Apple Computer on Monday introduced faster iMacs and larger-capacity versions of its iPod digital music player.
The two new iMacs boast speeds of up to 1.25GHz, up from a top speed of 1GHz on the prior top-of-the-line model. The two largest iPods now feature capacities of 20GB and 40GB, up from 15GB and 30GB. Apple said the iMac line is designed for handling media files like music, photos and video and that the goal of the latest upgrade was to improve the components that could improve performance of those tasks. "That's really what that was about--how to make the ultimate digital hub even faster," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of hardware product marketing.
The prices for the new iPods remain at the same levels as previous models, at $399 for the 20GB version and $499 for the 40GB version. A 10GB version was not updated and still sells for $299. As for the iMacs, in addition to the faster processor, the new models include USB 2.0 ports as well as faster 333MHz double data rate (DDR) memory and improved graphics. One version comes with a 15-inch liquid-crystal display (LCD) and sells for $1,299. It has a 1GHz G4 processor, 256MB of memory, a combination drive that can play DVD movies and burn CDs, and Nvidia GeForce4MX graphics.
News source: C|Net News.com
The two new iMacs boast speeds of up to 1.25GHz, up from a top speed of 1GHz on the prior top-of-the-line model. The two largest iPods now feature capacities of 20GB and 40GB, up from 15GB and 30GB. Apple said the iMac line is designed for handling media files like music, photos and video and that the goal of the latest upgrade was to improve the components that could improve performance of those tasks. "That's really what that was about--how to make the ultimate digital hub even faster," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of hardware product marketing.
The prices for the new iPods remain at the same levels as previous models, at $399 for the 20GB version and $499 for the 40GB version. A 10GB version was not updated and still sells for $299. As for the iMacs, in addition to the faster processor, the new models include USB 2.0 ports as well as faster 333MHz double data rate (DDR) memory and improved graphics. One version comes with a 15-inch liquid-crystal display (LCD) and sells for $1,299. It has a 1GHz G4 processor, 256MB of memory, a combination drive that can play DVD movies and burn CDs, and Nvidia GeForce4MX graphics.
News source: C|Net News.com
It is believed that anyone who complies will be excluded from any future legal action by the RIAA.
But the decision will not apply to those already facing legal action, which could begin as early as next week, according to a report from Reuters.
The RIAA has admitted that it is unlikely to take to court all 1,600 people accused of illegally uploading music files from sites such as Kazaa and Morpheus.
But it has warned that those it does take to court will have to take their chances before the judge.
Meanwhile, others in the music industry are also adopting a less combative stance to P2P sites, following the decline in music sales.
Universal Music is cutting the wholesale price of many CDs in the US from $12.02 to $9.09.
It also plans to shelve advertising discounts and has dropped its recommended retail price to $12.98 from $18.98, hoping that retailers will be persuaded to drop the price to below $10.
Sony has also joined the growing market for services that allow consumers to download music legally, putting itself in direct competition with Apple and Microsoft.
The new service will be launched in Japan, with the US and Europe to follow next spring. Sony said that it will also ship a handheld device on to which the songs can be downloaded.
Also, they upgraded the graphics card if you didn't know.
...saying so tells people simply that YOU cannot afford one...
...and no one really cares if you can or can't.
i have a 15gig. i love it. i just wish i had a USB cable, because that would make it more usable to me as a portable storage medium. i just don't care to buy one at the moment.
There seem to be two false notions in your argument.
1. "things are not overpriced if they are selling like hotcakes" - This seems to indicate that you believe if many people are doing something then it must be right? Obviously this is not true, or you would have to argue that because there are literally thousands of murderers in the world, it can't be a bad thing to do.
2. Pricing and over pricing is not solely to do with how much you can fleece your customers for. The parts and manufacturing do not warrant the market cost of an iPod, but I have to say that this is not something unique to the iPod. I have seen many, many comments on this board complaining about the price of Windows XP for example. And yet it is "selling like hotcakes" too! I still think that both the iPod and XP are "over priced".
I actually own a competing product to the iPod called an Archcos Jukebox, and I think it is way better than the iPod, but that is me. I like it more because the OS has been hacked and you can write your own functionality into it. Change the way it works! Try that on an iPod!
The low end desktops from Apple might be a bit overpriced but a lot of PC's are selling to consumers below cost or they cut corners/features/support. We are also comparing Apple to Oranges (tower boxes versus all in one). I think we will eventually see a correction in pricing. Actually, we are starting to see a correction in pricing already among name branch PCs. Let's not forget that Gateway almost went under because of the pricing war.
The high-end Apple's are competitive against other "64bit" systems and Apple pBooks are also quite competitive against Sony Vaio laptops. Dells are POS IMNSHO.
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