While I continue to struggle with in-car iPod connectivity, Apple has released a miniature companion to its regular line of iPod MP3 products, appropriately named iPod Mini...
Steve Jobs introduced the iPod Mini during his keynote at the MacWorldExpo along with several other Apple products. The Apple store near me does not yet have the iPod Mini on display, but from what I understand it maintains the same functionality as the 3G iPod's but smaller, in both physical size, capacity, and price. Geared towards the market previously swamped with Flash Players from Rio & iRiver, this new iPod Mini should appeal to audiophiles scared to shell out for a full fledged iPod, or whose musical selections did not necessitate a 10, 20, or 40GB drive.
The iPod Mini is powered by a new 4GB micro-hard drive developed and unveiled by Toshiba just days before the iPod Mini's introduction. 4GB equates to approximately 1,000 high-quality ACC or MP3 audio tracks. Information sheets indicate that the iPod Mini will pump out the tune-age for around 8 hours; about the same amount of time as its older brother. What it lacks in capacity, Apple has tried to make up for with style. These new iPod Mini's come in a variety of colors, a feature that has not yet been offered by the original. The iPod Mini is also designed to work on both Windows and OS X, and interface perfectly with iTunes 4.01. For those of you paying attention that means you can use your track purchases from the iTunes Music Store.
Retailing at a slightly pricey $250, many analyists question whether Apple will be chewing off its own foot with this one. Won't this ruin the market for the higher priced 'regular' iPods? I'm inclined to think not. For people having built a media library over the last 5 years, the original iPod is perfect for carting there 7,500+ tracks around the world. However, for those just getting caught up in the digital music revolution, 1,000 tracks may seem like the sky. Moreover, 1,000 songs from the iTunes music store (at a buck a track) seems a bit more reasonable than 7,500 or 10,000. The other issue is size. Because it uses a high capacity mini-Hard Drive, the iPod Mini can hold much more music than many players with the same size specifications that rely on flash media and expensive add-ons that knock the TCO (total cost of ownership) up beyond the price of the standard iPod Mini.
Hopefully this will come as a relief to those with iPod envy who were previously scared of the $300-$500 price tag. Granted, it’s not MUCH cheaper than the larger models. When it comes down to it, the superiority of the Apple product, the user interface (same as larger iPod's), the sleek design, and high capacity, should manage to draw extra dollars that may have previously been spent on lower capacity flash devices. Only time will tell of course, but I'm fairly certain that the regular iPod's will remain a success, and the iPod Mini will have its own success in the lower-end market.
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