2005.01.11
Spin
Apple’s announcements from MacWorld are out, with lots of shiny & pretty to look at. Included is a long-awaited “budget” version of iPod called iPod Shuffle, which caused a bit of a double-take when I read about it. You have to see the promotional spin on this device to fully appreciate the genius of its marketing. What Apple has done here is to cut costs by removing functionality taken for granted on every other portable music player — the ability to browse for and play a specific song at any time — and turned it into a saleable feature. No LCD + barely any form of navigation = well, not exactly iPod, but something new. We’ll have to see if marketing pushes iPod Shuffle from experiment to the zeitgeist, but if it does who knows what’s next?
TV Shuffle? Fashion shuffle? Vacation shuffle?
Oh, but Mac mini! So definitely hot!