Whoa, Apple!
Just yesterday, which, incidentally was my birthday, Apple had me in awe again, with the simultaneous release of the new iPod nano, iTunes 5, the new Motorola cell phone with iTunes and a hundred songs capacity, the digital, downloadable audiobook editions of the Harry Potter books, and a special edition iPod with the Hogwarts crest engraved on the back. But wait, there’s more! Madonna’s entire musical legacy is now available on iTunes!
You might be thinking, “So what?” Well, first of all, the release of the Harry Potter series in digital format came as a big surprise to me, because time and time again, J.K. Rowling insisted that there were no plans for the books to be released as digital downloads (either e-book or audiobook format) and she considered the possibility unlikely. Apple must have some very persuasive people to have been able to pull this off. And what better way to celebrate their milestone than by releasing the custom-engraved-with-the-Hogwarts-crest 20GB iPod. If I didn’t have to pay for rent, bills and school books I would have bought the whole package in an instant. Of course, the books can be purchased individually, which is probably what I will be doing since I already have an iPod (as if you didn’t know that already). Regrettably, I assume, for many people, you must buy all the audiobooks with the HP iPod, you can’t buy the iPod alone, at least for now. This will turn off many because the price is pretty steep.
Non-Harry Potter fans might be unimpressed by the above, but Madonna on iTunes, and only on iTunes, is big news. All of her music, from the 80s to today is there to download. I haven’t downloaded the new version of iTunes yet because I am about to upgrade to Tiger, but I am looking forward to trying out the new features. I like it’s new look—it just looks more polished. Then there’s the new Motorola cell phone, the first wireless device to include iTunes. Sure there are other cell phones out there that play music (or so I’ve heard), but Apple’s reputation and the iTunes software should make this cell phone a sucess for Cingular, although, at $250, the phone isn’t exactly cheap, and I have been hearing mostly negative things about Cingular. Hmmm.
Last but not least, the iPod nano. Wow. It’s so tiny. It’s almost as tiny as Shuffle. I have been reading lately in several places how industry analysts are saying that Sony and the rest are catching up with Apple—that its reign on digital music players will inevitably end. I don’t know when that will happen, but, really, I don’t see how any other product coming out soon can outclass nano during the upcoming holiday season.