The Last Podcast

Clearly, the blogosphere has gone crazy after today’s Apple event. While I was down on Steve early on (I really don’t care for ringtones), I underestimated his showmanship. Lots of ‘next things’ this time around.

My final comments on the event:

IPhone Price Cut:

More than anything else, this will dominate the news today. I can’t blame anybody who is slightly miffed about this. Josh Bancroft found an ingenious way to get your money back, though (if you bought with a credit card and within the last 60 days).

The 4GB version is gone (how great a seller would a $299 4GB version have been? Though it is on sale for $299 right now). I guess the margins wouldn’t have worked out for a really low-cost version, yet.

Here is another thought, though - maybe a 3G iPhone is coming soon and Apple is just clearing out the warehouses…

IPod Touch:

Wow. That’s why I didn’t upgrade my 3rd generation iPod yet. This is an instant classic. However, an email client on it would have been nice. The price is unbeatable, too.

IPod Classic:

That’s a hell of a lot of space. I don’t know anybody with a 160GB music-collection, but hey, my external hard-drive is 160GB and only a quarter full. Again, the price is great.

New Nano (Fatty):

Nice, but nothing that blows me away. I liked the old form factor a lot better and I have never missed video on my nano. It will sell well, though. I like the new interface, but I wonder if they couldn’t have used the new screen more efficiently. Games seem like a nice feature. Great price, though.

Summary:

Overall, I think this was one of Apple’s best events is recent days. Lots of announcements. The stockmarket sure didn’t like the price-drop (Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is down almost 5% as of 12:45pm PST), but I am sure the customers will. Apple is willing to gain market share and lose some profit in the process.

Without a doubt, the iPod Touch will be a bestseller. The iPhone will sell like hotcakes (and the 4GB version is on sale for $299 right now).