Apple cuts iPod Shuffle pricing & adds a 1GB Nano to its range

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#1

I just posted the article Apple cuts iPod Shuffle pricing & adds a 1GB Nano to its range.

 Apple has  added a 1GB iPod to its Nano series with a retail price of $149 and has dropped  their 512MB and 1GB iPod Shuffle prices to $69 and $99 respectively despite how  well they have been...

Read the full article here:  [http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/11467-Apple-cuts-iPod-Shuffle-pricing--adds-a-1GB-Nano-to-its-range.html](http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/11467-Apple-cuts-iPod-Shuffle-pricing--adds-a-1GB-Nano-to-its-range.html)

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#2

No UMS, no ability to do whatever I want with content I download, a requirement to run their crap software, a tie-in to that rip-off known as iTunes… tell me again why people buy this junk? Oh yes - I remember now. It’s trendy overpriced coffee-talk s**t with the Apple label on it. Teah - that’s it.

#3

Seriously #1?! Sometimes I think the Apple/iPod detractors come up with the lamest excuses. No UMS: How many times do you happen upon a computer that’s not yours and say, “Hmm, I’ll download me some songs!”? Not often, I bet. iTMS rip-off: Don’t like to buys songs online? Then don’t. Nobody’s forcing you to. iTunes = crap: There’s plenty more alternative software packages to transfer your songs. Heck, Yamipod is free, doesn’t require an intaller (copy it to your iPod in disk mode) and supports all the transfer you could want. I’d love to have Ogg support, but as a recent 128kbps test bore out Apple AAC and Ogg are so close it’s a non-issue. Let’s see, with the educational discount I got 60GB of space, 18hrs of tested battery life (w/LAME 3.97b1 -V2 vbr new) and in a package that’s pretty darned small. Oh, and an interface that so easy to use and 4yr old could pick it up and start some music. So, go back to spewing your anti-establishment hatred somewhere else.

#4

IPODS SUCK! THEY CANT HANDLE ANY KIND OF TORTURE!

#5

I have an iPod, never buy from iTunes, I rip my own CD’s to mp3 and don’t use iTunes to transfer. never had a problem with moving music back and forth between PCs/Notebook’s etc. (because I am not brain dead) bought it because it does what I want when I want at the price I want, and believe me I don’t parade it around as a status symbol (simply don’t care enough about other peoples opinions) nor do I waste my time in rubbishing equipment I have never had myself. And as to torture (you OK in the head boy?) they can take just as much rough handling as any Notebook can (LCD screen/Hard Drive etc.) so treat them as you would a notebook and you will be OK. Do I care if you like or buy an iPod? no, but I hate to see misinformation spread by thoughtless bandwagon-jumping juveniles who think it trendy to bash something because they don’t have it themselves.

#6

“No UMS: How many times do you happen upon a computer that’s not yours” Daily. Home to office. next… Besides, only a moron (or an iPod owner) installs restrictive proprietary software when it isn’t necessary. “iTMS rip-off: Don’t like to buys songs online? Then don’t.” Don’t want value for your money and want to pay far too much for lossy content? Buy iTunes garbage. Next… “iTunes = crap: There’s plenty more alternative software packages to transfer your songs. Heck, Yamipod is free, doesn’t require an intaller (copy it to your iPod in disk mode) and supports all the transfer you could want.” You of course (you’re not an iPod owner are you?) missed the point. Let’s assume for a minute that I was braindead enough to actually BUY something form iTunes. Now I can’t do with it as I see fit. I can’t copy it to my PC. And if I convert it from LOSSY and then encode it as something else, I’ve lost even more audio quality. And I would do this WHY exactly? Of course, it could be argued that since I have an iPod, that isn’t going to matter anyway, given that the audio quality of the thing can’t match up to the competition because the amps are so damned crappy… “I’d love to have Ogg support” You can - just don’t buy Apple s**t. Next… “as a recent 128kbps test bore out Apple AAC and Ogg are so close it’s a non-issue.” …to those who use crap, er, low bitrates. I like to hear at least SOME of the music so I encode at 192 or better yet LAME 3.97b2 at V2. Also, I like my investments to last a while so I tend to buy things that are properly / intelligently designed and constructed and aren’t just overpriced conversation pieces prone to glitches, scratches and breakage. I don’t have time for class-action lawsuits - so I just buy intelligently to begin with. My MuVo has been drenched in sweat on many a beach - after my friend’s iPod failed under the same conditions, he bought a MuVo too. Misinformation indeed… But hey, I’m not trying to justify my purchase.
[edited by Roj on 08.02.2006 22:13]

#7

so roj in your opinion you would not spend your hard or not hard earned money on a ipod then ?

#8

Roj dont u have anything better to do? :S:S maybe I just make a paragraph like this :- Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant :wink: btw I gotta take my hat off to Apple. It’s always been the most proprietry company regarding computer formats etc., but through sheer inventiveness theyve kept their head above water and thrived. If you wanna compare, M$ have always BOUGHT anything good that comes along, whereas Apple have a few good ideas. Interested to see how the mac os running on intel hardware plays out. Oh and finally I have an Ipod. The transfer is fast, (>1GB/min on a good day), battery is ok, sound qual is ok, interface is awesome, my whole collection is mp3 so that does not bother me, hangs occasionally but reboot is easy, and looks good!!! what more does anyone want?? :B

#9

I’m with Roj on this. I won’t support anything with DRM after the fiasco that Sony made with the Minidisc. After owning one of those and being severly limited in what I could do with it I found the iAudio M3 MP3 unit which has built in radio, can record directly from analogue sources to MP3 (Great for DJs), superb built in amp and acts as a simple removable disk drive. I would hardly call Apple creative because these MP3 players were out long before Apple entered the market. They only thing they did was make one that’s trendy.

#10

I’m with Roj on this. I won’t support anything with DRM after the fiasco that Sony made with the Minidisc. ---------------- Speaking of MiniDisc (Hi-MD…) ironically, Sony just released SonicStage 3.4 a few days ago and yet more DRM restrictions have been removed for MiniDisc (much to the public’s surprise). Still far from ideal, but pretty close. You can now copy digitally from optical and computer (USB) sources and delete files, then re-upload them to any other machine running SonicStage 3.4 and save the files as WAV with no restrictions. As you may or may not know, since SonicStage 3.2 Sony have been getting rid of restrictions and the first one to go was the hideous 1-upload limit for your own mic/line-in recordings. MiniDisc (now Hi-MD) is only left with skeletons of its DRM former-self. Looks like Sony is doing all it can now to prevent itself from becoming a dinosaur in the portable audio space. minidisc.org for more info.

#11

“Roj dont u have anything better to do?” Sure! Mix music and play it on my MuVo. I’m not married to CL either - my next DAP purchase is likely to be a Samsung. In fact it could be anything - anything that is except Apple overproiced and under-featured drivel. That’s just not an intelligent buy when you stack it up against the competition. Without all the “Apple Faithful” religion, of course.
[edited by Roj on 09.02.2006 21:56]

#12

Oh please, Roj. You’re the kind of effin moron that won’t buy Apple just because of the name. Gee, it’d be a tragedy if you let down your hard stance, wouldn’t it? “No UMS: How many times do you happen upon a computer that’s not yours” “Daily.” “Home to office.” “next…” Yamipod, as stated originally. Plug in the iPod via USB, navigate to drive and fire up Yami. So simple a simpleton like you could double-click, right? Home to office…both computers you park your big butt in front of, perhaps? Your computers to use, not wandering the halls aimlessly and plugging into every computer you see. Next… “Besides, only a moron (or an iPod owner) installs restrictive proprietary software when it isn’t necessary.” Only an uneducated and uninformed moron would install restrictive, proprietary software without seeking free and/or cheap alternatives and bitch about it. “iTMS rip-off: Don’t like to buys songs online? Then don’t.” “Don’t want value for your money and want to pay far too much for lossy content? Buy iTunes garbage.” And if someone wants one song from an album that’s littered with crap? .99 is a fair price me thinks. “Next…” “iTunes = crap: There’s plenty more alternative software packages to transfer your songs. Heck, Yamipod is free, doesn’t require an intaller (copy it to your iPod in disk mode) and supports all the transfer you could want.” “You of course (you’re not an iPod owner are you?) missed the point. Let’s assume for a minute that I was braindead enough to actually BUY something form iTunes. Now I can’t do with it as I see fit. I can’t copy it to my PC. And if I convert it from LOSSY and then encode it as something else, I’ve lost even more audio quality. And I would do this WHY exactly? Of course, it could be argued that since I have an iPod, that isn’t going to matter anyway, given that the audio quality of the thing can’t match up to the competition because the amps are so damned crappy…” No, I didn’t miss the point. It seems you’ve missed the entire effin Titanic DRM ship, Roj. How many of the DRM’d formats can YOU losslesly burn to CD and rip back? None. How about any lossy format for that matter? None. See, Roj, if you’re thinking that just because Apple has their DRM’d AAC and you can’t convert it losslessly to something else, you’re plain and simple retarted. I defy you to take a DRM’d or non-DRM’d lossy format and convert it, losslessly, to any other format. Go right on ahead Poindexter. “I’d love to have Ogg support” “You can - just don’t buy Apple s**t.” The thing is, it would be “nice”, not imperative, not a requirement. You missed that though. Seems you also missed the point of the information below, RE: 128kbps test. “Next…” “as a recent 128kbps test bore out Apple AAC and Ogg are so close it’s a non-issue.” “…to those who use crap, er, low bitrates. I like to hear at least SOME of the music so I encode at 192 or better yet LAME 3.97b2 at V2.” Ah, the flag waving of a so called “Audiophile”. Yeah, I’ve seen your kind and you’d get torn to shreads spewing that kind of garbage where the test took place. Before making uninformed, read: validated tests, you may want to “Also, I like my investments to last a while so I tend to buy things that are properly / intelligently designed and constructed and aren’t just overpriced conversation pieces prone to glitches, scratches and breakage. I don’t have time for class-action lawsuits - so I just buy intelligently to begin with. My MuVo has been drenched in sweat on many a beach - after my friend’s iPod failed under the same conditions, he bought a MuVo too. Misinformation indeed… But hey, I’m not trying to justify my purchase.” I’m not trying to justify a purchase. I could really care less if you or anyone else approves or not. What I can’t understand is the people that bash Apple just because they’re succesful with a darned good product. I have a 3rd Gen 30GB that still holds 6hrs charge and that’s with either 192k AAC or LAME (3.90.3) --aps. It was purchased the week of it’s launch. The iPod plays music and does it very well…end of story. Don’t hate the company for being succesful. Don’t hate the product for being widely purchased. Dislike the multitudes of goobers that buy it and show it off.

#13

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again Ipod owners = sheep.
[edited by Psphreak on 10.02.2006 00:58]

#14

@ Psphreak, Ah, and you’re one of the “take the bull by the horns” kinda guys, aren’t ya? Nah, you probably pound your pud to Internet babes you’ll never meet and wouldn’t know what to do if you got out from behind that monitor long enough to do so. Go herd some sheep you lemming.

#15

The simple thing is that with an iPod you have to go to extra lengths in order for it to do what you want. With some other players it’s not necessary to download freeware apps etc… I think this is the point that is trying to be illustrated. Most people do indeed buy an ipod simply becaue they’ve seen other people with it and don’t do their homework. I personally take the time to read reviews on things before I go and buy them and that influences me more than anything else on why I purchase something. If the consumer and professional reviews agree something is good then it gets my cash at the end of the day. The iPod didn’t because there were too many negative aspects about it compared to other players. Finally all this childish arguing is pathetic. You all look like geeks and this is the type of crap I expect to hear from 7 year olds in the playground.

#16

StarGhost, I have to agree with ya. The iPod does require a piece of software to transfer music, be it free or not, it’s still required. That’s a small negative, but one none the less. 100% with ya. The important thing, and you touched on this, is that people take the time to research what fits their individual needs. For my needs at home, the office and in the car I only needed something that could play music. No FM tuner, don’t really need the video. I just wanted the 60GB of drive space and the quite decent battery life. That fit my needs perfectly. Now, for truly portable use…running, cycling, gym, I’ll be looking to something else. Although, the Nano with it’s 4GB of storage that’s well below anyone else price per Gig wise, is a high contender. That being said, I’d like to have an FM tuner and something even a bit smaller. Choices thus far are the Samsung MT6Z and iAudio U2. Not a huge difference in price between the two, but the Samsung has AA support. So, there it is. Don’t bash someone because their particular choice in a product doesn’t fit with your needs. Congratulate them for having something that brings a bit of joy into their daily activities. [/mushy]