iPod Hi-Fi Getting Positive Reviews

I saw the iPod HiFi at the Apple Store in Dallas over the weekend. Nice sound. When docked, the volume control on the iPod doesn't work. You use the volume control on the box itself, or the Apple Remote (which I didn't try). To me, the sound might have been on a par with the Bose iPod dock, but maybe not. The Bose has it all over the Apple box where esthetics are concerned. Of the two, Bose is still my choice.

Here, here!

ilounge is my least favorite place for reviews, they just seem so... cocky. the site seems to have given all of the people running it quite the egos imho. i wont go into it to much here. seems to me that the reviews i read are either all for it and find that it is a great product or they look for any and every reason to trash talk it.

when it comes down to it i think that the only way to judge the system is to hear it for yourself.

I wasn't too impressed with the announcement last week, but I saw/heard one this weekend at the local Apple store, and it is a pretty nice box. Sound is definately good, and it isn't quite as massive as it looks on the website. That said, I have no particular use for it, so I doubt I will ever buy one, but it doesn't seem as bad an investment as I had initially thought it would be.

The iPod HiFi is meant to be a Bose Wave Radio competitor, and is targeted to the people who buy the Bose Wave Radio, wealthier, older people, and is designed to expand the iPod's market. People buy the Wave Radio because they think is sounds really good (meh) and it's a good little thing to play CDs on. If Apple can convince Wave Radio buyers that the HiFi is better sounding than the Bose, and that converting all their CDs to m4as won't be a PITA, then they've expanded the market for the iPod and ITMS. Genius.

And don't get on me about how the Wave Radio has a radio, The tuner inside the Wave Radio is a horrid little thing - Apple probably did the right thing by just focusing on the sound because getting a decent tuner developed for the HiFi probably would've doubled its price.

another review: http://http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/comments/ipod-hi-fi-high-fidelity-speaker-system-for-ipod/

One word: SHEEP

A common business paradigm is "Do one thing. Do it well." Geeks love gadgets, things that do several things, but often require some technical know-how to get it done.

It's funny how Apple is loved by geeks, but it's philosophy is really the opposite. They try to make simple products that are easy to use, look good, and just work. The Hi-Fi fits snugly into this category. It doesn't do fifty things, just one, but apparently it does it well and is easy to use.

Much of the negative criticism that was leveled against the Hi-Fi were because it lacked features. What may critics fail to see is the business reasons behind simple products. Think of it this way...

How thick of a manual has to be printed?
How much time will salespeople spend explaining the product to customers?
How many support calls will Apple get for this product?
How many hours of ProCare will be used for training how to use it?
How many people will return it because they can't hook it up properly?

Interesting read:

http://www.russellbeattie.com/notebook/1008853.html