Apple teases us with closed store, updates Shuffle, no new MacBooks
One continues to wonder why Apple has to shut down its store for every little minor product update. This time around, Apple decided it would update the iPod Shuffle line. But, that’s it. There are no new MacBooks or MacBook Pros and no iPhone SDK.
The Shuffle as I’m sure you are all aware is the lowest end iPod that the company offers. It is a flashed based player without a display and there’s no way to tell which order the songs will play in unless you create a play list but then again, who will remember that on-the-go.
Apple lowered the price of the 1GB Shuffle to $49 and will be releasing a $69 Shuffle with 2GB of storage but will not be available until later this month. All we have right now is a minor price change on the 1GB Shuffle. The least it could do is actually list the 2GB Shuffle on Store page and say “shipping later this month” or something to that tune.
Here, on MAC.BLORGE.com, it was our hope that there would be updated MacBooks, MacBook Pros or even the iPhone SDK but tragically that’s not the case, again.
The company should start taking notice that no one really cares what it does with its low end product lines. It must realize this to some extent because those models seem to lag behind the other, more expensive and far superior products.
It’s my opinion that taking down the store is a waste for such a minor update. Granted, 90% of the time I am listening to music on my iPod Touch but I can watch videos, check playlists and the like. Basically everything that the other iPods can do, the Shuffle can’t and I wish Apple would just toss the thing in the junk pile. The Shuffle has to be one of the most useless digital players on the market.
Just buy a Nano, iPod Classic or iPod Touch. If you’re going jogging or exercising, buy a Nano, don’t even give the Shuffle a second thought, unlike what Apple did.
Having said that, the only updates not worth scathing remarks will be new MacBooks, MacBook Pros (or a new 13″ MacBook Pro) or the iPhone SDK. Seriously Apple, an updated Shuffle, it’s possible to do a lot better than that.
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February 19th, 2008
I was pretty disappointed with this as well. I’m looking to get a MBP in the next week or two and I would hate to get one then find out it is obsolete within a week.
February 19th, 2008
I concur, as do many people I’m sure. Not only is the store shutdown being overplayed, but Apple’s laptops are beginning to look very long in the tooth; and that goes double for the MacBook Pro’s.
Get the feeling that marketing is beginning to overtake innovation at Apple? Delaying MBPs (one presumes) to launch the gimmicky MacBook Air says it all. The eventual MBP update better be mindblowingly good or I’ll be considering a much less expensive Dell equivalent and a hacked version of 10.5.2.
February 20th, 2008
They shut the store precisely because it gets them mentions on all the MacPorn sites. Doesn’t have to be anything of substance, which clearly you agree the Shuffle is not.
Apple turned itself purely into a marketing company when it dropped “computer” from its name. They’ve got a long way to fall but the decline has definitely started and I don’t see it reversing. There is no longer enough money in “innovating”. The Air proves it. The only innovation there is the envelope gimmick. Just don’t try to actually use it.
March 9th, 2009
store.apple.com closes each time Apple updates anything on the store because it’s built with WebObjects, and the entire store is statically published. Like an old Movable Type blog, the entire site has to be re-published when you make a change, and with a site the size of store.apple.com this is not a small undertaking. Hence the “we’ll be back soon” graphic and all the feverish speculation.
I’d be surprised if Apple didn’t switch to a more advanced commerce system sooner than later. In this case they’re not doing themselves any favors by trying to eat their own dog food.