’t get it. The Touch is so thin you should be able to AT LEAST double the 16GB capacity by making it as thick as say a 3G Ipod. What is the point of having the gorgeous wide screen if you can only fit a handfull of films on it (not to mention a few gigs of music)?! So close but yet so far, Apple. This grasshopper will also be waiting for at lest a 40GB capacity Touch.

Sammy | 9/7/2007, 9:39 am EST

How about 160 gigs of… shut the hell up! Fucking Americans. You know you will die soon of cancer. See you all in hell, 666 …… The Dark Prince is here! 666

Ms. Androvette | 9/7/2007, 1:42 am EST

forget it; i’m just going to wait until they start putting chips in our heads. 666

Willard Big Sack | 9/7/2007, 12:54 am EST

iPods are not as cool as a nice brown Zune.

Brian | 9/7/2007, 12:39 am EST

gees your best bet is to just buy a 30 gig ipod and wait for the holidays to roll out …. to many changes tooo fast..soon the iphone and wi fi and ipod will be one……to be continued….

Nick | 9/7/2007, 12:34 am EST

Eh.. i paid 300 bucks for my 30 gig.. and now 80 is 250.. so sad.. i’ve already run out of room… but i’ll wait for an HDD version of the Ipod Touch or at least until it gets >50GBs. Whether that will be available in flash anytime soon, who knows.

mattmchugh.com | 9/7/2007, 12:28 am EST

iPod Touch: yeah… it’s cool, it’s slick, it’s innovative, it’s limited, it’s flawed, it’s dazzling, it’s over-hyped, it’s astoundingly useful, it’s an impractical toy.

It’s darn close to all things to all people, and there is nothing like it on the market (’cept the iPhone: see comments above and add any expletives you feel necessary.)

Say what you like about Apple, but it’s gone from the Little Engine That Almost Couldn’t to a Titanic that smashes icebergs. Personally, I’m lovin’ the show, while I listen to my own soundtrack on a 2-year old iPod Nano that won’t hold a charge for more than 90 minutes. And the beat goes on.

- mattmchugh.com

JudasConstant | 9/6/2007, 11:31 pm EST

In a perfect world the iPod would hold a bazillion gigs and you could download sandwiches and make Metallica be your best friends. Sadly we have to compromise because of the limits of technology. ;_;

Jobs/Gates = Interchangeable | 9/6/2007, 10:52 pm EST

iPods are junk. Mine have all broken down. I’d sooner eat shit than buy another. Come to think of it, I’ve been eating Apple-Shit since I bought the damned things !

Gimmee an “R”
Gimmee an “I”
Gimmee a “P”
Gimmee an “O”
Gimmee an “F”
Gimmee another “F”
Whaddaya Got = “iPod” !

Martin | 9/6/2007, 10:45 pm EST

Solid-state/flash capacity is increasing by the month and will replace “moving-parts” storage technology altogether in the near future.

Be patient Grasshoppers, and mobile devices with 160Gb of solid-state/flash storage will soon become available.

Or, be a good little Consumer-Sheep and keep throwing good money away by upgrading every week - like the industry wants you to. Baaaaaaaaah !

Anonymous | 9/6/2007, 10:02 pm EST

The touch has no HDD, it’s flash based (more expensive, more compact, less draining) which is why it’s so small.

Jimbo | 9/6/2007, 9:27 pm EST

I was disappointed by the HDD size on the Touch. Its waaaay too small. The iPod “Classic” is my only realistic choice, which isn’t so bad seeing how its cheaper with 5 times as much memory. I wonder how much they’re exaggerating that 40 hour battery life…

Jack | 9/6/2007, 9:05 pm EST

Guess it means I’m old, but I still prefer CD’s.

fydo1974 | 9/6/2007, 8:14 pm EST

Dude, I’m ordering a new 160 GB iPod classic right now.

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