Jobs: "you have to buy a new iPod at least once a year"
By Marc Perton 
posted May 26th 2006 3:31PM
posted May 26th 2006 3:31PM
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I'll buy a new ipod when they release another metal one like my 4gb mini.
Common Marc, get realistic! I have an ipod since a few years now, and I didn't feel that uncanny urge to get all the ones that came out once a year. Many are like me. Most of us in fact! At least Jobs is frank: you're a tech junkie, you get one every year. Or, as most of us ipod owners, you don't.
Every executive knows that. But Jobs had the balls to say it!
gee i wish apple would stop updating the ipod so often.
Now i know
haha! it was a given, but at least you can get some year old models off ebay for cheap!!
Makes sense to me. How else are you going to get the latest and greatest? Have it handed to you? I'm pretty impressed how they are changing the models to be smaller and smaller, but bigger and brighter screens and more features for around the same price as the years before.
If you dont want the latest and greatest, just dont buy one. Apple needs to stay a step ahead, or at least keep up with everyone else to make money.
"Battered shell"? Cheap shot - my nano was bought the day it came out and looks great with a couple of hairline scratches, that's it. Looks and works perfectly.
Engadget has taken on a very obvious anti-Apple stance recently. I suspect that this may be due to all of the outrage from Apple haters over the number of Apple posts here on Engadget.
If you always want the latest and greatest, then you have to buy a new [INSERT TECHNOLOGY PRODUCT] at least once a year.
Where's Job's happy bulge as he was saying that? Huh? HUH?!?
Some people must not like progress. I always hear the argument of not being able to keep up with tech. CHOICE is a good thing. 1G gig ipods still work fine in OSX it's not a matter of bing obsolete. It's a matter of jealousy on some peoples part because their toy is not the newest anymore. DEAL WITH IT
I've bought one once a year for 3 years now. Once the new one comes out this year, I will most likely buy that one too.
Nothing startling/new here, applies to almost everything.
Wow, um... I'm starting to rethink my support of Apple at news of this comment.
It doesn't matter if it was meant as a joke, I'm still disturbed at the idea that Jobs would suggest buying a new 3-500 dollar music player every year. The idea belies the values of a company I want to associate myself with.
What's supposed to happen to all those old iPods? What am I supposed to do with the old 20" iMac I just bought? Buy a new one next year?
yes, i bought one this year, and plan on doing it again =D
I don't think we've taken an anti-Apple stance, we just call it like we see it. When something's good, we say it; when something's not, we call it out, too. The fact that so many people say we're pro/anti-Apple means we're probably doing it just right. As for some of the other comments here, well, I think people should lighten up a little bit. Of course Jobs thinks we should buy a new iPod every year -- doesn't mean we can't have some fun with this stuff. We, of course, encourage you guys to have some fun with tech "news" too!
Best, Ryan
It's a Conspiracy!... Apple is purposely letting all the batteries die within a year so that people can go and buy new ipods!... The government should get in on this just to make sure that they really aren't doing that.
And plus if they're innovating and coming out with the latest and greatest...why haven't they come out with batteries that could last over 50hours?!?
you guys have no sense of humour.
If the used iPods can be sold easily and fast, then buying a new iPod every year is not a problem.
purchase the latest and greatest?
sounds kinda elitist to me... i guess Jobs thinks we all have the same job he has. so we can purchase a new one for everyday of the week.
we have an iPod its been great, but shouldnt a product last a few years before it needs to be updated? i use to like Apple, my first comp was an Apple II+. but this whole iPod thing is getting crazy. its just an MP3 player, isnt it?
not to sound harsh, but Jobs uSuck or worst, uSwallow.
I'll probably never buy another ipod again...
"If you always want the latest and greatest, then you have to buy a new iPod at least once a year."
Isn't that true about almost all computer/consumer electronics stuff? I fail to see the bombshell.
Pretty much anti-news.
If you want the latest Zen, you'll have to buy one every year. If you want the latest xxx Player, you'll have to buy one every year. If you want the latest car, you'll have to buy one every year. So forth, and so on.
I kind of agree with ryan, but the fine humoristic border gets somewhat fuzzy. Engadget stays the best (for now)! ;-)
iDont
Normally when a quote is abbreviated, the abbreviation is noted with ". . ." The headline to this article is a bit misleading.
I'm still carrying my 40GB iPod Photo (remember that short-lived gem?) from almost two years ago. The size of the thing suits me fine, given that it holds forty gigs, which I've never quite filled with music and photos. And so far, I don't feel the need for video. Maybe when the sideways screen video iPod comes out I'll trade in for the latest and greatest. Meanwhile I'll just count the ones that I sidestep as they flit by into obscurity (mini, shuffle... pack your bags, nano...)
Bet you "upgrade" Apple products less frequently than non-Apple products. :-)
Impressive, Marc! An admirable use of not only a non-newsworthy news item, but an applaudable (and traffic-boosting!) out-of-context quote. Engadget is just a printing press away from being the MSM. I hope you got a gold star on your cubicle for this post.
"
And plus if they're innovating and coming out with the latest and greatest...why haven't they come out with batteries that could last over 50hours?!?"
DER becuase then you wouldnt need to buy a new ipod every year. I bought my 3G 15 gig in Jan of 04 and the POS holds a full charge for about 2 hours MAX, and thats with no backlight no megabass no EQ no nothing. Do i expect it to last 4 ever? No. But i dont have to replace my CPU every year, i dont replace my tv every year, i dont replace my electric shaver every year.
I agree that to the fact you have to buy new ipods to get the latest and greatest.....But when the PSP and DS came out with new iterations....Everyone was screaming bloody murder. When Apple does it....Everyone has to wipe the jiz-nut from their mouth when Jobs give thems a full load.
Ohhhh Engadge dont be so naive. Thats how it works in big big bad world of buisness. This is happening with every product. just look a regular Computers I mean Hey be happy! If there were not that much product updates of every sort, we would not need YOU the blog and u would not have any job ( eccept those single articles every 3 years...).
Smug bastard.
Of course this isn't different from Sony and their engineered PS2's that break every 2 years.
if I ran my digital camera for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, that battery would need replacing after about a year.
same's true of my rechargeable electric razor or my cellphone.
music players just seem like they have battery issues because people use the hell out of them.
Well at least he's honest.
Oh yeah, dont forget to buy a new laptop/dvr/monitor/tv/dvd (hd, blue ray, flux capacitor), keyboard/mouse/tablet/cell phone/pda/ipod/printer/game console/ digital camera/ portable game player / bluetooth adapter / hard drive and usb memory stick every year as well. Just a heads up.
zing!
after my iMac G5 blew up after 2 weeks and my iPod Nano was totally scratched up after 2 weeks, I'm not buying any new apple products until they've been on the market a year... at least.
28 - "bloody murder" over the DS Lite? What kind of gamers do you hang out with? Every DS owner I know is just waiting to drop 130 bills on that bizzle when it comes out. The Japanese market also seemed to like it pretty well.
The lesson from Apple and the DS Lite is, if you can make a product that makes everything else on the market (including your last gen) look like chintzy crap, you're going to move a lot of units. But as many others have pointed out above, that is just practicing good design and constantly rethinking and expanding your product, not a sinister plot.
It kind of reminds me of the extreme programming/web 2.0 mantra: "release early, release often". Put out a product that beats everything else (by whatever metric you feel is important), and then constantly improve it. (It's that second part that's key.)
And to #27, maybe you should invest in a $20 replacement battery. They're dead-easy to switch out on the 4Gs, and you'll get more battery life than you ever did on your old battery. (I traded out the battery on my 2G 20GB and got 15hrs+, twice the original battery life.)
the title of this article is just flame-bait.
i agree that it should have the "..." up front since they removed the qualifier at the beginning of Jobs' statement.
"...you have to buy a new iPod at least once a year"
er... welcome to capitalism, engadget.
this is news?
At least they're not pushing 3 year old stagnant technology... but i think the principle applies to EVERYTHING: if you want the latest and greatest, you have to buy the latest and greatest, which chances are, come out about every year (or less.)
D- for boring "news"
Apple is being "Osborned" by the true video iPod rumours. I for one am just waiting on the sidelines with my 5 large.
I hate that guy. Soo much. Apple offer trade-ins for their new ipods, more people would buy them that way....not me though....
I don't know about that. I've still got my bluw iPod mini and am loving it. Maybe its because it never had a follow up.
As long as something's functional I'll always prefer a classic old look and feel. Same goes for my mobile phone.
This is tabloid style non-story. If what Jobs said wasn't true then he would have said this: "We're going to stop releasing new iPod models for a year. Yes the component technologies keep improving, but we're just going to ignore that." That would have been news.
What the hell is up with the obnoxiously anti-Apple tone lately?
Sooooooo, how come you can only see the video if you have Windoze Media Player 10? i.e YOUR NOT ON A MAC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love Macs. I run an Ad agency/ production house. We have 9 at work, 4 at home.
We produce award winning video on them.
BUT THE LACK OF COMPATABILITY WIN VIDEO ONER THE INTERNET HAS GOT TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Frank
What, is this like some subversive agenda or something? The same thing is true of any number of products, especially computers. I suppose your going to complain that car companies come out with models too often, forcing consumers who always want the latest-and-greatest to buy a new car every 2 years.
Thanks for the non-news.
Thought this comparison may be a little off, its like owning a house. You want to keep the house? Pay the money each year. Want to stay in touch with the latest gadgets? Pay the money each year.
Also, on the topic of scratched iPods...I have an iPod that fell off the BACK OF A MOVING TRUCK and it has less scratches than that...though it does have a cracked screen...but that's expected.
Could my new iPod every year qualify as an addiction. Maybe someone could stage an iPod intervention for me...
Fully agreed. My first generation iPod Mini, barely a year old at the time, ended up with 50% of its original battery capacity/times (it barely offers me more than 3.5 hours). Very dissapointing. Especially because replacing the battery is a pain in the rear.
This is such a non-story.
Here, look:
"If you always want the latest and greatest, then you have to buy a new Dell at least once a year."
"If you always want the latest and greatest, then you have to buy a new Ford at least once a year."
"If you always want the latest and greatest, then you have to buy a new Palm at least once a year."
"If you always want the latest and greatest, then you have to buy a new [insert your consumer product of choice] at least once a year."
This isn't some sort of directive, its a FACT. I'd expect the techno rabid folks who read this blog to
see that.
*gasp* apple updates their products. FOR SHAME, apple, FOR SHAME. /sarcasm.
If the ipod had not been updated in 2 years, Endgadget would be grousing on the fact that it HADNT been updated.
Must suck being poor. I like having the "latest and greatest" and I for one don't think Apple updates products frequently enough. Hell, I'd buy a new one each month if they introduce new models at that pace.
Pray Jobs doesn't command you to buy a new one EVERY DAY!
This "article" has an INNACTURATE TITLE. The quote is OUT OF CONTEXT.
MOD POSTER DOWN.
"music players just seem like they have battery issues because people use the hell out of them."
I've been using the hell out of my iRiver IHP-140 for over two years, on an almost daily basis, and I haven't noticed any loss of battery charge capacity. It still plays for several hours on a single charge, no problem.
Yet another reason I love my little Zen Micro :)
That is why I would not buy an ipod! We have enough computer crap filling landfills. Buy something that can be upgraded not thown away. Get a clue!!!!
Computers, Printers, Cars, Cameras, Software, TVs...
If you want the greatest you buy one every year. It would be bad if Apple updated its products only every 3 years or so, they would be behind everybody else most of the time.
Engadget used to be known as a pro-Apple site and got knocked by the anti-Apple zealots for that. Nowadays it seems to move back and forth from one extreme to another in the hopes that such extreme stances might be confused with being “balanced.” Each switch causes one extreme or the other to come out of the woodwork to bash them.
Wait a week and Marc will be making a snide comment about “Sim Wong Who??” and Creative w.r.t. Apple.
Besides, look at the comment traffic on this post vs. their non-Apple postings. One thing you can say is Marc knows what drives traffic to his site. C'mon, let’s admit that if Marc said, “Steve Jobs states the obvious” would you have read this article or taken the time to flame him?
Here's a concept. If you don't think this is news, don't read it and find what you are looking for elsewhere. This , in fact, is tech news. Apple and the iPod have an extremely strong media presence. If Steve Jobs so much as gets a hernia, it'll be all over the media. Stop complaining and move on. Next.
#12 asked: What's supposed to happen to all those old iPods? What am I supposed to do with the old 20" iMac I just bought? Buy a new one next year?
Answer: Since you sounded like you have been living in a cave for so long I would like to suggest you for once get out and visit "ebay".
God damn!! looks like the apple fans are going to boycott engadget. Ryan be careful, look what they almost did to france.
One more word about anything remotely against them and its world war 3 on your ass.
Hire bodyguards Ryan.
Copperhead, if you always want the latest and greatest, then you have to buy a new Zen Micro at least once a year.
#22 said:
"Normally when a quote is abbreviated, the abbreviation is noted with ". . ." The headline to this article is a bit misleading."
Are you suggesting that bloggers actually know something about grammar and journalism? Har!
what fcking nerve nad i was going to buty an ibook today. well him and his greedy company juss lost a great sell.
Whats an Apple?
OMG! Steve Jobs is an absolute prick.
I had to buy two iPod nanos the first *week* thanks to their cr@ppy lanyard design. The darn thing dropped off in the grocery store.
http://nanolanyardsucks.com
Eww, Charlie -- # 28, And I thought I was crude.
Guys, we don't have to buy ANYTHING from Apple, just because that @#$%-Off says we do. Screw Jobs! I have 1 iPod and 1 iRiver, if the iPod breaks, than I'll buy and new one - NOT A MOMENT BEFORE.
The More You Know...*cue NBC music*
#63
It's for that exact reason that most consumer products (ie. Dishwashers, Washing Machines, TVs, etc.) these days break soon after the warranty expires - to force you to buy a new one. Pray this doesn't happen to MP3 players!
I agree to the title being misleading.
I would upgrade every year if i could afford it, and donate the old equiptment to a local school or charity :)
To the Dark Side, Steve has gone.
Wow!
What an insanely great business model!
Jobs is 100% right. Now can one of you yearly upgraders hand me down a year old (or even two year old) iPod? It will save you having to find cupboard space to store it for a few years before you chuck it out :)
"buy a new ipod every year" man what a schmuck
Way to editorialize. Have you ever owned an ipod? Let alone the same one for over a year? Please keep your aspersive and calumniating remarks to yourself.
I wonder how often Steve Jobs gets a new iPod.
That certainly seems to be the mindset keeping MP3 player makers from incorporating expandable flash card slots. Instead of just buying a larger (and cheaper) flash card, you gotta upgrade to a larger drive to hold your ever-expanding collection!
This is COMPLETELY out of context. The title is misleading he was referring to if you wanted to stay up to date with the latest and greatest.
It's not like the iPod is updated more often than any other gadget. You still get what you paid for...
Well, at least he was the one to say it. Why do you think Dell and Sony release new computers...Doy
whats all that complaining? don't buy the f***** apple products if they are SO terrible, besides that nobody forces you to upgrade your iPod, it's not as if they would stop playing after a year (except for the battery/shell thing *g*). you want the latest and greatest? then you have to live with the short product cycles, after all they have to come up with something new to keep the folks buying their stuff... :-P
oh nothing against apple bashing by the way, but at least make it a bit smarter. posting apple stuff with a negative undertone, knowing that at least some people will go ballastic on it is just plain boring. I know you can do better at engadget ;)
I have to agree with Shade, It seems like you need to buy a new everything on a routine basis.
Oh, the anti-Apple stance is easy to explain: It's the Dvorak Effect. They write crap and we go nuts hitting the page to respond, in turn selling lots of page views.
Marc — if you want to be taken seriously, don't write like a newbie whiner.
Oh come on... what have they ever done to the iPod to make you want to buy a new one each year?? Aren't they the same POS that came out originally?? Minimal features and cool case? Right??
I have a second generation 20GB iPod (i.e. the really old one). It is like Steve Jobs said: "IF you want the latest and greatest...". I don't need the LATEST and GREATEST - I'm perfectly happy with my 20GB model.
If I cared about watching video - then I'd get a video iPod. If I were using it for running, I'd get a Shuffle or a Nano which don't have hard drives. If the amount of storage were insufficient, I'd buy a 60GB model. For my needs, my current, very old iPod is great. When the battery gets long in the tooth, I just replace it with the cheap replacement kits from Newer Technology.
Makes the GP2X seem like an EVEN MORE desirable item - latest and greatest are only latest and greatest to the company that sells it to you. What matters primarily is what you can do with it, and if it were entirely up to Apple, we'd all be listening to nothing but Apple store purchases.
That may be an obvious statement, but it begs the question: how can we trust corporations to be innovative with their products when sales are at the forefront of their minds? Surely to them, innovation only comes when buying habits change.
As a recently converted Mac-to-Linux user (I've been a Mac user for nearly 15 years - innovation attracted me to their products to start with), I can definitely warn of the dangers of being locked into the 'Apple' frame of mind.
Please, what's wrong with what he said? You want the latest, you buy the latest.
Full quote:
"If you always want the latest and greatest, then you have to buy a new iPod at least once a year." DUH
If I want the latest Cell Phones from (insert company here), a new one comes out every few months.
The latest car from (insert company here), every year.
I dont know why we're even discussing this. its not a phone/tv/handheld tablet yet so just dont buy one until it has or does what you want. steve jobs is, afterall, a businessman and the question was asked by a redundantly uninspired member of "the media". it was a soundbyte, thats all. he could have told them 6 things aswell as that but thats what they focused on to get us to focus on it. I dont own an ipod but I do buy apple and I just spend my money wisely. simple as that.
One thing Apple will get from me each year is my middle finger.
Talk about a misleading headline. "If you want a new iPod, you have to buy a new iPod" isn't a particularly contentious statement.
Engadget can slam Apple regularly, but Apple is one of the few undeniable leaders of the personal tech revolution.
They are ruling the market with DAP's and that isn't through merketing trickery. The innovations keep coming, and Job's statement points to new "must have" models coming soon. A testament to a pipeline of cool products. IF you want the latest and greatest.
Yeah, battery issues, BFD, they took care of their customers, and if I threw (for example) my treo in my pocket with my keys and no protection, would I even think of blaming Palm for a poor design? This is gettin' stupid. "nano isn't indestructible? sue! they said I culd put it in my jeans, dude."
Engadget is riding on Apple's coat-tails but posts like this do reveal a slant, or at least a cheap method of stirring up us engadgetoids.... sigh... I love the attitude when it doesn't seem too contrived like this.
(and I am a PC user who does not own an iPod- yet)
So go buy an iRiver you punks, you're only choosing M$ over Apple.
Anyway, that picture IS kind of scary I must say!
Also great work Engadget!
This was a great way to test the intelligence of your readers, who type first and think later. Many other sites uses the same Apple bait, works every time especially when a statement was misquoted so purposefully.
Your dry sarcasm got me laughing hard. :P
sure are a lot of apple whores out today. The man just face f**ked you all and you defending that sleezeball. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA (laughing my ass of). If that was anyone else it would be brimestone and fire.
*OR* get an iPod that runs Rockbox and you'll always have something better than the latest and greatest. Plus it will do a what a legitimate music player should do: play music gaplessly, support open source codecs, allow user customization, have a legitimate EQ, etc etc etc.
It just goes to show that the iPod is not about music but is nothing more than empty consumerism...The people who have untold thousands of songs on the their iPods don't care about the music...in fact individual songs are probably not considered as of much value at all...it is the bragging rights...to bask in the envy of the empty headed .
Please, Steve. I'm going to be a switcher (PC to Mac). Don't be evil :(
You take that way out of context. He said "That is the price of being current with any technology." And its true. The newest iPod is just like the newest clothes. You don't have to stay current, but if you do, pay up.
This is not news. It's troll baiting.