Cheap discount computer

Byline: Cynthia L. Webb

Chalk up a victory for the rumor mill: Apple Computer is indeed unveiling a cheaper, smaller version of its popular iPod music player.

The move, announced yesterday by Apple chief Steve Jobs at the Macworld trade show, "is seen as an attempt to take on makers of lower-priced digital audio players," the San Francisco Chronicle reported, not to mention piggybacking on the runaway success of Apple's iTunes Music Store and the first-generation series of iPods. * The San Francisco Chronicle: Tote Your iTunes In A Smaller, Colorful iPod

And while the products unveiled at this year's expo "were less dramatic than the company's usual introductions aimed at wowing customers with innovative technologies and new product lines at this regularly scheduled event," The New York Times noted that Jobs "gave every indication that Apple is solidifying its consumer strategy of selling easy-to-use digital software and hardware focused on music and video, as it strives to re-establish itself in the corporate world by aiming to create a more stylish alternative to dominant players like I.B.M. , Sun , Dell and Hewlett-Packard ." * The New York Times: Apple Introduces A Smaller, Less Expensive iPod (Registration required)

Apple's iPod mini announcement, coupled with other bells and whistles like the GarageBand music software package, is a sign that Apple is branching out from its computer company roots. "People are going to look back at April of 2003 and say what was the mutation point," Analyst Phil Leigh of Inside Digital Media told The Washington Post. "That's when Apple became the digital media company, not the computer company." * The Washington Post: Deeper Into The Music

You Call That a Discount?

But many observers were put off by the "low" price of the iPod mini -- $249 verses $299 for the current low-end iPod model. "Apple's price on the iPod Mini wasn't as low as some had anticipated, and it remains unclear whether the markdown will be enough to allow the device to breakthrough to a more mainstream audience," The Wall Street Journal said. "The price puts it between cheaper MP3 players that use flash memory but store far fewer songs and the entry-level model of the iPod itself, which now offers roughly 15GB of storage for $299," The Washington Post explained. (A $100 price tag for the mini was bandied about on some rumor sites, the S.F. Chronicle noted in its coverage.) * The Wall Street Journal: Apple, in Search Of Market Share, Unveils the iPod Mini (Subscription required)

"I was expecting an iPod at the show here, but I thought it would be less expensive," San Francisco ad exec Jordie Welles told The San Francisco Chronicle. "I don't see where saving $50 makes it worthwhile" for a much smaller capacity, Welles told the newspaper. "With only $50 difference with the bigger one, why wouldn't I buy the bigger one?" Bob O'Donnell , director of personal technology at market research firm IDC , told the Los Angeles Times. "You get four times the amount of music. The iPod Mini should have been more like $170." O'Donnell said other MP3 player manufacturers will unveil players that cost less that $200 and hold more memory at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. "Rival computer makers Dell Inc. and Gateway Inc. sell MP3 players with 20 GB for $299 -- $100 less than the comparable iPod -- and also feature voice-recording capability. IPod owners need to buy a $49 microphone to do voice recording. The Gateway device also has a built-in FM radio. Apple is hoping its successful online music store will fuel iPod sales," the newspaper noted * The Los Angeles Times: Apple Rolls Out Cheaper iPod (Registration required)

Not Like the Good Old Days

The San Jose Mercury News noted that "[t]his year's Macworld San Francisco ... was the first time in quite a while that Apple's Macintosh computers had to share the spotlight with another platform. In this case it was the iPod, which Jobs said sold 730,000 units from October through December." * The San Jose Mercury News: Apple Unveils iPod Mini

The Seattle Times also picked up on the fact that Apple didn't make major waves yesterday, despite its hyped iPod announcement. "The keynote featured a host of smaller software introductions and updates focused largely on consumer music and video creation and editing, including a new program for intermingling live and recorded music with prerecorded instrument loops. But it lacked any single standout product with wide appeal or the surprise of previous years' keynotes," the newspaper said. "In brief remarks about Office for Mac, Roz Ho , general manager of Microsoft's Macintosh division, said on stage that engineers were working steadily on Office 2004, but already planning features for the subsequent version." * The Seattle Times: Steve Jobs Unveils iPod Mini, Other Software At Annual Macworld Expo

Some die-hard Apple fans were unimpressed in general by Macworld. "Unfortunately, Jobs didn't announce an upgrade to the sad-sack member of Apple's software product line, the aging AppleWorks suite that is a grossly inadequate alternative to Microsoft Office for Mac OS X. But Microsoft did offer a glance at features due to arrive in an upcoming version of Mac Office. A note-taking feature in Word looked especially useful, though it plainly borrowed from several current OS X packages and Microsoft's Windows version of Office," San Jose Mercury News technology columnist Dan Gillmor wrote today. "Nor did Jobs announce any new computers, desktop or laptop, for average folks. He indicated, however, that Apple would be doing a great deal with its Macintosh line in this 20th anniversary year of its launch. Too bad, moreover, that he didn't announce a renewed commitment to improving quality control. Apple has been slipping in this regard in consumer hardware and software. The company plainly needs to do more pre-release testing," Gillmor added. * The San Jose Mercury News: Hardware, Music Software Steal The Show From New iPods

Washington Post personal tech columnist Rob Pegoraro , in a reporter's notebook piece from Macworld, reported that Jobs hearkened back to Apple's glory days of the 1980s when he unveiled an updated version of the company's classic "1984 ad." Pegoraro: "It was a replay of Apple's "1984" ad, the vision -- aired nationwide only once, during that year's Super Bowl -- of an athletic woman heaving a sledgehammer into a screen of Orwellian propaganda. It's still the most beloved of all of Apple's ads. This version looked just like the original, except some white strands could be seen around the woman's neck as she sprinted into the massive auditorium. As she swung the hammer around her, an iPod came into view, strapped to her waist -- digitally added there, most likely with one of the video editing applications Jobs had showed off in the keynote. And then the projectile left her arms and arced away towards that screen, which erupted into light on impact. Boom. 20 years later, that image persists." * The Washington Post: Apple Plays the Revolution Rock

RealNetworks's Makeover

Seattle-based RealNetworks is revamping its online media player, adding an Internet music store to sell songs for 99 cents a pop -- a direct assault on rival iTunes. The company is touting the new RealPlayer 10 as the first "free product to play music and videos in the most popular formats, including those of rivals. The digital-media company will also open an online music service that lets visitors buy tunes and full albums without the need for a subscription, something its Rhapsody offering doesn't allow," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported. * The Seattle Post-Intelligencer: RealNetworks Flexes Muscle With Latest Player

"RealNetworks also is expected to announce it will begin using AAC compression technology, a format rapidly gaining momentum and a competitor to Microsoft's Windows Media format. Apple Computer and America Online have already embraced AAC," The Seattle Times said. RealNetworks's RealPlayer 10 will also play news clips, videos and other streaming content. The Seattle Times said the new player shows "the company's recognition that its previous player was not compelling enough to capture the growing number of high-speed, or broadband, Internet users. Customers said the player was confusing at times, and it became apparent a revamp was necessary." * The Seattle Times: Music Key To New RealNetworks Strategy