Okay, we can all relax now. Apple just dropped the price on refurbished iPod Shuffles to $39.
It only took them a few days, thankfully, and now order has been restored to the universe.
In other news, these make great gifts for those one or two people on Earth who don’t have an iPod yet.
With my talk yesterday of the refurbished iPod Shuffle’s price, folks over at Macenstein wondered whether or not the lowly Shuffle even counted as a true “iPod.” Is it, but in name only?
Dr. Macenstein says:
Granted, at $49, the shuffle might be the most affordable “iPod” Apple makes, but it delivers a fraction of the features and costs nearly 3 times less than the closest “real” iPod Apple makes – the iPod nano. The shuffle is not the iPod students put on their Christmas lists, the kind of iPod you see commercials for, the kind of iPod that accessory manufacturers cater to, or the kind muggers kill over.
He then goes on to list the many differences between “screened,” full multimedia iPods and the clip-on version. “Sit 10 random people down ask them to draw an iPod,” the Doctor says, “and I would wager not one would draw a shuffle.”
True enough. But it is a classy, snazzy-looking little flash player, isn’t it? And it sure delivers enough music-playing power to its audience – namely, on-the-goers and runners and such.
Good breakdown, and a heckuv an argument.
Apple dropped the price of its mini-sexy iPod Shuffle yesterday to $49, and announced a 2 GB version that’s coming soon
Which is cool. It’s a competition thing: other manufacturers are releasing similar products for much less (some in the conference swag industry give these things away, like thumb drives). So it only makes sense that Apple would practically give away a USB drive that plays music.
What doesn’t make sense is why Apple’s refurbished models are still at the same price:
What gives? The point of refurbished models is the lower price, especially when someone else has already had their grubby hands on it.
Refurbished models are iPods that someone has already owned but turned back in. Apple then cleans them up, wipes the memory, repackages them, and sells them to you and me.
I bought a refurbed iPod Shuffle for my sister for Christmas, one of the brighter, more vibrant models that came out before this last batch. That little magenta gem was a great gift, and very affordable, and my sister never knew about its former life.
But now if you buy a refurbished Shuffle, you get no deal.
Hopefully, in the days to come, Apple will drop the price and make these little beauties ever more affordable. Let’s hope.
That’s right: you can now make your own “world’s thinnest notebook” – a MacBook Paper.
See the apcommunity for video and complete instructions, including a print-yourself PDF to make your own MacBook Paper. I did their version with some scrap paper, a pair of scissors, a glue stick, and a toothpick for the tricky parts. Also, I went ahead and made my own iPhone Paper (print out courtesy of Gizmodo), aka iPaper.
Fun stuff, and a great stand-by project until (like me) you can save up for your own. It’s up to you, though, to attach pieces of string to make the iPaper fully functional.
I’m just excited about that MacBook Paper/envelope trick Steve Jobs demonstrated at Macworld 2008.
That crazy lady? She’s one of us. As is the lady clutching her iMac in techno-lust.I’ve already signed up for the mailing list – sounds like a fun project.
This is hilarious. This guy got his iPhone all right – complete with handwriting recognition, calculator, and monochrome battery-saving mode. What a hoot.
Turns out it might be true:
According to Mindset Media, people who purchase Macs fall into what the branding company calls the “Openness 5” personality category– which means they are more liberal, less modest and more assured of their own superiority than the population at large. Mindset Media helps companies with strong brands develop ads targeted to people based on personality traits or people’s “mindsets,” and does research to that effect.
The story goes on to say that the Apple’s brand is very appealing to folks like us.
Read the rest of the story on Yahoo!
Steve Jobs introduced new iPod Touch features that are bringing it closer and closer to a modern-day Newton. “Now there’s even more to touch” touts the new Apple.com page, and it’s true: Mail, Notes, Maps, etc. It all adds up to a more Newton-like device than the previous iPod Touches.
The iPod Touch is now a true iPhone-clone, without the phone and subscription model.
It makes me wonder what the GTD crowd thinks of this updated Touch (Macrumors has a forum dedicated to just this subject). The Newtonlist has been buzzing with Newton software packages that make the MessagePad a handy tool for GTDers.
And I suppose that, after the SDK comes out for the iPhone and iPod Touch, developers will be builder 43folders-ish software all over the place. Jailbroken iTouches already have these kind of capabilities.
But does all this spell the end of those Newton 2.0 rumors that were flying pre-Macworld? John Gruber thinks, perhaps, not:
I am nearly convinced that this product exists, at least as a project in development. My hunch is that AppleInsider has it spot-on: it’s in development, but not yet ready to launch, and, perhaps, never will if Apple can’t get it right…A successful tablet-like device from Apple, I think, would clearly be designed as a secondary computing device — a satellite attached and synched to a Mac or PC (probably, of course, through iTunes).
What’s missing, says Gruber, is the “why should I buy this?” factor that accompanies most new Apple products. Tablets have failed to catch on, he argues, so why release one if it doesn’t blow people away?
(Gruber’s predictions of Macworld were, by the way, spot-on, except for his plea for new Cinema Displays. Everything else he got right. Kudos.)
So here we Newton fans still sit, stuck between a maybe-it’ll-happen Newton 2.0 and an iPod Touch that, as it adds features, becomes more and more like Apple’s long-abandoned PDA.
I was hoping that, after Tuesday’s Macworld keynote, I would be rushing to Ann Arbor’s Apple store to pick up my iPhone. But no such luck.
Why not? I’m one of those guys waiting for the 3G.
It didn’t come yesterday. What did come, however, were some pretty cool features: the where-the-heck-am-I feature, the new homescreen capabilities, the multiple-person text messaging. It all sounds great.
It just doesn’t sound great enough. iTWire.com feels me – saying that Apple isn’t listening to its fans like it should be. And if it wants to hit that magic 10 million number…:
According to Apple, the company has sold 4 million iPhones in its first 200 days. For any other company, this would be a phenomenal figure. However, at Macworld 2007 Jobs envisioned sales of 10 million units in the first year, so Apple has some work to do over the next 165 days. It is beginning to look as though Apple has to release a 3G iPhone very soon in order to move 10 million units [by the end of 2008].
Right. Even if Cupertino wants to sell just one, to me, it better make the speed bump.
I have a cellphone, and a good cellphone carrier, that I like. I have my Newton. I have plenty of Macs. In reality, I don’t need an iPhone. But boy… I’ve already been in situations where, standing in the grocery line or waiting for someone, I can imagine whipping out the Jesus Phone and wasting a bit of time.
At work, we had an annual goal, and I reached it, and got a hefty bonus. I was going to use that money toward the purchase of an iPhone, pending the 3G announcement. But no 3G came.
Salon.com’s Farhad at the Machinist says that past and current iPhones are all created equal because they keep getting updates via free iTunes software. The phone is evolving, and it doesn’t cost any extra. But the actual hardware I’m waiting for can’t be downloaded via Software Update. I need a whole new phone.
So the wait continues. I’m thinking of putting a time limit on the 3G iPhone announcement – say, this spring. Maybe April, or before I head out on my New England driving tour at the end of May.
So there you go, Apple. You’ve got $400 sitting in the credit union with your name on it. All you have to do is deliver.
Now here’s a version of BINGO your grandma might not get.
Ars Technica is hosting a Macworld 2008 keynote bingo game – with a Newton MessagePad card.
Some of the highlights:
- New Mac Pro – A new Mac Pro. I’m going to buy one of these (assuming they contain 45nm CPUs), so they damn well better be introduced.
- New displays – New Apple external displays. I have grave doubts about this one (see later square), but the existing line desperately needs updating.
- MacBook Thin – A new subnotebook from Apple, regardless of its actual branding or product name. What’s a subnotebook? Use your own judgement. The only restriction I’ll add is that it must have a hardware keyboard.
- “Boom” – Steve Jobs says the word “boom” while demonstrating something.
The site has posted the card as a download-able PDF file, so you can play along at home.
But what – no Newton 2 spot?