Now, let’s say the headline was in fact true. Here’s how I would envision it would go:
- They would call the product something like iFlix
- They would offer the roughly the same thing that Netflix offers but their envelopes would have a cool picture of an Apple on it
- They would charge $39.95 for the same type of plan that Netflix charges $8.99 a month for
- They would sell millions upon millions of subscriptions in a matter of hours and will have been credit for revolutionizing the industry.
As you can probably tell with my tongue-in-cheek remarks, I have never drank the ‘Apple Kool-Aid.’ I know many people that do. In fact, Mrs. Beagle was insistent upon an iTunes player for Christmas, as was just about every other person I knew.
Me, I have had a Creative Zen Micro device. I paid about one-sixth the cost. It plays the same music, has the same amount of storage, and it includes an FM radio tuner. The only thing missing is the snazzy little picture of the Apple on the front.
Which is fine with me.
I think where it stemmed from me is that when I grew up and even through college, Apple just wasn’t cool. I worked as a computer lab rat in college, and for one semester I got stuck in the Mac Lab. This was the mid-90′s so the only benefit of having that shift was that I was virtually guaranteed to have nobody bother me for most of the shift since only a bound and determined few used Macs.
This was right before the iMac came out and made buying a Mac cool again, and started the trend of paying at least twice as much for their product as you would for a non-Mac product (and get complimented for doing so). Luckily for my bank account, that particular train left without me.
So, even if Apple were to come out with the iFlix, let it be known now that I will be happily sticking with my Netflix subscription.
(Note to Mr. Jobs, if you read this and decide to take my idea to heart, please contact me for the exact address at which you can send my royalty checks)
Image provided by mwichary under creative commons license
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Ha ha, I am a graphic designer by trade and I have never used a machine that runs Adobe Photoshop as well as a mac…. for that reason I will stick with Mac… As for the rest of it. I am not really into it all…. Although my iPod Nano is awesome but i am sure Zen is just as good.
As Forest says, Macs are great for designers.
Beyond that? I don't get it.
Like you, I love my Creative Zen. I still have one that's happy chugging away after 6 years. It's huge by today's standards, but it's 20 GBs and is still working well. Not to mention how quickly most iPods die. (Although I will say that the iPod touch is a cool, cheaper version of a smartphone/PDA, which is what my husband uses it for. Plus we got it for free with rewards points.)
Even with the virus arguments — Apple doesn't get many — you can afford to replace your PC a couple of times, usually, in what it costs to have one Apple laptop. And it seems like few Apple lovers stick with older technology, even if it's still working perfectly well.
Hey MB,
I only have an ipod nano because they gave me one when I bought my car. Other than that, I use my blackberry as an mp3 device. I don't store music, but personal development audios on it.
I hear way too much music that stinks to submit myself to the same torture our hit radio station does.
Cheers,
Guy