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Forums > Software: Apple Computer

Ipod Freaks Pay to be "Ipodified"???

povertystricken	Date: December 21, 2004 @ 1:03 AM 02:00 AM Dec. 20, 2004 PT - Wired news Not only are iPod users making their own ads for Apple Computer, they're turning themselves into ads for Apple. Ipod My Photo is a new web-based service that transforms any digital photo into a signature iPod silhouette-style ad. Customers upload a digital snap, choose a background color and pay. In about five days, the "iPodified" image is e-mailed back to them. A white iPod and earbud wires will even be added to the picture, if so desired. "It's mostly pets, a lot of children and tons of married couples," said iPod My Photo co-founder Kevin Muoio. "There's lots of new babies, too. Straight out of the womb -- bang, they've got an iPod on them." IPod My Photo is the brainchild of Muoio, a 34-year-old salesman from Rhode Island, and his friend Dave Schroeder, 35, a web developer who lives in Virginia. The service comes hot on the heels of iPod users making their own home-brew video ads for Apple. A week after launch, the pair have received orders for about 150 iPodified images. "It's far exceeded our expectations," said Muoio. "We're getting some amazing feedback. There's been an absolutely ecstatic response." The pair got the idea after noticing all the iPod parodies on the web. One suggested the silhouette style would make for interesting holiday cards and a business idea was born. A few weeks later, they were offering the service over the web using contract Photoshop artists. "The demand is pretty overwhelming," said Diego Maclean, iPod My Photo's lead designer. "I've got two associates here in Vancouver that are iPodifying as well. We're putting in long hours, but the variety of photos we receive ... keeps it fun." Muoio said orders are coming from all over the world, mainly the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan. "Why are people doing this?" he asked. "The iPod is a friggin' phenomenon. It's becoming an icon. It's like Kleenex -- every MP3 player will be called an iPod. It's amazing and exciting. It's what's hot right now." Customers are using the images for holiday cards, gift tags and lots of T-shirts, Muoio said. They've received plenty of wedding photos, sent by friends wanting an unusual holiday gift for the couple in the picture. One customer is using an iPodified image as a rain check in place of an iPod, which are selling out. The color of iPod mini they wanted won't be available until after the holidays, so they're gifting the image instead, Muoio said. "It's a very creative idea from this little company," said Jackie Huba, co-author of Creating Customer Evangelists and the church of the customer website. Huba said the testimonials on the site show some customers want the image to accompany an iPod gift. Others are using the image to demonstrate their love of the product, or make a connection with other iPod fans. "The type of people who would use this service are mostly iPod customer evangelists who are attracted to ways to showcase their love for a product that has changed their life," she said. "If people are passionate about a product, they can't get enough of things that are peripheral to that product," she added. "Much like teenagers who love a movie, so they buy a poster, the action figures, soundtrack and join the movie's website bulletin board." The entrepreneurs are delighted with the public's response, but are a little worried about Apple's reaction. "We hope Apple will be cool and see this as an extension of, er, the power of the iPod, and not someone trying to make a buck on their brand," Muoio said. Muoio said the only complaints he's received are from designers who think $20 is too much for an operation anyone with image-editing software can perform. "If you work in design, it's really friggin' easy," Muoio admitted. "But ask someone who is over 50 to do it, and it's not easy. It's not easy unless you've got the skills."
povertystricken	Date: December 21, 2004 @ 1:10 AM OMG... why would anyone pay $20 to have an Ipod photoshopped onto a picture of themselvs? I don't get it, it's not even that great of an mp3 player...you cant even change the battery. This article was so twisted I had to share it. I hope people here have better things to spend $20 bucks on. Buy a Zen
shadowself	Date: December 21, 2004 @ 5:57 PM You can't change the battery? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? So the thing is only as good as the lifespan of its chargeable battery, then it's junk? Yipes. I am having second thoughts about buying one now.
shadowself	Date: December 21, 2004 @ 5:59 PM Found this: http://www.boingboing.net/2004/09/08/ipod_battery_swap_su.html
Thaspian	Date: December 23, 2004 @ 5:22 PM iPods are inferior, overpriced DAPs.
0Hz	Date: December 24, 2004 @ 6:57 PM ^agree with you Thasp, but its not just about the techical aspect any more than its about quality, after all peeps are happy with 128 mp3s, its quanty flexibility and usuability. Owning an ipod is deemed to be very cool by the masses and cleverly its overpriced to enhance the coolness. Its a neat piece of kit that is marketed extremely well. Fair play to Mr Jobs and Co.
karth	Date: January 27, 2005 @ 5:22 AM if only Zen was compatible with mac...
DjInsertCool...	Date: May 20, 2005 @ 7:25 PM Hey All, Just wanted to add me two sence, I think Ipods suck too, apple is going to be getting some competition from Yahoo too now, with Yahoo planning on RENTING mp3's to people for $.79 instead buying them for .99. Well I think this is crap too, why the heck would you want to rent a song? But yeah, that's what I heard, thought I would pass it along... Peace Outside
creativetim	Date: June 13, 2005 @ 1:06 PM apple is a good company and the ipod is a good product. the ipod photo especially. i no longer have any cds in my car because i have my ipod and my itrip. i also put driving directions on my ipod and i have all my contacts on my ipod. i don't know why people scream that it's over-priced. it's made by apple. they have some of the highest quality machines around, whether you like it or not. my ipod survived being thrown about in my truck when i was hit. the truck ended up being totaled, but the ipod was fine. i can understand if you don't like the ipod after owning one and using it, but to just say you don't like it based on poor observations is stupid.
Thaspian	Date: June 13, 2005 @ 3:23 PM can't even play back music correctly? I dropped a 65 lbs curling bar on my old MP3 player and it took it in stride.. for about two more months. :o Other DAPs aren't so fragile that they'll break at the mere touch of anything due to their lack of an Apple logo. Players I see priced about $20 below the iPod for the same HD space can do so much more. You need a contact list, get a notepad. You want a good audio player that's reasonably priced, get another DAP. :p back to my beat up two year old CD player.." id="138184">It's overpriced because it.. is. Does it have gapless/proper playback? No, does it play ALAC correctly which it advertizes it does? No, does it have some auto playlist feature that makes music based on your listening habits to make it worth $100 more? No, does it come with some uber-good earbuds to make it worth $100 more than it should cost? No.. does it have an audio glitch that gives you 1/2 the low bass with low impedance headphones? Yes. Where does it come off as one of the highest quality machines when it can't even play back music correctly? I dropped a 65 lbs curling bar on my old MP3 player and it took it in stride.. for about two more months. Other DAPs aren't so fragile that they'll break at the mere touch of anything due to their lack of an Apple logo. Players I see priced about $20 below the iPod for the same HD space can do so much more. You need a contact list, get a notepad. You want a good audio player that's reasonably priced, get another DAP. back to my beat up two year old CD player..
creativetim	Date: June 14, 2005 @ 4:45 PM i listen to music fine. perfectly fine. the earbuds sound great to me, when i use them that is. and it does have an 'auto playlist' based on your listening habits: it's called recently played and top 25 most played. in fact you can create your own smart playlists to get even more options and create detailed playlists that are created on the fly with criteria you specify. when get down to it the ipod is just a hard drive and it has a normal little headphone jack, you cannot blame the ipod for shitty headphones. there are several solutions that have the ipod directly connected via it's dock connector to a receiver and there is no quality loss at all, it's just an mp3 being played back at whatever bit rate it was encoded with. and it's so much more convenient than having to tote around a lunky cd player, let alone all the cds you MAY want to listen to. if you wanted to have the ability to listen to the cds i have on my ipod you'd have to carry around a duffel bag, or more, to keep them all in, whereas i can simply scroll to what i want and click play without breaking stride. i don't have to make a case for the ipod, it's sales have done that for itself. it's a quality mp3 player, which now has the ability to store photos and more than likely video very soon (in fact some have already found ways to do it in a very primitive fashion though), but it comes down to how much money you have and whether you feel justified in spending money on quality. i will say that i thought it was a big purchase and was scared about it, but having had it since november of last year i don't know what i'd do without it. i use it every day. apple made an excellent product line and has made it bigger to appeal to anyone's budget and besides there isn't an mp3 player i know of out there that has a 60gb drive with a color screen.
Fiji	Date: June 14, 2005 @ 5:01 PM Being an iPod consumer, I would have to disagree with Thasp on this. You obviously don't own an iPod, so your representaion of the product can only be viewed as "void and impartial." I myself DO have an iPod (20gb to be exact) and I can't tell you how happy I am with it. I've got all my songs on it, with a digital display and the nifty scroll wheel that comes standard now. Not only that, but the iTrip (a well-worth $30 accessory) makes any trip in my car worth taking. You plug this into your iPod, and it broadcasts it over your FM stereo of your car. Sure, the sound quality might be lower than a CD, but who has time and space to lug around 1,000 CD's!? I sure as hell don't. So before you go making rash decisions, like taking Thasp's advice, invest some time and energy in testing out each individual product. Like i said though, you can't go wrong with an iPod. note, this post can also found in another "iPod bashing" thread
pancreaspuppet	Date: July 29, 2005 @ 3:36 AM Yeh sorry Thasp I'll back the last 2 posts. I would normally be with you, considering the hate I harbour for big enigmatic companies like Apple, but the pod ain't as bad as all that. pretty much all the problems you've listed are either nit-picking, or can be very easily solved in iTunes. The thing that I think puts iPods above the pack (besides clever marketing) is the software intergration with iTunes. Very few other players have such easy ways to store, catalogue, playlist and transfer your music to your portable player.
Svensta	Date: July 29, 2005 @ 8:46 AM Honestly, I have to speak up in the Thaspian's defense on this one. Not so much in his stance on the iPod, but as to his fitness to give a review. Thaspie is a hard-core music technolophile and spends more time reading and sampling differing technologues than nearly anyone else I know. To sit there and just completely discount him as "void and impartial" is rather sily and childish. There are such things are professional reviwers you know. Do you think that the people who work for Consumer Reports OWN every single model of car they report on? HARDLY. You ever hear of a test-drive? Honestly, comparing clinical-derived facts (such as sound quality and price as measured by professionals) is a VERY valid way to run a comparison. My problem with Apple has not really been with their marketing strategies (which are in turns idiotic and then genius) but rather this seemingly-mindless devotion they garner in their fans. If anyone seems to be less than partial it is they. My thoughts on the iPod: There is NOTHING wrong with it as a player, it is high quality (aside from the earliest generations) and viable. My problem (which is akin to Thasp's) is that for whatever reason iPod's cost more per GB of player than any other brand. I've test-driven iPods and Rio's and a few others (and bought a Rio). Honestly, players just spin music. Finding one that does so decently without having a 'trendy' mark-up is probably key. Unless you are one of the sort that white earbuds mean a lot to.
just2ska	Date: July 29, 2005 @ 12:30 PM the earbuds are HORRIBLE. I've listened to them before. Not being bias, it's true.

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