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The company will, however, continue to offer its 512MB flash player.
Dell will discontinue the 5GB Pocket DJ, 20GB Dell DJ20 and 30GB Dell DJ30 music players, said Liem Nguyen, a Dell spokesman. The company has decided to focus on the
Like other hardware makers, Dell has been unable to compete with Apple Computer's success in the MP3 player market. Several have tried--notably Sony, Samsung and Creative Labs--but none have hit on a combination of hardware and software as winning as Apple's wildly popular iPod and iTunes, said Richard Doherty, principal analyst at The Envisioneering Group.
"If there were 100 million music players shipping a year, which we think will happen by the end of the decade, people might go with Dell," Doherty said. But products like the Dell DJ got lost in a sea of iPods and other competitors. "Dell never broke out of the 'everybody else' category," he said.
Dell launched the DJ Ditty last September. The basic player costs $99, and special bundles with armbands, FM radios and protective cases are also available. The DJ Ditty uses flash memory rather than small hard drives to store songs, making it more durable and suitable for exercising.
PC companies have had mixed results in their push to enter the consumer electronics market. Dell and Hewlett-Packard have had the most success selling digital televisions, but have not translated that accomplishment into musical harmony. At one point, Dell attempted to compete with the iTunes store through a partnership with Musicmatch, but it has not made significant headway against Apple in the two years since. It still bundles the Musicmatch software with some of its PCs, but downplays the store.
See more CNET content tagged:
music player, flash memory, MusicMatch, Dell, PC company
But, there are plenty of competitors that offer similar, if not more features than the iPod. However, people buy the iPod because of Apple's brand recognition. People who have owned Apple pc's don't kick and curse at their computers like Windows users do. I'm not picking sides, I use both. But, I can't think of the last time I heard an Apple user say, "this p.o.s. and "F" Steve Jobs and his Tiger OS." Usually all those compliments are saved for Mr Gates.
So, considering that Apple users are proud of their computers, regardless of wheater they are faster or slower than a Windows based. The OS is elegant. And all that was transferred to the iPod. That's why people use the iPod. It's simple, elegant, and delivers. Sure it has batteries, scratch-prone, and other issues. But, people who've owned them, would buy another without hesitation. Why ??? "It's simple, elegant, and it delivers"© This slogan has been trademarked.©
I haven't even mentioned iTunes store yet. Get the point Michael Dell, Bill Gates, and all you other competitors who get lost in the maze of confusion and bitter jealousy. Find out what makes the iPod so popular, and then start to compete. "Build it and they will come" doesn't always work.
another one. In fact I won't buy another one until Apple fixes the
scratch problem and improves battery performance. The scratch
issue has been around since the first generation of the iPod, and
Apple's competitors deliver much better time between charges.
They don't make products worth buying, but they do have better
battery usage.
But, there are plenty of competitors that offer similar, if not more features than the iPod. However, people buy the iPod because of Apple's brand recognition. People who have owned Apple pc's don't kick and curse at their computers like Windows users do. I'm not picking sides, I use both. But, I can't think of the last time I heard an Apple user say, "this p.o.s. and "F" Steve Jobs and his Tiger OS." Usually all those compliments are saved for Mr Gates.
So, considering that Apple users are proud of their computers, regardless of wheater they are faster or slower than a Windows based. The OS is elegant. And all that was transferred to the iPod. That's why people use the iPod. It's simple, elegant, and delivers. Sure it has batteries, scratch-prone, and other issues. But, people who've owned them, would buy another without hesitation. Why ??? "It's simple, elegant, and it delivers"© This slogan has been trademarked.©
I haven't even mentioned iTunes store yet. Get the point Michael Dell, Bill Gates, and all you other competitors who get lost in the maze of confusion and bitter jealousy. Find out what makes the iPod so popular, and then start to compete. "Build it and they will come" doesn't always work.
another one. In fact I won't buy another one until Apple fixes the
scratch problem and improves battery performance. The scratch
issue has been around since the first generation of the iPod, and
Apple's competitors deliver much better time between charges.
They don't make products worth buying, but they do have better
battery usage.
to get people interested
to get people interested
took a couple of years to become an overnight success). But
once it did Apple's elegant design became THE player to have.
Dell didn't stand a chance when their customers were faced with
people saying/thinking:
"Dude, couldn't you afford an iPod?"
I loved my Dell DJ 30 until my movers stole it.
Good sound, solid build, easy to use. Go drown yourself in Itunes, I wouldn't be caught dead with a Pod.
took a couple of years to become an overnight success). But
once it did Apple's elegant design became THE player to have.
Dell didn't stand a chance when their customers were faced with
people saying/thinking:
"Dude, couldn't you afford an iPod?"
I loved my Dell DJ 30 until my movers stole it.
Good sound, solid build, easy to use. Go drown yourself in Itunes, I wouldn't be caught dead with a Pod.
gig hard drive-based player. Just my preference. As for an FM
tuner, I have no interest.
gig hard drive-based player. Just my preference. As for an FM
tuner, I have no interest.
product.
With Microsoft, people have been with them for a long time and
they are yet to deliver a secure operating system. :)
Don't just base the comment on the iPod. It's just not that one
product, it's the combination of iPod and iTunes Music Store
(along with iTunes interface to integrate both seamlessly) that
made this success. So, even if the others had a single product
or music store, it doesn't matter. No single player has all the
three togther. That's why they can't stand the competition from
Apple.
So not only was your comment completely off-the mark, but just flat out ignorant.
couldn't ramp up sales of the DJ despite undercutting the iPod
on price.
The debate over whose player is superior is now a moot one as
Creative, Dell, Sony, Rio, iRiver, and Microsoft know. Even iPod
lovers must admit that for the past 2 years iPod's competitors
offered more features, longer battery life, and (slightly) lower
price on their products. But in the past year, the market (with
the help of word-of-mouth and slick commercials) determined
that iPods' ease-of-use and simple design was worth a $20-$40
premium. The market also determined that 6-8 hours of battery
life was enough and the FM transmitters and voice recording
were superfluous.
The window for competing on the basis of tech specs has
closed. Apple now has the upper hand because of economies of
scale; they sell many more units than their competitors now and
have pricing power against the competition. Whereas iPods
initially sold at a premium price, they're now price-competitive
because of VOLUME. Dell's DJ was relegated to the figurative
clearance bin. They were "on sale" - cheaper than the iPod by
about $50 - but still ignored.
The original plan was to undercut the iPod's price enroute to
selling millions and millions of DJs. But Dell couldn't turn up the
volume. R.I.P. DJ
proprietary format to go with it's music service. That's no
problem, There is more than enough conversion software
available to solve anyone's format shifting needs.
You don't like Apple? No sweat. Don't buy an iPod. Don't use
iTunes. Don't use the Apple Music store. That should be simple
enough. The iPod competitors should be capable of meeting
your needs without your having to complain about Apple.
And as far as FairPlay is concerned; PlaysForSure is just as proprietary no matter how many Windows-only 3rd party developers you license it to; at the end of the day, you're still glued to Windows when using Microsoft's DRMed WMA format! At least iPod/iTMS/iTunes works on both Mac and Windows, while the other guys (Napster, Yahoo Music, etc...) are Windows-only; locking the consumer in at the computer platform level, giving no real choice in the market beyond 60+ digital media players that provide no significant differentiation in features/function.
The arrogant one would be that of Microsoft maintaining its Windows-only strategy with its PlaysForSure initiative that delivers a falsehood of choice to consumers who should have learned by now that Microsoft only cares about Microsoft and all the licensed roads leading back to Windows!
were obtained legally and only about 20 were purchased from
Apple's store. All of them can be transferred to an iPod in
various formats and file sizes. So what is the problem?
You don't like Apple's file protection scheme? Then don't buy
from the iTunes music store. I download MP3s from eMusic,
which are also usually higher quality than Apple offers, cheaper,
and they are not restricted in any way. (On the other hand,
eMusic does not feature many currently popular artists.)
The restrictions that Apple puts on its files is much less harsh
than most of their competitors, whose downloads are not even
available to people who use operating systems other than
Windows.
I think Apple is making a mistake by not licensing FairPlay, but
they stop nobody from buying music from other sites and
loading it onto iPods. Even when the files are initially
incompatible with the iPod, they can be easily altered.
The usually unspoken gripe is that Apple doesn't fully support
Microsoft's file format. Now isn't that a darned shame?
Creative, Sony, Dell, Toshiba, etc. cannot beat Apple at this game. They'd be better off making their money on accessories for Apple's platform versus trying to own the platform themselves. Apple OWNS the market for the whole portable digital music platform: the device, the software, and the add-ons to go around it. Until somebody matches that, Apple will continue to dominate.
I know some will say, "well, look at the PC world that Apple lost!" Well, everyday consumer electronics are NOT PCs... it takes more than tech specs to win the hearts of everyday consumers. This is why Apple owning the whole platform and ecosystem around it makes the iPod experience so compelling for that everyday user. I am honestly waiting for Microsoft to work the magic it did in the PC world: collaborate with Intel so tightly that it created a comparable "platform" experience to Apple. Maybe if Microsoft did that with Creative or someone else versus just making generic "me too" software for media, there might actually be success at de-throning Apple.
They have to go after the people that haven't bought devices. Additionally, since there are so many manufacturers, I don't think one company will emerge as a big seller. It will sort of be comparable to the PC market, with (hypothetically) Creative having say 4%, iRiver %3, etc.
- But where is Creative's ecosystem of partners???
- by February 7, 2006 4:01 PM PST
- This is where Apple beats EVERYONE hands down: it has a legion of accessory making partners, including well-respected brands like JBL/Harman-Kardon, etc... and even Denon/Marantz building iPod direct connectors into their higher-end receivers. Creative cannot even TOUCH the power of Apple's ability to develop and nuture a legion of add-on makers around their products. And, Apple's panache for industrial design drives their partners to be just as innovative in their offerings that work with Apple's products.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
-
- re:
- by darrius3365 February 7, 2006 6:47 PM PST
- I remember reading a story a month or so ago about MS getting a committee with its media partners to come up with a standard "dock" thing. One reason why companies are unwilling to develop for non-Apple players is that there are so many of them and they would lose money pumping out different versions of all of their accessories that would use the dock. Personally, I think Apple will LOSE any customers to the WMA players, because it won't be an easy job moving the media to the new player (you would have to burn it to a CD and then rip it again to get rid of the encoding).
- Like this
-
Showing 1 of 2 pages (110 Comments)Creative, Sony, Dell, Toshiba, etc. cannot beat Apple at this game. They'd be better off making their money on accessories for Apple's platform versus trying to own the platform themselves. Apple OWNS the market for the whole portable digital music platform: the device, the software, and the add-ons to go around it. Until somebody matches that, Apple will continue to dominate.
I know some will say, "well, look at the PC world that Apple lost!" Well, everyday consumer electronics are NOT PCs... it takes more than tech specs to win the hearts of everyday consumers. This is why Apple owning the whole platform and ecosystem around it makes the iPod experience so compelling for that everyday user. I am honestly waiting for Microsoft to work the magic it did in the PC world: collaborate with Intel so tightly that it created a comparable "platform" experience to Apple. Maybe if Microsoft did that with Creative or someone else versus just making generic "me too" software for media, there might actually be success at de-throning Apple.
They have to go after the people that haven't bought devices. Additionally, since there are so many manufacturers, I don't think one company will emerge as a big seller. It will sort of be comparable to the PC market, with (hypothetically) Creative having say 4%, iRiver %3, etc.