iPod: In Color!

[Imran Siddiqui]

Yeah... it's my new found love of the iPod I guess .

Soon, I will have a device which is at the center of this nerd thread .

[MrFun]

Wow -- is that like a record reply time for you? 15 nanoseconds?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Well to be fair to the question, I wasn't looking to buy one, per se, as to test it out to see whether I wanted to buy one .

Still, you want to find them and can't.

I'm utterly amazed that Tingkai asked for "proof" that people want to buy the Zen Touch.



He's either drunk, high, or he needs to get out of the journalism world to dust the cob-webs off his brain.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Wow -- is that like a record reply time for you? 15 nanoseconds?

According to forum clock... 54 seconds, so not quite .

Still, you want to find them and can't.

Well that's true. Circuit City had the old Zen's, but not the Zen Touch. The best commerical for the iPod was the Apple store in my mall where I could try them out at my leasure for as long as I wanted.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

Wow -- is that like a record reply time for you? 15 nanoseconds?

According to forum clock... 54 seconds, so not quite .

oh

[ixnay]

Originally posted by Agathon
No it isn't true. Almost everyone wants an ipod, apart from a few uncool saddo losers.

If someone walked up and gave me an iPod I'd use it, but there's no way in hell I'd ever spend money on one when it could be better-spent on a different player.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Asher
These stores that don't have the Touch still stock the totally crappy RCA and Sony units, and the Rio ones...plus the old Zens as well.

It makes NO sense for them not to offer the updated Zen at well if they could.

Why stock something no one wants? It would just mean more totally crappy units collecting dust. Instead, they stock the iPod that they know will sell.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Asher
Usability studies disagreed with your assertion that it's better to "sweep" like the iPods and original Zens do. It requires much more effort to do, and cannot vary the speed appropriately (it's limited to the speed of your finger movement -- which over a circle the size of the iPods isn't too fast).

Studies show... you don't know what you're talking about.

People love the click wheel. That's one of the reasons people are buying the iPod.

I haven't seen a single review that says the Zen Touch is a better design. I've looked at the Zen Touch and it looks shoddy.

If the iPod was made by any company other than Apple, you would be saying it's great. You just hate Apple.

[Agathon]

So you have a two options:
1) Retract your stupid argument, and put forth a real one if you can come up with one
2) Argue that the reason Apple's marketshare is so low is because they "suck", to provide consistency in your arguments

I don't have to do either since this must be the third or fourth time I've deployed that particular ****bomb, and you've bitten everytime.

You, on the other hand, are the one who raves on about marketshare all the time. I don't care, I just like seeing you bite.

[The Mad Monk]

.

[Agathon]

People are not buying the iPod because of clever marketing. They're buying it because it looks great and because it is easy to use.

In a nutshell that's it. Asher, and many of the technically inclined people on this forum, make the assumption that everyone is like them, and wants endless numbers of features, while caring about tech specs.

Most people don't care about that crap, they just want something that works and is easy to use. Only Apple seems to get this. That's not a surprise really, since their design philosophy has been "make it work as simply as possible" ever since the original Macintosh. Add to that their penchant for design (and only the visually and aesthetically impaired believe that any of the others come close to the ipod's looks) and you have what people want.

Techie people whine about the auto-sync feature (which you can turn off), but miss the point of it - this is what most people want, updating with no hassles.

The other companies also have completely missed the boat when it comes to marketing - the whole point of the damn things is that it is about the music. Marketing your player based on tech specs, features or battery life is missing the point. That's why ipod sales rocketed after the introduction of the itunes store, which is pretty cool, simple and designed around the content. The other stores are hopeless in this respect - they are trying desperately to be hip and failing miserably.

The ipod is an all in one experience that is as simple as possible so that the majority of human beings can use it without thinking too much about it. If your product isn't designed with this end in mind, you are going about it the wrong way.

[Agathon]

Mad Monk

[Zopperoni]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
A lower price would be the first step in making a dent, IMO.

Ah yes, but do they want to? If there's a supply problem due to Creative's lack of resources, then putting the price higher is a way to leverage it while still applying some sort of value-based pricing (instead of benchmarked pricing).

People are not buying the iPod because of clever marketing. They're buying it because it looks great and because it is easy to use.

Identifying what the needs and preferences of consumers are is clever marketing.

[Agathon]

Identifying what the needs and preferences of consumers are is clever marketing.

Kind of obvious, isn't it?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Tingkai
Why stock something no one wants? It would just mean more totally crappy units collecting dust. Instead, they stock the iPod that they know will sell.

Don't be dense now...

They stock the older versions of the Zen, which I'm sure evenless people want. And the craptacular RCA Lyra, which even less people want. And the early versions of the Sony Network Walkman that converts everything to ATRAC which no one wants...

The issue isn't that no one wants them. That should be frickin' obvious. The issue is they can't get a supply of them.

Even if "no one wants them", nationwide retailers could easily stock them on their website (Best Buy, etc).

Your argument is blatant bull****, the exact kind I expect from you...