It strikes me as a little cheap by Dell to present a side-by-side comparison of their own digital music player and Apple's iPod (full disclosure - I am the proud owner of an iPod) which lists the different players specifications. It shows that one of the Dell MP3 players was named 'Editor's Choice' by CNET.com, while neglecting to mention that the iPod they used for comparison (the 20GB model) was also named 'Editor's Choice', and even given a higher score by that reviewing body - 8.7 to 8.0.
I know all's fair in love and advertising, but still...
Hardly surprising though... they are smarting over this. http://www.macminute.com/2004/01/10/dell
And before we go praising the iPod for being the best player in the world (which it probably is), its important to remember that it does not offer the best value for money in terms of features or indeed performance when compared to say this player http://www.irivernordic.com/products.php?pid=24 which boasts the following features; Ogg Vorbis audio format, SRS surround sound, a line-in port for making voice memos or recording live concerts using an external microphone, USB 2.0 for file-transfer, digital and analog inputs and outputs, a remote control with an LCD (the first on a hard drive-based MP3 player), a built-in FM tuner, etc.
And anyway, Apple do it all the time (Remember G5 statement being 'the worlds fastest personal desktop computer'... highly subjective)
Apple, whilst very much the minority will remain a nice company that continues to pay attention to detail. The day Apple has anything like 50% market share will be the day of its downfall, and the day I consider a PC
Posted by: M C | 10.01.2004 at 06:40 PM
Heh. Even better is Rio, who previously had a huge banner on a page about one of their solid state players (like http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/shop/_templates/item_main_Rio.asp?model=215&cat=35) saying "As Featured By Steve Jobs In Keynote Speech!" Unfortunately for them, it was 'featured', as someone said, 'in the same way George Bush is 'featured' at a Howard Dean rally' - i.e. Steve spent about 10 minutes slagging it off (in comparsion to new iPod mini...) I suppose no publicity is bad publicity and all that, but still :-)
Posted by: Simon | 10.01.2004 at 10:14 PM
Speaking of Steve Jobs and keynote speeches, have you seen the new Hewlett-Packard design iPods? Probably the ugliest Mac product I've ever seen (and I'm not a great fan of the iPod mini either). I respect Job's judgement, but the whole Hewlett-Packard deal smacks of selling out on your own (let's face it, extremely successful, and rightfully so) music player, so that you can slap Microsoft in the face.
Posted by: sceefy | 11.01.2004 at 01:03 AM
I agree, the shade of blue does seem particularly vomit-inducing. On the other hand, as far as I can see the rest of the thing is identical in terms of design, software etc., so it's not going to detract too much from the overall experience - presumaly people will only buy them if they don't mind the colour anyway (see http://www.colorwarepc.com/products/accessories.aspx). As far as I can see this is an excellent opportunity for Apple to increase the market share for iTunes and AAC as opposed to WMA - think about how big a retail presence HP has, and iTunes will be preloaded on every HP PC - and therefore can only be a good thing. Presumably there'll be a clause in the contract saying HP can't undercut Apple, and this isn't like the original Mac clone fiasco in that the gadget is identical and so not diluting the brand experience.
Posted by: Simon | 11.01.2004 at 10:10 AM
Gah... MovableType's URL detection code is clearly too stupid to realise that the ) at the end was not actually part of the address. Try this:
http://www.colorwarepc.com/products/accessories.aspx
Posted by: Simon | 11.01.2004 at 10:16 AM
Hmm. Not quite sure I follow you Seb... The HP iPod is identical design to Apple iPod, except its blue... Not quite sure how it is simultaneously 'the ugliest mac product i have ever seen' and such a fantastic player in your eyes. There is no HP 'design' iPod.
Perhaps you have not seen a picture? http://www.macminute.com/2004/01/09/hpipod
[hint : identical design, different colour]
I have to disagree that it smacks of a deal just for the sake of giving MS a slap in the face...
Apple have done the deal, as mentioned, to have iTunes installed on every new HP PC. Think back to Steve Jobs' words... We don't make any profit (or much) from iTunes Music Store, but it does sell iPods. Apple want iTunes on as many computers as possible, to sell iPods. Ok, so, they don't support WMA, but thats hardly their only reason. They are not in competition with MS on the iPod front because MS don't even make a music player! Apple want a solid PC backer when we are on the verge of a massive switch to a much more integrated home entertainment / media revolution. Every day now some other product comes out which plays music / video from your pc on your hifi / TV. TiVo, HDTV, home networking. Apple just want to have some assistance in the PC market before this revolution happens [Apple share is under 4%] They also want to sell more iPods.
If anything... the deal smacks of giving Michael Dell a smack in the face...
[On the iPod mini though... have you actually seen one... the size of a stack of business cards 1/2 an inch high... Go make one and see]
Posted by: M C | 11.01.2004 at 12:35 PM
My main objection to the HP-flavoured iPod is the colour, to be honest. I know its exactly the same design as the traditional iPods, and that design is very very good, but the colour just struck me as intensely ugly. I suppose I'm just used to the pretty white players which fit stylistically with the rest of the Apple line-up (the beautiful flatscreen iMacs, iBooks etc).
Again, I'm afraid my problem with the iPod minis is again an aesthetic one; the design just seems so... sterile. It doesn't have the beautiful curvature (I'm trying to avoid making this sound sexual) which the larger iPods (does that have a different name now?) have. However I'm sure that their tiny size/vs large capacity will make them extremely popular, which can only be a good thing.
Yeah I agree with the deal being a smack in the face to Michael Dell. In the same interview where the HP chairwoman/president talked about the new deal with Apple, she explicitly referred to Dell as just a jumped-up 'distribution company.'
Posted by: sceefy | 11.01.2004 at 12:48 PM