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Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

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Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#111

Post by skyebook »

pandler wrote: post #106
jablan wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if you could actually buy it in your gym, what would you do with it, until you get back home and connect it with computer? Should it be pre-loaded with some MTV top-charts crap? Should someone periodically refresh the content with current music?

Even if you buy it at Best Buy, what would you do with it until you get back home and connect it with your computer?

Its a bit less of an impulse purchase buying it at an electronics store than a place you'd be motivated to want to use it.

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#112

Post by vidarh »

hansjorg wrote: post #100
rmason wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you expect me to believe that a vending machine where I can buy a Coke for six quarters that I can also buy an MP3 player for 750 quarters? I am not buying it.

I remember seeing an iPhone vending machine at a tech event in SF. This was at the Moscone Center not long after the launch of the second generation though.

SFO had vending machines with various electronics last time I was there.

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#113

Post by clauretano »

jcampbell1 wrote: post #33
snake_plissken wrote: post #11

I'll hand it to Sony, they can come up with some sweet marketing campaigns. On a side note, do a lot of people really listen to music while swimming? In college I used to do 30 minutes of laps in the pool a couple times a week. I liked doing it precisely because you couldn't listen to music and you'd have to focus on keeping good form. It was just you and the water.

My sister swims for exercise, and asked for a waterproof ipod shuffle for Christmas. I thought she was joking, but they do actually exist. Apparently they are quite popular at her pool: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_18?url=search-alias...

I can confirm the 'waterfi' ones work as they claim. Got one for my mom since she does hours of swimming a day and said it was boring without music. The buttons apparently are very mushy (no click to let you know you pressed them) but it functions fine.

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#114

Post by rmason »

andypants wrote: post #108
rmason wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you expect me to believe that a vending machine where I can buy a Coke for six quarters that I can also buy an MP3 player for 750 quarters? I am not buying it.

There are vending machines specifically for selling electronics. You can pay by card.

If you watched the video it was a regular soft drink machine and I didn't see a credit card slot option.

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#116

Post by auctiontheory »

welly wrote: post #50
basseq wrote: post #13

Impactful packaging, but seems gimmicky. Also, think about it from a supply chain perspective: water is heavy . Conservatively, assume the mp3 player in normal packaging is about a pound. 16oz of water is going to double that. And distribution channels for consumables is completely different from electronics. I can't imagine this is going to be widespread.

I wouldn't worry. There's only about 700 people who live in New Zealand.

What if the sheep want their own?

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#117

Post by marcosdumay »

DanBC wrote: post #109
jablan wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, one liter is _exactly_ a cube 10cm x 10cm x 10cm.

I get nervous about precicsion with this because there's the stuff about raising one cubic cm of water by one celcius uses one joule. But there are a bunch of caveats to that and I can't remember them. But thanks for the information!

In fact, raising a gram of water by 1 °C uses one calory, not one Joule. Also, a cubic cm of water weights one gram, and both of those statements are full of caveats and rounding errors.

But a liter is only another name for a cubic decimeter. The liter is older, and used to vary from place to place (and even measure area at some places), but now it on the IS.

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#118

Post by hoi »

rmason wrote: post #114
andypants wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are vending machines specifically for selling electronics. You can pay by card.

If you watched the video it was a regular soft drink machine and I didn't see a credit card slot option.

in some places, vending machines accept contactless smart cards, which makes it much easier to pay - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_smart_cards

More easy for countries where it is supported everywhere, rather than regionally. But also possible to target vending machines in transit areas, since a lot of public transport has moved over to smart cards.

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#119

Post by sliverstorm »

jablan wrote: post #99
visakanv wrote: post #8

"Though the device itself was launched a while ago, Sony turned to Auckland-based ad agency DraftFCB to help market the product in New Zealand. And so they came up with the Bottled Walkman, which is sold from vending machines in public places such as gyms. Check out the demo video for yourself." That's what's most interesting to me. Have we heard from anybody who's actually bought the player from a vending machine? T…

Even if you could actually buy it in your gym, what would you do with it, until you get back home and connect it with computer? Should it be pre-loaded with some MTV top-charts crap? Should someone periodically refresh the content with current music?

I think the "point" there is not that they can use it immediately, but that the placement in the vending machines aligns perfectly with their target market.

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#120

Post by bunderbunder »

Nacraile wrote: post #70
desireco42 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet however heavy water is, they manage to sell you bottled water for pennies and still make billions off of you.

Very different supply lines. Bevereages companies have many bottling facilities distributed throughout their markets, electronics companies tend to have relatively centralized manufacturing. With low value:weight beverages, transport costs dominate manufacturing, so it is most economical to have many bottling facilities relatively close to consumers, at the cost of reduced manufacturing economy of scale. With electro…

Bottled water, though, is often absurdly centralized. Dasani bottles might get filled at a relatively nearby Coca-Cola bottling plant, but Fiji's water really does come from Fiji. Despite the outsize logistics costs associated with doing so, the company still manages to make money selling it for only a couple bucks a bottle.
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