tonyballinger.com

From all the buzz leading up to Apple’s “fun” announcments yesterday, you’d think they would have had more up their sleeve than an unusually large white speaker, a few overpriced leather iPod cases, and an Intel Mac mini with an underpowered video chip.

I mean, I understand that the hype surrounding these events tends to overshadow the deliverables, but this one had to be a record. The rumor mill had predicted a variety of exciting gizmodos – a full screen iPod, a tablet mac, iTunes movie store, a Mac mini media center, and a few others.

I’m particularly underwhelmed by the “iPod Hifi”. For $350, I don’t see how a single speaker is going to be capable of producing rich stereo sound and imaging to challenge the average home stereo. Personally, I own one of the little folding Altec Lansing docking speakers, and I think it’s perfect for my needs. It’s very portable, fits into a carry-on bag, and allows me to use my iPod video as a stereo, a mini-movie theater, or an alarm clock. And it was just over $100. Here’s hoping the next “iPod Hifi” is a lot more revolutionary than their first.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 1st, 2006 at 7:37 pm and is filed under Gadgets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.