Yes We Have No iPod Shuffles Today

You can get an iPod-inspired car player anytime, no shortages of this crap: http://gadgetize.blogspot.com/2005/01/totally-awesome-1gb-car-ipod-shuffle.html

Does anyone know of a site/forum where people are posting where they were able to successfully find an ipod shuffle? I've been checking resellers like CompUsa, and while one poster here said he got one there, their website and stores I've called said they still haven't arrived...

Part of the "buzz" connected with the iPod mini when it was first released was how hard it was to get one. Ditto now with the iPod shuffle. Yes, Apple themselves could have made more money by producing more. But at the same time, part of Apple's strategy has always been to create an aura around their products. Either the item is cool, hard to get, or both. The whole thing instills demand. And not just with consumers. One of the biggest problems Apple has had is convincing non-Apple dealers to sell their product. When you have such a demand and surge of people wanting someting, retailers take notice. And suddenly, CompUSA and Target care about Apple products. Apple will never loose money over having too little stock of an item. Wait a week or so and new iPod shuffles will be in stock. It's not like someone who wants an iPod shuffle will suddenly not want one while they wait for stock to be refreshed. If anything, if you make something slightly challenging to get--but not unatainable--you make people want it more.

I went to my not so local Apple store yesterday in CT before the snow came... people were buying the Mini by the dozens, and YES that had all of the iPod Shufles you wanted! Picked up two in fact!

Planned or no, it's dumb. You can have as much buzz as you want, but companies are all about money. Surely you just want every last bit of demand translated into dollars, cos then you can report higher revenues and higher profits, please shareholders and analysts, and pay for the invention of even more cool new stuff.

a lot of Apple's resellers have shuffles in. CompUSA in the Denver, CO area for example has had shuffles for a week, though they couldn't put em out on the floor. A few friends and I waltzed in this morning around 10.. no lines, no rush.. bought 4 of em. If y'all are looking for shuffles, think outside the box like we did. ;)