vegemite: Ever heard of cargo pants?
Use THOSE to store all of your upcoming Apple digital hub devices.
Seriously, though, if you think about it, Apple could release an iWalk for $399 and have it be reasonable and still not compete with the iPod. First: the iPod is geared toward the audiophile. And it has plenty of space, a fast connection, and a simple interface. As far as I can tell, it's a hit.
Now if you had a PDA that also had the iPod music capabilities, it wouldn't make sense, even if it WAS priced at $700 or so (which would definitely be a mistake). No, Apple wouldn't do this. What Apple would do is introduce a $399 PDA that works in tandem with the iPod and your Mac. It would probably have much less storage space, but have all the cool wireless connection and firewire transfer gadgetry added into it as well as Mac OS X 2Go (Heh, I stole that from some other site. Sosumi.) . And this is a perfect strategy.
I agree the videos make it look big, but that might not necessarily be a bad thing. Since it supposedly, from those videos, can make it so the screen can be either used vertically or horizontally, it would be easy to handle even if it is big. I still think it might fit into a pocket... and even if it couldn't you could still stash it in your briefcase or your purse, and it wouldn't lose any capabilities. It might not be as convenient, but if it does have a web browser and some kick-ass software pre-installed on it, I'm sure it could fly just like the iPod is.
Furthermore, Apple doesn't NEED to market these devices to Windows users. Apple has survived with a market share of 5% for a LONG time, even if it has had its share of bumpy rides. These are designed to be used by Mac users, for Mac users. Windows people? Tough luck. You want to reap the benefits of all the Mac-only digital hub devices? Then you've got to get a Mac. There are MILLIONS of Mac users out there, and if Apple sells the iWalk or the iPod to a small fraction of them, Apple will make money. The point of these devices is to lure the Windows people over to the Mac, since it's obviously better anyway!
Any thoughts?
So let's see:
T-7: "This one is big. Even by our standards."
T-6: "Count the days. Count the minutes. Count on being blown away."
T-5: "Beyond the rumor sites. Way beyond."
T-4: "It's like a backstage pass to the future."
I've memorized them so far!