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Media (Apple) Businesses Media Apple

Apple Launches 1 GB nano, Slashes shuffle 207

Posted by Zonk from the new-toys-for-you-sota-freaks dept.
minus_273 writes "Apple has has released a new nano and also slashed prices on the iPod shuffle. The lowest end iPod now goes for $69. The 1 GB shuffle is $99 and the 1 GB nano is $149." From the article: "'The price of components have come down more than 70 percent, especially flash memory for the shuffle,' he said. 'And the price of the shuffle hadn't changed, so they were making a ton of profit off the shuffle. So they're passing some of those savings on.'"
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Apple Launches 1 GB nano, Slashes shuffle More

Apple Launches 1 GB nano, Slashes shuffle

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  • Wha?? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by helmutvs ( 912204 )
    Could it be... reasonably priced high-demand items from Apple? I though I would never see the day. Nonetheless... I want one :)
  • Wow, they're so cheap, I'm gonna buy two!
    No, six!
    No, twelve!
    BAKER'S DOZEN!
    I told you that I'm crazy for those iPods, cousin!

  • If I see one more iPod... (Score:3, Funny)

    by TheBig33Tuna ( 949011 ) on Tuesday February 07, 2006 @01:43PM (#14661604)
    iVomit
    • What about all the other MP3/OGG units on the market ?

      My MPIO 20GB unit is 1/4 filled, only because I haven't spent the time yet to drop in another 50-90 albums (Whoops- CD's). Too much music for you ? Try touring 2 weeks on a motorcycle & see if having to listen to the same tunes 20 times doesn't get just a little bit irritating (like almost every commercial radio station out there, playing the same crap over & over, songs you've heard every week for the last 20 years of your life).
    • Introducing the iPuke! The latest iPod offering from Apple, the iPuke is a 1G iPod shuffle that comes pre-loaded with Celine Dion songs!
    • iNotCleaningItUp

  • Perfect timing (Score:4, Interesting)

    by splatterboy ( 815820 ) on Tuesday February 07, 2006 @01:46PM (#14661624)
    Oh that Jobs, just in time for Valentines Day...
    • On another business-related tangent, I love this quote from the article:

      ...and launched a smaller-capacity version of its mid-priced iPod nano, sending its shares up as much as 3 percent.

      Yes, it's a decent supposition that stock prices went up because of the new product release, but statements like these are the reason why I generally take everything I hear from reporters, economists, and businessmen with a big grain of salt.

      70% reduction in component costs? I guess perhaps we aren't seeing the same pr

    • Re:Perfect timing (Score:5, Funny)

      by linguae ( 763922 ) on Tuesday February 07, 2006 @03:54PM (#14663123)
      Oh that Jobs, just in time for Valentines Day...

      Time to buy myself an iPod, I suppose.

    • Funny you write that -- I received an e-mail from Apple on Feb. 3 promoting iPods, and the headline says "Sweep yourself off your feet." The iPod's headphones split to form a heart. Reading that e-mail made me wonder about the loneliness of modern societies, which marketers apparently think they can exploit through trying to create a greater connection between a person and a company than a person and a person. Will an iPod really assuage anyone's feelings at being left out of Valentine's Day?
      • > Will an iPod really assuage anyone's feelings at being left out of Valentine's Day?

        Yes.

        However then they will start wearing their iPod all day long rather than engaging in social interactions, causing them to feel left out again.

  • A good thing, well, sort of... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ursabear ( 818651 ) on Tuesday February 07, 2006 @01:50PM (#14661679) Homepage Journal
    This is a good thing. It will make the iPod more accessible...

    Apple will definitely do well with these, given the current reputation of iPods.

    Now, if I had just waited until now to buy the kids their 1GB iPods...
    • This is a good thing. It will make the iPod more accessible...

      Yes, this is a great deal for people that will pay 60% of the price for 1/4 the space. Apple is always trying to make things more accessible for us common folk.

  • Feh (Score:3, Interesting)

    by vertinox ( 846076 ) on Tuesday February 07, 2006 @01:52PM (#14661697)
    I got a 2 gig Nano for Christmas (no complaints mind you), but I already filled it up on the day that I started moving files to it Even then I am constantly scratching my head trying to figure out what songs I can delete so I can squeeze in another favorite song I just picked up.

    I could only imagine what the 1gb would be like, but I suppose if you wanted to give someone an iPod on the cheep or had a small music collection then it would be the best route to go.

    I had thought about returning it and getting a 4gb nano, but I think that would be rude to the person who got it for me. And come to think of it, I would want around 10+ gb to satisfy my musical needs anways.

    Maybe we'll see higher memories by Christmas this year or next.

    • Re:Feh (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Sepodati ( 746220 ) on Tuesday February 07, 2006 @01:58PM (#14661769) Homepage
      Just create a playlist that selects a random 1 or 2 Gig and loads them onto the iPod. Delete all the songs from the playlist and it grabs another random 1 or 2 Gig and reloads the iPod. You can customize the playlists pretty well, so talk, podcasts, etc. aren't included unless you want them to.

      ---John Holmes...
      • Just create a playlist that selects a random 1 or 2 Gig and loads them onto the iPod. Delete all the songs from the playlist and it grabs another random 1 or 2 Gig and reloads the iPod.

        I actually did that the first time I setup the Nano. However, I'm kind of leary of constantly read/writing/erasing an entire flash drive over and over again. But maybe that limited number of writes issue with flash memory is over rated.

        Secondly, I discovered I don't like to listen to most of my music collection since I am sti
        • You need to rate your songs. Yes, it takes a while but it is so worth it. Then you can have playlists with songs >3 stars, etc. The Party Shuffle in iTunes will also play higher-rated songs more often if you check the box. I have enjoyed my collection much more since I undertook the massive rating task.
          • FWIW, my 6GB iPod mini (I know, I'm positively retro at this point) syncs with three playlists:
            1. Everything that's 5 stars
            2. A random playlist of 600 songs rated three or four stars
            3. A playlist of everything I've added in the last two months
            4. A random playlist of 100 unrated songs.

            That way, I always have what I like and what's new to me, and I can rate songs in chunks (downtime on the train, etc). The only problem is that I have to update the iPod twice to see changes; iTunes doesn't sync changes to ratings bef

            • I do something similar, but I have one more condition that makes it even better (IMO). I create a smart playlist that randomly fills 1Gig with songs that are rated at least 3 stars, that meet some genre conditions (such as no holiday music) and then I add one more condition that the song hasn't been played in the last 2 months (but you can pick different time frames). This way, as each song is played it will drop off the playlist to be replaced by another (the next time I sync the nano). The result is an al

        • Re:Feh (Score:2, Informative)

          by cetan ( 61150 )
          >

          You mean the writing and deleting every second for 70 years before seeing any degredation kind of limit?

          I don't know what you have been reading, but you will never wear out a solid state storage device. Ever.

          • Re:Feh (Score:3, Insightful)

            by HuguesT ( 84078 )
            Actually it's easy to wear out flash ram in certain conditions. One write every second for 70 years is only 2 billion writes.

            If you use a flashdisk as a swap partition, and the swap algorithm is not taking care to spread the writing all over the media, with only moderate usage your swap disk can be gone in a few months.

            However syncing your ipod no matter how often will not wear out the flash RAM, for sure.

             

        • Re:Feh (Score:2)

          by gig ( 78408 )
          The battery on your iPod will die long before you wear out the flash memory by read/writing it.

      • Re:Feh (Score:2, Interesting)

        by itscolduphere ( 933449 )
        Just create a playlist that selects a random 1 or 2 Gig and loads them onto the iPod. Delete all the songs from the playlist and it grabs another random 1 or 2 Gig and reloads the iPod. You can customize the playlists pretty well, so talk, podcasts, etc. aren't included unless you want them to.

        No, you just use a "Recently Played" smart playlist to remove songs that you play through to the end (or use the click-wheel to scroll to the end of if you don't feel like listening to it). Just make the smart pla

    • Re:Feh (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Gulthek ( 12570 ) on Tuesday February 07, 2006 @02:16PM (#14661993) Homepage Journal
      Think of the small pods (2 gig and down) as miniature radio stations. Don't try to cram a ton of albums on there, but make a smart playlist of 2 gigabytes (or whatever size) of highly rated music (or highly played, or not played in the last two weeks, or any combination, etc.) and have the ipod automatically load that. That's what I do for my 1 gig shuffle.

      But it is nice to also have the 60 gig iPod to tote all of my music around on :-)
    • My MP3 player is a Digisette, which is shaped like a cassette tape and plays in a tape player. (I have a convertible and won't put in a custom stereo.)

      It holds 350 MB, including the on-board memory and a plug-in MMC expansion card.

      For my car music, I craft a playlist that specifically includes music I want to hear while driving. In other words, mostly music I can sing along to. =) Fortunately I'm pretty tolerant of repetition; I recently updated the playlist, but before that I listened to the same 5 hour
    • I have a 1GB Shuffle. The 1GB & 2GB Nanos won't be much different.

      The point of having/using a small-memory player is not to put your whole collection on there, or to have lots of "if I want" music on there, it's to store those dozen or so albums you are ACTIVELY listening to (or a random mix if you really don't care).

      In no way is it meant to hold one's collection; you keep the whole collection on the computer & pick a few things you know you'll want. Small & large storage spaces require very dif
    • Oh man, you need to use a bunch of smart playlists. I have the playlist for my Nano 4G made up of several smart playlists, which select songs based on my ratings, how new the song is, how long it has been since I last listened to it, how many times I've listened, etc etc. Every time I plug it in, I get a different mix of songs, but it still keeps new songs and favorites around, too.

    • Re:Feh (Score:2, Funny)

      by splatterboy ( 815820 )
      Im sure the person who gave you the present would tell you not to feel inferior, that size isn't everything... just work on your, um, 'deleting' and 'squeezing' skills...
    • Okay, so you seem to fit a certain spot on the $50-a-step ladder of iPod prices... And apparently you can't imagine belonging to some other tier.

      Apple's been very shrewd since Jobs's return about presenting consumers with simple, tiered pricing arrangements. Across most of its product lines you're looking at something like a "good - better - best" set of choices to start with.

      In the case of iPods you have more steps in the ladder, but it works about the same. The golden rule there is something like "fif

    • I could only imagine what the 1gb would be like, but I suppose if you wanted to give someone an iPod on the cheep or had a small music collection then it would be the best route to go.
      I don't think 1 GB would be very different from 2 GB.

      I'd say there are essentially only two sizes: "big" (store your whole collection) or "small" (you have to think about loading and unloading stuff).

  • Sounds like a good deal... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by the_humeister ( 922869 ) on Tuesday February 07, 2006 @01:52PM (#14661698)
    ...but right now Apple is selling a refurbished 20GB iPod for $189 [apple.com]. I think I'd rather go for that one (if I was in a market for iPods).

    • Nah, I have an iPod (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Shivetya ( 243324 ) on Tuesday February 07, 2006 @02:06PM (#14661869) Homepage Journal
      The NANO never made sense for its cost compared to regular iPods. What made sense is having a screen as well as no moving parts. $149 is almost an impulse buy these days in this market.

      I can easily make a play list or two to for times when the nano is more relevant than the full blown iPod. Any truly physical sport comes to mind. I have had my iPod take unplanned jumps to the ground that made me flinch (and reboot it more than once). I would feel much better knowing there isn't something that might suffer serious damage in a fall in there.
    • That's not the point. If you want to take your whole music collection, get a 30GB or 60GB full-size.

      The shuffle was meant for a whole different user. It's made to take to the gym or go running with. You don't always need a screen and a complicated interface for that type of activity. I know you'll say the ipod's interface isn't that complicated, but it is when you're riding a motorcycle. I just want start, stop, next track, and volume. plus, hanging it around your neck is super-conventient for the types

    • Re:Sounds like a good deal... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by nvrrobx ( 71970 ) on Tuesday February 07, 2006 @02:25PM (#14662120) Homepage
      That depends entirely on what you're doing with the iPod, really. I have an iPod Shuffle that gets used for running, working out, etc. It's solid state - I don't have to worry about damaging a hard drive.

      I went skiing this weekend and forgot my Shuffle, but had my regular iPod. Did I risk exposing it to water and the forces that exist as I tumbled down the mountain? No - that surely would have destroyed it.

      They both have their markets. You just may not be the market for the solid state one.
  • I thought that was only economic utopia, not reachable in the real world.

    Ptah, passing savings on to customers? as if!
  • So they should. The Shuffle is a flimsy, easily damaged product (I have owned two 512 MB units). Its advertised as a unit to use when exercising, but my experience has been that it is not robust enough to be used in any situation where you and the Shuffle are in motion... Both of mine experienced a steady degradation of the rear slider switch after getting a little damp, to the point where the first one does not power on at all, and the second only works in "sequential" mode - it will no longer shuffle, a

  • Change the headline! (Score:5, Informative)

    by camt ( 162536 ) on Tuesday February 07, 2006 @01:54PM (#14661728) Homepage
    The headline, "Apple Launches 1 GB Nano, Slashes Shuffle", makes it sound like Apple has stopped selling the Shuffle, especially considering the recent coverage of all the reasons Apple has for cancelling the Shuffle [slashdot.org].
  • I bought my suffle the week that Jobs announced it during his keynote in January 2005. About a month later I discovered it wouldn't play anything purchased from the iTunes Music Store. I was told there was a bad batch of the first shuffles and Apple replaced it immediately. Since then I've enjoyed the heck out of it up until this past month. The USB connector on the bottom of the shuffle came loose and popped out one day when I took it out of the USB port on my computer. Apparently one of the two the p
    • You mistreated it and then claim Apple didn't design them to last? First off, you are a sample size of one - not much to make an assessment on. Secondly, you stepped on the earphones. That's hardly a design flaw by Apple, is it?
      • The step wasn't a crushing blow. It was more of a "ooh, I feel something underneath my sock, ouch" on my carpet. I've gone through many headphones throughout the years and they've taken much more abuse than these. So I suppose you could count that as my larger-than-1 sample size of my assessment.

        And I agree with the other poster, I am cheap and I shouldn't expect so much from the included headphones. They worked for a year, they looked cool, that's all I can really ask of them.

        • The step wasn't a crushing blow. It was more of a "ooh, I feel something underneath my sock, ouch" on my carpet. I've gone through many headphones throughout the years and they've taken much more abuse than these. So I suppose you could count that as my larger-than-1 sample size of my assessment.

          Well, that's a fair point I guess. Bit disappointing. I think to lesson to learn from this is keep your earphones on your table, not in your sock :^)

          And I agree with the other poster, I am cheap and I shouldn

  • Forget the nano and shuffle (Score:5, Interesting)

    by LennyDotCom ( 26658 ) <Lenny@lenny.com> on Tuesday February 07, 2006 @02:26PM (#14662126) Homepage Journal
    Send an ipod to your senator to fight against the broadcast flag and audio flag [ipaction.org]

    But Senator Stevens, the 82-year old committee chairman from Alaska, surprised the audience by announcing that his daughter had bought him an iPod.
    Suddenly, Stevens had a much greater understanding of the many ways innovative technology can create choice for consumers. Content industry representatives at the hearing found themselves answering much tougher questions than they typically receive.
  • looks cool and everything, but what is it for?

    i have a full fledged ipod (g5 w/ video) and that works great for keeping my total music collection. its fragile, but that's fine, because i don't use it to work out nor otherwise place it in situations of physical danger.

    i also have ishuffle, and i use it for jogging and i know it'll never break. there's no hard drive, no display, nothing. and its light as a feather. no extra protection or care needed. plus it doesn't scratch (and even if it did, i wouldn't car

  • Price adjustment! (Score:4, Funny)

    by objekt ( 232270 ) on Tuesday February 07, 2006 @02:50PM (#14662431) Homepage
    Just like clockwork! When they got rid of the iPod Minis it was just after my wife purchased a refreshed one, so she took her receipt back and got a price adjustment. Cha-ching! Wouldn't you know it she has just purchased a refreshed iPod Shuffle! This time she's taking it back and getting a 1-gig nano. We're cheap,but not that cheap.
  • Apple needs to reinvent the Shuffle. People like having an LCD so they can choose songs. Bring back the Shuffle with all its features plus a three-line LCD and you'll have a bigger hit than the 1 GB Nano.

    Call it the iPod Micro or (as someone else suggested) the iPod Pico. There's just something to be said for an MP3 player with the ease of use of a USB drive. No cables, just drop it in the front/top USB port and load it and go.

    (I'd still like it better if it took a standard battery...my Samsung uses AA and
    • Apple needs to reinvent the Shuffle.

      They just did. Didn't you read the headline?
  • At this price point, the 1GB shuffle looks *very* appealing to me. But before I fork out $100 CAD + for a shuffle, are there any alternatives out there that are perhaps better? I don't need the wow factor of an Apple product, and it'd be nice to have a device with user-replacable batteries, but I have absolutely no experience in the portable music world since I bought my minidisk player in 99. So, how about it: a 1GB shuffle, or something else? And why?

    A screen isn't necessary, but it might be nice.

  • How well does Linux talk to iPods these days? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by swillden ( 191260 ) <shawn-ds@willden.org> on Tuesday February 07, 2006 @03:18PM (#14662734) Journal

    Since I've recently started going to the gym regularly, I've been thinking I might finally have a use for a portable music player (other than my laptop, which has been as portable as I needed). So, I'm interested in whether or not an iPod would work well for me. A significant constraint, however, is that I don't run Windows, and althouh my wife has an iBook, I don't want to have to use her machine to manage my iPod.

    So, how effectively can I manage my iPod from Linux?

    Anyone have any recommendations on alternative players? I don't need a lot of storage (1GB would be perfectly fine), but cheaper is better. The ability to play vorbis files would be good, too, though I know that's pretty unlikely. I can always whip up a script to convert my hiqh-quality OGGs to lower-quality MP3s, if need be. If my player doesn't have a huge amount of storage, I'll probably have to convert my OGGs to lower bitrates even if the player does play vorbis files, and that's not much less work than converting to MP3.

    Another bonus would be a player with an FM tuner (another feature I believe is unavailable with iPods).

    • Music players suck. (Score:3, Informative)

      by twitter ( 104583 )
      Check out GTKpod [gtkpod.org]. It ships with Amorak on Mepis [mepis.org], so you can try it live. TuxMobil [tuxmobil.org] has links to all the other questions you might have.

      Getting a decent music player that does OGG and normal USB mass transfer is still not cheap or easy. The Xiph list [xiph.org] is informative. Iriver players are one of the few ogg players widely available. They don't do USBfs out of the box, and I suspect most "works for sure" players suck that way and you won't find a good cheap player down the street in the US. This leaves you

    • like linux, ogg etc then?

      Get a iaudio player.

      I have the iaudio M5 20gb.

      This has the ability to play ogg and flac as well as mp3 so it pretty much plays all my music collection, well except those few vqf's that are in it but hey what does play those anyway!
    • I just got a 2G nano on my birthday this weekend, and so far I must say I'm very dissapointed by the support under Linux. There are many iPod managing apps, but none of them really work well.

      For example, amaroK has iPod management support, but it sucks because
      1) It is hardcoded to /mnt/ipod (what the hell?!).
      2) It doesn't actually set track numbers.
      3) It doesn't copy covers.
      4) It blindly imports all files you send to the iPod as mp3. All CDs I ripped myself are FLAC, and amaroK doesn't even tells me "the iP
    • Samsungs players are nice.

      The T8 [engadget.com] does Video, Ogg and the usual stuff. The U1 [engadget.com] is more like a Shuffle replacement, but with a 4 line display (that even his Steveness claims otherwise is very helpful). The U1 is mass storage compliant and works under Linux. The T8 is rather new and I don't know anything about it.

      Bye egghat
  • Is it flash or a small hard drive? Please say it's flash!

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