Apple better do more than just add a new color to the iPod line if they want to stay ahead of the competition. Making a big stink out of a red iPod is as lame as it could every get. JMHO.
Btw, I've got a customer waiting for an XServe but I can't price it. What's holding this product up?
It's called marketing, and Apple/Jobs is very good at that. They're following the auto industry (not the best current example) when the model T came out in only black. As much as you or I don't think colors matter, they really do. It's a low cost, high return "feature", as long as it doesn't get out of hand.
Don't know what's going on with Xserve, but it's a stepchild right now. Historically enterprise hasn't embraced Apple and Apple isn't going out of it's way to please them right now. Despite this, they're making a very compelling and competitive product in the space and people are noticing. What's going is fairly low-key and that's probably good to keep expectations low. Apple doesn't want to unrealistically raise expectations, and if demand picks up, they will have to scale up, but without clear future direction. If there is a big flop, users don't want to get hung for sticking their necks out. So what I see is a proving period for Xserve. When established services have been working well for 5 years, the next Xserve (or more) will be much easier to procure. How long has your client been interested in Xserve? Is this a first or is s/he an established customer? What about the interest/involvement of your other customers? Comparison to interest and usage in other servers would be helpful to put things in context. |
