Apple's Big Announcement?

By Roger Hibbert

on Tue Jan 3, 6:07 PM ET

Made you look!

No, Apple will not have a big announcement at CES. In gearing up for its own Macworld conference this month in San Francisco, Apple will likely not have a presence in Vegas, unless it sends the odd executive to mill around a booth of a partner, such as Motorola. But even in its absence, Apple's influence will be felt in the flood of copycats and competitors hawking their latest iPod and iBook wannabes.

Though no one has really put a dent in iPod's portable music dominance, I'm looking forward to scouring the show floor, looking for the latest portable media players that seek to usurp the little white player's throne. Can Samsung match the video iPod? Will Creative get truly creative with its next-gen Zen? Could the Archos Gmini get any Gmini-er? Do any dare to challenge the tiny but mighty Nano? Probably not, but I can't wait to find out.

Who do you think has the best shot of challenging Apple's MP3 supremacy?

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No one. You can't fix what aint broke. Great player, great company and that comes from an dedicated Windows user.

Posted by itzdatguy2g on Wed, Jan 4, 2006 5:33 AM ET

Frankly, it's amazing that iPod has gained dominance, when I can't see that it offers anything a low-priced player cannot. I'd rather have a few 256 MB SD cards than carry a small hard drive. I would never want a built-in battery when I could use AAA rechargeables. Chalk it up to superb marketing, but many have had superior MP3 offerings for years.

Posted by pfirth7 on Wed, Jan 4, 2006 7:36 AM ET

The iPod is amazing, I even got an iPod Video and everyone who looks at it starts drooling. The video quality is great. iPods are by far the best on the market. I do however have to say that the ROKR iTunes cell phone is one hell of an ugly phone. How could apple ever associate with such a non-stylish phone. If they want to break into cell phone downloads they need to make a phone with that apple style we all love.

Posted by dplehwalder on Wed, Jan 4, 2006 8:56 AM ET

Having 100 256 SD cards?? That makes a whole lot of sense. The Ipod is the best player out there. I work at a major electronics store and all the other players are just junk.

Posted by zimm413 on Wed, Jan 4, 2006 9:02 AM ET

My 512 MB iRiver I got for $150 before the first Ipod ever came out still works great. It is light as a nano and has 2.5 GB now with an SD card and can go for 10 hours off a little AAA bunny battery. It also provides me a backup SD card incase I am on a trip and I manage to fill up the 1 GB that I have in my camera.

Posted by sla0011 on Wed, Jan 4, 2006 9:18 AM ET

Apple's Ipod line is true marketing genius... having no replaceable battery virtually assures them of selling you a nice new model once it dies on you. Funny that they seem to come out with shiny new models at just about the same intervals as the battery life, isn't it?

Posted by primeuzer on Wed, Jan 4, 2006 9:47 AM ET

I'm happy with my iPod. I'm not sold on it completely, but it has good sound quality and works well for what I need.

Posted by dalytle on Wed, Jan 4, 2006 10:10 AM ET

I have had an original 5 gig iPod since 2002, and it works just fine. I am watching for the next iPod model upgrade to see what new video tricks come. Until then my 5 gig original shows me that Apple's dominance is bound to continue.

Posted by grshaner on Wed, Jan 4, 2006 11:13 AM ET

There are plenty of competitive players on the market, price, performance and quality, however, the iPod has entered must have fashion; it will continue to dominate.

Posted by magnoxop on Wed, Jan 4, 2006 11:45 AM ET

It's more than just the iPod player, it's the whole package. Other players don't offer the easiness, huge catalog and continous improvements such as when you team up the iPod with iTunes. This is where the iPod has a huge advantage over other players, select what you want for a buck or upload your CDs easily. Add to that, now people can easily subscribe and import their favorite podcasts to their players.

Posted by soy_boricua on Wed, Jan 4, 2006 11:49 AM ET