Now, with the 'Enderle Group' - I guess he finally got fired.

Considering Enderle's reputation, I'm surprised he gets traction on here.

Yes, Apple's making iPod accessories. Apple's been making iPod accessories for a while, now. This isn't news.

Yes, the speaker market is a huge segment, but to be honest, I'd still rather get the Bose iPod Altar, instead of Apple's iPod Hi-Fi, for a variety of reasons. Additionally, this means that accessory makers now simply have to get more competitive, but also have more functions and features to use, as Apple provides them.

With Apple making a few accessories, this means those companies that make like add-ons will have to be better and/or cost less... than those Apple makes. I still couldn't find a good stand for my 1st gen iPod so I made my own and it has evolved and I'm sure coppied by others as I posted it to my web site and iPod related news sites at the time.

I feel iPod Accessory makers are NOT especially worried by these new announcements.

Both offerings are overpriced and don't provide anything particularly unique or special over what's already out there.

I guess Apple could stop certifying 3rd Party stuff for their iPods, and only sell their own stuff in Apple Stores. But I doubt that will happen anytime soon.

Competition in a market is the basis of Capitalism. It is what drives our countries economy. It also has the effect of reducing the prices of any particular product group. Do I think Apple is going to drive out the 3rd party sound system makers ? NO. They will most likely come out with a better HiFi system than Apple. I don't think Apple will do very well with this. They may as well start to build printers again. Do you remember the Apple printer's ? That's what I mean. Apple sure did well in that market didn't they.

I still have an Apple Laserwriter 4/600 PS that I use at home exclusively. It is probably the best computing investment I ever made. It is still cranking out sharp black and white halftone images and crisp type at 600 dpi ten years later--side by side with Mac OS X.

I'm sorry, but I really cheap. I won't spend that on a headunit for my car, let alone speakers for my iPod.

No, I didn't spend $300 on the iPod, either. Thanks to all you "GOTTA UPGRADE" pansies I scooped up two 30GB 3Gs for under $100 on ebay. Thanks, suckers!

BTW: if you want the Hi-Fi, wait 4 months and it'll drop in price by at least $100. It's the Apple way.

Why not let Apple cash in more in this era of "iPod hype". It's pretty sad that this country got interested in Apple over a "me too" feeling instead of recognizing the amazing computers and operating systems and applications that Apple has made. They just don't want to be seen without their white headphones. Hopefully they are smart enough to buy a Mac computer.