Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Apple Archive

Dell Takes on Apple's iPod and iTunes Music Store

- 2003.10.03

Someone's finally copied Apple's music strategy. That is, selling an MP3 player and providing an online music store where you can download tracks to use with the player. Those who figured that Apple would be the only one to use this plan probably hadn't considered that pretty much everything Apple comes up with- ends up being copied by another company.

This time it's Dell that's copying Apple. In a way, you could argue that Dell is trying to be what Apple was trying to be in the mid-90s. They've got a line of printers, handhelds, monitors - just about everything that Apple had back then.

Apple got a little bit behind in terms of hardware quality control - and also in terms of technology. They were still selling 180 MHz desktops in 1997, and their Power Mac 5200s were based no parts left over from the LC 630 series.

Dell, on the other hand, is not behind. They're just as far ahead as any other PC company out there - and that gives them a bit of an advantage. Not having to make sure their chip providers keep up with a different platform allows them to concentrate on other areas such as marketing.

Which, of course, means that Dell can branch out and start selling PDAs to compete with Palm, Sony, and the rest; printers to compete with Epson and others; and Dell Digital Jukebox now MP3 players, which are clearly designed to compete primarily with Apple (interesting thing is, Dell's website still shows the Apple iPod for sale).

Dell's new DJ (Digital Jukebox, left) is supposedly going to be able to play tracks from Dell's music service, and there's already a website (DJHacks.com) dedicated to hacks for the device. The interface appears to be very like that of the iPod, but I have to say that the device looks nowhere near as sleek as the iPod.

It seems that few details are available for the Dell DJ - apparently it will be released in time for the holiday season (can't miss out on that, can they). The online store, however, will be interesting. Will it be as easy to use as Apple's store? Will it offer the same selection that Apple does, or will it manage to outdo it?

If Apple can manage to come up with iTunes for Windows - and fast - Dell will have some real stiff competition there. Already many Windows users seem to own iPods, which means that a good portion of them may well choose to use iTunes to buy music online when it is available for Windows.

What would happen if Dell made its music service work with the iPod? If it managed to have a selection of different songs than Apple does, it might do quite well. Pricing is a hard issue, though, as I seriously doubt record companies are willing to budge from their fairly fixed pricing methods, so people will most likely find no difference in the pricing between the Dell and the Apple stores.

What if Apple made its music service work with the Dell DJ? We'd have a really nice selection of songs for either device - assuming, again, that both services offer slightly different music choices.

Realistically, this won't happen. Apple will want to promote the iPod, so its service will only function with that. Dell will want to promote it's DJ as well, and allowing it's songs to be downloaded by iPod users will only encourage people to use their service, not their MP3 player.

Recent Apple Archive articles

iPods, notebooks, and other modern electronics more readily replaced than repaired, 12.07. Whether it's an intermittent failure or a broken display cable, more often than not it's cheaper to replace a broken electronics device than repair it.
Options for replacing your older iPod, 11.19. Whether you've run out of space on your old iPod or want features it doesn't have, here are your options in new and used iPods.
Could the $200 'green' PC with gOS Linux become a threat to Apple?, 11.14. The low cost, low power Everex desktop comes with a customized version of Ubuntu Linux, has a Mac-like Dock, and sells for $400 less than the Mac mini.
Leopard different, a bit buggy, but worth the upgrade, 11.02. Leopard on a Power Mac G4 and a MacBook Pro: It runs well on both computers, but each has some odd bugs, and some of the changes are a step backwards.
More in the Apple Archive index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: 17" MacBook Pro Core Duo, Apr. 2006 - The top-end MacBook Pro includes a 1680 x 1050, 2.16 GHz Core Duo CPU, and supports Apple 30" Cinema Display.
Group of the Day: G4 List is for those using Power Mac G4s or G4 upgrades.
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best iPod nano Deals, 11.25. Refurb 8 GB 4G nano, $99; new, $126; refurb 16 GB, $129; new, $150; new 5G/8 GB, $134.60; 16 GB, $161.12. Shipping included.
Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 11.25. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
Best 15" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.25. Used 1 GHz Combo, $400; 1.5 GHz SuperDrive, $449; 1.67 GHz hi-res, $600.
Best G4 iMac Deals, 11.24. Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $150; 800 MHz Combo, $229; 1 GHz, $289; 17" 1.25 GHz, $200; 20" 1.25 GHz, $509.
Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.24. Used from $899; refurb from $1,099; new 1.6 GHz/120 HD, $1,150 after rebate; 1.8/64 SSD, $1,150 a/r; 1.86/128 SSD, $1,350 a/r; 2.13/128 SSD, $1,694 a/r.
Best PowerBook G3 Deals, 11.24. Used 233 MHz WallStreet, $75; 266 MHz, $160; 400 MHz Lombard, $199; 400 MHz Pismo, $289; 500 MHz, $350.
Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.23. Used 867 MHz SuperDrive, $348; 1 GHz Combo, $379; SD, $519; 1.33 GHz, $529; 1.5 GHz Combo, $549; SuperDrive, $609.
Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.23. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 4-core. $1,919; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.93 8-core, $4,999; new 2.26 8-core, $2,290.
Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 11.23. Used 802.11g AirPort Extreme, $49; 500 GB Time Capsule, $150; new, $190; 1 TB dual-band, $280; 2 TB, $469; 802.11n AirPort Extreme, $170.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.