Archive for the ‘iMac’ Category

iPhone price cut, new iPod Touch introduced and Steve Jobs makes amends

Thursday, September 6th, 2007

The new iPod Touch and iPod Nano

I’m going to have to rename my blog soon to “Apple Man” or “Mac Daddy” or something clever… It doesn’t help that I haven’t had a chance to post in weeks due to vacation and heavy project load, but the fact of the matter is, it seems like Apple/Mac stories and reviews have dominated my posts recently.

Anyways…

Let’s start with the first issue that hits me personally: Steve Jobs announced yesterday that the price of the 8GB iPhone would be nearly cut in half to $399 while the 4GB model is discontinued altogether. The 4GB model getting axed was pretty much a no brainer… who’s not going to pay an extra $100 for twice the hard drive space? I personally don’t know anyone who even entertained the thought of buying the 4GB model.

Now the price cut of the 8GB is another story. I’m not going to lie and say that it didn’t completely annoy me when I found out initially. I stood in line for hours and paid the full $599 less than 10 weeks ago. Had it been 6 months to a year later, I’m sure I wouldn’t have cared at all.

After giving it more thought and letting the sting wear off, I put it into a marketing mindset:

  • Anyone who was going to buy the iPhone by now for $599 has already done so (sales have pretty much dropped off). Time to get the rest of the market who potentially wanted to buy but thought $599 was a bit too steep.
  • It also helps that most people who already bought have been raving about it so this price cut could potentially open the flood-gates again.
  • Also, I know it’s the beginning of September, but Christmas is not too far off (I received a text from my sister on Sunday asking me what I want for Christmas, I swear!).

    • Jobs and Apple also released the new iPod Touch which seems to be the iPhone minus the phone. It has some other limitations (no mail capabilities, maps, stocks or weather), but essentially it gives people the ability to have an iPhone without having to switch carriers or deal with AT&T. It also has the ability to connect to WiFi where available which gives users the ability to get on the web via Safari. The one thing it does have that I’m pretty envious of is a 16GB model.

    One of my main reasons for buying the iPhone was having the ability to check mail from my phone so the iPhone to me personally would still make the most sense. Who wants an iPod and a separate phone anyways?

    The new iPod Nano came out which is pretty incredible as well. It’s about as compact as you can get while still having the ability to watch video. It also has the Cover Flow capability of the iPhone and other iPod models. At $199 for the 8GB model it has a ton of value considering all its capabilities and compact size.

    *I started writing this post last night, and since then Steve Jobs has issued “an open letter to iPhone owners” on the Apple website. In summary, he received an outpouring of complaints concerning the price drop and explains the reasoning. At the end, he offers every iPhone customer a $100 store credit at Apple.

    Way to go Steve, you did the right thing. Nothing worse than alienating not only the loyal Macheads that have never even considered using anything else, but more importantly, the people that could potentially make the switch after buying the iPhone. A hundred bucks doesn’t go very far at an Apple store, which could also equate into converts using their credit towards making that switch with that new shiny iMac that just came out less than a month ago.

    Posted in Apple, Evolution, Mac, Steve Jobs, Viral Marketing, iMac, iPhone, iPod | 1 Comment »

    Apple’s world domination only started with the iPhone… Next: iMac

    Tuesday, August 7th, 2007

    Steve Jobs has a master plan for Apple: world domination. The iPhone was the beginning of the end for the PC and Windows. Am I jumping the gun here?

    I don’t think so.

    As I’ve already stated, the iPhone could be the first step in Steve Jobs’ master plan to start turning the tables on Microsoft’s lion’s share of the market. His next step: Release the Kraken! er, I mean the new iMac. (a solid Clash of the Titans reference never hurt anyone)

    It even matches the iPhone, if not surpasses it, with its stunning look and design. It’s a brushed metal flat screen monitor with a computer in it. A fast computer. I’m not going to geek out here, but take my word for it… you’re not going to find anything like it out of the box.

    So what does all this have to do with world domination? Well, let’s take a step back here. Back on June 29th, the mighty iPhone was released. Sales? One million plus in about a week. Is this just a coincidence that such a slick looking, powerful Mac comes out less than two months later? Probably not. That’s just about enough time to let those PC users who bought an iPhone get acquainted with the easy to use Mac operating system that just so happened to be included with the iPhone. Sounds like just the right time to strike while the iron’s hot.

    Is it also coincidental that I found this link on the Apple website? It may have already been there, but if it has I haven’t seen it.

    I’m not going to discount the fact that students will be heading back to school, that’s always a good time for a new iMac release. It’s really just great timing all around putting the two factors together. Actually, there’s a third event that will be happening in less than another two months (see a trend here?): the release of Leopard, the revolutionary operating system that will make Vista look like your old TRS-80.

    Steve Jobs is well on his way to world domination. If we want to go even farther back, the iPod sure can be argued as the real beginning to Apple’s run, but I think the recent chain of events starting with the iPhone could be the tipping point. Only time will tell.

    Posted in Apple, Evolution, Mac, Steve Jobs, Viral Marketing, iMac, iPhone | No Comments »