Of course, Apple would release a new, larger-capacity iPod just two weeks after I decided to go for it. No regrets though - the iPod is easily one of the most worthwhile gadget purchases I’ve made in a number of years - it certainly gets more actual use than any phone or PDA would.
Capacity is only part of the deal - just as interesting are the facts that the iPod can now work with Windows (MusicMatch Jukebox is about as close as Windows users come to the database-like functionality of iTunes), and will be able to sync calendars. Also interesting is that it now comes with smaller headphones - the previously shipped earbuds were so large they hurt my ears, forcing me to spend additional money elsewhere for wearable phones. The new phones have an in-cord remote, too.
Even though I now have an “old” iPod, I still benefit from a bunch of enhnancements in iTunes 3, like the fact that it now offers Smart Playlists. This means playlists under OS X are now every bit as intelligent as the ones we were able to create in BeOS using nothing but attributes in the Be File System - playlists that are spontaneously generated from live and arbitrarily complex genre and/or era queries, for example. The presence of this feature is so BeOS-like that it almost makes me feel like Apple read my OS X-BeOS migration pieces and is in the process of answering my prayers one at at time. Unfortunately, I don’t see anything on the Jaguar pages about meta-data in the filesystem.
Not so welcome is the ridiculous pricing scheme attached to the previously free Mac.com services. $100/year for a WebDAV folder, access to cute digital postcards, and an IMAP account? Apple, listen up: You’re a cool company, but people aren’t so blindly devoted to you - or stupid - that they’re going to be gouged like that. Don’t forget the promotional value you get by having all those mac.com email addresses out there. Don’t forget that anyone buying connectivity gets free web space automatically. Don’t forget we can send digital postcards for free from bluemountain and other services. And don’t forget all the iTools logos you stuck on your product boxes, and the iDisk item in the Finder menu, all implying that iTools was part of the purchase price of this “premium brand” product.
Throw in the lack of any upgrade pricing for Jaguar and the whole arrangement smells bad to me. Apparently I’m not the only one - to see Apple’s stock price tumble like it is right after a MacWorld is not a good sign (yes, I know the whole market is doing ugly things, but still…)
Do you think the lack of any upgrade pricing for Jaguar is reasonable?
The iCards are still free
I also think that $100/yr is a bit much for what you get. As noted, we still have to have an ISP for access (unless we're fortunate enough to get in through a corporate or university network), and that gets us Web space, though not 100MB. It also gives us e-mail, though a 15MB box is larger than most ISPs offer. The software access through the iDisk's Software folder is very convenient. At present, the backup software is useless if you don't have a built-in burner (my G4/400 doesn't). And, frankly, Virex is not worth much (at least, in my opinion).
I'd still grumble at $50/yr, but would probably go for it and, since the first year will be $50, I probably will and see whether the touted additional enhancements show up. If it doesn't get substantially better, though, the one year will be enough.
Bad Apples
After all the lovely hype about new stuff in Jaguar, and remembering how Puma went, I had actually almost convinced myself to cough up $20 or as much as $50 USD for it when it shipped 4q 2002 or 1q2003. I was going to have trouble coughing up that much with the pushed up release date, but I was willing to do it somehow. This, however is crap. APPL (ala Mr. Steve) has removed any likelihood of me paying for Jaguar at all, and I won't even mention the impending death of my cute but valueless mac.com account.
(more here, clipped for brevity)
Thanks Scot, No Thanks Steve
adric
Bad Apples
After all the lovely hype about new stuff in Jaguar, and remembering how Puma went, I had actually almost convinced myself to cough up $20 or as much as $50 USD for it when it shipped 4q 2002 or 1q2003. I was going to have trouble coughing up that much with the pushed up release date, but I was willing to do it somehow. This, however is crap. APPL (ala Mr. Steve) has removed any likelihood of me paying for Jaguar at all, and I won't even mention the impending death of my cute but valueless mac.com account.
(more here, clipped for brevity)
Thanks Scot, No Thanks Steve
adric
Mispost, was: Bad Apples
admin please kill this thread