Have I lost my mind? Did I just spend $250 + tax for an iPod only capable of storing 4GB’s of my cherished 30 GB MP3 collection?
Well…kind of.
A couple of friends have emailed in asking if I taken the plunge to the “mini” side. After looking at this afternoon’s moblog entries, I can understand the confusion. You see, it all began yesterday with a phone call from The Stone:
[Que flashback music]
“Dude, I want to get my Dad an iPod for his birthday.”
“Awesome. Are you thinking 15 or 30GB?”
“Neither. My Dad wants a mini iPod! So do you wanna help me hunt for one tomorrow afternoon?”
“Word”
[end flashback scene]
After a bit of searching (read: calling every CompUSAwithin a 60 mile radius), we found a sole remaining silver mini iPod at the Montclair CompUSA. The guys there were awesome and held it for us while we made the journey through 5pm traffic on the 10 freeway.
Now, I’ve been very vocal about Apple’s mistake marketing genius with the iPod mini and how insane it would be for anyone to spend $250 bucks on a 4 gig player when for $50 bucks more you could have the 15GB player! Well, after buying one (with someone else’s money) I can attest to the fact that these things are just straight cool.
As for size, the word mini really is an understatement. This player is easily smaller than your cell phone and makes my 30GB pod look like a small apartment. Combine that with the redesigned wheel (the button are integrated into the wheel and provide tactile feedback, unlike their full-sized iPod’s counterpart), smooth brushed metal exterior, and Apple has a real winner on their hands.
Now, the investment clearly is not for everyone, but if you are a casual portable music fan who only needs a small fraction of their entire libary with them, then the mini is an awesome choice. And in all fairness, the mini is only about $50 more than a comparable non-Apple MP3 player. The only question left is what color you should get?
Oh and if you’re interested (and I know that you are), ipodding has some pictures of a dissassembled mini iPod. You can always count on an Apple freak to buy an iPod as soon as it comes out and the to straightway begin to tear it apart. Nice.
