Really, Steve… this is exactly what we were expecting. Cute. Shiny. Another perfect little piece of ergonomic engineering. So why’d you have to screw up by dropping a big-ass price tag on it? The price you were looking for is more like $100, not $249. For just $50 more, somebody could just go ahead and buy an adult-sized ipod!
So the letters that apply are W, T and F.
8 responses to “A Mini for a Maxi”
I’d even expect to pay $199 for it. But to put it in the same price range as the full-sized line, I’m wondering why they even bothered.
Crikey!
i think 2gig/$99 would be a good price. just above cost.
Tiff over at The Ankle Biter‘s got a different take, which had me second-guessing my own assessment (which matched yours).
First, it may well appeal to a market looking for something between an existing Flash player and the more high-end iPods. And second, so what if folks do shell out another $50 for the base iPod? If Mini sales don’t take off because folks are buying iPods, Steve won’t be losing any sleep.
Don’t know that it’s necessarily “the truth,” but it’s worth considering.
I think he (Jobs) might loose a little sleep when capital has been wasted on marketing, production, & advertising of the minipods.
Apple is smart folk. They set the price to see who’ll bite in first. I’m sure the tag will drop soon enough. Maybe in the $175-200 range.
Apple’s marketshare in desktop computers is about 2%. I think it would be worth Apple’s time and money to even LOSE money on the minipod just to get people in the door. They have a great product, but it’s priced for connoisseurs who are willing to shell out the astromical prices they’re asking. I got an entire IBM desktop that runs like a dream basically for the price of a G4 Powerbook. Why bother? Particularly in light of the disingenuous tech service Thomas has gotten on the laptop to date.
People said the original iPod wouldn’t sell well either remember. Apple know what they are doing, they don’t want a mass market product, they want to keep the trendy, fashion consious types.
But you won yours so stop it allready..
Apple announces the iPod mini
The new Apple iPod mini has 4GB of storage and will retail for $249. It’ll be on sale next month in the US, but April worldwide (except it’ll be a tad more expensive for us). The Apple iPod mini…