Comments on: Has iPod's hit parade stalled?

Apple hasn't significantly updated music player this year; rivals have added capacity and more.
Photos: Going up against iPod

[rkminc]

Bluetooth? Why not?

I'm still shocked that Apple hasn't built Bluetooth into their iPods. It would not take much to build a transmitter into the device, and it could give it more 'wow' factor. Plus, cords suck when you're at the gym.

[ethernet76]

Meh

The last thing I want to worry about with an iPod is why won't my
headphones pair up with the device.

Bluetooth would be neat, but from Apple's minimalist stance it's an
additional cost for a feature not many people would understand
how to use.

I could see a bluetooth add on.

[steinah6]

bluetooth...

do you have ANY idea how SLOW bluetooth is? imagine transferring hundreds of songs at 15 kbps.

why do you think bluetooth is only used for peripherals such as mice, keyboards, and phone synching/accessories? because it can't handle lots of data transfer.

i tried to transfer a song to my friend's computer with BT and it took about 5-10 minutes.

[bandaid69]

NOkia 6265i

Oh..did I mention Nokia 6265I has bluetooth as well as everything
else....

Ipods suck

Ipods are finished the only thing they have going for them is the music store, most of my are using their phones now for their music like me, although I never bought an ipod anyway.

Ipods suck

Ipods are finished the only thing they have going for them is the music store, most of my mates are using their phones now for their music like me, although I never bought an ipod anyway. Itunes is also crap and out of date.

[the Otter]

Good for you.

You?ve discovered what nobody else has been able to figure out:
people don?t want to buy an iTunes-
compatible combination MP3/MP4/M4A/M4B/M4P/M4V/QT/
AIFF/ALC/WAV player / contact manager / calendar / video
game / bootable external hard drive with thousands of
accessories; they want to buy an MP3-playing telephone. Now if
you could only share that information with the 98% of the
population that?s too stupid to know what they want, the world
will be a nicer place.

While I?ve got you, care to elaborate on your assessment of
iTunes? I find it to be an extremely capable program?especially
for the price?and really can?t think of anything out-of-date
about it.

Cheers!

[daveworld]

Grow TF UP?

Thaks for the input, now hurry back to shcool now?

[thedreaming]

cash cow...

When a companies cash cow is threatened, most companies reinvent it. That's why Steve jobs kept making a new kind of ipod, but he's pretty much hit all of them, so what's next to make?

Most people think it'll be a phone, something like verizon wireless' chocolate, which is an mp3 player with phone capabilities.

Since verizon beat them to the punch, what else new is there to make?

[kamchoor]

i second that

i second that

[kamchoor]

ipod is not a big deal...

ipod is not a big deal...

[dansterpower]

Yah Right

You posters OBVIOUSLY have no business sense at all, no idea
how branding works and haven't got a clue, making statements
like that.

Obviously you are iPod haters, and that is fine and your right.
But to call it "no big deal," reveals your ignorance to the
business and cultural facts.

The iPod IS the deal in MP3 players and the start of the digital
media conversion. It may not remain king of the hill forever, but
it sets the standard now and into the future.

[mat_m]

It's about the music

Dont forget that the billions of tunes that have been put on ipods all have drm and if people want to continue to listen to the music they downloaded off itunes then they will need to use an IPOD!!

[chepechico]

Re: It's about the music

Hundreds of times that figure have been ripped from CDs or
"shared" and don't have any drm

[marisag]

Heck No!

As usual (well, over the past 8 years or so) Apple are keeping their
lips sealed and their creativity unleashed. I have all the faith in the
world that there will be some great innovation to the iPod in it's
next incarnation. This little bugger just keeps getting better and
better!

[open-mind]

Listen to a news.com PODCAST.

That will answer your question.

For example, listen to their 8/7 podcast covering the WWDC
keynote.

They mentioned OS "X" (never "Ten") ... mentioned the keynote
was boring, with no big surprise ... mentioned Steve needed
more help than usual on stage ... mentioned only the "Mac
Faithful" were impressed ... mentioned OS X might be taking too
long ... mentioned Jobs "took jabs at Microsoft" ... mentioned the
financial options investigation. That's about it.

They didn't mention ANYTHING about the new hardware specs
or the new features in the OS. Pretty pathetic coverage
considering that was the majority of the keynote.

[peter.mortensen]

Why Casio watches are not Rolex killers

Apple don't need to surprise with new concepts all the time anymore. They have already established a strong brand image and market position as the "Rolex of portable music players". Perhaps other brands can offer more technology and features at the same price but in today's world "less is more" and a large percentage of customers love the iPod for it's brand reputation, simplicity and consistency in experienced quality from when you open the door in the Apple store to using it at home. Nobody else is close to that total experience and it doesn't necessarily depend on some technical "details" only us CNET readers are interested in.
There are indeed very specific reasons why Apple invests a lot in building brand awareness and in a well designed retail system!

Anyway from a technical/performance perspective I like the new 8GB Sandisk player. It seems to be a great product.

[robanga]

Point taken but pick another analogy

Rolex? The market share of Rolex in watches is pretty tiny. It is a boutique product, albeit a great one that few in the watch market choose to afford. Nearly anyone in the market for a music player can and many do choose to afford an Ipod of some variety. Boutigue products do not have dominant market share like the Ipod and depend on a dedicated following, upscale demographic and mystique. Rolex has been quite successful at that.

[PhillyBoy919]

iPods are still the best, no doubt...

The iPods are still the best, most convenient, and most well supported digital music player on the market. Competitors have caught up in terms of features and useability, but the ubiquitous nature of the iPod will help it maintain its market share. The iPod Video is great. I have 20 movies ripped to it in the higher resolution and have hooked it up to TVs a few times (mostly on vacations) with great results. iTunes remains the single best music management software on the market.

Haters can continue to hate, but facts are facts and the iPod is the most popular digital music player by far and with good reason. I don't see that changing anytime soon.

[Dead Soulman]

I Give Up on C-Net and News.com

I'm getting fed up with their "the new iPod killer, and the iPod is dead." Don't they have anything new to report on other than to change the title of their stories? Every day there's a new, or re-edited story on how the end of the iPod has arrived. Pathetic.

Why so much hatred towards the iPod? I own two 4th Gen iPods and a PSP. Quite honestly, I'm happy with them. There are many products out there that offer more features than the iPod, but I choose an Apple and Sony products because that's what I wanted to get.

To Cnet and News.com, stop your "yellow press." Maybe that's why your background color is yellow.

To the writers and editors: goodbye, you've just lost another reader.

[thephoenixforce]

If you dont want to be here then wtf are you doin here?

read the headline mates

[Lara Jass]

How much is Gates paying you for your mac hate?

It's painfully obvious and shameful the hate the c/net has for any apple products. iPods are popular because they are reliable, stylish and easy to use. Other players may have more features but are all too often cursed with a difficult interface and are stuck with a crappy music program like Musicmatch or Windows media player. Your biased, regurgitated articles are pitiful and so so tired. I hope that check from Redmond makes you happy:(

[Lara Jass]

How much is Gates paying you for your mac hate?

It's painfully obvious and shameful the hate the c/net has for any apple products. iPods are popular because they are reliable, stylish and easy to use. Other players may have more features but are all too often cursed with a difficult interface and are stuck with a crappy music program like Musicmatch or Windows media player. Your biased, regurgitated articles are pitiful and so so tired. I hope that check from Redmond makes you happy:(

[make_or_break]

Retreading that tired old line again, eh?

You zealots are all alike; always seeing conspiracies around EVERY FRICKIN' CORNER. CNET questions the sanctity of the iPod, therefore CNET must be a MSFT shill.

Read their review of IE7 RC1? See the recommendation on what browser people should use? See how they bashed Origami? Ever see the ratings CNET gave the various iPods over the years? It's generally a higher--sometimes by a fair margin--than the average ratings CNET [i]readers[/i] give.

iPods have become [i]fashion[/i] accessories as much as they are anything techie. An article like this EXACTLY suites that sort of market mentality. It's no different that the annual model change for cars, TVs, or any other consumer good. And the reports that the launch of the 5G replacement being shoved back into '07 only feeds such articles like this, when this rampant consumerism of this world of ours EXPECTS predictably scheduled updates.

[dirk goedseels]

not paid only by Gates, but by all advertisers

hey guys, this is internet...
we all can read their stories for free, meaning C|Net needs to get
its funding somewhere else. So look to the right side of this
webpage, and what do you see... tadaa... all happy advertisers.

Somewhere between the advertisment and the "resource center
from News.com SPONSORS", you find the list of most discussed
stories. And what is the result:
- or they cover Apple and/or its products
- or they cover Microsoft and/or its products
- or they cover American politics

Hence, in the eyes of C|Net, Ina and colleague writers are doing
a great job, because they are creating discussions between
Apple and Microsoft fans, between republicans and democrats:
the more hits, the more they can charge their advertisers and
sponsors.
So yes, MS being an advertiser, Gates is paying C|Net to write
these kind of stories, but I remember from not so long ago
having seen the "I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" adds from Apple, so
Jobs is also paying C|Net to write the same story.

[ghnagaye]

Origami

whatever happened to that?

[daveworld]

THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE MOST STUPID HEADLINE

"Is The iPod Already Dead"

Yes I know you are looking for hit's but must you be so freaking obvoiuse, with stupid headlines.

Microsoft hasn't updated Windows in 5 years (major update), much longer than the last iPod, is Windows dead? Just because Apple keeps secrets does not mean their product line is dead.

A NEW LOW CNET!

[alan_b]

iPod is single minded

while i admire the ipod for being just a music/movie player (you can't call anything else on it bona fied media), that is its primary downfall; that 8gb sansa also has an expansion slot, plays video, half a dozen music files, has an fm radio, fm recorder, voice recorder, etc. until a nano can do all that, i won't buy it. if the ipod branched out and had more cheaper accessories for it, it's going to lose sales to smaller, better, cheaper devices.

[peestandingup]

Im sick of your Apple bashing, Cnet!

It never fails that at least once a week, the morons at Cnet are
finding new ways to bad mouth Apple products. Most of them
are "iPod killers" or some other worthless story like this one
thats about nothing. We all know you're Bill Gates little bit*h, but
do you have to be soo obvious?? Its clear that you never
comment on the bazillion faults with Windows or any MS product
for that matter, and lord knows they have their share of crappy
products. Instead, you guys make up junk like this when you
should be focused on real issues.

Now, lets talk about this "story" that Cnet chose to splash on its
main page. Is iPod dead?? Well, 80% market share says that it
isnt. Ever walked around any big city in the US?? I dont see
people carrying around Creative Zen players or the LG Chocolate
phone to listen to their music.

And as far as Apple introducing new iPods, just you wait. I
GUARENTEE you they are working on something right now that
they will introduce in a couple months that will destroy any other
companies hopes of "killing" the iPod. Do you think they are just
sitting around doing nothing?? I would say, get ready for an
iTunes Movie Store & a true Video iPod, plus some other stuff
too.

Looking forward to the next Apple bashing story next week,
Cnet. Keep up the bad work!

[calinight]

AMEN Brother!

It must be a little flattering for Apple that cnet has so many articles
about them. Even if they spend soooo much time trying to knock
them down.

[df561]

yep

just makes cnet look silly.lol....

all is not well in cnetland.