Is Apple pulling a Microsoft?

I follow the apple rumor mill with great anticipation. Simply because Apple knows how to market their products. But yesterday they got it wrong. They are doing what Microsoft did with Windows Vista - they are creating too many versions of the same product. The new iPods have too many similar features and price points. Consumers now have to ask more questions to figure out which iPod is right for them. Which is a bad thing. This is a departure from Apple's normal way of differentiating their products very clearly - mainly on price and having a limited amount of models to choose from.

Here's Apple's old iPod lineup, sorted by price:

iPod Shuffle - $79
iPod Nano 2gig - $149
iPod Nano 4gig - $199
iPod Nano 8gig - $249
iPod w/ Video 30gig - $249
iPod w/ Video 80gig - $349
iPhone 4gig - $499
iPhone 8gig - $599

It's a pretty simple decision tree here. Price - a huge determinig factor - is sorted nicely. Do you need a phone? Get and iPhone. do you need a lot of storage? Get an iPod w/ Video.

Here's Apple's new lineup sorted by price:

iPod Shuffle - $79
iPod Nano 4gig - $149
iPod Nano 8gig - $199
iPod Classic 80gig - $249
iPod Touch 8gig - $299
iPod Classic 160gig - $349
iPod Touch 16gig - $399
iPhone 8gig - $399

To me, this lineup is not as clear cut. There's is definite confusion over whether you should get a Touch or a Classic. They share the same price space. Really the line up should look something like this:

iPod Shuffle - $79
iPod Nano 4gig - $149
iPod Nano 8gig - $199
iPod Nano 12/16gig - $249/$299
iPod Touch 80gig - $349
iPod Touch 160gig - $449
iPhone 8gig - $499

Yes. they should have made the touch, hard drive based. Yes this increases the cost. And yes, battery life probably would be an issue. If you wanted to you could stick in 2 models of the Touch - one that's flash based, too an 8gig at $299 and a 16 gig at $399 like they have now, but again, having too many models out there is a bad thing for marketing. Just look at anyother cell phone company. I personally know very little about the models that Nokia or Samsung make, simply because they make so many phones. If they pared down their lineup to make 3 great phones, I bet their marketing would be more effective, and they would sell more units. Simplicity rules in getting a message across.

And I think Apple probably wouldn't have pissed off so many people by dropping the iPhone only $100 bucks.

Bicycle Computers.

Let's face it. They suck. It's like a cell phone. Sure it does the job for you, but is anyone really really happy with their bicycle computer? Do people know every mode that availible to them? every feature? Do you know this instant how to access it? I highly doubt it.

For years I had a Cateye Enduro, but it was fairly cryptic with secret dual modes and cryptic messages like "Av" or "Dst". Why can't computers speak real English?

And don't get me started on Heart Rate Monitors. Does anyone really use them for anything more than displaying their heartrate? Do you actually setup your training zones? Do people really know how to train with an HRM? Not to mention integrating them with a cycling computer is a UI nightmare.

Right now, I'm using the best I could find of the bunch - a Sigma BC1200. Tho they don't make it anymore.

My ideal computer:

- Speed
- Max Speed
- Average Speed
- Distance
- Stopwatch
- Clock
- Odometer
- Trip Up

other features:
- easy to read
- makes sense
- 2 buttons to go forward and backward
- waterproof
- Used for 1 bike only (if you want a computer on another bike, just buy another one)
- stem or handlebar mount
- wireless
- looks nice.

Mattress Blues...

I was thinking about buying a loft for my room. This way, I could keep my futon, and roll it out when guests stay over. But I'm sorta stuck on what size mattress to get. Really, I want a full, but it's only 75" long. And being 72" tall, I think that's going to be a bit too short for me. So I suppose the only options are a Twin XL or a Queen. Who wants a twin these days? But I most definitely don't want a Queen - it's waaay too wide. So I'm stuck.

I'm left thinking, I'm not even that tall. What do the people who are 6'3", 6'5" do? I guess California King, but really, isn't that super overkill for a single person?

Nice Strap.

I bought this watch a couple weeks ago, and I gotta say, that the elastic wrist strap is awesome. Super comfortable. lightweight. easy to put on and off. It doesn't click and clack on the table when you are typing on the keyboard. Sure it's a woman's watch, and it's purple, but I wanted a small watch anyways. Being purple is just icing on the cake. Timex, bring more of these elastic bands out. They rock.

Of course, the watch itself, isn't the greatest in terms of usability. Oh well.

iPhoto '08

Finally! iPhoto will actually be usable now! Why? Simple. Events.

While people laud Apple for it's UI and usablility, bollocks, I say. Apple is just as guilty as any other software maker in making unusable products. iPhoto, pre '08 is the shining example. Before you could only sort by date, or manualy create albums, which were a pain. Who remembers that their camping trip happened June 30th thru July 5th 2001? I don't, and I'm too lazy to manually add every file into an album. Also the other annoying thing was that all your photos were in a single blob on the right hand side. There was no separation saying a photo taken on this day, is separate from a photo taken on the next day, which made it confusing to figure out where albums start and end, if you were to manually add them.

I don't understand how it took people 5 years to figure out that people sort photos by events. It make me wonder whether or not Apple employees actually use their own apps or not. Apple totally replaced iMovie this year, because an Apple Employee found out he couldn't make a movie in 30 minutes or less. The employee got so frustrated, that he made a new tool that became iMovie '08.

For my (free) money, Picasa was 10x more friendly and usable than iPhoto was. Is it any surprise that iPhoto '08 is totally mimicking Picasa?

The Good of using Standard Parts..

Today I had my Speedplay X/2 pedals come apart on me. If you look at the pedal itself, there's 2 hourglass shaped metal piece on both sides of the pedal and they are held together by 2 Torx screws. On my ride, it's these screws that loosed, so you can't pull up on the pedal anymore.

It's pretty rare for any road rider to carry a Torx wrench, but I had one cause I mountain bike. However this bolt was a smaller size than the standard disc brake torx size. So I bet nobody, and I mean nobody, carries a Torx wrench of the this size when they go out riding. It used to be just an Allen key, but I wonder why Speedplay changed in this very non standard size?

It ended a pretty nice ride...

First Post!

I wanted a forum where I can review products and rant about their shortcomings. Maybe someone will actaully take the time to fix some of this stuff? Topics will vary from computers to bicycles to everyday stuff. Basically, all the things that I am interested in. If you're not, well tough, this is my blog. Welcome