Apple today “unveiled the iPod nano, a super-thin MP3 player that will replace the iPod mini and begins shipping today,” Therese Poletti reports for The Mercury News. “‘Today we’re doing something pretty bold. This thing is thinner than a No. 2 pencil,’ crowed Jobs, who pulled the newest iPod from a small pocket in his blue jeans. ‘My prediciton is this will become the highest volume iPod in the world.'”
Poletti reports, “The nano, which weighs 1.5 ounces, roughly the weight of eight quarters. It is 80 percent smaller in volume than the original iPod and one-third the size of the current mini. A 4-gigabyte model that holds 1000 songs will cost $249. A 2-gigabyte version that holds 500 songs will cost $199. It also has a color screen and shows photos.”
“Jobs gave fresh statistics on the lead Apple’s iTunes commands on the digital music scene. The iTunes Music Store has sold more than a billion songs so far, and has an 82 percent share of the U.S. digital music market, and 80 percent of the U.K. market,” Poletti reports. “About 10 million people have iTunes accounts linked to their credit cards, Jobs said, and and customers spend an average of $60 per year in the store. He boasted that iTunes is now one of the largest online music marketplaces, second only to Amazon.com.”
Full article here.
Advertisement: Apple iPod nano. 1,000 songs. Impossibly small. From $199. Free shipping.
Jobs’ crystal ball appears to be in perfect working order. Poletti’s report must have meant to state, “The iTunes Music Store has sold more than half a billion songs so far.”
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Nick, I can assure you that on my PC, my iPod syncs much faster using FireWire than it does using USB 2.0. I’m sure that goes for Macs as well.
try cramming a USB card into an iMac or eMac.
The revelations of the new testament predict the world will be led to destruction by one man. It also foretells of a time when everyone has ‘the mark’. a mark on their hand and on their head! Could this be the iPod and the headphones?
Sinners!!! Repent Now!!! For the hour is at hand.
Ward, don’t you think you were a bit hard on the Beaver last night?
The iPod nano is overpriced and will never sell. After all, why buy a 4GB iPod nano for $249 when I could buy a 20GB iPod for $299.
I don’t care what you say, Steve Jobs has screwed up big time with this one.
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This bit of nostalgia bought to you courtesy of the Thurrott-Enderle Foundation for Inaccurate Prognostication.
I hope they’ve finally done it. What they need to do is hit on the smallest form-factor that is still 100% useable. Cell phones have been there for a while now. That’s why we’re seeing a gazillion additional features on our phones now. If they could make the phones any smaller than they do now and not sacrifice useability, they would. Anyone think this thing would be just as easy to use if it were any smaller? Without holding one in my hand I can’t say what my final opinion on that is myself, but for now it looks like it would be hard to use if it were any smaller. Once they find their form the storage will just continue to rise. Someday, we’ll see nanos with the same capacity as we now get with full-sized ipods.
You can also get a Firewire cable from griffintechnology.com and select either the 400 or 800 version. If you already have an iPod then the Firewire cable from that would work, unless it is the original design.
I think the Nano doesn’t work with FireWire like the 3G iPod doesn’t work with USB 2.0, which is the definitive turn off for me I’ll be getting a 20 gig full size iPod, not that it matters to any of you.
Why buy a 4G Nano for same price as a 20G pod? Same reason people pay more for laptops than desktops with twice the speed and memory? Or the same on a sportcar as an SUV.
They don’t care about the capacity but how they’ll use it. (A shuffle is way better for the Gym than a 20G pod – it looks like you can slip a Nano in your pocket without causing a bulge).
The MAJORITY of music buyers don’t have enough music to fill a 4G pod. Why pay more for 16G you’re not going to use? 1000 songs has been the proven ‘sweet spot’ for the majority of consumers.
(Wheras I expect we will see 80G and 160G big pods – I’ve got 1/2 my CDs on a 20G pod and filled it, and still have all my singles and vinyl to go – but I don’t mistake myself for a typical consumer).
period after “me”
Hey, back again to remind y’all that when the mini debuted, it also was priced at $249. People said that no one would buy it because for $50 more you could quintuple the storage. Anyone remember how that worked out for Apple?
Jack – USB2 is faster than Firewire 400 (but not Firewire 800). Firewire will continue hanging around as so many video cameras support it, but USB2 is definitely the way to go with computer peripherals – don’t forget that Apple was one of the first off the block to support the original USB, rather than thinking of it as USB/Microsoft/bad – firewire/apple/good.
FireWire attains higher sustained speeds than USB 2.0. The rated speeds are burst speeds.
“The iPod nano is overpriced and will never sell. After all, why buy a 4GB iPod nano for $249 when I could buy a 20GB iPod for $299.
I don’t care what you say, Steve Jobs has screwed up big time with this one.”
ROTFL! That is exactly what doomsaying analysts said when Apple introduced the iPod mini. Guess which iPod model is the biggest seller? Guess what else? The nano has replaced the mini in the iPod lineup, and not only is it much smaller and lighter, it has a color display. One more guess? It’s going to sell like nothing you’ve ever seen.
I don’t care what you say, you screwed up big time with your analysis.
I read a while back on Apple’s site that filling a 20G iPod takes 13 hours with USB 2.0 and 30 minutes with FireWire
Oops! Is my face red! I didn’t read the snarky bit at the bottom of your post until after I’d clicked “Submit”. Sorry, Deja Vu, my bumbling mistake.
Deja Vu,
Good one, by the way. OK, OK, you got me, I admit it.
This might explain why the iPod Mini I won in the 500M contest hasn’t arrived yet, despite the claim that they planned to “ship it the week of August 15th”. They were waiting for it to become much less valuable. I’ve emailed them repeatedly and politely; no response at all.
I still like Macs, but will never again recommend iTunes.
…and yeah, if the MDN editor thinks I’m BS-ing, I’d be happy to forward (with full headers) the emails I got from Apple concerning this.
Viridian – tx for the apology: the problem with irony on the Net is that sometimes it gets missed.
BTW, to all arguing about USB2 vs FireWire, the bad news is that the nano will charge over both but will only sync using USB.
I’d think this will probably become the standard for all new iPods, including the iPod mini which I fully expect to return as an 8GB unit before Thanksgiving.
“He boasted that iTunes is now one of the largest online music marketplaces, second only to Amazon.com.”
I just love all the MDNers who said this wouldn’t happen. Eventually, iTunes will become one of — if not the most — visited portal on the internet.
Random Coolzip,
and iTunes will never again recommend you.
Random Coolzip,
When you do get your iPod nano (instead of mini), do bother to come and post the same here.
Boo Hoo,
A slight difference between the cases is that Apple never recommended me, nor would there be any possible reason for them to do so. On the other hand, I’ve steered at least 6 people away from WMA-based “services” toward iTunes. Half of those people aren’t all that much into purchasing music online, but when they do so it’s via iTunes on my recommendation. They’ll have no problem at all not buying any more, not telling THEIR friends, etc based on my experience in this case.
I figure Apple lost perhaps 9-12 downloads a month, an iPod sale (two of my friends have expressed interest in buying one; I feel sure that at least one will now not do so), and also my own music purchases of about $15-$20 month… not that there’s a lot of profit in music sales for Apple, but I’m still going to be there downloading the weekly freebie and listening to previews to guide my CD purchases.
If they have a good explanation for the delay in delivery – and/or they do a free upgrade to the nano model at the same pricepoint (though I lose 2GB in the process)- great. But I’ll be damned if I’ll pay income taxes on a player that was discontinued before I ever got it and has a much lower resale value than it retailed for at the time I “won” it ~two freaking months ago.
Maybe I’ll just refuse delivery if/when it arrives.
IT guy,
I will certainly post if that occurs. I just don’t think it will… if it does, though, I will have no problem at all admitting that I was wrong about Apple motives.
I don’t post here often, but I’m generally very pro-Apple – google will probably confirm that.
If what you suggest is true — that they were delaying in order to do a free upgrade and so forth — it still would have been nice of them to respond to me and say that they were looking into the non-delivery and they weren’t going to claim a month later that “oh yeah, DHL left that on your porch on August 22nd…” (I work from home and am here during business hours, so I know that it wasn’t delivered and stolen, and I’ve been here to provide a signature if required)
Frustrating to look out the window every time I hear something resembling a delivery van, though, for weeks on end. Yes, I have other things to do than wait for UPS/DHL/whoever, but I still look.
To Random Coolzip
uhh, i know you want to rant and everything, but did you ever hear the story about the gift horse ?
this might help you too: http://tinyurl.com/8x4us