New iPods to Arrive Tomorrow

If you are not already up to speed on the iPod, Newsweek’s cover story next week speaks of a brand-new iPod (dubbed 4G by many). The full article, iPod Nation is to arrive on newsstands tomorrow. Supposedly, Apple is to formally announce the iPod revision in some “unique venue,” but I am uncertain along with the rest of the web as to whether Newsweek counts as unique. Personally, I believe that Apple will find something with a little more public kick and spice to allow all iPodders to revel in the new, sleeker models.

Think Secret has detailed the specs: the upper echelon topping out at 40 GB but receiving a whopping 20% decrease in price, ringing in at $399! The next step down, the 20 GB, also saw a $100 price reduction for a result of just $299. Quite impressive coming from Apple, who has always prided themselves as the haute couture of the computer industry and always charging the higher price for that descriptor (much to the chagrin of many users).

The new iPod has a refined interface for in hardware and software, complete with an iPod-mini style scroll wheel and a reorganization of menus and a few new software features like multiple On-the-Go playlists. Also, the battery capacity has been increased 50% to give you a full 12 hours of music-filled enjoyment and the hardware engineers have shaved off 1 mm in thickness. All of these differences with the last generation may seem modest in their own right, but when combined together, Apple has created a better product at a more attractive price that is going to kill the competition during the next holiday season. Already, the product recognition seems to be off the charts, with the tell-tale signs of white earbud headphones showing up everywhere (from the Newsweek article):

Steve Jobs noticed something earlier this year in New York City. “I was on Madison,” says Apple’s CEO, “and it was, like, on every block, there was someone with white headphones, and I thought, ‘Oh, my God, it’s starting to happen’.” Jonathan Ive, the company’s design guru, had a similar experience in London: “On the streets and coming out of the tubes, you’d see people fiddling with it.” And Victor Katch, a 59-year-old professor of kinesiology at the University of Michigan, saw it in Ann Arbor. “When you walk across campus, the ratio seems as high as 2 out of 3 people,” he says.

This sort of self-marketing where the simple presence of the product produces envy in non-iPodders and sheer glee by fellow owners can only be to Apple’s benefit. And it has. Apple’s 3rd quarter numbers were astounding, and the bottom line was heavily influenced by none other than the iPod.