“…And I shall call him, Mini Me.” Dr. Evil
People absolutely love their iPods. Well, most people, anyways. The little white and silver player was a hit this past Holiday buying season, and downloading music from the iTunes Music Store seems to be as addictive as eating those potato chip that claim you can’t eat just one.
So how did people react to the introduction of a new, smaller, and modestly less expensive iPod Mini? To hear CBS News columnist, Dan Dubno, tell it, the new tiny iPod is better than sliced bread, albeit expensive slice bread. Here’s a bit of Dan’s column, Apple Makes Sweet Music:
I�ve never been shy about my love for the iPod. It began with the groundbreaking, yet modest 5 gigabyte model, then grew into a 10 gig, followed by a 20 gig, and now to the 30 gig version. That�s thousands and thousands of songs, folks. And I keep needing more room, because I keep buying songs from Apple�s iTunes Music Store. I can so easily download whatever music I can think of in great ease legally using iTunes, I keep adding to my burgeoning library� while siphoning off the kids college fund. Sadly, I was hoping for an iPod with twice the capacity� but Apple went the other way� offering less for less.
Here�s the deal on the new iPod Minis: five colors, 1,000 songs, about 3 measly ounces. They�re heavy for their size, made of anodized aluminum and sport eight hours of battery life. Most Apple fanatics were surprised with the initial and relatively high price of $249� especially as it seems geared to expand the market to even younger music fans. But it�s fair to expect that price will go down dramatically as Apple launches even newer versions with greater capacity. Right, Apple? Cool.
The article goes on to talk about some of the cool iPod attachments, and GarageBand, Apple’s new music making software. Dan even includes a tune he created in 5 minutes with GarageBand. It’s a fun and extremely positive read, so stop by CBS News and check out the full article.
The Mac Observer Spin:
We’re not sure, but we believe that Dan Dubno likes his iPod. This is only a guess mind you.
Kidding aside; this is great press for the iPod, the iPod Mini, and GarageBand, and we like it when Apple get more great press. After reading Mr. Dubno’s account, we were ready to run out and buy a handful of iPod Minis.
The CBS column does bring up a question that many, including us here at TMO, have and will ask: Is the iPod Mini too expensive?
The answer to that question seems to be a matter of perspective. If you only take capacity into consideration then, yes, the Mini is way over priced. For $50 more you can get a 15GB iPod, so it makes little sense to buy a Mini with more than 2/3 less space.
If, however, you factor in the size and weight, and compare the Mini to other players of similar capacity, the Mini seems less over priced to some. Add in the famous iPod ease of use and iTMS connectivity, and the Mini starts to look even better, at least to some.