JeffyC's Profile

Hein sight is a wonderful thing. My uncle had a 2G he purchased from Best Buy, but he was intelligent enough to enroll in the 3 year extended plan. And he is now the proud owner of the exact model you are eyeballing, Greg. And all for the price of the $79 enrollment fee and and additional $50 to cover the selling price difference, of the two models. Of course sentiment can play no part in economy. Makes me squerm too, thinking about missed opportunities like that. And it sound like you are just avoiding what is going to happen anyways. So enjoy your next iPod, and iPod after that, and iPod after that..................

I don't think we really have to worry about the brand name "iPod Mini" getting stale after such a grand reception this year. Apple never let the iPod standard get old hat, and just as soon as these 5 colors get a bit overloaded in the market, I'm sure you will magically see generation 2 with 5 NEW COLORS. Yes, we the consumer, are gullable.

There was quite a bit of history to absorb in this article, but I thing I’ve digested all of it now. And I think I have four points missed by Mr. Seibold. Let think about advertising. Apple, in all of its greatness, is still one company against many. As a matter of fact, “many” is an understatement; an “army” might put things in better perspective. Since Apple’s decision in the 80’s not to share its technology, through licensing agreements, began the process of isolating themselves from the rest of the early computing world; at least it was tiny then. Now Apple is competing against dozens of viable computer builders who all share one thing in common; they build PCs. Its just a simple fact that advertising isn’t going “fix” anything. Apple’s only goal in public promotion should be to make sure that the public hasn’t “forgotten”. Anyways, Apple’s focus should continue to be “hook’em in college” by continuing their involvement in our major institutions of education. My next point involves the analysis of Apple’s growth and decline of sales volume. Any person who runs a business is familiar with a Profit & Loss Statement; whereas you analyze the successes and failures of your business. There are two mathematical ways to go about this. One is analyzing percents against a whole, which was greatly covered in the article above. The other is the evaluation of YOUR overall sales in a strictly “units sold” analogy. If you were to plot a graph of the percent of market share, you would see peaks and valleys against an environment that was dynamically changing from moment to moment, as it was going through a metamorphosis. Now plot a graph of units sold, year by year. Without hard evidence in front of me, I would ponder a guess that you would see a very steady growth of units (Mac’s) going out of the doors; very stable growth in an ever changing, and truly booming marketplace. Looking at graph two, you might not be so worried after all. And I must point out again, that Apple is doing this alone. My third point is the iPod comment made by Chris near the end of his article. Doesn’t the iPod of today remind you of the Apple II back in the glory days of computing? It does to me: Different environments producing the same effects. The Apple II was alone in the computing world; or at least it felt that way because Apple was so “head and shoulders” above the rest. And for that superiority, Apple received order after order. Now look at the iPod. In the world of digital audio players (DAPs), Apple jumped on board while portable digital music was in its infancy, and with some help, created a beautiful device that has become its own icon. Apple can’t make‘em fast enough. Are there other DAPs? Yes, but they are not truly competitors, at least not yet. Apple II and iPod; I say their early years are far too the same. And what’s the iPod’s future? That is up to Apple to decide, and I hope they didn’t forget the past. I’m sorry to ramble, it’s been too long, but I’d like to make a social comment, an Apple social comment. When you think of the people who own Macs, who are they? I think their writers, musicians, photographers, video artists, graphic designers, animators, and architects; the artisans of our time. Do we honestly think that these people want to exist in the mundane majority? No, they want to exist in the “elite minority”. These people are proud to use their Apple equipment and say “Here we are, in a better plain of computing existence.” Keep your PCs and I’ll keep my Apple, my Lamborghini of computing. Thank you.

dear data masked, If that is your REAL name. The airport extreme is $129 according to Apple's site. And we all know that if its $129 at Apple's site, then its $129 everywhere. Almost every company that carries routers and access points has devices for video game systems called wireless bridges to accomplish the same thing. The trick is, having Airtunes see it. I don't know yet, but I have a feeling that this might be exclusice to teh Airport Extreme. And again my point is that this "cute" device is nothing new, just "cuter"

I see little if no benefit to this device. Did we all forget how portable our iPod is? With a dock and a "Monster" cable we can create the exact same thing for alot less $$$$$$. And if you want more control just add the "naviPod" by Ten Technologies and now you have a wireless remote control. And you know what? Still less $$$$$$, and there is no chance for a signal to be broken by a cordless phone or microwave. I think sometimes computer users as a whole quickly leap at things that look like a technological advancement, but then realize that there is no advantage at all. I have a wireless network myself too. I even have a wireless printer. But I need a real benefit to bite on "no cords". Cords have value too, in their places. Once again Apple has made a sexy looking thing here. But think first here before you buy in.

Nathan, Bravo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Starbuck is already experimenting with 4 coffee shops where you can download music and burn th CD? I believe the experiment is in California right now.

The reason I feel so confused, by all this debate, is because I don't feel restricted by iTunes 4.5 at all. Lets go back in time a bit. I the days of the LP, your only copy had to be very well protected. Because, one sctratch ment no music or spending more money. There was no such issue as back up coppies for the average "Joe on the street". This is when Copyrighting, by itself worked. If you wore out your 8 track tape, there was no backup to go to. You went back to the store to buy another. Copyrighting alone worked here too. Then the introduction of the cassette tape started to change everything. You could copy your LP's, 8 tracks, and cassettes and create back ups, even mixing albums and multiple albums. But there was a sound quality sacrifice that the audiophiles couldn't stand. This is when Copyright started to show weakness. A simple written rule won't stop a person set on doing what he or she is set on doing. So now, to feel restricted by only being allowed to create 7 coppies of purchased music, seems a bit like we are reaching for a complaint. We are in total ownership of our iTunes music. We can back up on an infinate number of hard drives, both internal and external. We can play our iPods on our hip, in the car, on our home systems, our computers (both connected and unconnected to the internet). Yet all I hear is complaints that we can't copy our music to the level of a distribution facility. I know all this debate is hypathetical, but we are evaluating a new product like the 1000 year old book. It seem a bit odd.......thats all.