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http://www.macnn.com/articles/04/07/21/sjmn.innovation.and.ipod/

SJMN: Expanding iPod's role a must to stay top dog

updated 08:30 am EDT, Wed July 21, 2004

 

SJMN: Innovation and iPod


Dan Gillmor of the San Jose Mercury News says that in order for Apple to main the lead it has established with the iPod, the company will have to . Gillmor points to the recent deal with Duke University, which expands the iPod's perceived use far beyond music. "The iPod is a small computer. It just doesn't have a personal-computer user interface. Expanding the mission of the iPod makes a lot of sense. The job of storing and playing back music can be handled by other devices, even if not as elegantly as on the iPod. This is the iPod's vulnerability," Gillmor writes, noting that his Treo 600 with a 512MB flash memory card and MP3 software has replaced his iPod as his music player on the go.


by MacNN Staff

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  1. Horsepoo!!!

    Banned

    Joined: Jun 2003

    0
    07/21, 08:45am | report spam | Reply |

    That's nice.

    Next.

  1. DeepDish

    Forum Regular

    Joined: May 2001

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    07/21, 09:15am | report spam | Reply |

    Treo replaced iPod - Goof

    Please!!!! People buy the iPod because it is the best mp3 player. There are tons of crappy cheap knock offs and other mp3 players (like the Treo and et al pdas) but the iPod is the best, so that is why people are buying it.

    The world is full of people with no style.

  1. Zaren

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2001

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    07/21, 09:22am | report spam | Reply |

    So...

    he replaced his iPod (we'll be generous and give him a 20 gig at the old $399 price) with... a PDA / cellphone / mp3 player that cost more and carries 1/100th of the music... and a great big lump of hardware at that (http://tinyurl.com/6fuxd for a shot of the Treo 600 in use as a phone, from the company site). I can't imagine strapping that thing to my hip and taking it out for a jog...

    While this is another example of "good enough" decision making, it's also an interesting observation that so many devices can be combined at that price point. If people are willing to pay that much for a PDA / cellphone / mp3 player / etc., and it's an ugly lump, surely Apple could create such a device, only much more elegant and attractive. The question is: is there a market for it? There's obviously a market for an iPod that "just" plays mp3s, but how big is the market for that Treo lump?

  1. Deal

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Apr 2001

    0
    07/21, 09:33am | report spam | Reply |

    I wonder

    I wonder if I can have his old iPod?!

  1. gurman

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Sep 2000

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    07/21, 09:43am | report spam | Reply |

    Big deal

    Any technology columnist for the Merc is, ipso facto, a geek. Geeks love unwieldy devices like the Treo. Most other folks like simple, cool devices like the iPod. How cool is it that we live in a world where both are available?

  1. Glasspusher

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Oct 2000

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    07/21, 09:52am | report spam | Reply |

    innovate?! Hah!

    Yeah, Apple must innovate to stay on top, while M$ can just use FUD, have predatory practices and be a convicted abusive monopolist. Gotta love that. Of course, I'll be more likely to buy stuff from the company that innovates, rather than be like the sheep who wait for the knock-offs, whenever they show up.

  1. tuscmat

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2004

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    07/21, 10:00am | report spam | Reply |

    I've met him.

    I met him once. He is geekish and not Apple friendly. Of course, the SJMN isn't Apple friendly to begin with.

  1. cmoney

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Sep 2000

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    07/21, 10:12am | report spam | Reply |

    treo

    i don't know, i see quite a few "non-geeks" walking around my company campus with treos. they're not just for the geeks now since. and once these companies start adding blackberry software, you'll see a lot of people using other devices since they're free from blackberry and can get a lot more functionality.

    for many, there's not gonna be an actual replacement decision, it'll go more like this: hmm, i've got some mp3s on this treo/sony p910/ms smartphone, etc, i wonder how it sounds? oh wow, not bad. oh gotta get to the office, (grabs convergence phone), listens to tunes on train ride in. forgets he even wanted the ipod in the first place. eventually becomes habit. who wouldn't want to go around with one less thing in their pocket? having a 1gb SD card, you can still have alot of songs, more than enough for a day or two.

  1. ccrider

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Mar 2001

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    07/21, 10:28am | report spam | Reply |

    stupid

    I love my treo and I love my ipod. I can't imagine replacing either, and one will never replace the other.

    512mb with usb transfer speed, no thanks.

  1. strictlyplaid

    Senior User

    Joined: Jun 2004

    0
    07/21, 10:36am | report spam | Reply |

    Wow

    The Assuredness, Certainty, and Evangelism (you might call it ACE, kind of like FUD) for Apple here is amazing.

    It would seem to me like convergence devices are a great innovation, very much in the Apple tradition of making great and useful hardware. The iPod is an astounding success, people love it. Wouldn't they love it more if they could make calls from it, edit their daily schedule, attach an optional keyboard to type out an e-mail -- AND have massive portable transportation and MP3 playback?

    Hopefully, Apple will come out with one sometime.

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