View Full Version : Ram based Ipod?
I saw this (http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r111711620) link in our new tech news section here in the forums. its an analyzation of a story run by Reuters about the possibility of a new iPod that is ram based and would run around 100 bucks with the capacity for 400-800 songs.
My first thought when I saw the name of the link was "wow, people thought iPods were expensive before.. now they'll blow their tops" I assumed storage would need to be at least 1gb and 1gb of ram these days is not exactly cheap. Even compact flash in that size is a couple hundred dollars. Now make 1gb of memory that would fit inside an 'iPod' sized case plus battery and circuitry and the price would skyrocket to 500 dollars or more.
after reading the link I see 400-800 songs and target price of $100 dollars and I'm stuck trying to figure out how to fit 400 songs into 100 dollars of technology. take 400 songs with an average of 3.5mb per song and you are at 1,400mb which is well more than 1gb which pricewatch lists for 160.00 for compact flash. This is just the price of the ram. The numbers to me just don't add up. I figure a unit capable of holding 400 songs will need to cost around 200 minimum. knowing Apple, this 200 dollar product will be hyped and commercialized up to 225-250 and before long you are back into the traditional iPod price range.
Besides being a solid state piece I don't see what Apple gets as an advantage from marketing such a player. There is little price savings from a piece outfitted to carry the lowest number of their range (400-800) and be ram based. Apple is headed in the right direction to dominate both high and low end markets for portable music but so far their ram based players are a little over the top. They have set their sights too high for capacity to be able to compete on price.
Interesting report, but I don't see Apple moving in this direction. Cut the capacity in half and you would still have one of the largest capacity ram based players and a much better price point. 512mb is plenty to fit many cds. I would think a 125.00-150.00 price would sell alot more units and fill the gap apple now has and is losing every day they have no product to fill it.
Your thoughts?
gusgizmo
12-25-03, 02:30 AM
yeah, that would be better. but i think it would be nice to ahve an ipod that can hold 1 gig for about 100 dollars. that is a more than reasonable price. at that kind of price there would be no reason not to get one.
but at that kind of storage volume, i think that a laptop hd like device would be better than ram cost wise. maybe 35 dollars a drive max cost for apple, then have the user provide AAA batteries, and that brings down the cost of manufacture significantly.
this kinda gets me thinking. why not make a ide(the laptop version) to flash card adaptor. make a ghetto ipod! that would be freaking cool!
1gb ram player at the moment I don't believe to be possible for $100. The good 128mb and 256mb players are more than that right now and they don't carry Apples' name and recognition.
I guarantee those laptop hard drives cost Apple more than 35 bucks each. They are the main cost for an iPod currently. The circuitry and battery along with the case combined probably only cost them 75 dollars at most. The hard drive is at least that much or more. Add Apples' markup then retail markup and you get a 400-500 piece of hardware.
I don't see Apple ever going to a non-rechargeable system. It just doesn't fit with their 'green' image. They are supposed to be at one with nature and all that. Rechargeable batteries are more environment friendly as well as more convenient for the end user (most of the time). I would however like to see a battery compartment that would allow substitution of batteries on a long trip. Recharge all the batteries when you get to a source of power.
matrixzen
12-25-03, 03:35 AM
This sounds really great. Maybe I'll even buy one considering I don't even have a CD-player because I'm too cheap to buy it. This sounds like something that would be worth my buck. I'll stay on this and see how this ends up. Thanks for the info
gusgizmo
12-25-03, 04:05 AM
how big exactly are the ipods (storage capacity wise)?
30 to 40 gigs right now. I think....
More hope for the cheap Ipod!
This articul here:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/8365047
If this is true I am so going to get one! At about $115 USD that will be great!
Originally posted by eab
More hope for the cheap Ipod!
This articul here:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/8365047
If this is true I am so going to get one! At about $115 USD that will be great!
looks very interesting but i'm wondering how in the world they are storing 800 songs for 115 dollars. :eek:
CPFitz14
12-30-03, 11:28 PM
I'm thinking 800 songs is going to have to do with some new codec Apple will be coming out with at the same time. Just speculation, but it seems to make everything fit a little bit better. Maybe some sort of AAC2? Probably something along the lines of Sony's proprietary thing for their MD players.
Thoughts?
-CPFitz-
Well to rain on my prade:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/7605220.htm
They are saying that it is unlikely for apple to do this. But who knows. In little more then a week we will no for sure. After mac fest or whatever
Originally posted by matrixzen
Thanks for the info
:D :D :D
http://www.bigredwa.com/Forums/thanksfortheinfo.jpg
Just got back and here is some more hope:
http://slashdot.org/articles/04/01/05/2350229.shtml?tid=100&tid=107&tid=137&tid=187&tid=198
The possible storage for the new ipod. Avaible for $70 each in lots of 100,000
Renigade
01-06-04, 12:09 AM
Think Different :cool:
(duh ;) Im sure Apple if anyone can pull something cool out of their pocket)
very interesting!
they say the drive has virtually no electronics, not even a memory buffer.. how would that work? will apple design the electronics for it? that seems odd.
For some thing like appels Ipod the drive itself doesn't NEED a memory buffer. The Ipod will spin up the drive pull music from the drive into the ipods own internal memory, thats the way the current ipod works.
Originally posted by eab
For some thing like appels Ipod the drive itself doesn't NEED a memory buffer. The Ipod will spin up the drive pull music from the drive into the ipods own internal memory, thats the way the current ipod works.
i figured it must be something like that. :)
Originally posted by BigRed
http://www.bigredwa.com/Forums/thanksfortheinfo.jpg
:rolleyes:
http://members.cox.net/mackycorp/pics/FamilyGuyInforesize.jpg
:D :D :D
iPods are great toys, but its a shame they don't support .ogg format. I would have gotten one if they had. But I settled for my Rio Karma, which also happens to be smaller than the iPod and has longer battery life.
nil_esh
01-06-04, 11:39 AM
Sounds like wishful thinking to me. The original rumor I heard was that Apple was going to make one that had a 2-4 GB hard drive (not flash) for about $120. It was supposedly going to be smaller than the current Ipod as well.
But who knows, maybe a year from now flash ram will be cheap enough that its possible.
the iPod mini has been revealed. Kinda lame on the colors, but otherwise doesn't look too shabby.
Oh yeah, linkage (http://www.apple.com/ipodmini/) for you folks.
This ******* stinks! I was realy hoping that they would have a $100-$150 ipod. So the mini ipod comes out and they are going to charge $250 for it! For $50 more you can now get a 15gig ipod instead of a 4 gig ipod! Are they friggn nuts?!
Originally posted by eab
Are they friggn nuts?!
Its apple. That goes without saying ;)
Originally posted by BigRed
Its apple. That goes without saying ;)
and let me be the first to say i'm not surprised at all. :)
from my original post:
Originally posted by Maxvla
knowing Apple, this 200 dollar product will be hyped and commercialized up to 225-250 and before long you are back into the traditional iPod price range.
Penguin4x4
01-06-04, 09:27 PM
Not only that but they've also introduced a new (regular) 15GB iPod for $299...:)
RoadWarrior
01-07-04, 06:54 AM
In the next year we might see some devices with large amounts of RAM very cheap, the reason being that the new MRAM technology is nearly ready for market. As far as I understand it is a non-volatile RAM with faster access times than DRAM and capable of higher densities and will ultimately be cheaper to produce. We'll probably be using it for everything in 3 years, mobile mass storage, and desktop system RAM.
Road Warrior
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