Well, Steve Jobs just unveiled a complete new line of iPods to complement the iPhone. Much ado occurred when the iPhone price dropped drastically, alarming and alienating early adopters like me, Mr. Sardo, Mr. Hendler, Mike Weissman and some other friends of mine. Alarm was short lived, however, as Jobs apologized and gave everyone a $100 credit. Still many reviews have been emerging about the newest iPod the iPod Touch which is basically the iPhone without the phone. Reviews have criticized it for very selfish reasons of wanting it to be the be all and end all iPod. They overlook most of the reasons why it can't be. I took the time to answer one such article at Engadget, a great site for information, reviews and announcements of new and emerging products. Here is what I said.
You Engadget folks always neglect the marketing aspects. You focus on the greedy, "gimme , gimme" consumer. The iPod Touch was designed and planned with a two fold mission.- 1- Sell more iPhones, 2- Make Apple more profits outside of the iPhone. The iPod classic is no longer in this equation because it's appeal is only mass storage and competes outside the flash memory paradigm. Here is how the shopping scenario plays out. There are several types of consumers after gadget freaks and early adopters. They are: Low budget- They are choosing between a shuffle and a 4 GB Nano- they ask themselves "should I spend the extra and get more space and value? The wallet often decides. If they splurge, Apple makes more money. If they don't and buy a shuffle, Apple still makes money. The Hi budget group - who want an iPhone and AT & T. They buy the iPhone and are very happy. Hi Budget who are "undecided".- They look at the 16 GB Touch and say "wow cool but compare it to the iPhone and say- hey for another $100, I can get a new cool cell phone. I have to switch to At& T, OK no big deal". Capacity looses. Apple sells another iPhone, makes more money. Hi Budget undecided who hate AT& T. They approach with the same reasoning but choose the 16GB Touch because they like their carrier and feel accomplished because they get an extra 8 GB of space. Apple increases non iPhone profits.Medium budget looking at 8Gb Nano, they see the Touch and say" Hey for $100 more I almost get an iPhone and all that wi Fi internet stuff". Again, both win and Apple wins more profits for Apple. It is not about the feature set at present it; is about selling more iPhones. Eventually, as sales level off, some of the requested features will be include. Software features will probably be added to the Touch same as the iPhone, which will make the Touch owners really happy. I expect weather and note pad myself and maybe calendar as well. They will never give us the ultimate iPod unless we pay the ultimate price. Money wins out. The new iPod family is about Apple making money all the way around. Regardless of iPod choice, it is a win win for both Apple and consumers.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
To the On Tour Class of 2007
Greetings from Calhoun,
I know some of you have emailed me and I did not respond that was because I wanted to write you this group letter first. I will probably put this on my blog to accommodate those that I don’t have correct or current email like dean and Alana. I hope that your first weeks of College and university life are going well. Things at Calhoun are now in full swing with our first full week at a close and Back to School Night having come and gone last night. As some of you may have heard, I went to London the last week of August( Quell surprise`!) and beyond the aggravation of a delayed departure flight( read last blog for details) I had a nice relaxing time for the most part. Well , with the exception of dealing with aggravating a foot that I hurt when I went to Baltimore for the Weissman wedding that is. I have a tear of some sort just like Jason Giambi of the Yankees and the only cure is resting it and taking Advil. It is getting better. I also had a test that my doctor suggested when asking me about my weight. It was a sleep test. Perhaps you found me asleep in my chair on many occassions last year? I was sleeping quite a bit but thought it was overwork. No in fact, it is sleep apnea. There is a treatment with a sleep machine but the only cure is too loose weight.To help accomplish that goal I have taken drastic measures and have joined a gym and I am going twice a week- Monday and Wednesday Evenings during Show Choir!. I must say even though it has only been a couple of times, I feel great. Hopefully, I will continue and things will start to change.
Romeo and Juliet has begun and is proceeding nicely, Dinner theatre plans are underway and royalties for The Beggar’s Opera have been ordered. Improv Night is fast approaching. The 10th graders are working hard. The freshmen look promising and the Seniors and Juniors in coordination with the new officers are working extremely well together.
Yesterday, however, was very special. Mr. Seinfeld and Mrs. Kurtz held a special meeting to address all students in the Drama program. He decided to do this because he does it with other large groups but had never done so with Drama. He acknowledged that Drama being so large, a microcosm of the school and one of the few organizations that has cooperative involvement by all grade levels and as such should be properly included . Their address went on to complement and praise On Tour for its over all success last year in the performance and participation areas and how very pleased they were with our extremely successful efforts in mentoring. He went on to encourage continued success in all past accomplishments.
I must say, I was pleased to say the least. More important, however, was the continued pride that I felt about all the work your class did in this accomplishment. I was your efforts as a group that made this succeed. As some of you may have guessed, I bought an iPhone. Like video iPods, it has a feature to store and show photos. Most people put photos of their kids and family on them and while I do have some family pictures, I put on pictures of “ my kids”- you guys. I have pictures of all of last years season, which I think you know I have stated that I was very pleased with. Having them, on the iPhone, I have looked at them often when showing off that feature. On one occasion, I took the time to go through them and really study the ones that I had put on. I want you to know that in looking at pictures like this after the fact always helps me to better appreciate and enjoy the work that was done. One thing that really impressed me, though, that I wanted to make sure to tell you was my feelings about Once in A Lifetime. I know we had a difficult time to get it open especially technically but , my God, you all gave such great performances. Each part was so well executed that it was truly a culmination of four fine years of work. As you now enter into a new chapter in your lives, it my wish that you have continued success in your new endeavors. You will experience new freedoms, new passions, new friends, new relationships,new problems,- for which you must find new solutions, new work, hard work, new fun and new pleasures. As you undergo these changes, it is my wish and hope that you can apply some of the same qualities and types of effort that made your last four years a success and make your next four even more successful. You all started On tour at the bottom of the ladder and came out on top, only you have reached another floor where you find yourselves once again on the bottom. I am sure with time and patience you will once again come out on top. I miss you all not as the students you were but as the friends that you became.
Be healthy, be safe. Enjoy.
All the best,
Sal
I know some of you have emailed me and I did not respond that was because I wanted to write you this group letter first. I will probably put this on my blog to accommodate those that I don’t have correct or current email like dean and Alana. I hope that your first weeks of College and university life are going well. Things at Calhoun are now in full swing with our first full week at a close and Back to School Night having come and gone last night. As some of you may have heard, I went to London the last week of August( Quell surprise`!) and beyond the aggravation of a delayed departure flight( read last blog for details) I had a nice relaxing time for the most part. Well , with the exception of dealing with aggravating a foot that I hurt when I went to Baltimore for the Weissman wedding that is. I have a tear of some sort just like Jason Giambi of the Yankees and the only cure is resting it and taking Advil. It is getting better. I also had a test that my doctor suggested when asking me about my weight. It was a sleep test. Perhaps you found me asleep in my chair on many occassions last year? I was sleeping quite a bit but thought it was overwork. No in fact, it is sleep apnea. There is a treatment with a sleep machine but the only cure is too loose weight.To help accomplish that goal I have taken drastic measures and have joined a gym and I am going twice a week- Monday and Wednesday Evenings during Show Choir!. I must say even though it has only been a couple of times, I feel great. Hopefully, I will continue and things will start to change.
Romeo and Juliet has begun and is proceeding nicely, Dinner theatre plans are underway and royalties for The Beggar’s Opera have been ordered. Improv Night is fast approaching. The 10th graders are working hard. The freshmen look promising and the Seniors and Juniors in coordination with the new officers are working extremely well together.
Yesterday, however, was very special. Mr. Seinfeld and Mrs. Kurtz held a special meeting to address all students in the Drama program. He decided to do this because he does it with other large groups but had never done so with Drama. He acknowledged that Drama being so large, a microcosm of the school and one of the few organizations that has cooperative involvement by all grade levels and as such should be properly included . Their address went on to complement and praise On Tour for its over all success last year in the performance and participation areas and how very pleased they were with our extremely successful efforts in mentoring. He went on to encourage continued success in all past accomplishments.
I must say, I was pleased to say the least. More important, however, was the continued pride that I felt about all the work your class did in this accomplishment. I was your efforts as a group that made this succeed. As some of you may have guessed, I bought an iPhone. Like video iPods, it has a feature to store and show photos. Most people put photos of their kids and family on them and while I do have some family pictures, I put on pictures of “ my kids”- you guys. I have pictures of all of last years season, which I think you know I have stated that I was very pleased with. Having them, on the iPhone, I have looked at them often when showing off that feature. On one occasion, I took the time to go through them and really study the ones that I had put on. I want you to know that in looking at pictures like this after the fact always helps me to better appreciate and enjoy the work that was done. One thing that really impressed me, though, that I wanted to make sure to tell you was my feelings about Once in A Lifetime. I know we had a difficult time to get it open especially technically but , my God, you all gave such great performances. Each part was so well executed that it was truly a culmination of four fine years of work. As you now enter into a new chapter in your lives, it my wish that you have continued success in your new endeavors. You will experience new freedoms, new passions, new friends, new relationships,new problems,- for which you must find new solutions, new work, hard work, new fun and new pleasures. As you undergo these changes, it is my wish and hope that you can apply some of the same qualities and types of effort that made your last four years a success and make your next four even more successful. You all started On tour at the bottom of the ladder and came out on top, only you have reached another floor where you find yourselves once again on the bottom. I am sure with time and patience you will once again come out on top. I miss you all not as the students you were but as the friends that you became.
Be healthy, be safe. Enjoy.
All the best,
Sal
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