Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool
Hi, There were several news stories a week or so ago stating that this wasn't true. It was supposedly investigated and there wasn't any evidence to prove it. Rick - Original Message - From: Sarah [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PC audio discussion list. pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 9:03 PM Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool O wow I just read this threadl maye I will not buy ipod after reding that. - Original Message - From: Gary Wood [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PC audio discussion list. pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 2:47 PM Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool I never used an IPod, and after this article, I guess I never will! - Original Message - From: John Moore [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PC audio discussion list. pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 4:01 PM Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool Do they really? I had no idea they broke. What a crappy device. And the way they treat those workers is wrong. I gave up on trying to use IPod Shuffle and now just use a satellite radio. On 9/10/06, Nick G [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Death to the IPod, thank you very much...That's one device I really hate, and the thing about using chinese workers in those conditions...well...May explain, for instance, why IPod Nanos break in half. - Original Message - From: Kelly Pierce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 1:09 PM Subject: Why the iPod is losing its cool The iPod lost its cool for me when I read the Sunday Mirror expose a few weeks ago. The story told of a place it called Ipod city where 200,000 people work and live with factories, dormitories, restaurants, grocers, and health clinics. It even has its own transit system. The article said workers for Apple assemble iPods by hand standing up at tables for 14 hours a day. They are paid much less then other factory workers in China. If they try to stretch their arms or legs after many hours of standing nearly still, Apple's minders force them to do push ups and humiliate them in front of other workers. The offending worker is then slapped with mandatory overtime, toiling until they virtually collapse from exhaustion and stress. How cool is that? Kelly The Observer [UK] Sunday September 10, 2006 Why the iPod is losing its cool Apple has added ever more extras to its digital music-player in a bid to stem falling sales. But fears are rising that the device is now too common to be cutting edge David Smith, technology correspondent The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in search of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week for a live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or break one of the consumer icons of the Western world. The iPod, the digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's Chris Martin to President George Bush, is in danger of losing its sheen. Sales are declining at an unprecedented rate. Industry experts talk of a 'backlash' and of the iPod 'wilting away before our eyes'. Most disastrously, Apple's signature pocket device with white earphones may simply have become too common to be cool. On Tuesday the eyes of iPod-lovers the world over will be on Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, when he seeks to allay fears that it could follow Sony's tape-playing Walkman into the recycling bin of history. Jobs is widely expected to announce the most ambitious iPod service yet - the sale of feature-length films via the internet for viewing on the devices, which may receive an expanded 'widescreen' and improved storage capacity. If downloading movies from a computer to an iPod proves even half as revolutionary as it did for music, the multibillion-pound DVD industry could be quaking. There are rumours that Jobs will also announce a long expected 'iPhone', combining the music function and sleek style of an iPod with a mobile phone. Industry-watchers warn that the iPod could soon be regarded by teenage cynics as their 'parents' player' because a mass-market product rarely equates with edgy fashionability. Although it has sold nearly 60 million actual iPods and a billion downloaded songs worldwide, cracks have begun to appear in the edifice. The Zandl Group, a New York-based trends forecaster which regularly interviews a panel of 3,000 consumers aged 25-35, recently picked up its first significant criticisms. 'The iPod is far and away the most popular tech gadget with our panellists - however, for the first time we are hearing negative feedback about the iPod from some panellists,' said the organisation's spokeswoman, Carla Avruch. 'Panellists cite that the batteries are not replaceable, so when they die the entire player must
Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool
I never used an IPod, and after this article, I guess I never will! - Original Message - From: John Moore [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PC audio discussion list. pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 4:01 PM Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool Do they really? I had no idea they broke. What a crappy device. And the way they treat those workers is wrong. I gave up on trying to use IPod Shuffle and now just use a satellite radio. On 9/10/06, Nick G [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Death to the IPod, thank you very much...That's one device I really hate, and the thing about using chinese workers in those conditions...well...May explain, for instance, why IPod Nanos break in half. - Original Message - From: Kelly Pierce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 1:09 PM Subject: Why the iPod is losing its cool The iPod lost its cool for me when I read the Sunday Mirror expose a few weeks ago. The story told of a place it called Ipod city where 200,000 people work and live with factories, dormitories, restaurants, grocers, and health clinics. It even has its own transit system. The article said workers for Apple assemble iPods by hand standing up at tables for 14 hours a day. They are paid much less then other factory workers in China. If they try to stretch their arms or legs after many hours of standing nearly still, Apple's minders force them to do push ups and humiliate them in front of other workers. The offending worker is then slapped with mandatory overtime, toiling until they virtually collapse from exhaustion and stress. How cool is that? Kelly The Observer [UK] Sunday September 10, 2006 Why the iPod is losing its cool Apple has added ever more extras to its digital music-player in a bid to stem falling sales. But fears are rising that the device is now too common to be cutting edge David Smith, technology correspondent The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in search of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week for a live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or break one of the consumer icons of the Western world. The iPod, the digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's Chris Martin to President George Bush, is in danger of losing its sheen. Sales are declining at an unprecedented rate. Industry experts talk of a 'backlash' and of the iPod 'wilting away before our eyes'. Most disastrously, Apple's signature pocket device with white earphones may simply have become too common to be cool. On Tuesday the eyes of iPod-lovers the world over will be on Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, when he seeks to allay fears that it could follow Sony's tape-playing Walkman into the recycling bin of history. Jobs is widely expected to announce the most ambitious iPod service yet - the sale of feature-length films via the internet for viewing on the devices, which may receive an expanded 'widescreen' and improved storage capacity. If downloading movies from a computer to an iPod proves even half as revolutionary as it did for music, the multibillion-pound DVD industry could be quaking. There are rumours that Jobs will also announce a long expected 'iPhone', combining the music function and sleek style of an iPod with a mobile phone. Industry-watchers warn that the iPod could soon be regarded by teenage cynics as their 'parents' player' because a mass-market product rarely equates with edgy fashionability. Although it has sold nearly 60 million actual iPods and a billion downloaded songs worldwide, cracks have begun to appear in the edifice. The Zandl Group, a New York-based trends forecaster which regularly interviews a panel of 3,000 consumers aged 25-35, recently picked up its first significant criticisms. 'The iPod is far and away the most popular tech gadget with our panellists - however, for the first time we are hearing negative feedback about the iPod from some panellists,' said the organisation's spokeswoman, Carla Avruch. 'Panellists cite that the batteries are not replaceable, so when they die the entire player must be replaced,' she said. 'We have heard from some conspiracy theorists that the batteries are made to die soon after the warranty ends. 'Other complaints are that iTunes [Apple's online music store] is overpriced and the format is not easily transferred on to other players. In our ethnography interviews, some long-time iPod-users told us that they have stopped updating their iPods because it's too much work, while other consumers who had bought iPods more recently had not even taken theirs out of the package to set it up.' She added that the iPod is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success: 'Some backlash
Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool
O wow I just read this threadl maye I will not buy ipod after reding that. - Original Message - From: Gary Wood [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PC audio discussion list. pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 2:47 PM Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool I never used an IPod, and after this article, I guess I never will! - Original Message - From: John Moore [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PC audio discussion list. pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 4:01 PM Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool Do they really? I had no idea they broke. What a crappy device. And the way they treat those workers is wrong. I gave up on trying to use IPod Shuffle and now just use a satellite radio. On 9/10/06, Nick G [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Death to the IPod, thank you very much...That's one device I really hate, and the thing about using chinese workers in those conditions...well...May explain, for instance, why IPod Nanos break in half. - Original Message - From: Kelly Pierce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 1:09 PM Subject: Why the iPod is losing its cool The iPod lost its cool for me when I read the Sunday Mirror expose a few weeks ago. The story told of a place it called Ipod city where 200,000 people work and live with factories, dormitories, restaurants, grocers, and health clinics. It even has its own transit system. The article said workers for Apple assemble iPods by hand standing up at tables for 14 hours a day. They are paid much less then other factory workers in China. If they try to stretch their arms or legs after many hours of standing nearly still, Apple's minders force them to do push ups and humiliate them in front of other workers. The offending worker is then slapped with mandatory overtime, toiling until they virtually collapse from exhaustion and stress. How cool is that? Kelly The Observer [UK] Sunday September 10, 2006 Why the iPod is losing its cool Apple has added ever more extras to its digital music-player in a bid to stem falling sales. But fears are rising that the device is now too common to be cutting edge David Smith, technology correspondent The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in search of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week for a live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or break one of the consumer icons of the Western world. The iPod, the digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's Chris Martin to President George Bush, is in danger of losing its sheen. Sales are declining at an unprecedented rate. Industry experts talk of a 'backlash' and of the iPod 'wilting away before our eyes'. Most disastrously, Apple's signature pocket device with white earphones may simply have become too common to be cool. On Tuesday the eyes of iPod-lovers the world over will be on Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, when he seeks to allay fears that it could follow Sony's tape-playing Walkman into the recycling bin of history. Jobs is widely expected to announce the most ambitious iPod service yet - the sale of feature-length films via the internet for viewing on the devices, which may receive an expanded 'widescreen' and improved storage capacity. If downloading movies from a computer to an iPod proves even half as revolutionary as it did for music, the multibillion-pound DVD industry could be quaking. There are rumours that Jobs will also announce a long expected 'iPhone', combining the music function and sleek style of an iPod with a mobile phone. Industry-watchers warn that the iPod could soon be regarded by teenage cynics as their 'parents' player' because a mass-market product rarely equates with edgy fashionability. Although it has sold nearly 60 million actual iPods and a billion downloaded songs worldwide, cracks have begun to appear in the edifice. The Zandl Group, a New York-based trends forecaster which regularly interviews a panel of 3,000 consumers aged 25-35, recently picked up its first significant criticisms. 'The iPod is far and away the most popular tech gadget with our panellists - however, for the first time we are hearing negative feedback about the iPod from some panellists,' said the organisation's spokeswoman, Carla Avruch. 'Panellists cite that the batteries are not replaceable, so when they die the entire player must be replaced,' she said. 'We have heard from some conspiracy theorists that the batteries are made to die soon after the warranty ends. 'Other complaints are that iTunes [Apple's online music store] is overpriced and the format is not easily transferred on to other players. In our ethnography interviews, some long-time iPod-users told us that they have stopped
RE: Why the iPod is losing its cool
I must agree. It sounds like some kind of a horror story ... -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Doc Sent: 11 September 2006 01:24 AM To: PC audio discussion list. Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool how did you varify this information? ** I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it robert Doc Wright http://www.wrightplaceinc.net msn [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: Kelly Pierce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 11:09 AM Subject: Why the iPod is losing its cool The iPod lost its cool for me when I read the Sunday Mirror expose a few weeks ago. The story told of a place it called Ipod city where 200,000 people work and live with factories, dormitories, restaurants, grocers, and health clinics. It even has its own transit system. The article said workers for Apple assemble iPods by hand standing up at tables for 14 hours a day. They are paid much less then other factory workers in China. If they try to stretch their arms or legs after many hours of standing nearly still, Apple's minders force them to do push ups and humiliate them in front of other workers. The offending worker is then slapped with mandatory overtime, toiling until they virtually collapse from exhaustion and stress. How cool is that? Kelly The Observer [UK] Sunday September 10, 2006 Why the iPod is losing its cool Apple has added ever more extras to its digital music-player in a bid to stem falling sales. But fears are rising that the device is now too common to be cutting edge David Smith, technology correspondent The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in search of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week for a live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or break one of the consumer icons of the Western world. The iPod, the digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's Chris Martin to President George Bush, is in danger of losing its sheen. Sales are declining at an unprecedented rate. Industry experts talk of a 'backlash' and of the iPod 'wilting away before our eyes'. Most disastrously, Apple's signature pocket device with white earphones may simply have become too common to be cool. On Tuesday the eyes of iPod-lovers the world over will be on Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, when he seeks to allay fears that it could follow Sony's tape-playing Walkman into the recycling bin of history. Jobs is widely expected to announce the most ambitious iPod service yet - the sale of feature-length films via the internet for viewing on the devices, which may receive an expanded 'widescreen' and improved storage capacity. If downloading movies from a computer to an iPod proves even half as revolutionary as it did for music, the multibillion-pound DVD industry could be quaking. There are rumours that Jobs will also announce a long expected 'iPhone', combining the music function and sleek style of an iPod with a mobile phone. Industry-watchers warn that the iPod could soon be regarded by teenage cynics as their 'parents' player' because a mass-market product rarely equates with edgy fashionability. Although it has sold nearly 60 million actual iPods and a billion downloaded songs worldwide, cracks have begun to appear in the edifice. The Zandl Group, a New York-based trends forecaster which regularly interviews a panel of 3,000 consumers aged 25-35, recently picked up its first significant criticisms. 'The iPod is far and away the most popular tech gadget with our panellists - however, for the first time we are hearing negative feedback about the iPod from some panellists,' said the organisation's spokeswoman, Carla Avruch. 'Panellists cite that the batteries are not replaceable, so when they die the entire player must be replaced,' she said. 'We have heard from some conspiracy theorists that the batteries are made to die soon after the warranty ends. 'Other complaints are that iTunes [Apple's online music store] is overpriced and the format is not easily transferred on to other players. In our ethnography interviews, some long-time iPod-users told us that they have stopped updating their iPods because it's too much work, while other consumers who had bought iPods more recently had not even taken theirs out of the package to set it up.' She added that the iPod is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success: 'Some backlash is against the ubiquity of the iPod - everyone has those white headphones on the train.' Analysts warn that the iPod has passed its peak. From its launch five years ago its sales graph showed a consistent upward curve, culminating in a period around last Christmas that saw a record 14 million sold. But sales fell
Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool
No more so than the well-documented cases of virtually enslaved textile workers in the *American* Marianas. If you don't know about/believe these latter, consult Google. - Original Message - From: André van Deventer [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: 'PC audio discussion list. ' pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 2:07 AM Subject: RE: Why the iPod is losing its cool I must agree. It sounds like some kind of a horror story ... -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Doc Sent: 11 September 2006 01:24 AM To: PC audio discussion list. Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool how did you varify this information? ** I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it robert Doc Wright http://www.wrightplaceinc.net msn [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: Kelly Pierce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 11:09 AM Subject: Why the iPod is losing its cool The iPod lost its cool for me when I read the Sunday Mirror expose a few weeks ago. The story told of a place it called Ipod city where 200,000 people work and live with factories, dormitories, restaurants, grocers, and health clinics. It even has its own transit system. The article said workers for Apple assemble iPods by hand standing up at tables for 14 hours a day. They are paid much less then other factory workers in China. If they try to stretch their arms or legs after many hours of standing nearly still, Apple's minders force them to do push ups and humiliate them in front of other workers. The offending worker is then slapped with mandatory overtime, toiling until they virtually collapse from exhaustion and stress. How cool is that? Kelly The Observer [UK] Sunday September 10, 2006 Why the iPod is losing its cool Apple has added ever more extras to its digital music-player in a bid to stem falling sales. But fears are rising that the device is now too common to be cutting edge David Smith, technology correspondent The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in search of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week for a live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or break one of the consumer icons of the Western world. The iPod, the digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's Chris Martin to President George Bush, is in danger of losing its sheen. Sales are declining at an unprecedented rate. Industry experts talk of a 'backlash' and of the iPod 'wilting away before our eyes'. Most disastrously, Apple's signature pocket device with white earphones may simply have become too common to be cool. On Tuesday the eyes of iPod-lovers the world over will be on Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, when he seeks to allay fears that it could follow Sony's tape-playing Walkman into the recycling bin of history. Jobs is widely expected to announce the most ambitious iPod service yet - the sale of feature-length films via the internet for viewing on the devices, which may receive an expanded 'widescreen' and improved storage capacity. If downloading movies from a computer to an iPod proves even half as revolutionary as it did for music, the multibillion-pound DVD industry could be quaking. There are rumours that Jobs will also announce a long expected 'iPhone', combining the music function and sleek style of an iPod with a mobile phone. Industry-watchers warn that the iPod could soon be regarded by teenage cynics as their 'parents' player' because a mass-market product rarely equates with edgy fashionability. Although it has sold nearly 60 million actual iPods and a billion downloaded songs worldwide, cracks have begun to appear in the edifice. The Zandl Group, a New York-based trends forecaster which regularly interviews a panel of 3,000 consumers aged 25-35, recently picked up its first significant criticisms. 'The iPod is far and away the most popular tech gadget with our panellists - however, for the first time we are hearing negative feedback about the iPod from some panellists,' said the organisation's spokeswoman, Carla Avruch. 'Panellists cite that the batteries are not replaceable, so when they die the entire player must be replaced,' she said. 'We have heard from some conspiracy theorists that the batteries are made to die soon after the warranty ends. 'Other complaints are that iTunes [Apple's online music store] is overpriced and the format is not easily transferred on to other players. In our ethnography interviews, some long-time iPod-users told us that they have stopped updating their iPods because it's too much work, while other consumers who had bought iPods more recently had not even taken theirs out of the package to set it up.' She added that the iPod
Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool
People aren't paying $300 and $400 per textile unit at retail to a company that tells them they are sophisticated and smart for using this product. Another story says that Apple spends far more on advertising iPods than it does to pay the workers or the contract manufacturer that produce them. Apple uses essentially slave labor and then turns around and fires up a huge and expensive marketing machine to represent a far different world in which this machine exists. Kelly - Original Message - From: Dana S. Leslie [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PC audio discussion list. pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 1:31 AM Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool No more so than the well-documented cases of virtually enslaved textile workers in the *American* Marianas. If you don't know about/believe these latter, consult Google. - Original Message - From: André van Deventer [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: 'PC audio discussion list. ' pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 2:07 AM Subject: RE: Why the iPod is losing its cool I must agree. It sounds like some kind of a horror story ... -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Doc Sent: 11 September 2006 01:24 AM To: PC audio discussion list. Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool how did you varify this information? ** I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it robert Doc Wright http://www.wrightplaceinc.net msn [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: Kelly Pierce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 11:09 AM Subject: Why the iPod is losing its cool The iPod lost its cool for me when I read the Sunday Mirror expose a few weeks ago. The story told of a place it called Ipod city where 200,000 people work and live with factories, dormitories, restaurants, grocers, and health clinics. It even has its own transit system. The article said workers for Apple assemble iPods by hand standing up at tables for 14 hours a day. They are paid much less then other factory workers in China. If they try to stretch their arms or legs after many hours of standing nearly still, Apple's minders force them to do push ups and humiliate them in front of other workers. The offending worker is then slapped with mandatory overtime, toiling until they virtually collapse from exhaustion and stress. How cool is that? Kelly The Observer [UK] Sunday September 10, 2006 Why the iPod is losing its cool Apple has added ever more extras to its digital music-player in a bid to stem falling sales. But fears are rising that the device is now too common to be cutting edge David Smith, technology correspondent The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in search of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week for a live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or break one of the consumer icons of the Western world. The iPod, the digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's Chris Martin to President George Bush, is in danger of losing its sheen. Sales are declining at an unprecedented rate. Industry experts talk of a 'backlash' and of the iPod 'wilting away before our eyes'. Most disastrously, Apple's signature pocket device with white earphones may simply have become too common to be cool. On Tuesday the eyes of iPod-lovers the world over will be on Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, when he seeks to allay fears that it could follow Sony's tape-playing Walkman into the recycling bin of history. Jobs is widely expected to announce the most ambitious iPod service yet - the sale of feature-length films via the internet for viewing on the devices, which may receive an expanded 'widescreen' and improved storage capacity. If downloading movies from a computer to an iPod proves even half as revolutionary as it did for music, the multibillion-pound DVD industry could be quaking. There are rumours that Jobs will also announce a long expected 'iPhone', combining the music function and sleek style of an iPod with a mobile phone. Industry-watchers warn that the iPod could soon be regarded by teenage cynics as their 'parents' player' because a mass-market product rarely equates with edgy fashionability. Although it has sold nearly 60 million actual iPods and a billion downloaded songs worldwide, cracks have begun to appear in the edifice. The Zandl Group, a New York-based trends forecaster which regularly interviews a panel of 3,000 consumers aged 25-35, recently picked up its first significant criticisms. 'The iPod is far and away the most popular tech gadget with our panellists - however, for the first time we are hearing negative feedback about the iPod from some panellists,' said the organisation's
Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool
BTW, I'm not saying this situation isn't an outrage; just that it is a FAR FROM UNIQUE outrage. PRECISELY the same sort of thing has been going on in the women's high-fashion industry, FOR DECADES. - Original Message - From: Kelly Pierce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PC audio discussion list. pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 2:56 AM Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool People aren't paying $300 and $400 per textile unit at retail to a company that tells them they are sophisticated and smart for using this product. Another story says that Apple spends far more on advertising iPods than it does to pay the workers or the contract manufacturer that produce them. Apple uses essentially slave labor and then turns around and fires up a huge and expensive marketing machine to represent a far different world in which this machine exists. Kelly - Original Message - From: Dana S. Leslie [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PC audio discussion list. pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 1:31 AM Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool No more so than the well-documented cases of virtually enslaved textile workers in the *American* Marianas. If you don't know about/believe these latter, consult Google. - Original Message - From: André van Deventer [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: 'PC audio discussion list. ' pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 2:07 AM Subject: RE: Why the iPod is losing its cool I must agree. It sounds like some kind of a horror story ... -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Doc Sent: 11 September 2006 01:24 AM To: PC audio discussion list. Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool how did you varify this information? ** I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it robert Doc Wright http://www.wrightplaceinc.net msn [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: Kelly Pierce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 11:09 AM Subject: Why the iPod is losing its cool The iPod lost its cool for me when I read the Sunday Mirror expose a few weeks ago. The story told of a place it called Ipod city where 200,000 people work and live with factories, dormitories, restaurants, grocers, and health clinics. It even has its own transit system. The article said workers for Apple assemble iPods by hand standing up at tables for 14 hours a day. They are paid much less then other factory workers in China. If they try to stretch their arms or legs after many hours of standing nearly still, Apple's minders force them to do push ups and humiliate them in front of other workers. The offending worker is then slapped with mandatory overtime, toiling until they virtually collapse from exhaustion and stress. How cool is that? Kelly The Observer [UK] Sunday September 10, 2006 Why the iPod is losing its cool Apple has added ever more extras to its digital music-player in a bid to stem falling sales. But fears are rising that the device is now too common to be cutting edge David Smith, technology correspondent The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in search of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week for a live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or break one of the consumer icons of the Western world. The iPod, the digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's Chris Martin to President George Bush, is in danger of losing its sheen. Sales are declining at an unprecedented rate. Industry experts talk of a 'backlash' and of the iPod 'wilting away before our eyes'. Most disastrously, Apple's signature pocket device with white earphones may simply have become too common to be cool. On Tuesday the eyes of iPod-lovers the world over will be on Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, when he seeks to allay fears that it could follow Sony's tape-playing Walkman into the recycling bin of history. Jobs is widely expected to announce the most ambitious iPod service yet - the sale of feature-length films via the internet for viewing on the devices, which may receive an expanded 'widescreen' and improved storage capacity. If downloading movies from a computer to an iPod proves even half as revolutionary as it did for music, the multibillion-pound DVD industry could be quaking. There are rumours that Jobs will also announce a long expected 'iPhone', combining the music function and sleek style of an iPod with a mobile phone. Industry-watchers warn that the iPod could soon be regarded by teenage cynics as their 'parents' player' because a mass-market product rarely equates with edgy fashionability. Although it has sold nearly 60 million actual iPods and a billion downloaded songs worldwide, cracks have
Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool
No? I suggest you research the subject. Plenty of American women pay far more than $300/$400 per dress/suit, because they are told they are sophisticated/elegant for doing so -- garments that are manufactured by virtually enslaved workers, in the Northern. CHECK IT OUT! - Original Message - From: Kelly Pierce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PC audio discussion list. pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 2:56 AM Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool People aren't paying $300 and $400 per textile unit at retail to a company that tells them they are sophisticated and smart for using this product. Another story says that Apple spends far more on advertising iPods than it does to pay the workers or the contract manufacturer that produce them. Apple uses essentially slave labor and then turns around and fires up a huge and expensive marketing machine to represent a far different world in which this machine exists. Kelly - Original Message - From: Dana S. Leslie [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PC audio discussion list. pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 1:31 AM Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool No more so than the well-documented cases of virtually enslaved textile workers in the *American* Marianas. If you don't know about/believe these latter, consult Google. - Original Message - From: André van Deventer [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: 'PC audio discussion list. ' pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 2:07 AM Subject: RE: Why the iPod is losing its cool I must agree. It sounds like some kind of a horror story ... -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Doc Sent: 11 September 2006 01:24 AM To: PC audio discussion list. Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool how did you varify this information? ** I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it robert Doc Wright http://www.wrightplaceinc.net msn [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: Kelly Pierce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 11:09 AM Subject: Why the iPod is losing its cool The iPod lost its cool for me when I read the Sunday Mirror expose a few weeks ago. The story told of a place it called Ipod city where 200,000 people work and live with factories, dormitories, restaurants, grocers, and health clinics. It even has its own transit system. The article said workers for Apple assemble iPods by hand standing up at tables for 14 hours a day. They are paid much less then other factory workers in China. If they try to stretch their arms or legs after many hours of standing nearly still, Apple's minders force them to do push ups and humiliate them in front of other workers. The offending worker is then slapped with mandatory overtime, toiling until they virtually collapse from exhaustion and stress. How cool is that? Kelly The Observer [UK] Sunday September 10, 2006 Why the iPod is losing its cool Apple has added ever more extras to its digital music-player in a bid to stem falling sales. But fears are rising that the device is now too common to be cutting edge David Smith, technology correspondent The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in search of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week for a live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or break one of the consumer icons of the Western world. The iPod, the digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's Chris Martin to President George Bush, is in danger of losing its sheen. Sales are declining at an unprecedented rate. Industry experts talk of a 'backlash' and of the iPod 'wilting away before our eyes'. Most disastrously, Apple's signature pocket device with white earphones may simply have become too common to be cool. On Tuesday the eyes of iPod-lovers the world over will be on Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, when he seeks to allay fears that it could follow Sony's tape-playing Walkman into the recycling bin of history. Jobs is widely expected to announce the most ambitious iPod service yet - the sale of feature-length films via the internet for viewing on the devices, which may receive an expanded 'widescreen' and improved storage capacity. If downloading movies from a computer to an iPod proves even half as revolutionary as it did for music, the multibillion-pound DVD industry could be quaking. There are rumours that Jobs will also announce a long expected 'iPhone', combining the music function and sleek style of an iPod with a mobile phone. Industry-watchers warn that the iPod could soon be regarded by teenage cynics as their 'parents' player' because a mass-market product rarely equates with edgy fashionability. Although it has sold nearly 60
Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool
And who is responsible for that? the Washington Post in an article on new year's eve says the tag team of Republican Congressman Tom Delay and Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff bought off local elected officials and blocked efforts in congress to investigate the matter or impose tougher labor standards and human rights enforcement. The republican party has also stood in the way. The Republican Chairman of the House resource committee has blocked hearings and investigations on the Mariana situation requested by Congressman George Miller of California. the excerpt and link to the story is below. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/30/AR2005123001480_pf.html In addition to the million-dollar payment involving the London law firm, for example, half a million dollars was donated to the U.S. Family Network by the owners of textile companies in the Mariana Islands in the Pacific, according to the tax records. The textile owners -- with Abramoff's help -- solicited and received DeLay's public commitment to block legislation that would boost their labor costs, according to Abramoff associates, one of the owners and a DeLay speech in 1997. - Original Message - From: Dana S. Leslie [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PC audio discussion list. pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 2:16 AM Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool No? I suggest you research the subject. Plenty of American women pay far more than $300/$400 per dress/suit, because they are told they are sophisticated/elegant for doing so -- garments that are manufactured by virtually enslaved workers, in the Northern. CHECK IT OUT! - Original Message - From: Kelly Pierce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PC audio discussion list. pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 2:56 AM Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool People aren't paying $300 and $400 per textile unit at retail to a company that tells them they are sophisticated and smart for using this product. Another story says that Apple spends far more on advertising iPods than it does to pay the workers or the contract manufacturer that produce them. Apple uses essentially slave labor and then turns around and fires up a huge and expensive marketing machine to represent a far different world in which this machine exists. Kelly - Original Message - From: Dana S. Leslie [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PC audio discussion list. pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 1:31 AM Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool No more so than the well-documented cases of virtually enslaved textile workers in the *American* Marianas. If you don't know about/believe these latter, consult Google. - Original Message - From: André van Deventer [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: 'PC audio discussion list. ' pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 2:07 AM Subject: RE: Why the iPod is losing its cool I must agree. It sounds like some kind of a horror story ... -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Doc Sent: 11 September 2006 01:24 AM To: PC audio discussion list. Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool how did you varify this information? ** I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it robert Doc Wright http://www.wrightplaceinc.net msn [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: Kelly Pierce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 11:09 AM Subject: Why the iPod is losing its cool The iPod lost its cool for me when I read the Sunday Mirror expose a few weeks ago. The story told of a place it called Ipod city where 200,000 people work and live with factories, dormitories, restaurants, grocers, and health clinics. It even has its own transit system. The article said workers for Apple assemble iPods by hand standing up at tables for 14 hours a day. They are paid much less then other factory workers in China. If they try to stretch their arms or legs after many hours of standing nearly still, Apple's minders force them to do push ups and humiliate them in front of other workers. The offending worker is then slapped with mandatory overtime, toiling until they virtually collapse from exhaustion and stress. How cool is that? Kelly The Observer [UK] Sunday September 10, 2006 Why the iPod is losing its cool Apple has added ever more extras to its digital music-player in a bid to stem falling sales. But fears are rising that the device is now too common to be cutting edge David Smith, technology correspondent The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in search of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week for a live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or break one of the consumer icons
Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool
Please try to post messages to the PC Audio list without getting political. I think it's important for us to understand the working conditions where electronics products are manufactured so we can make purchasing decisions accordingly, but politicians in both parties in the United States get greedy when it comes to dollar signs. Thank you, Tom ** Original Message ** And who is responsible for that? the Washington Post in an article on new year's eve says the tag team of Republican Congressman Tom Delay and Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff bought off local elected officials and blocked efforts in congress to investigate the matter or impose tougher labor standards and human rights enforcement. The republican party has also stood in the way. The Republican Chairman of the House resource committee has blocked hearings and investigations on the Mariana situation requested by Congressman George Miller of California. ___ PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... http://www.pc-audio.org To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This list is a service of MosenExplosion.com. To see what other lists we offer, visit us on the web at http://www.MosenExplosion.com
Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool
Death to the IPod, thank you very much...That's one device I really hate, and the thing about using chinese workers in those conditions...well...May explain, for instance, why IPod Nanos break in half. - Original Message - From: Kelly Pierce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 1:09 PM Subject: Why the iPod is losing its cool The iPod lost its cool for me when I read the Sunday Mirror expose a few weeks ago. The story told of a place it called Ipod city where 200,000 people work and live with factories, dormitories, restaurants, grocers, and health clinics. It even has its own transit system. The article said workers for Apple assemble iPods by hand standing up at tables for 14 hours a day. They are paid much less then other factory workers in China. If they try to stretch their arms or legs after many hours of standing nearly still, Apple's minders force them to do push ups and humiliate them in front of other workers. The offending worker is then slapped with mandatory overtime, toiling until they virtually collapse from exhaustion and stress. How cool is that? Kelly The Observer [UK] Sunday September 10, 2006 Why the iPod is losing its cool Apple has added ever more extras to its digital music-player in a bid to stem falling sales. But fears are rising that the device is now too common to be cutting edge David Smith, technology correspondent The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in search of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week for a live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or break one of the consumer icons of the Western world. The iPod, the digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's Chris Martin to President George Bush, is in danger of losing its sheen. Sales are declining at an unprecedented rate. Industry experts talk of a 'backlash' and of the iPod 'wilting away before our eyes'. Most disastrously, Apple's signature pocket device with white earphones may simply have become too common to be cool. On Tuesday the eyes of iPod-lovers the world over will be on Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, when he seeks to allay fears that it could follow Sony's tape-playing Walkman into the recycling bin of history. Jobs is widely expected to announce the most ambitious iPod service yet - the sale of feature-length films via the internet for viewing on the devices, which may receive an expanded 'widescreen' and improved storage capacity. If downloading movies from a computer to an iPod proves even half as revolutionary as it did for music, the multibillion-pound DVD industry could be quaking. There are rumours that Jobs will also announce a long expected 'iPhone', combining the music function and sleek style of an iPod with a mobile phone. Industry-watchers warn that the iPod could soon be regarded by teenage cynics as their 'parents' player' because a mass-market product rarely equates with edgy fashionability. Although it has sold nearly 60 million actual iPods and a billion downloaded songs worldwide, cracks have begun to appear in the edifice. The Zandl Group, a New York-based trends forecaster which regularly interviews a panel of 3,000 consumers aged 25-35, recently picked up its first significant criticisms. 'The iPod is far and away the most popular tech gadget with our panellists - however, for the first time we are hearing negative feedback about the iPod from some panellists,' said the organisation's spokeswoman, Carla Avruch. 'Panellists cite that the batteries are not replaceable, so when they die the entire player must be replaced,' she said. 'We have heard from some conspiracy theorists that the batteries are made to die soon after the warranty ends. 'Other complaints are that iTunes [Apple's online music store] is overpriced and the format is not easily transferred on to other players. In our ethnography interviews, some long-time iPod-users told us that they have stopped updating their iPods because it's too much work, while other consumers who had bought iPods more recently had not even taken theirs out of the package to set it up.' She added that the iPod is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success: 'Some backlash is against the ubiquity of the iPod - everyone has those white headphones on the train.' Analysts warn that the iPod has passed its peak. From its launch five years ago its sales graph showed a consistent upward curve, culminating in a period around last Christmas that saw a record 14 million sold. But sales fell to 8.5 million in the following quarter, and down to 8.1 million in the most recent three-month period. Wall Street is reportedly starting to worry that the bubble will burst. Tomi Ahonen, a technology brand expert and author, said: 'For the first time the iPod has
Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool
Do they really? I had no idea they broke. What a crappy device. And the way they treat those workers is wrong. I gave up on trying to use IPod Shuffle and now just use a satellite radio. On 9/10/06, Nick G [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Death to the IPod, thank you very much...That's one device I really hate, and the thing about using chinese workers in those conditions...well...May explain, for instance, why IPod Nanos break in half. - Original Message - From: Kelly Pierce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 1:09 PM Subject: Why the iPod is losing its cool The iPod lost its cool for me when I read the Sunday Mirror expose a few weeks ago. The story told of a place it called Ipod city where 200,000 people work and live with factories, dormitories, restaurants, grocers, and health clinics. It even has its own transit system. The article said workers for Apple assemble iPods by hand standing up at tables for 14 hours a day. They are paid much less then other factory workers in China. If they try to stretch their arms or legs after many hours of standing nearly still, Apple's minders force them to do push ups and humiliate them in front of other workers. The offending worker is then slapped with mandatory overtime, toiling until they virtually collapse from exhaustion and stress. How cool is that? Kelly The Observer [UK] Sunday September 10, 2006 Why the iPod is losing its cool Apple has added ever more extras to its digital music-player in a bid to stem falling sales. But fears are rising that the device is now too common to be cutting edge David Smith, technology correspondent The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in search of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week for a live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or break one of the consumer icons of the Western world. The iPod, the digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's Chris Martin to President George Bush, is in danger of losing its sheen. Sales are declining at an unprecedented rate. Industry experts talk of a 'backlash' and of the iPod 'wilting away before our eyes'. Most disastrously, Apple's signature pocket device with white earphones may simply have become too common to be cool. On Tuesday the eyes of iPod-lovers the world over will be on Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, when he seeks to allay fears that it could follow Sony's tape-playing Walkman into the recycling bin of history. Jobs is widely expected to announce the most ambitious iPod service yet - the sale of feature-length films via the internet for viewing on the devices, which may receive an expanded 'widescreen' and improved storage capacity. If downloading movies from a computer to an iPod proves even half as revolutionary as it did for music, the multibillion-pound DVD industry could be quaking. There are rumours that Jobs will also announce a long expected 'iPhone', combining the music function and sleek style of an iPod with a mobile phone. Industry-watchers warn that the iPod could soon be regarded by teenage cynics as their 'parents' player' because a mass-market product rarely equates with edgy fashionability. Although it has sold nearly 60 million actual iPods and a billion downloaded songs worldwide, cracks have begun to appear in the edifice. The Zandl Group, a New York-based trends forecaster which regularly interviews a panel of 3,000 consumers aged 25-35, recently picked up its first significant criticisms. 'The iPod is far and away the most popular tech gadget with our panellists - however, for the first time we are hearing negative feedback about the iPod from some panellists,' said the organisation's spokeswoman, Carla Avruch. 'Panellists cite that the batteries are not replaceable, so when they die the entire player must be replaced,' she said. 'We have heard from some conspiracy theorists that the batteries are made to die soon after the warranty ends. 'Other complaints are that iTunes [Apple's online music store] is overpriced and the format is not easily transferred on to other players. In our ethnography interviews, some long-time iPod-users told us that they have stopped updating their iPods because it's too much work, while other consumers who had bought iPods more recently had not even taken theirs out of the package to set it up.' She added that the iPod is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success: 'Some backlash is against the ubiquity of the iPod - everyone has those white headphones on the train.' Analysts warn that the iPod has passed its peak. From its launch five years ago its sales graph showed a consistent upward curve, culminating in a period around last Christmas that saw
Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool
with regard to that, that article is horidly out of date, that information came out last spring, and apple since investigated and inforced better working condissions oin the factory, which is one thing i must give them credit for, as apple has been notably proactive on employee rights. A 50 hour work week maximum has been inforced with a requirement of 2 days off a week, (10 hour days) with breaks. I'm no supporter of the ipod, but i feel its important to give credit where its due when it comes to these issues. tj - Original Message - From: Nick G [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PC audio discussion list. pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 2:39 PM Subject: Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool Death to the IPod, thank you very much...That's one device I really hate, and the thing about using chinese workers in those conditions...well...May explain, for instance, why IPod Nanos break in half. - Original Message - From: Kelly Pierce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 1:09 PM Subject: Why the iPod is losing its cool The iPod lost its cool for me when I read the Sunday Mirror expose a few weeks ago. The story told of a place it called Ipod city where 200,000 people work and live with factories, dormitories, restaurants, grocers, and health clinics. It even has its own transit system. The article said workers for Apple assemble iPods by hand standing up at tables for 14 hours a day. They are paid much less then other factory workers in China. If they try to stretch their arms or legs after many hours of standing nearly still, Apple's minders force them to do push ups and humiliate them in front of other workers. The offending worker is then slapped with mandatory overtime, toiling until they virtually collapse from exhaustion and stress. How cool is that? Kelly The Observer [UK] Sunday September 10, 2006 Why the iPod is losing its cool Apple has added ever more extras to its digital music-player in a bid to stem falling sales. But fears are rising that the device is now too common to be cutting edge David Smith, technology correspondent The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in search of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week for a live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or break one of the consumer icons of the Western world. The iPod, the digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's Chris Martin to President George Bush, is in danger of losing its sheen. Sales are declining at an unprecedented rate. Industry experts talk of a 'backlash' and of the iPod 'wilting away before our eyes'. Most disastrously, Apple's signature pocket device with white earphones may simply have become too common to be cool. On Tuesday the eyes of iPod-lovers the world over will be on Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, when he seeks to allay fears that it could follow Sony's tape-playing Walkman into the recycling bin of history. Jobs is widely expected to announce the most ambitious iPod service yet - the sale of feature-length films via the internet for viewing on the devices, which may receive an expanded 'widescreen' and improved storage capacity. If downloading movies from a computer to an iPod proves even half as revolutionary as it did for music, the multibillion-pound DVD industry could be quaking. There are rumours that Jobs will also announce a long expected 'iPhone', combining the music function and sleek style of an iPod with a mobile phone. Industry-watchers warn that the iPod could soon be regarded by teenage cynics as their 'parents' player' because a mass-market product rarely equates with edgy fashionability. Although it has sold nearly 60 million actual iPods and a billion downloaded songs worldwide, cracks have begun to appear in the edifice. The Zandl Group, a New York-based trends forecaster which regularly interviews a panel of 3,000 consumers aged 25-35, recently picked up its first significant criticisms. 'The iPod is far and away the most popular tech gadget with our panellists - however, for the first time we are hearing negative feedback about the iPod from some panellists,' said the organisation's spokeswoman, Carla Avruch. 'Panellists cite that the batteries are not replaceable, so when they die the entire player must be replaced,' she said. 'We have heard from some conspiracy theorists that the batteries are made to die soon after the warranty ends. 'Other complaints are that iTunes [Apple's online music store] is overpriced and the format is not easily transferred on to other players. In our ethnography interviews, some long-time iPod-users told us that they have stopped updating their iPods because it's too much work, while other consumers who had bought iPods more recently had not even
Re: Why the iPod is losing its cool
how did you varify this information? ** I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it robert Doc Wright http://www.wrightplaceinc.net msn [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: Kelly Pierce [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pc-audio@pc-audio.org Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 11:09 AM Subject: Why the iPod is losing its cool The iPod lost its cool for me when I read the Sunday Mirror expose a few weeks ago. The story told of a place it called Ipod city where 200,000 people work and live with factories, dormitories, restaurants, grocers, and health clinics. It even has its own transit system. The article said workers for Apple assemble iPods by hand standing up at tables for 14 hours a day. They are paid much less then other factory workers in China. If they try to stretch their arms or legs after many hours of standing nearly still, Apple's minders force them to do push ups and humiliate them in front of other workers. The offending worker is then slapped with mandatory overtime, toiling until they virtually collapse from exhaustion and stress. How cool is that? Kelly The Observer [UK] Sunday September 10, 2006 Why the iPod is losing its cool Apple has added ever more extras to its digital music-player in a bid to stem falling sales. But fears are rising that the device is now too common to be cutting edge David Smith, technology correspondent The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in search of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week for a live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or break one of the consumer icons of the Western world. The iPod, the digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's Chris Martin to President George Bush, is in danger of losing its sheen. Sales are declining at an unprecedented rate. Industry experts talk of a 'backlash' and of the iPod 'wilting away before our eyes'. Most disastrously, Apple's signature pocket device with white earphones may simply have become too common to be cool. On Tuesday the eyes of iPod-lovers the world over will be on Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, when he seeks to allay fears that it could follow Sony's tape-playing Walkman into the recycling bin of history. Jobs is widely expected to announce the most ambitious iPod service yet - the sale of feature-length films via the internet for viewing on the devices, which may receive an expanded 'widescreen' and improved storage capacity. If downloading movies from a computer to an iPod proves even half as revolutionary as it did for music, the multibillion-pound DVD industry could be quaking. There are rumours that Jobs will also announce a long expected 'iPhone', combining the music function and sleek style of an iPod with a mobile phone. Industry-watchers warn that the iPod could soon be regarded by teenage cynics as their 'parents' player' because a mass-market product rarely equates with edgy fashionability. Although it has sold nearly 60 million actual iPods and a billion downloaded songs worldwide, cracks have begun to appear in the edifice. The Zandl Group, a New York-based trends forecaster which regularly interviews a panel of 3,000 consumers aged 25-35, recently picked up its first significant criticisms. 'The iPod is far and away the most popular tech gadget with our panellists - however, for the first time we are hearing negative feedback about the iPod from some panellists,' said the organisation's spokeswoman, Carla Avruch. 'Panellists cite that the batteries are not replaceable, so when they die the entire player must be replaced,' she said. 'We have heard from some conspiracy theorists that the batteries are made to die soon after the warranty ends. 'Other complaints are that iTunes [Apple's online music store] is overpriced and the format is not easily transferred on to other players. In our ethnography interviews, some long-time iPod-users told us that they have stopped updating their iPods because it's too much work, while other consumers who had bought iPods more recently had not even taken theirs out of the package to set it up.' She added that the iPod is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success: 'Some backlash is against the ubiquity of the iPod - everyone has those white headphones on the train.' Analysts warn that the iPod has passed its peak. From its launch five years ago its sales graph showed a consistent upward curve, culminating in a period around last Christmas that saw a record 14 million sold. But sales fell to 8.5 million in the following quarter, and down to 8.1 million in the most recent three-month period. Wall Street is reportedly starting to worry that the bubble will burst. Tomi Ahonen, a technology brand expert and author, said: 'For the first time the iPod has had
