Thursday, September 06, 2007

Steve Jobs keynote

A few comments on Steve Jobs' keynote yesterday.

32% of music released in the US in 2006 was online only! Wow.

People pay $2.50 for a ringtone? Are people nuts? What is it with people and their phones?

Two of Job's own ringtones: "American Idiot" and "Give Peace a Chance". :)

Finally some iPod colors I can get behind! The old ones sucked @$.

All those new iPods are wonderful. So hard to choose, maybe I'll have to buy one of each.

I really think there should be a hard disk version of the iPod Touch. It is the one you'd most like to watch video on, after all. A lot more storage would be nice. Even so, the 16 gig version is definetely the must-have model.

I was surprised they did not include a 16 GB iPhone for a hunnert bucks more. Perhaps space is a problem, although that does not seem likely.

Funny coincidences happen to me more and more. Just yesterday I looked up Like A Rolling Stone because I saw the famous Rolling Stones version of it (the video with Patricia Arquette) on Mad TV. And I found the Dylan version. (Very famous, but I was just a wee bairn in the sixties, so not so familiar to me.) And now Steve uses just this song in demoing iTunes today. Fun.

I was impressed by KT Tunstall. She recorded her own backing sounds right on stage in 30 seconds! Like Jobs said, she is hot. Although that could be understood two ways, both correct.

Have you noticed how, recently, Love Songs have become Hate Songs? So many girl singers have big hits with songs about how a guy won't have a chance with her. What fun. :)

I am very confused: Jobs says that 4 and 8 GB is twice the memory for the iPod Nano. But the old version also had 4 and 8 GB... Can anybody explain this?

Old:

New:

mystic said...
Regarding the memory sizes of the iPod Nano, I believe he was referring to the amount of memory you get for the price. There were 3 models previously, for $150 you got 2Gb, for $200 you got 4Gb and for $250 you got 8GB. Now there are two models, for $150 you get 4Gb and for $200 you get 8Gb. This is double the memory you previously got. There is no $250 model this time.

Aha! Thank you.
I was not aware of the 2GB model. (And I did not notice the price change because I buy them in Pounds Sterling.)

My pal David comments on the early and dramatice price drop on the iPhone.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, very nice presentation! (Is it still a 'keynote' when there's no convention? Oh well, Apple seems to call it that.)

I don't understand the ringtone business either. If I had a cellular phone, I'd put one of my own compositions on it (price: $0).

I agree, much nicer colours than in the past.

The iPod touch looks almost too good to be true! 8 mm thin, how did they do that? I find this gadget even nicer than the iPhone. 16MB is a must, though.

"All those new iPods are wonderful. So hard to choose, ..."

I still have my 3G iPod that works, and can't really afford a new one right now, but the 'touch' model is definitely the one I would get.

Steve seems to have a soft spot for Dylan. I never got Dylan.

Cliff Prince said...

Remind me, now ... an iPod is that thing you can play music through your headphones on the bus with, right? But an iPhone is a cell phone with lots of computer capabilities, right? And an iMac is just a Macintosh computer but upgraded to the next generation, right? Whereas an IP is an initial public offering of stock, right?

Too many eyes. Dot 'em, don't cross 'em.

Anonymous said...

"Whereas an IP is an initial public offering of stock, right?"

Left. That's an IPO.

IP is RFC 791.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

TTL, I will second all the opinions in your first post. That does not happen often.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Good one, F.I.

It's funny how the 'i' took over the world after the first iMac, considering it does not mean anything. When I buy Danish music, I use an online store named iMusic.

Alex said...

When I'm at home I listen to the PC (through the stereo). At work I listen to the PC. In the car I listen to CD's or the "built in" MP3 player.

When I'm walking I listen to the birds, the waves, the wind, the people I'm walking with, the traffic that may run me over at the next side street....

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Sure enough, when you don't commute by train you don't need an iPod. :)

Unknown said...

Regarding the memory sizes of the iPod Nano, I believe he was referring to the amount of memory you get for the price. There were 3 models previously, for $150 you got 2Gb, for $200 you got 4Gb and for $250 you got 8GB. Now there are two models, for $150 you get 4Gb and for $200 you get 8Gb. This is double the memory you previously got. There is no $250 model this time.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Aha! Thank you.
I was not aware of the 2GB model.

Alex said...

On the train I had my portable DVD player. Sometimes a good book, and the MP3/WMA player built into my cell phone with 2GB of mini-SD card. Who needs an iPod when the phone does the job one less walwart at home, one less gizmo in my pockets.

I also made friends at the platform, and we used to have long discussions, the 40miles soon slipped by.

Good old Amtrak Capitol Corridor.

Anonymous said...

"It's funny how the 'i' took over the world after the first iMac, considering it does not mean anything. When I buy Danish music, I use an online store named iMusic."

I seem to recall that before the 'i'Business the world was 'e'This and 'e'That. That sounds so passé now.

It is surprising that after all these years the novelty of the 'i'Thing hasn't totally worn off, and Apple is still able to launch iProducts and have them become huge successes.

I guess it has something to do with the fact that the products are actually very good. Otherwise we would surely be laughing at their product naming by now (more than we now do ;-)