Live: Apple iPod event, 10 a.m. Pacific
PHOTO GALLERIES: NEW IPODS TAKE ON THESE RIVALS
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SONY (SNE)
Return of the Walkman |
EVENT BEGINS
Folks are still filing in to the Apple (AAPL) event, but it looks like there will be about 1,000 people when the event begins.
The lights have dimmed; Steve Jobs is out on stage.
He says today we get to talk about music; let's start with iTunes. Some facts and figures: Apple has distributed more than 600 million copies of iTunes. Customers have bought and downloaded more than 3 billion songs. iTunes is the number-one online music store in every one of the 22 countries in which it now operates.
Apple now has more than 6 million songs in each of those 22 iTunes stores. Apple is the number 3 music retailer in the U.S., behind Wal-Mart and Best Buy. Apple carries 550 TV shows, and has sold just shy of 100 million shows; Apple also has 125,000 podcasts, and 25,000 of those are video podcasts.
Jobs says this last statistic blew his mind: 32 percent of the music releases in 2006 were released digital-only.
RINGTONES
Jobs says Apple is going to ship a new version of iTunes tonight, and the biggest new feature will be ringtones. These work for the iPhone exclusively. Rather than let someone else make ringtones, Apple is going to build a custom ringtone-maker into iTunes. You can make ringtones out of more than 500,000 participating songs.
The comparable ringtone price from other providers is $2.49, Jobs says. (That's about right.) Through iTunes, it will cost 99 cents in addition to the cost of the song. So, an iTunes song costs 99 cents, and you'll pay another 99 cents to turn it into a ringtone.
iTunes will show a bell icon next to songs, indicating which songs you can make into ringtones. You get to pick a section of the song, up to 30 seconds, to turn into a tone.
Jobs is going to demonstrate it.
He's making a ringtone out of "Respect," the Aretha Franklin song, and says he's going to assign it to his wife's calls. (Laughter ensues.) He picks out a section of the song, much like you would isolate a clip in GarageBand (Apple's music app). Then he buys the ringtone, and it appears in his ringtone folder.
Now he's playing a few more that have already been made; he plays "Give Peace A Chance," and says, "That's when NBC calls." (More laughter.)
Jobs reiterates that this ringtone maker is just for songs purchased from iTunes. Does this mean it won't work with songs you've purchased on CD and ripped? And I wonder if this is hackable?
Now let's talk about the iPod, Jobs says. Apple has sold more than 110 million to date.
Today, he says, we are going to refresh every single product in the lineup to get ready for the holiday season.
IPOD SHUFFLE
Apple's refreshing the colors; they're a bit more muted, maybe pastel-ish. I'll post photos later. Apple is adding a Product Red shuffle to its mix. (Do a search on Utility Belt for "Product Red" to learn more about that program.)
IPOD NANO
The iPod nano is the most popular music player in history, Jobs says, and Apple wants to make it better. It will now have video, a larger, brighter display, "cover flow" browsing, games, and a full-metal design (getting rid of the plastic caps). The new nano looks just like the rumor site photos said; it's a squat version of the old nano.
It'll come in black, red, silver, blue and green.
The nano has 320×240 resolution on a 2-inch screen, for the highest pixel density Apple has ever shipped. Apple has changed the user interface a bit; now there's a split screen, so you can navigate a bit like column view in the Mac OS X Finder.
Apple will also bundle three games with the new nano. He's showing one of them, Vortex. The graphics actually look pretty good, and smooth — makes me wonder if they've upgraded the processors in this device.
Now he's showing Sudoku from Electronic Arts. The game has transition screens that display Japanese gardens.
Now he's demonstrating it.
On to music and video. Visual content sort of floats on the righthand column of the screen when you're browsing, giving it a very active, intuitive look. Now he's playing a song, Mr. Brightside by The Killers. He's also displaying album covers in coverflow view.
Now he's showing video, and The Daily Show. The PC guy from the Apple commercials is on. Jobs is now showing the Freestyle 101 hip hop podcast, which is a pretty cool choice.
Now Jobs is demonstrating photos on the nano; the slideshow feature looks pretty similar to the ones Apple has had on iPods for a while; fade in and out transitions, wipes, etc.
Apple's claiming 24 hours of audio and 5 hours of video playback with the new nano. Storage: 4-gigabyte and 8GB. 4GB at $149, 8GB at $199. (Twice the memory of the previous version at the same price; they ship today.) They should be in many stores by this weekend, Jobs says. The new nano will also work with the Nike + iPod sport kit for runners. There are more than 1 million runners using the Nike + iPod kit, and they've logged more than 12 million miles, Jobs says.
He shows a commercial for the nano, which has the tagline, "Now, a little video for everyone." It's a woman singing on the screen, with dancers in the background.
IPOD CLASSIC
Jobs says it's time to give the standard iPod a name; it's called the iPod classic. Full metal design, thinner than its predecessor. It starts at 80GB of storage. Audio is 30 hours, video is 5 hours on the 80GB version. There will also be a slightly thicker version at 160GB. "This boggles the mind," Jobs says. He points out that the original iPod put 1,000 songs in your pocket, and this one puts 40,000 in your pocket; 40 hours of audio playback, 7 hours of video. 80GB for $249, 160GB for $349.
Now he's going back over the iPod lineup. Gotta be time for One More Thing.
He's walking across the stage to get a swig of water. "But we're not done yet. Far from it," he says. "When we introduced the iPhone in January, we said it was the best iPod ever. And customers agree with us."
IPOD TOUCH
Apple is bringing out an iPod that looks like an iPhone: iPod touch.
Jobs is holding one. it's thinner than an iPhone — 8 millimeters thin. "It's one of the seven wonders of the world," Jobs says. It features the multitouch interface from the iPhone. "If you've used an iPhone, you'll feel very much at home."
He's describing it; it works pretty much like the iPhone. "All on this 8mm thin device." It has a 3.5 inch widescreen display, just as we'd expect. "Just like the iPhone, this is the best way to share photos on a portable device, ever," Jobs says. He's still going through the features we know from the iPhone.
Now he's demonstrating it.
(This clearly uses flash memory and not a hard drive, though Jobs hasn't said so yet; the iPod touch couldn't get this thin using a hard drive. It also seems to have WiFi built in; there's a WiFi antenna displaying on the screen.)
Now he's displaying video.
(It will be interesting to see whether the iPod touch can be used to make calls, since it apparently has WiFi. If Apple allows companies like eBay/Skype to develop for it, things could get interesting.)
"But there's more," Jobs says. "We've built in WiFi," Jobs says. What's the problem with adding WiFi, Jobs says. Passwords, for one. Hotels and other places throw up web pages for you to log in. Starbucks gives you a web page. Even Stanford University gives you a web page.
So Apple's putting Safari in the iPod touch. (The key thing here is that Apple has announced the first iPod that runs OS X and has a web browsing experience.)
Jobs says Safari is "The best web browser on any mobile device." I think that's different from the way he described it last time, interestingly enough. (I'm starting the get curious about how Apple will price this.)
Apple is also building the YouTube app into the iPod touch. "Millions of free videos streaming over WiFi to your iPod touch."
Jobs is demonstrating the browser on the iPod touch, which looks exactly the same as the browser operation in the iPhone. Jobs is now demoing the Facebook app on the iPod touch. Now he's showing YouTube, and a video of people riding bikes off of a ramp and into water.
"We've put WiFi in, and we've made it usable," Jobs says. "It's a worldwide product. This is the first touch product that Apple's going to ship around the world."
22 hours audio playback, 5 hours video playback.
"There's something cool to do with WiFi now, so let's go ahead and build it in," he says.
Two configurations: 8GB for $299, and 16 GB for $399. He says Apple is shipping them this month.
He's showing the commercial now.
It's interesting how much this looks like an iPhone commercial, and makes me wonder whether this will eat into the feeling of exclusivity around the iPhone.
"But there is one more thing," Jobs says.
ITUNES WIFI MUSIC STORE
You might have noticed that there's an empty spot on the dock of the iPod touch. It's for the iTunes WiFi Music Store. "Finally, some of you are saying."
In the WiFi music store you can look at the top songs in all of iTunes or any genre. You can preview, and tap to download. When it downloads you can listen to it on the iPod touch, and the next time you sync with your computer it syncs up to iTunes.
You can search for anything in the iTunes store, same price, same selection. "Buy songs, buy whole albums if you like."
Now he's going to demo it.
He's looking at the "What's Hot" menu, and previewing John Lennon's "Imagine." The interface displays the stars, the number of reviews, and the price of the songs associated with Imagine. The album art is there too, which is pretty nice. (This changes the paradigm for mobile music purchasing, and will put a lot of pressure on the mobile carriers and Nokia.)
He's demonstrating search. The search is live; he types a few letters and it displays results as he types. He touches "buy," and a cool animation shows that the song is going into the download queue. Now he's showing that all the songs he purchased are in the iPod touch.
"So. Not so bad, for the new iTunes WiFi Music Store," Jobs says.
It will be available internationally in every one of the 22 countries that iTunes operates in, Jobs says. "And we're going to do something else, too. We're going to bring it to the iPhone." It will come to the iPhone via a free software update. "We're really, really excited about the iTunes WiFi Music Store."
STARBUCKS
There's even one more incredible part of this, Jobs says. A partnership with Starbucks.
in the new iTunes WiFi Store, when you get near a Starbucks, a button shows up on your device. If you hear a cool song in the Starbucks, you can buy it with a tap of your finger. If you miss the song while it's playing, you can see the last 10 songs that played in that Starbucks.
On the iPod touch, the screen shows that it's a Starbucks song that's playing. You can buy it just as if you were buying from the iTunes store.
Howard Schultz, founder and chairman of Starbucks, is out on stage. He says Starbucks has 14,000 stores worldwide, 50 million customers per week; most loyal customers visit 18 times per month. The company's opening seven new stores every day.
He says Starbucks has gotten pretty serious about the music business, and says "This is going to be transformational." He says there will be free access to iTunes WiFi Music while at Starbucks (no login required), and he says he believes this will drive incremental traffic into stores.
"This is exclusive with iTunes," Schultz says.
He's talking about the rollout. October 2, Starbucks will do Seattle and New York, 600 stores. In November, San Francisco with 350 stores. Then they'll start up in February 2008 with Los Angeles and Chicago in March. That will be 25 percent of the WiFi-enabled Starbucks stores (in the U.S. I assume), and then they will expand to the whole U.S.
Schultz leaves the stage.
"We know a lot of people are going to be very happy with this combination of coffee and iTunes," Jobs says.
IPHONE PRICE CUT
Now Jobs is taking another look at Apple's lineup: the shuffle, the nano, the classic, the touch. "We think this is going to set a lot of people's world's on fire," Jobs says. "And I'm going to include the iPhone" in the lineup, he says, because Apple has called it the best iPod ever.
"We want to get even more aggressive than this," Jobs says. iPhones are more satisfied with iPhones than anything they've ever done, he says. So Apple wants to make the iPhone more affordable. Apple is on track to ship the 1 millionth iPhone by the end of the month.
So Apple is getting rid of the 4GB model, and dropping the 8GB model at $399. (This has got to be painful for anyone who has bought an iPhone already.)
Jobs calls it the best iPod lineup ever, and says Apple is ready. Jobs has all the Apple people who worked on the products stand up so they can get a round of applause.
KT TUNSTALL
"One of the traditions we have at our music events is … to have a musician come and perform for us," Jobs says. This time it's KT Tunstall.
(Interestingly, practically no one is leaving during this performance. At some previous music-related Apple events, some people cleared out before the artist was finished.)
Tunstall says she's glad to be here, and makes a telling comment about Apple's impact on the music business: "Steve Jobs is actually making it more fun to pay for it than steal it, which is great."
"Thank you for all for coming very much, and we'll see you soon," Jobs says. The lights come on, and the event has ended.
For those of you who said you feel sorry for people who bought an iphone b/c of the Ipod Touch (not Itouch as far I know)…I bought an Iphone for me and one for my wife…I just called Apple and they are giving me a price match so im getting back the difference from the $699 to the $399 plus taxes. So im not mad anymore as I was earlier today, LOL
Apple just pissed off their largest base of users, people like me who rush out and get their latest products, the early adopters. I understand that prices drop on new stuff but does anyone really think that a 1/3 price drop 60 days after release is normal? I'll never be fooled again. I will continue to buy their products because they are still the best but I will certainly use discretion on new Apple tech products from now on.
Let's hope Apple does something for us "suckers"!!!
okay bird, i'll agree with some to disagree with others… again, everyone has individual needs. i think the Touch is pretty awesome, considering it's wide-screen with internet, wi-fi and more. all things me others would use, while 'Classic' has none of that. many want wi-fi, internet, iTunes wi-fi, multi-touch, email via safari (and all else the internet gives), wide-screen video and more. while many others mainly want maximum mp3 space like the Classic. neither is wrong or right, that's why they have different versions & purchase options for different types of buyers and needs. they terminated the 20-60gb ones because it became more affordable to make bigger sizes. if it cost was the same, they'd still have 30gb versions, or just raise the price. as with all tech over time prices drop for memory and chips which makes it better for consumers by giving us bigger drives and faster memory. i'll get a bigger storage version in 2-3 years, hopefully a 30GB+ one. take care all, happy days all.
Wow. I think Apple is now in the sweet spot for their price points just in time for the Christmas season. Steve Jobs is brilliant.
totally understood.. but… if you have 3,000 songs.. how the hell are you going to fit any movies, podcasting and tv shows on your touch.. and sorry to say.. it not "super-geeky" to have more than 20,000 songs.. and if that was the case.. Apple wouldn't have terminated the 20g, 30g and 60g ipods for a 80g and 120g replacement… some people are music collectors and have collected music over long periods of time… why the hell would i buy the touch, when i can have everything i need in the classic.. who needs the extra if the extras don't add up to be better then the original?? I'll just like a lot of people will just wait till they wake up and decide to put out an 30g or 60g touch.
Like, Deion, I'm back. 1) Dirty don't put your world in everyone else's, most people will not need more than 16gb. Of course it would be great to get 80gb or more, but this is what they have now, so roll with it. Not everyone is a super-geek with 20,000 songs, it's impossible to listen to all that, your play must live on shuffle. For me 16gb is good for now, of course they'll sell bigger versions next year, that's natural growth. The computer you're using has a bigger hard drive than one 2-3 years ago, it's normal growth. I'll probably only put 1500-3000 songs on it, I'm more concerned with video to watch on the train to work or plane travel. Everyone their own specific needs & wants. Lastly, I doubt they'll put FM-Radio on the iPod anytime soon. That would take away from sales of the FM Radio Remote tuner. I rarely listen to FM radio – only AM, so again everyone has individual needs. I'm definitely buying a Touch, would buy an iPhone if they had a 16gb version, 8gb just isn't enough for video. Maybe in a year or two when they have a 16 or 24gb iPhone I'll buy that.
"JLM"… isn't that the last word that.. I typed???? storage/memory ….. apples/oranges… your splitting hairs
I have a 8g Iphone and I love it. I have bought a lot of highpriced cellphone hoping that one will be better than the next but they always turn out the same. Crapy. This is the first phone that i have purchased that Actually has an excellent web browser. Meaning it looks like a real web page. I already owned a 30g ipod video so I didnt buy the iphone for that purpose I bought it for the phone and web browsing abilities. Everyone thats talking about wait wait wait till the new version comes out is just cheap. If thats the case no one will ever buy anything ever because there always will be something new. I think the people who says wait to buy this and that cant afford to buy anything new and then try to make fun of people who have better stuff than thim. LOL give me a break you all sound like my grandparents. I bet you guys still use a rotary phone because your waitng for something new. I think alot of people on here are all talk and dont have any new in their entire house.
TO EVERYONE WHO SAYS, "WHY DO I NEED MORE THEN 16G" "thinksecret.com" DID A SURVEY…. 75% OF IPOD OWNERS MAX OUT THEIR IPODS WITHIN 60 TO 90 DAYS OF PURCHASING IT… SO YES I VERY IMPORTANT.. AND ONE THAT WILL HINDER THE IPOD TOUCH…. IN THE COMING MONTHS… PEOPLE WILL SEE.. THEY WILL PHASE OUT THE 8G MODEL AND REPLACE IT WITH THE 16G AND THEN THEY WILL MAKE A 30G OR 60G MODEL (WHICH THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE FROM JUMP-STREET) I'LL BUY A 120G OVER THE TOUCH, EVEN THO, I LOVE WHAT THEY DID WITH THE TOUCH, BUT.. I'VE GOT OVER 20,000 SONGS… AND THE "TOUCH" IS NOT CAPABLE OF HANDLING ALL OF MY MOVIES, PODCASTS, TV SHOWS AND MIND YOU A LOT OF PEOPLE USED THEIR IPODS AS PORTABLE HARD DRIVES (TO STORE FILES, CONTACTS ETC.) SO THE SIZE OF THE IPOD REALLY DOES MATTER…. I'D BE REALLY PISSED IF I COPED A "TOUCH" AND THEN IN JAN. THEY COME OUT WITH A LARGER STORAGE CAPACITY..
I BET IF SOMEONE TOOK A POLL FROM JUST THE PEOPEL WHO HAVE POSTED A COMMENT, YOU'LL GET THE SAME RESPONSE… THE "TOUCH" NEEDS MORE MEMORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"…or being the first on my block to own one."
Remember what I said earlier about the self-indulgence of these things?
I am the proud owner of a 4GB IPhone and am not sorry I have it. Yes, i'm a bit peeved that the price dropped, but on which product doesn't it drop after a while? The Moto Razors came out at about $500 initially.
I'm not one bit sorry I own this marvelous bit of technology. I don't regret purchasing it when I did or being the first on my block to own one. I love, love, love my IPhone and will probably replace it next year with a 16GB IPhone that will go for about $99. That's just how it goes, folks.
Dk,
I sound like a "commie" because I'm not wetting myself over Apple's latest and greatest?
You're right–stumbling over oneself in a frenzy to purchase the next best toy truly is unpatriotic.
dukeman — wow, I I didn't even realize that you couldn't use the wifi to sync! I guess I should not have been surprised, the AppleTV was equally lame about limiting your sync capabilities.
It will be interesting to see how much longer Apple can captivate their consumers with artificial software restrictions preventing them from buying from anyone else but them. It's a dangerous game that could blow up in their face if the consumer ever wises up, and/or someone else finally can put together a competing product with a decent interface (my bet is on Creative or Ocean).
Well, I wondered what would bring anyone in their right mind to buy an iPhone anymore when they announced the iTouch, now I know they saw it too. $399 makes the cell chip a reasonable "upgrade" choice once again.
fairport wrote:
"As an Iphone owner I'm slightly upset about overpaying $200. But as an AAPL investor, I'm incredibly excited that the Iphone will now be affordable to much larger audience."
This kinda confirmed my suspicion, a lot of people buying Apple stock are "lifestyle speculators," not investors. Just like those that bought PALM 8 years ago (remember THAT once trendy has-been mobile device maker?) Anyone AAPL investor who is incredibly excited" about a company slashing a huge chunk of their profit margin on a nearly brand new product that is not even 1/10th the way to the one-year sales target set by the company does NOT know much about investing LOL.
Notice also all the people here who say hey, it doesn't matter, are the people who made more than they spent on the stock, so they can rationalize it as "free" no matter what the price was cut to. Another sign they are not real investors, that they think so emotionally about $$$.
On first reviewing the demos of the ipod touch, I must admit, I was pretty excited. Built-in wifi? Touch interface? Integrated web browser?
The first signs of trouble started when I noticed the storage capacity: 16 gig max? My video ipod rests at a roomy 80 (and yes, while I haven't maxed out my space yet, any less would be cutting it pretty close).
But then I saw the silver lining: the touch ipod uses USB flash storage. Obviously, then, Apple would make separate flash drives that you could purchase, rendering it plenty easy to swap out drives and mitigate the miserly capacity…right?
Wrong. Let's not forget, in order to replace ipod batteries, you must ship your ipod back to Apple, so something as logical as swapping drives surely has no place in Apple's product lineup.
The second thing I immediately wondered about: since it has wifi, that means I can sync my ipod with my computer without needing to plug in the USB cable, right?
Wrong. Oh, they conveniently make *purchasing* music available over the ether, but actually syncing wirelessly? Now why would they include that?
Lastly, their new deal with Starbuck's. This is what I love about multi-company deals such as these. Walk into a Starbuck's and a new, shiny icon will instantly appear on your ipod! Look, everybody–forced advertising!
The best part is, people will consider this feature indispensable. Because, you know, it's often that I wander into a Starbuck's and decide I absolutely can't live without their pseudo-jazzy, comfortably chill, corporate-researched music.
It's not that I don't support advances in commercial technology–some of this is pretty darn cool. It's just that over and over, I find myself remarking at how incredibly self-indulgent we're becoming with our gadgets. I thought cellphones were bad enough–people absolutely can't live without being able to contact each other every waking moment….to discuss what they did last night or who is gossiping with whom. Now we're going to have to put up with thousands of people dropping everything because they'll absolutely *die* if they don't catch up on the latest inane video from YouTube.
Next up Apple will announce the iPDA. Seriously, with the iPhone's capabilities and now the Nano's with games, Apple is quickly going to put MS SmartPhones and Palm's to shame.
at the time you bought your phone, you ought to know and expect how the tech world works…if don't know then, i wouldn't be calling others stupid…take a look at yourself first…
and get over it…its only $200…but at least its a nice phone you have…you had your moments then…you enjoyed the envy others exprsss upon you…that feeling, that moment, you got all its worth…
You guys are weird.
This is all great news. Apple stock going down. LOL
It does that every time they introduce a new product… even the iPhone. People buy and sell stock every time the wind blows a different direction. I bought aapl at $22.50 and then it split. Now they are really kicking butt and I have no plans to sell any time soon.
"Jobs just killed the iPhone with these iPods. I'd be livid if I had an iPhone or was AT+T!"
You are crazy! Apple will sell tons of both of these. The iPhone is the best phone I have ever had buy a HUGE margin. An 8gig iPhone for $400. I got hosed by buying at $600, but sometimes you are the bug and sometimes you are the window.
Those complaining about only 16 gigs in the iTouch should buy a classic if you really have to have 10,000,000,000,000 songs available at all times. I have over 4,000 pictures, two movies, 4 audio books and a ton of songs on my 8 gigiPhone with space left over.
Anyone that rushes in to be the first based on hype deserves what they get. History should have taught you better, wait for the next release – it will be less money and will have upgrades to any bug fixes. Cost of electronics will always, always come down over time and the quality will go up. Personally I'm waiting for ATT to offer their high broadband network for the iPhone. I much rather have an awsome phone that also plays music than just a plain old iPod anyway. By then the're will be a 20GB iPhone for half the price.
Hey douchbag, remember some of us didnt but the iphone for the ipod part, it does a lot that the new ipod touvh DOES NOT do! so shut it
With the iPhone software update, there will be 2 new icons for you originals that just had to have it…first one will be of a small violin…touch it, and it will play for you. The second one, will be of a toilet paper roll…push it, and it will show a video of Jobs giving it to the masses that bought the iPhone first.
Whoever makes a skin for the iPhone, make one up that says "Pay to the Order of – Steve Jobs".
DK, your spouse must wear the t shirt "I'm with Stupid".
Congrats to the 40G winner And the 100G winner…but I topped you both with 220G's…I have no regrets in paying $600 for my iphone and I will gladly pay up for the new iPod touch and if they cut the price on that in 3 or 6 months…So what? Aside to CJ…Your best chance of buying AAPL at $112 is if the stock splits!!!!
DK,
You never cease to amaze me. Simpletons like you are what make men like Jobs seems even more brilliant.
i think it's the fact that it's the same price as the ipod not the price cut that's got some iphone owners upset. but it was expected, just like the razr is now free with contract and it went for $400 brand new
The rebate form is listed with all the rebate forms from those HD TV suppliers, that feel sorry for everyone buying a flatscreen TV without 1080p…lol
No company in their right mind would give money back under these circumstances.
Please open a Apple store Brasil with Itunes Store Brasil.
Save this country from the pc and windows dictatorship.
Sorry about my english…
iPod is on the table
iMac is on the table
iPhone is no ton the table
Please save us….
I agree with DK. Some amount of reimbursement would have been very good for PR – possibly an iTunes credit, but a full $200 rebate sounds completely unnecessary and could hurt Q3 earnings seriously. Where are the details about the rebate ?
Im waiting 20 minutes to download this ipod touch video tour, it will be one of the hotest items this christmas along with Nintendo Wii, so get your hands on one and sell em on ebay
Not like these 1 million customers will never come back for more apple products and service….
and besides, i'm simply stating the truth about the financials and rebates…
I'm surprised at how quickly the price dropped on the iphone – I'd be pissed too, if I had bought one. I don't like to be on the bleeding edge of technology, though. The cutting edge will do for me.
To all of you freaking out about the stock – unless you're daytrading, stfu and stop freaking out. The stock became overvalued in a up and down economy driven market this last week. And if you trade stock, you should at least know that when markets drop, people sell tech first.
DK,
How is not pissing off 1 million of your most loyal customers bad for the bottom line? You are a schmuck.
i know it will be available immediatly online, but when will i be able to see/purchase it in the store?
see look while we are bitching about paying too much Apple has already covered us with a $200 rebate. Apple knows how to take care of its consmers as well as draw in new ones. Since Jobs has returned in 97 he has done nothing but turn Apple around into one of the wealthiest companies around
Please stop whining about the price cut on the Iphone. If you had the means to pay $600 for the first version of the iPhone, are you seriously that concerned about the price drop now ? The initial RAZRs were over $400 and that price got slashed incredibly in just a few short months. Get over it people.
I'm glad for the person who made the 40G's. I have made over 100G's on apple this year. I bought because of all the great product reviews, because the kids love Apple products, and the superior image of the company with the public.
My son has iPod, I do not own nor have a need for an iPhone (although my wife went to a party where a friend had one and it was a big hit).
I own a new Mac but have three others that are PC's.
Apple has great products, is so innovative, has a great image, has almost 14B in the bank, no debt, and everyone else trying to play catch up. I will hold my stock and options and I may buy more on this dip. Most companies would kill to have Apple's market position
Peter …. that would be awesome being able to make video calls from my iphone or ipod would be absolutely fantastic if there is a company in the world that can pull that off is certainly Apple
It's not that I have NO sympathy at all for current iPhone owners, but even some of the hype-filled news reports at the time were saying that many people would wait until Christmas time to buy an iPhone for this exact reason. The price would go down and/or the features would improve. I suppose it's a pretty lame thing for a company to do, but consumers should expect it at this point. It happens all the time. Why not chalk it up to a learning experience and have a little patience next time, rather than rushing out to be the first person to own the new big thing.
No doubt the price drop is the result of "shorts" and day traders. The end result of all of this is more cash on the balance sheet at end of quarter. More cash means more R&D.
$200 rebate form up now at http://www.apple.com/iphone/
I'm pre-ordering the Itouch today. I've held out on Ipod until this point, but this tech hit the sweet spot.
Sour grapes. Since when have computers and technology NOT come down drastically in price soon after introduction? Using your logic, you might as well never buy a computer, cell phone, iPod or any other technological widget because you KNOW that just around the corner is something faster/better/cheaper. You want to be an early adopter, you pay the price and if you've got any sense you won't whine about it.
It has always been this way, and Apple didn't invent that business model. It's the cost of doing business, people.
You want to save money, wait a few months. Me, I'm going to go out and buy a Nano. Not the new one. The old one. The price is going to plummet this afternoon so they can clear out stock.
I actually think the idea of giving current iPhone owners vouchers for iTunes is a good idea. I do not own the phone, but do feel for those who paid 600.00. Their only crime was being loyal Apple fans.
Iphone will increase market share from this point on…
they will put even more pressure on competitors
iPhone users – did you really think that the iPhone would stay at $500 for long? $500 for a phone isn't a smart buy by any measure anyway.
Rule number one of technology: Never buy the first edition of a product. Its always overpriced and glitchy.
Doesn't anyone see where this is all going? Jobs is making an end run around the cell phone carriers. Future Ipods with WIFi will be able to make phone calls around the world and locally just by adding a skype or vonage account and making the call over the internet. NO ATT. Even better yet, he'll add a small CAM, and we will finally have free WIFI video calls via ICHAT. The future is here.
I just bought my 4GB iphone this weekend…14 days to return…i'll be doing that today. I'll gladly pay the 10% restocking fee (tax anyway) and save the $100 bucks and get the 8GB.
Plus i think the price point drop gives jobs room to price any second gen iphone at the iphone previous price points.
I can't wait for the first peson to make fun of me for getting the iPhone right away…. I will just say well in the last month I have made over 40,000 trading apple. Did you make that much last year? I guess that is the only defense I can think of…..What is a dollar worth to you?
As a shareholder of aapl and owner of an iphone, I can say im absolutely pisses off at this bullshit! I want 200 dollars back, i want my 200 dollar cancellation fee from t-mobile back too! Im updating this blog from my buggy ass iphone at starbucks and i was in love with this whole line until they pwned the iphone with the itouch. I want to throw this piece of shit phone against the nearest wall! I feel violated as a consumer, ive never felt so used from a company… Not since Windows ME have i been so upset at a company!
hey guys you buy a new product you shell out a premium you should not be mad at Apple for cutting $$ this is how it goes with all products
the same is true for the new ipods
I agree with Steve and JG. I chose to pay $600 for the iPhone and it was worth it. But I feel betrayed that they are dropping the price now. They should leave it at $600, at least for a little while. I am a loyal Apple user and have converted two friends in the last year. But I just got bent over by Steve Jobs and Apple as a Thank You.
They said the new ipod touch will ship later this month. As for the proce drop on the iPhone I think Apple should send consumers a gift certificate to iTunes for the difference
As an Iphone owner I'm slightly upset about overpaying $200. But as an AAPL investor, I'm incredibly excited that the Iphone will now be affordable to much larger audience.
This whole set of announcements is amazing. We are in Q3 – Apple is already capitalizing on Mac sales for back to school – and now they will sell an incredible amount of new ipods and iphones as well. And all of this comes before Q4 holiday season. For AAPL investors, the next 6 months might be the best ever.
Is the Ipod touch going to have a touch keyboard like the iPhone, if so you could absolutely use this for at least you email. The pice cut on the iPhone is welcome as well I am going to have to think long and hard on which on to get..
iPhone owner here. And yes, I'm mad at Apple. But I made the choice to spend 600 bucks on it, and it was well worth the price.
Sounds like a great deal – especially for the Nano and iPod classic. I might actually upgrade my iPod Photo.
They need to combine the touch Ipod with the traditional Ipod. Put that hefty hard drive in the awesome looking touch Ipod and you have perfection.
They said the new ipod touch will ship later this month. As for the proce drop on the iPhone I think Apple should send consumers a gift certificate to iTunes for the difference
this iphone price drop is extremely lame. How can they feel okay about dropping the price that much when 2 months ago we paid almost double the price. Now I feel extremely ripped off.
i don't think it will compete with the iphone if you are happy with your current phone you are not going to replace it with an iphone but you might want the new touch player I would be one of them my phone is a piece of crap motorola c115 i love it it makes phone calls it's small and the battery charge last 1 week .. the price on the 8 gig is reasonable and it looks great so many people will choose to go this way
All of you iPhone-atics that just HAD to have the phone the first day out…LOL! The lower price will mean that other carriers (in my country at least – Canada, when the phone gets here…) will probably be offered for free with a new contract…
Putting all those features in a device that is WAY cheaper is irritating. Dropping the iPhone price is infuriating!!
To each his own opinion. PSP does have WIFI and that was my point. Not to mention a bigger and better screen. I'm sorry I don't drink Apple's Kool-aid (reference to Jim Jones. I keep an open mind and expected something more original from Apple. Expandable memory possibly or an easier cheaper way to import video rather than purchasing from Itunes. More power to Apple for building their own captive customers. I'll buy back their stock after this hype premium is gone.
interesting positioning for Starbucks and Apple – Apple gets immediate worldwide retail "brick and mortar" distribution of the ITunes business and Starbucks upgrades its value play on wifi application -next will come deals with the big content music companies that have been looking for a subscription model (to replace the failing retail record store model) to strike deals into the Starbucks/Apple retail footprint in the medium term – smart play by Starbucks to grow revenue; and you know Apple will get more than its fair share of return.
cool down folks–people want the phone for what it is –a phone and e-mail devise —2 different markets
Who needs the iphone now with a WIFI IPOD. Just plug in a headset and mike ( bluetooth coming) and log into skype. There's your IPOD phone with no ATT contract!
Damn would hate to be an iphone owner right now. Apple is really screwing over the iphone owners royally. I was so close to buying an iphone too…I'm glad I didn't because there is absolutly no reason to.
i was thinking he would announce radio first and then wifi last to make it seem like radio would be the biggest addition (besides the screen of course). Also there really isnt a place for an icon on the home screen which makes me think radio is being left out.
My bust on the PSP not having Wifi…..But what is the wifi on the PSP used for…Surfing the internet??? I looked in the mirror a second ago….I am still smart as ever….my mustache looks stupid though.
Where is the list of release for Wifi at Starbucks at???? I cannot find the whole list on the internet a link would be great…..
does anyone think there's still a chance jobs will announce radio on the touch? I was hoping they would incorporate digital radio
This is all good news…unless there's some excess inventory that the market analysts feel AAPL is going to be stuck with after the new products begin rolling out. And yet the stock is down…so I wonder why?
Hey PSP guy you are stupid…..could you imagine people carrying around their PSP with them whereever they go????? Man you are stupid…And the PSP doesn't even have wifi…..Don't ever open your mouth again please, we are all dumber from reading what you had to say….
Wow, I'm glad I didn't buy the iPhone after all. I would feel screwed by Apple right now … they clearly could have released iTouch at same time as iPhone, and given that it will already be available this month they clearly knew it was coming soon when the iPhone went on sale. But though they announced the iPhone 6 months in advance, they kept this under wraps almost right up to the moment it shipped, I think to get a few more people to buy the iPhone because they thought it would be so "exclusive."
I really think the iPhone will be seen in the future as the Edsel of this market. A pretty nice product in concept, and cutting edge, even ahead of it's time, but overhyped, and quickly undercut by more competent, complete products.
What keeps Apple from putting email on the iPod Touch? It already has Wifi and safari. The thing is already in an iPhone case. Even though you would only have email in a hotspot. There is nothing that keeps Apple from adding the feature, assuming they haven't already and Steve just hasn't gotten that far yet.
i think 8gb and 16gb is good, i'm no super-techie, but i imagine they need space inside for the other components (video, wi-fi, and all the other "stuff") that go inside to give us all these great options and toys. 16gb is good for me, that's a lot of music and don't know the file size of an iPod movie, but i guess it's enough memory for a handful of movies and 1000-2000 songs? am i wrong? i've been waiting since the initial iPod launch for a high-grade video iPod, this answers all my hopes (video, music & internet), now i can finally buy one. i don't need the phone. wonder how at&t feels about this, will it take away from iPhone sales? thank you mr. jobs and staff.
"Both models are available in just a few weeks… they'll be shipping this month."
Got this from another live blogging site.
The guy that posted the psp thing get out of here. i don't use my psp for music because it's f–ing huge
remember guys most people don't need more then 2gb unfortunately we are spoiled and a device that was meant to be a portable music player is now turning into a do it all monster.. which is fine
eventually iphone like devices will replace laptops and desktops
ipod and iphone are two different products and are for different groups…
iphone does email and makes phone calls…like a smartphone should be…a tool
ipod is an entertainment devise that allows the user to be able to access download purchase anytime and anywhere…
I think everyone (including me) would pay an extra $100 or $200 to have 80GB or 100GB on the iTouch versus the measely 8GB and 16GB
Seriously 16 GB….What do you need more than 10 for. You can always change your music…..if you actually need to.
WHEN IS THE RELEASE DATE OF THE TOUCH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!
Flash memory is along in "capacity", bobbyblack, the problem is the cost to impliment anything higher will shy away most consumers. Apple would rather saturate the market with 50 flavors of Ipods that non-tech people could use. Most people who have ipods rarely max out their memory useage anyways. Apple wants to target them.. the masses.
I think Jobs just killed the iPhone with the iTouch. Seriously, how many wouldn't prefer to have the iTouch + a dedicated, small phone like the razor, instead of the iPhone. Razor+ITouch is a better phone, more convenient to answer calls, more plan options, cheaper … and Wifi!
For the few who will still buy the iPhone, boy did Jobs screw over AT&T here. He got them to commit massive $ to it, advertising etc, now he steals the thunder with a product they won't get any business out of. ouch. Brilliant move by Jobs, but I hope he doesn't need AT&T again ion the future!
Why did I spend $599 on an iPhone all I got for $300 was the phone. This thing has everything for WAY less. It's cool but I am not exactly happy about it.
16 gb is not enough. No wonder the stock is going down.
iTouch needs to be over 100 gb to be successful.
Stock's tumbling away-
Hopefully the battery life won't be as crappy as all of Apple's other products (yeah I have a Nano and a MB Pro.. carry on fanboys..)
I was getting very excited to go out and buy the ipod touch as soon as it was available until he dropped the bombshell that its capacity is a very underwhelming 16 gigs max.
16 gigs? I know flash memory is still coming along in terms of capacity, but cmon! My 3 year old ipod photo (not even a video) has 20 gigs.
Big disappointment.
The real money cow is the ringtones. A lot of artists make more money on ring tones (sold on other cell phones) than CD's.
This will bring load of cash for Apple.
Maybe Apple should provide customized shapes for people who want to stand out.
Or maybe a retractable USB cord.
WHEN IS THE RELEASE DATE OF THE TOUCH??????? THEY KEEP SAYING BUILDING LIKE IT WILL BE IN THE FUTURE AND NOT NOW!!!!!
For all you technical analysis types… AAPL setting up an inverted head & shoulders with the intraday downtrend. If it clears the neckline, potential target would be about $147 ($3.75 above the breakout).
Wish I could post a pic
AAPL is definitely a hold for the long term, even if some day traders sell today. Leopard is scheduled for an October release, and with the (growing) significance of the Mac line (from a revenue standpoint), AAPL will get yet another bump out of it. The question is do shareholders take the risk of losing their current position to take some profits, just to find that the stock doesn't significantly dip, but keeps on the rise.
This is really awesome! I am glad I didn't get the iphone and I can get the itouch and keep my treo. Apple has just increased it's TechCred to gargantuan levels.
Who is panic stricken? I think many people on this board are misinterpreting some of these posts. Just because someone posts a stock price doesn't mean they are bashing APPL or are panic stricken. Maybe it simply means that they are posting some information that they believe will be of interest to others. Isn't that what this type of forum is all about? Calm down.
American Abroad, I think he mistakenly thought you posted what digdugdog posted right below you
I am going to be shocked if AAPL closes green today. As a shareholder, pleasantly shocked, but shocked nonetheless
go here, they have pictures:
http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/09/04/livecoverage/index.php
who cares about NBC? they are an unimportant factor in the big scheme. I'm glad you panic stricken sissies are not my brokers.
JoeT: what did i say that was "simply not true"?
it's when people like you start calling other posters "idiots" that all hell breaks loose.
That NBC/Amazon news came out yesterday. Apple was up all day today until 10:00 when this event started (I'm not bashing APPL — just posting some info).
Nuckleheads! The stock is only down 20 cents or less right now. You Apple bashers are just simply unbelievable. You are just jealous that you didn't buy in to the stock with 100 shares at 12 dollars when Jobs first came back to Apple. Those 100 shares now equal 640….
Relax about all the little stock price fluctuations (unless you're a day-trader, in which case you probably should be looking at a different computer screen than this one). With all the great products AAPL is cranking out, anybody long will do fine.
chill out people the stock is doing just fine all the anticipation was already built into yesterday's closing a selloff is to be expected
aapl will be at $150 by early next week after the ipod sales for the weekend and if it doesn't split $175 by years end.
scott — if that were true investors would not have waited until 10:00 to sell. The fact that they waited until the event started tells me they are (so far) disappointed in the new offerings (based on their expectations).
MeMe… it's called selling on the news. AAPL is up 14% in the last week, and 24% since Aug 16. The volatility is related to big players cashing out.
I have a feeling that it wouldn't matter if Jobs said that AAPL discovered how to print its own money. The stock is likely to sell off today
The stock ran up too much over the past few days in anticipation of this event. People expected too much (at least based on what Jobs has shown so far).
"uper" is right…kudos for a "jobs" well done keeping us informed on what's happening…exciting stuff, and great updates.
They have been predicting this for a week already. This shoudl be built in to the current stock price. The stock shouldn't fluctuate too much. Although with all the histeria surrounding apple it may anyways.
thanks for your hard work keeping us posted. i've been waiting on this. (and for you who commented on his spelling errors? try some gratitude instead. this kind soul is typing live to keep us in the loop!) cheers.
this suspense is killing me, especially because i'm sitting at a computer in China.
new iPod? i hope so, since mine just broke.
APPLE TO CREDIT EXISTING IPHONE CUSTOMERS $100 AFTER CONTROVERSIAL PRICE CUT: WSJ