iSaltine

Stopped by the Apple Store yesterday. The new iPod nano is even smaller in person than it appears in photos, including this one. This thing seems just barely bigger than a saltine cracker. Even in thickness.

If you get one, be careful using it while eating soup.

Grading my iHunches

With Apple having made their product announcements today, it's time for me to grade my iHunches from Monday.

Overall, I did quite good. Each hunch was generally correct, and I even guessed the name of the new "iPod touch" product line correctly. (I should work for Apple marketing!) Some of the details were a bit off, but not terribly so... corrections noted below. The only place I blew it was not having the hunch that Apple would drop the 4 GB iPhone model and reduce the price of the 8 GB iPhone model from $599 to $399.

Here is my posting from Monday with corrections noted:

Hunch #1 -- The iPod touch. Apple expands the capabilities of the iPod but very carefully so -- to not step on the iPhone product line. A new iPod borrows the touch screen interface from the iPhone and has the capability to purchase songs directly from the iTunes Store wirelessly (with an available wi-fi connection). The wi-fi capability is specifically for purchasing songs and for web browsing. Want e-mail or web browsing? Get an iPhone. This new iPod runs OS X, the same operating system Apple runs on Mac computers, the Apple TV device and the iPhone. As with the iPhone, Apple uses flash memory for durability. Apple calls this new iPod line the "iPod touch" and releases it in two models -- 16 8 GB or 32 16 GB, selling for $349 $299 or $449 $399, respectively.

Hunch #2 -- The hard drive iPod lives on. While larger amounts of flash memory are relatively expensive and since some customers (such as DJs) need a lot of storage, Apple keeps the current hard drive iPod product line for now, reducing the price of the 80 GB model from $349 to $299 $249 and adding a 120 160 GB model for $399 $349.

Hunch #3 -- The larger-screen but "even thinner" iPod nano. The larger screen means that photos are now bigger than a postage stamp and also that videos can now be played on the nano. The resultant product line looks like a shrunken-down version of the current hard drive iPod. No OS X, wi-fi or touch interface. Some new colors in the mix. Same storage capacities and prices as before -- 2/4/8 GB at $149/$199/$249, respectively. The 2 GB model is gone but the 4 and 8 GB models remain available at reduced price points of $149 and $199, respectively.

Hunch #4 -- The iPod shuffle stays about the same. It adds some new colors, stays at $79, but goes from 1 GB to 2 GB and stays at 1 GB.

The resultant product line looks like this:

$79 - 2 1 GB iPod shuffle
$149 - 2 GB iPod nano
$199 $149 - 4 GB iPod nano
$249 $199 - 8 GB iPod nano
$299 $249 - 80 GB iPod
$349 $299 - 16 8 GB iPod touch
$399 $349 - 120 160 GB iPod
$449 $399 - 32 16 GB iPod touch
$499 - 4 GB iPhone
$599 $399 - 8 GB iPhone

Some iHunches

Apple announces new iPods this Wednesday. So what can we expect? Based on rumors I've read from here and there and some gut feel, here we go:

Hunch #1 -- The iPod touch. Apple expands the capabilities of the iPod but very carefully so -- to not step on the iPhone product line. A new iPod borrows the touch screen interface from the iPhone and has the capability to purchase songs directly from the iTunes Store wirelessly (with an available wi-fi connection). The wi-fi capability is specifically for purchasing songs. Want e-mail or web browsing? Get an iPhone. This new iPod runs OS X, the same operating system Apple runs on Mac computers, the Apple TV device and the iPhone. As with the iPhone, Apple uses flash memory for durability. Apple calls this new iPod line the "iPod touch" and releases it in two models -- 16 GB or 32 GB, selling for $349 or $449, respectively.

Hunch #2 -- The hard drive iPod lives on. While larger amounts of flash memory are relatively expensive and since some customers (such as DJs) need a lot of storage, Apple keeps the current hard drive iPod product line for now, reducing the price of the 80 GB model from $349 to $299 and adding a 120 GB model for $399.

Hunch #3 -- The larger-screen but "even thinner" iPod nano. The larger screen means that photos are now bigger than a postage stamp and also that videos can now be played on the nano. The resultant product line looks like a shrunken-down version of the current hard drive iPod. No OS X, wi-fi or touch interface. Some new colors in the mix. Same storage capacities and prices as before -- 2/4/8 GB at $149/$199/$249, respectively.

Hunch #4 -- The iPod shuffle stays about the same. It adds some new colors, stays at $79, but goes from 1 GB to 2 GB.

The resultant product line looks like this:

$79 - 2 GB iPod shuffle
$149 - 2 GB iPod nano
$199 - 4 GB iPod nano
$249 - 8 GB iPod nano
$299 - 80 GB iPod
$349 - 16 GB iPod touch
$399 - 120 GB iPod
$449 - 32 GB iPod touch
$499 - 4 GB iPhone
$599 - 8 GB iPhone

I'll be grading my hunches after the actual announcements on Wednesday.

The beat goes on

New iPods are to be announced next Wednesday at a scheduled press conference. What surprises does Apple have up its sleeve?

iPods of the future in a world of iPhones

There is speculation out there about where Apple is going to take its amazingly-successful iPod line considering the crossover between iPods and iPhones.

I found a thoughtful analysis on this by John Gruber, writer of the blog Daring Fireball. Highlights:

[A] defining characteristic of Apple as a company, today: They replace their hit products while they're still on top. Rather than building a lead over their competition and sitting on it, they just keep building. The best example of this was the introduction of the original iPod Nano. At the time, the best-selling iPods were the Minis. The iPod Mini was a smash hit product. And when Apple debuted the Nano, they killed it.

Most companies wouldn't even consider killing a product like the iPod Mini while it was still a best-seller; instead, they milk hit products for all they're worth and ride them out for years. (Exhibit A: Motorola's Razr.) One thing Apple could have done, but didn't, was continue to sell iPod Minis alongside the Nanos. Apple treats its product line-up like a product itself – it is designed to be obvious and easy to understand.

Choosing which iPod to buy is easy: Do you want to carry a huge library and/or play video? Get a regular iPod. Do you just want something small to play music? Buy an iPod Nano. Want something tiny and inexpensive? Get the Shuffle. No matter how risky it might have been to kill the iPod Mini while it was still the best-selling iPod, there just wasn't room for it in the line-up alongside the Nano.

(Compare and contrast to Verizon Wireless, whose chief marketing officer brags that they offer 18 different music-playing phones.)

The simple truth is that the iPhone user experience doesn't just blow away the experience of other companies' cell phones – it blows away the experience of Apple's own iPods. The biggest question, as I see it, is whether Apple plans to introduce iPods that are more or less just the iPod app from the iPhone (i.e. just music and video players), or iPods that are everything but phones, with Wi-Fi networking for email, web, and more.

iPhone

This is the best demo I've seen yet of the iPhone. Looks very, very cool:

The iPod shuffle... in color!

This is the neatest little gadget. I have a silver iPod shuffle and love it. The thing weighs nothing and clips to your clothes. And now, to top it all off, effective today it comes in all these great colors!! Okay, so I do apparently drink from the Apple Kool-Aid!!

Christmas for the Apple geeks: Jan. 9

Okay, I tend to become like a geeky kid at this time of the year. On Tuesday, Jan. 9, at 11 AM CST, Steve Jobs will introduce new products at Apple's annual "Macworld San Francisco" conference.

We should see more of a product that Jobs announced last fall -- a living room device code-named "iTV" -- you connect it to a TV and it lets you watch stuff from your computer -- photos, music, movies, TV shows.

Also rumored to be announced is an iPod that is also a cell phone. The rumor mill is all over the map on what this device would be like and how it would work.

Also expected: More new features in Leopard, the next version of the Mac operating system coming this spring... and iLife '07 -- the next version of Apple's digital media software -- iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb and GarageBand.

Who knows what else. Apple tends to surprise. And they are extremely tight-lipped about their new products.

And this year they are teasing us:

I'm still not interested

This morning, I found the following note in my amazon cart:
Click for larger view