21Feb/05Off
To Shuffle, Or To Shuffle Not
You know, The Global iPod Shuffle Shortage™ would be a damn site easier to accept if it wasn't for the fact that Apple appear to be mocking us all over it.
Here in San Francisco, there are posters for the damn' thing *everywhere*, and the Apple Store ('Flagship' by the way) has a huge window display promoting them.
Inside the store, it's a different matter. There's a waiting list "with hundreds of people" on it, and they're getting them in "in 10s or 20s, on good days", then contacting the people on the list to get them to come in and collect them.
Presumably similar scenes are being enacted around the world.
I've never heard anything so stupid.
February 21st, 2005 - 20:17
they are good though, i’ve had mine now for a few weeks….
February 23rd, 2005 - 12:23
but, its a great bit of Marketing..
Apple do it again and again, create an artificial shortage after a big media launch of the product.
The product itself achieves mythical status..and letting it out in dribs and drabs means there is plenty of opportunity for “i’ve got summat you havn’t, and can’t have for ages”..
+ those who have waited are bound to be happier with it after all that waiting, so different to the usual consumerist instant Grat. we’re all used to.
This time around, it’s not even such a revolutionary product, just apples version of..
If you can’t be bothered to wait, there’s always the Cowon iAudio 4, which seems to be easily available, also 512mb.. but has a built in FM radio..and a choice of 124 backlight colours on the LCD display.
(boasts of twice the batterly life of the Apple gizmoo too)..
Plenty of other competitors available to , in my personal opinion, the only real advantage of the apple versions is that the I-tunes etc. software is much better than other offerings.
February 23rd, 2005 - 18:00
ooooh 124 back light colours, now i knew my shuffle was missing something….
February 23rd, 2005 - 18:29
The more I talk to people the more I hear that the *only* significant selling point that Apple have for their rather overpriced MP3 Players (apart from the ‘cool’ factor), is iTunes.
February 23rd, 2005 - 22:40
this is of course true, but having an easy to use system to load your mp3 player with tunes helps, after all you wouldn’t want to have to go the sony route where (until recently) all of your tunes had to go through a conversion process to go on to their overpriced music players