Do they really? I had no idea they broke. What a crappy device. And the way they treat those workers is wrong. I gave up on trying to use IPod Shuffle and now just use a satellite radio.
On 9/10/06, Nick G <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Death to the IPod, thank you very much...That's one device I really hate, > and the thing about using chinese workers in those conditions...well...May > explain, for instance, why IPod Nanos break in half. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Kelly Pierce" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> > Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 1:09 PM > Subject: Why the iPod is losing its cool > > > The iPod lost its cool for me when I read the Sunday Mirror expose a few > weeks ago. The story told of a place it called Ipod city where 200,000 > people work and live with factories, dormitories, restaurants, grocers, and > health clinics. It even has its own transit system. The article said > workers for Apple assemble iPods by hand standing up at tables for 14 hours > a day. They are paid much less then other factory workers in China. If > they try to stretch their arms or legs after many hours of standing nearly > still, Apple's minders force them to do push ups and humiliate them in front > of other workers. The offending worker is then slapped with mandatory > overtime, toiling until they virtually collapse from exhaustion and stress. > How "cool" is that? > > Kelly > > > > > > The Observer [UK] > > Sunday September 10, 2006 > > > Why the iPod is losing its cool > > Apple has added ever more extras to its digital music-player in a bid > to stem falling sales. But fears are rising that the device is now too > common to be cutting edge > > David Smith, technology correspondent > > > > The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in > search of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd > gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week for a > live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or break one > of the consumer icons of the Western world. > > The iPod, the digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's > Chris Martin to President George Bush, is in danger of losing its sheen. > Sales are declining at an unprecedented rate. Industry experts talk of a > 'backlash' and of the iPod 'wilting away before our eyes'. Most > disastrously, Apple's signature pocket device with white earphones may > simply have become too common to be cool. > > On Tuesday the eyes of iPod-lovers the world over will be on Steve > Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, when he seeks to allay > fears that it could follow Sony's tape-playing Walkman into the recycling > bin of history. > > Jobs is widely expected to announce the most ambitious iPod service > yet - the sale of feature-length films via the internet for viewing on the > devices, which may receive an expanded 'widescreen' and improved storage > capacity. If downloading movies from a computer to an iPod proves even > half as revolutionary as it did for music, the multibillion-pound DVD > industry could be quaking. There are rumours that Jobs will also announce > a long expected 'iPhone', combining the music function and sleek style of > an iPod with a mobile phone. > > Industry-watchers warn that the iPod could soon be regarded by teenage > cynics as their 'parents' player' because a mass-market product rarely > equates with edgy fashionability. Although it has sold nearly 60 million > actual iPods and a billion downloaded songs worldwide, cracks have begun > to appear in the edifice. The Zandl Group, a New York-based trends > forecaster which regularly interviews a panel of 3,000 consumers aged > 25-35, recently picked up its first significant criticisms. 'The iPod is > far and away the most popular tech gadget with our panellists - however, > for the first time we are hearing negative feedback about the iPod from > some panellists,' said the organisation's spokeswoman, Carla Avruch. > 'Panellists cite that the batteries are not replaceable, so when they die > the entire player must be replaced,' she said. 'We have heard from some > conspiracy theorists that the batteries are made to die soon after the > warranty ends. > > 'Other complaints are that iTunes [Apple's online music store] is > overpriced and the format is not easily transferred on to other players. > In our ethnography interviews, some long-time iPod-users told us that they > have stopped updating their iPods because it's too much work, while other > consumers who had bought iPods more recently had not even taken theirs out > of the package to set it up.' > > She added that the iPod is in danger of becoming a victim of its own > success: 'Some backlash is against the ubiquity of the iPod - everyone has > those white headphones on the train.' > > Analysts warn that the iPod has passed its peak. From its launch five > years ago its sales graph showed a consistent upward curve, culminating in > a period around last Christmas that saw a record 14 million sold. But > sales fell to 8.5 million in the following quarter, and down to 8.1 > million in the most recent three-month period. Wall Street is reportedly > starting to worry that the bubble will burst. > > Tomi Ahonen, a technology brand expert and author, said: 'For the > first time the iPod has had two consecutive falls after 17 quarters of > growth. If I were the manager, I would be wanting my people to explain > what is going on. The iPod is wilting away before our eyes.' > > He cited new mobile phones with improved MP3 players as the cause of > the iPod's dwindling appeal. 'In 2005 all the big phone manufacturers > released phones that play music. Phones are outselling dedicated MP3 > players by six to one. Apple had the market for MP3, but they lost it.' > > Ahonen, author of Communities Dominate Brands, predicted that in the > long term the iPod will have only a narrow audience. 'It will continue to > dominate a niche at the top end: if you're a musician or a DJ you'll use > it because it's the best, like a photographer with his Nikon camera. But > the average mobile phone user gets a new handset every 18 months, and a > quarter of mobile phones sold this year will have an MP3 player. In the > same way as camera phones have pushed cameras to one side, this is an > automatic replacement.' > > Apple is famously tight-lipped about plans, but its invitations to > Tuesday's event show an Apple logo in front of crossed searchlights and > the slogan 'It's Showtime'. Sources in Hollywood, where Jobs sits on the > board of Walt Disney, suggest Apple has been trying to secure deals to > sell films through iTunes for around £8 each. Apple added video downloads > of television shows such as Lost and sporting events to its iTunes service > last October. > > The company is facing growing competition on every front. Last week > Amazon launched a digital TV and film download service in the US, and the > supermarket giant Wal-Mart is in talks with Hollywood studios about a > similar website. Later this year a new online music store, SpiralFrog, > will undercut iTunes by offering a huge catalogue of music for free while > relying on advertising for its income. MySpace, the immensely popular > social networking site, also poses a threat. > > Three out of every four MP3 players sold are iPods, but the device > could be challenged later this year by Zune, the contender from Microsoft, > whose billionaire founder Bill Gates is not used to losing. Samsung is > also betting heavily on its new K5, which has the option of built-in > loudspeakers. > > But commentators argue that the iPod's status as a 21st-century > fashion symbol is assured. Leander Kahney, author of The Cult of Mac, > said: 'I thought they would become passé last year but they haven't, and I > don't see much sign that they will." > > James Beechinor-Collins, editor-in-chief of T3 consumer gadgets > magazine, added: 'It's cool across the board: everyone from my > seven-year-old niece to my 60-year-old uncle has one. But as the leader > Apple needs to keep innovating, not resting on its laurels. We haven't > seen a new product for a year, so Tuesday's announcement had better be > bloody good.' > > Iconic electronics that reached their sell-by date > > Sony Walkman > > Launched: 1979 > > What is it? Portable music cassette player with headphones. Sales fell > in the Nineties when portable CD and minidisc players arrived; iPod nailed > the coffin shut in 2001. Sony launched an MP3 version last year. > > Sales: 60 million sold by 1992, 4 million in the UK. > > Sinclair Spectrum > > Launched: 1982 > > What is it? Early personal computer with up to 48K memory and built-in > tape recorder/disk drive; games included Jet Set Willy and Chuckie Egg. > Fell to competition from other models, particularly the Commodore 64; > obsolete by the Nineties. > > Sales: ZX model sold 2 million worldwide. By 1985 Sinclair was > producing 200,000 units a month, with 57 per cent market share. > > Psion personal organiser > > Launched: 1984 > > What is it? Looked like a calculator with an alphabetic keyboard and > was essentially an electronic diary for yuppies. Competition from Japanese > companies and advanced laptop and mobile phone technology, plus the > executives' must-have Blackberry, made it redundant, but Psion is still > producing 'mobile computers'. > > Sales: Sold 1 million in first decade, but sales tailed off as it was > superseded. > > VHS cassettes > > Launched: 1976 > > What is it? JVC's Video Home System, for viewing and recording films > and television. Eclipsed Sony's short-lived Betamax video format in the > Eighties but, since DVDs were launched in the late Nineties, sales have > collapsed. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... > http://www.pc-audio.org > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > This list is a service of MosenExplosion.com. To see what other lists we > offer, visit us on the web at http://www.MosenExplosion.com > > > _______________________________________________ > PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... > http://www.pc-audio.org > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > This list is a service of MosenExplosion.com. To see what other lists we > offer, visit us on the web at http://www.MosenExplosion.com > -- John Moore _______________________________________________ PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... http://www.pc-audio.org To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This list is a service of MosenExplosion.com. To see what other lists we offer, visit us on the web at http://www.MosenExplosion.com
