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Apple Watch: New iPods
Thursday, 2004 October 28 - 9:45 pm
A couple of new announcements: the iPod Photo, and the special "U2" edition iPod.

The big news from Apple this week is the introduction of the photo-capable iPod, with a color screen and video-out capability. It's designed to be a portable photo album. It's a neat concept, but like the original iPod, it might take a little while for people to get it. But I think people will get it, eventually. Apple knows that the key to the technology revolution is finding ways to connect the technology to people. Ordinary people understand music and photos and writing letters; it's only geeks that spend their time thinking about Unreal Tournament frame rates or how customizable their window manager is. (Unfortunately geeks dominate the companies that make most computer products; that's why you get companies like Dell and Microsoft.) Think about how many people carry pictures of loved ones in their wallet, and you might start to understand where Apple is going with this.

Gateway recently introduced a new music player of their own; yet another device touted as an "iPod killer". But another thing that Apple understands, that other companies don't, is that a portable music player isn't just a gadget: it's a fashion accessory. So even though other companies stuff their products with more buttons and features and doodads, they still fail to create anything that even comes close to the iPod. I will worry when Fendi comes out with a music player; I don't worry about companies like Gateway. No one wants something on their hip that looks like a TV remote control.

Apple also introduced the special U2 edition iPod, which is $50 more expensive than the regular iPod, but carries a $50 discount on the upcoming downloadable U2 complete music collection. It's black a red click wheel, and has the autographs of the band members on the back. Personally, I think it's gaudy-looking (the color scheme was chosen to match U2's new album) and it doesn't really provide any extra value; it's more of a publicity stunt, probably.

On the strength of these announcements, Apple's stock pushed past $50 a share. That means for every share of Apple stock, you could almost buy a barrel of crude oil. Mmmm... light, sweet, crude.
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Posted by Ken in: techwatch

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