The New Ipod

Haw

Well moron. If you don't even know what an ipod does (which shows how outdated you are) then how can you make a judgement on what it does and whether it represents value or not?

Except for the TV part, yes.

Your own ignorance does not make the statement untrue.

Jason.

Because they promise the networks they'll run huge advertising capaigns if they promote the iPod. Just like Sony did with the PSP.

HR

Teenager spotted. Against my better judgement, I'll answer you anyway...

Yawn. What does it do? I thought it was just an MP3 player. They've been around for years, what's so special about iPods?

I can see the advertised prices. I know what a couple of Flash RAM thingies are worth. What more is relevant? I don't need to know what it "does" to recognize a rip-off.

Well, when I was looking at the prices, the ipod was surprisingly competitive against the other options available (possibly due to the economies of scale apple can have).

Another indication that you are a moron is the statement "I know what a couple of Flash RAM thingies are worth". Do you really think that is all an ipod or other mp3 players contain? What about the LCD screen, power supply, electronics for music, earphones, etc.? You think all of this costs nothing to produce??

It's the same here in the US. Every newscast on every major TV network is providing free advertisement for Apple's iPod. After the Apple-provided clip, when the focus returns to the newscasters, they happytalk each other about how they really want one. I don't know how Apple does it. It was the same for Segway, which seemed to be associated with Steve Jobs. Followed the free introductory campaign, no major network advertising followed, so it's unlikely the promise of that was the motive for the networks.

Because Apple pay for the stories to air

It's certainly possible. But that means every network allows advertisements to be placed _inside_ the newscasts.

Would you buy a Segway?

Isn't that a conflict of interest?

I would say it's a violation of professional ethics, if that's what the networks did. But I'm not so sure that that's what they did. Maybe the news show producers don't understand consumer electronics, and when The Great Visionary Jobs tells them he has something revolutionary, they buy his line. The mythical reputation Jobs has goes a long way -- but it won't be enough to make a success out of a feature-poor TV with a cellphone screen.

As many others have pointed out, there already are several little TV's, e.g.:

The low-end Segway costs much more than I paid for my truck. I couldn't buy one.

-- )|||(__ Nehmo __)|||(