by Cody Kitaura
My mom has no idea how to use an iPod. She was overjoyed when I passed down my white iPod Shuffle to her a couple years ago when I upgraded, but she had no clue how it worked.
I painstakingly went over the process with her several times, showing her the nuances of Apple's iTunes software as she took careful notes.
A few days later, she asked me to explain it again. And again. And again.
What my mom needs is an mp3 player without the complicated software, downloads and playlist-syncing. Something she can just pick up, hit play, and take with her out into the garden.
Something like SanDisk's new slotMusic Player – a simple, no-frills mp3 player that plays high-quality mp3s from micro-SD cards.
There's only one problem: SanDisk isn't trying to sell slotMusic to my mom. It's trying to sell it to me.
The slotMusic system eliminates mp3 downloads and the need for physical CDs by selling music pre-loaded onto 1 GB micro-SD cards, like the ones already found in many cell phones. These cards are then loaded into SanDisk's own player, released earlier this month.
The player is a small, sleek brick about the size of a pack of gum with no LCD screen and only minimal controls. Just pop in the music and go. No confusion over which bitrate to choose when ripping mp3s from CDs. No wrangling with big-brother DRM technology found in downloads from iTunes and other online music stores.
As an added bonus, the cards are also playable by many cell phones, and can be read by any computer using the included USB adapter (or many SD card readers). The SanDisk slotMusic system has the benefit of enjoying a huge pre-existing infrastructure of compatible devices, but there are two problems: the price, and the music.
Simply put, no one under 30 years old will buy a SanDisk slotMusic player or card. Although the player is a reasonable $19.99 (and, of course, isn't needed if you're planning on listening with your cell phone), the cards retail for $14.99 each – $5 more than an album from most online sources, including mp3 goliath iTunes.
SanDisk would be quick to remind skeptics that extra $5 will also get them a 1 GB micro-SD card, which later could be packed with videos, pictures, documents, as well as much more than one album's worth of music.
But $5 more (currently $21.59 for SanDisk's version) will get a card with twice the capacity, which would make much more sense in a cell phone, especially considering most phones' memory cards are surprisingly difficult to swap.
But back to my mom. This all sounds like something that would be perfect for her, right?
Well, as long as she's into Usher, Young Jeezy or Nelly, sure.
The slotMusic library launched with about 30 different albums (11 were in stock recently at the Arden Way Best Buy), and while my mom might enjoy Elvis' “30 No. 1 Hits” (which I think my dad already owns on CD) or maybe even ABBA's “Gold” or Jimmy Buffet's “Songs You Know By Heart,” I doubt she'd be too interested in the latest offerings from the Pussycat Dolls, Rise Against or Rihanna.
Since it seems unlikely that young mp3-aficionados would suddenly flock to again buying music in a physical form, SanDisk's best chance at success will come from its older, less-tech-savvy customer base. The absence of albums these people would buy is a huge misstep, but it's still early in the life of slotMusic.
SanDisk's website brags, “The first slotMusic cards are here. Check back soon to order your favorites.”
Let's just hope they talk to somebody's mom before they finalize their next wave of releases.
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6 comments:
WORD. I have to school my dad on Itunes everytime they have an update or whatever. They are so lost with this stuff.. If it didnt have my 4gb minisd in my phone i might consider getting this. 20 bucks?? Mad cheap plus i bet you can transfer instantly without software
Thanks for comment on mine! In return favour:
This is tech stuff is something I know and care VERY little about! But the sheer art of your writing makes me interested!! And that's half the battle, right?
First... well written, informative and funny. You really have a great writing style.
Second... this SanDisk player reminds me of a futuristic version of the old Sony Walkman tape player I had as a kid -- just pop the "tape" in and play.
Third... as much as iTunes/iPods have their downfalls (DRM b.s. for example), I still SUPER love them. Hahaha... I don't know what it is.
"I wish I could quit you iPod..."
I def. think we are all at that age and time where technology has taken such a huge leap that we have to explain everything to our elders. I have to explain everything over and over to my family, they just don't get it.
I think the personal touch is nice in your column and it was very interesting.
Even I know how to work most of the new gadgets out there, I sure do miss the simpler days of technology.
good job on the videos too, i should probably quit being lazy and put some pics up before the class is over.
Well-done column with good information and a number of interesting observations about this new player.
I particularly liked these sentences:
"There's only one problem: SanDisk isn't trying to sell slotMusic to my mom. It's trying to sell it to me."
And
"But back to my mom. This all sounds like something that would be perfect for her, right?
Well, as long as she's into Usher, Young Jeezy or Nelly, sure."
Not being familier with Usher, Young Jeezy or Nelly, I still got the point, in fact, my not knowing about them made it much more effective.
The writer put the column together with very little judgment about the fact that the older people get, the less likely they are to understand new technologies.
The other part of that is that frequently older people are not entranced by such wonders, and in fact find such wonders to be near-horrors.
Good column and a it gives me a good idea for some inexpensive Christmas gifts - for young people, of course.
idk man, i think this whole idea will be a marketing fail, for the reasons you listed and more. it reminds me of those old school children's record players where you popped in the plastic record and it told you a story or some ish... but there was a limit to what you could buy. the freedom of musical choice - being able to add or take off whatever you want - is what makes the ipod FTW. but this just strikes me as maybe like five years ago.
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