Will the 'Halo Effect' be dampened by the Intel switch?

[HomunQlus]

Better than the iPod and cheaper. Built in radio and microfone, the device can rip in mp3 from the radio with live-encoding, and the mike records in mp3. it has a full color display, so I can put pictures on. I can connect a digital camera to the device without the PC in between, or I can connect to other MP3 players and download the songs directly. It's firmware upgradeable. I can connect an external mike if I want.

No software is required. Just plugin the thing to any computer and download it to the device. Bam! No iTunes, no other strange software. The thing is detected as an external hard drive.

I paid 329 Euro for it. You can do those things with an iPod too, but it costs quite some more money.


I bought my Macs because they look sexy, the system is just the best and they're fast as hell. I bought the iPod later.

[fjdouse]

I guess it works as a USB mass storage device, I use iTunes, so I guess I could drag selected tunes straight to it?

Which model? Wouldn't mind taking a look at the specs etc.

[HomunQlus]

iRiver H320 - with 20 Gig.

No, it doesn't work with iTunes. But I don't need that. I have my collection in iTunes, I just copied the contents of the iTunes folder in my Music folder to the device via drag and drop. Works fine like that. The device can read the ID Tags of the files.


www.iriver.com

[fryke]

I'm not misunderstanding you, fjdouse, but he _did_ say June 2006, not "sometime next year". But yes, if they really want to kill sales, they'll "introduce" in January and deliver six months later.

[CreativeEye]

he defintely said june '06 - though it was 'having them in the market place by june '06' so that could mean they're released whenever!

in essence they've already done the 'introduction' of the product - so doing another would be pointless - i can imagine that maybe around may they will introduce what the new powermacs will look like - i think that they will be designing completely new form factors on those machines as they need less cooling and fans etc. as exciting as the fact that macs will be faster - the look of macs has always been key too - and i for one am looking forward to the new look macs!

i think sales will be hit amongst the mac users who have been using macs for years and years - but then again - they are the most likely to be happy to simply wait. if initial sales are hit - think about how'll they'll jump when the new machines are out and those longtime mac users get out their credit cards...

also - i know of a few 'switchers' who will be buying new macs in the next few days and weeks - the chip change for them isnt a problem - they know that PPC won't suddenly be unsupported come july '06! and they also know that they will get at least 4-5 years of good use out of their macs (the same they would have got if there was no chip change what-so-ever) after knowing that i've had my first mac since 1994 and its still working away happily when its switched on for a trip down memory lane!

so for them - the halo effect is still there.

i think mac users will be the ones to blame if there is a drop off in sales - the scare mongering amongst some of the long time users regarding the death of apple etc etc over the switch has been incredible. because of the confusion that some people intially had over the change of chips and its implications i can imagine that a pc user who might have thought of switching and then stumbled across some of the articles and threads on mac sites would have been put off moving to mac.

[fjdouse]

Anyway..

iRiver H320 - with 20 Gig.

No, it doesn't work with iTunes. But I don't need that. I have my collection in iTunes, I just copied the contents of the iTunes folder in my Music folder to the device via drag and drop. Works fine like that. The device can read the ID Tags of the files.


www.iriver.com

Looks like a nice bit of kit, I'll look into it more. Thanks for indulging my curiousity..

I'm not misunderstanding you, fjdouse, but he _did_ say June 2006, not "sometime next year". But yes, if they really want to kill sales, they'll "introduce" in January and deliver six months later.

Where did he say that Fryke? I think you are misunderstanding, I'm sorry if that's a shortcoming on my part, I did not say or mean there will be a six month gap between announcement and delivery.

"when we meet again THIS TIME NEXT YEAR, our plan is to be SHIPPING Macs with Intel processors BY THEN" is what he _did_ say. My point is, you're speaking with the voice of authority when really you haven't got a clue, unless you're privy to Apples plans. By June 2006 they will be shipping, it doesn't necessarily mean that June 2006 is when they'll START shipping or that June 2006 is when they'll INTRODUCE the first machines. By June 2006 they will ALREADY be shipping, this means that they could start shipping any date before then. Or have I suddenly lost the ability to understand English?