Your Color Coordinated MP3 Player

Steve Jobs unveils the iPod mini; Photo: AP

The iPod mini is unveiled, and while Gizmodo is underwhelmed, we're sure that a fair share of people will buy it because they will be able to color coordinate. It will retail for $249 and holds 1,000 songs - that's $50 less and 9,000 less than a regular iPod. But again, there is the color coordination and size (it's about the size of the business card) in its favor.

Note to Apple: While your press images of the mini iPod are pretty, they really don't give people a sense of its size, which our friend JW pointed out ("Why not, say, an apple next to them, so people can see how small they are?"). Luckily, there are pictures like those by Tom Bridge that show the iPod mini in hand. [Also via Gizmodo]

Now, will Apple ask Verne Troyer and Yao Ming to come back to an iPod and iPod mini commercial?

While there are diehard iPod enthusiasts, we've heard very good things about the 20 GB iRiver IHP–120 which retails for the same as the 20 GB iPod and has many features the iPod doesn't.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on January 7, 2004 1:46 PM

Comments [rss]

Josh

Yeah, $249 is expensive -- I wanted a cheaper one. But, it's still a better deal than Flash-based MP3 players. Speaking of: the advantage to holding so many tunes on the iPod isn't ADD, it's that it's completely awesome. I think it's one thing if you use it for the gym or exercise, that's one thing.... If you're going on vacation for three weeks it's great to have your whole music library, etc. etc. etc. And I listen to all the records that I haven't listened to in ages on the iPod.

Hilton

I just bought a river 395T (512 MB) player on ebay (who pays retail anymore?). It's flash based, so holds less tunes, but it is SO tiny and has an FM player and recorder (if you miss that npr program and want to hear it later), a voice recorder, and a line-in jack so i can record directly from my records. anyway, i love it, and dont see why it is necessary to hold so so many tunes on one device. when i get sick of what's on the player, i simply change the songs. iPod encourages ADD, no? anyway, i would look seriously at a flash-based system if you want it to be ultra portable (for gyms and stuff) and i would make sure it has an FM tuner (gotta listen to the TV somehow).

Paul

seriously though.... its an ipod.... i... p .... o... d.... apple?

OPTI

I think this is basically the Palm Zire strategy -- create a sleek low-end tech toy to appeal to the vain; price uncompetitively high, keep at that price point until the novelty-buyers are gone, then drop to reasonable price.

OPTI

// optimuscrime.com

Doug

the stuff about the battery can be found at http://www.ipodsdirtysecret.com/

(that address might have been posted up here once before, but I can't remember!)

i've had my 5G IPod for about a year and a half and have noticed no change in battery life.

i'm waiting for the smaller version to a) come down in price and b) go up in gigs.

jake

yeah- i like the idea of a smaller body- i'd like a tic-tac box size ipod for when i skate- but for now i'll just drag the bigger version around. oh the humanity!

Jen

Re: color coordination, I was thinking the silver for boys and girls and the pastels for girls who are prefer purses to iPods (what's the male to female ratio of iPod ownership...it's just a hunch, so don't kill me if I'm wrong).

Re: 10,000 and the 20GB, yeah, I know I stretched that fact a bit. But considering it's just $50 bucks more to get the 2,000 more songs, I don't know if it's a good deal to get an iPod mini just because it's smaller.

Sterling

"Color-coordinate," Jen? Maybe if you're the Easter Bunny or a Teletubby. Myself, I'm not much for wearing pastel.

Wonder why they didn't stick with the more vibrant colors Apple used in the first line of iMacs, and in the Aqua OS X interface?

bruce

i've heard that the builtin rechargable battery in the regular ipod dies after a year or so and a replacement can be very expensive. so i am skeptic about the battery in mini ipods. and fifty bucks is not that big of a price drop for me to justify purchasing the mini ipod.

david

It doesn't have 9,000 songs less than the $299 model, it has 2,000 less. Only the $499 model holds "10,000 songs." The really problem is that people wanted a cheaper iPod, but instead Apple made a smaller iPod. Making things smaller usually makes them more expensive, not less.

james

I have a feeling this price will come down quickly. I think that if Apple came out with iPod line upgrades that were too good, they would face a tremndous amount of buyer's remorse from the (I assume) tens of thousands of people who bought iPods as gifts this holiday season.

Jeve Stobs

If the new mini iPod was $149 then it would be great.

However at $249 it's less than impressive when you consider a real iPod is fifty bucks more ($299) and holds ten times the songs.