Both $399, 20GB Ipod or 20GB Karma?

Might be old news, but Compusa selling 20GB Ipod for $399
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=306845&pfp=BROWSE
Rio has gotta lower there price if they wanna compete..

b

I think they are competing if the price is equal. I mean, is it not obvious which is the better player? And besides, once it's been out for a few months, it will be easy to find a good deal on it.

I mean, is it not obvious which is the better player?

To you and me it is, but we are not the average brain-dead consumer.

You mean everyone doesn't do extensive research on their next purchase before they buy?

No, they favor listening to commercials featuring people they can identify with and trust.... such as George Clinton.

There's also the "no one was ever fired for buying IBM" attitude (or in this case, "no one's ever had trouble with an iPod") . Whatever the truth is, people percieve the iPod as established and reliable, and it will take quite a bit of work to overcome that. Heck, my church just bought one for the worship team so we can hear the songs we're playing quickly rather than shuffeling CD's around (I could have saved them the trouble actually, since I have our entire library on my Empeg, but I digress). If the Karma had been out I'd have made the suggestion, but I seriously doubt they'd have listened to me.

It's not all about research either. Even those who get all the facts they can are taking something of a gamble by going with a more feature rich device over something that's been out there for ages. Of course, we know that the Karma is another version of something that has been out there for ages ("ages" in tech terms), has been stable, and basically any geeks dream. But those facts probably won't come up even with a good bit of research for someone outside this community. Still, it's happened before that the mighty have fallen . . .

even at 300 ive stil been considering getting a nitrus, but I havent had the opportunity to actually use and play with one. Can anyone that may already have one help to convince me.

Lowering the price would be a mistake. It would only infer that it is a weaker product. I can tell you that Apple will not lower their price. They have an image to uphold - and if it comes at the price of marketshare, so be it. Though they don't have much to worry about as far as the iPod's share of the market (the rest of the market is too segmented which leaves the well-known iPod to clean house).

Making sure to beat the drum that the Karma is the most "compatible" player out there would likely be a good move. There are some Windows people that may still be shy about using an Apple product.

Bruno