iFlop

So much for Steve Jobs’s vaunted Reality Distortion Field:

Macheads witnessed a Cube moment the other day at MacWorld San Francisco when Jobs trotted out the miniPod as a highlight of his much anticipated keynote speech. It’s an iPod that comes in many bright, funky colors. It has far less capacity than the previous versions, but it costs about the same (only $50 less the previous lowest-price model). And it weighs just three ounces less than the heftier iPods.

SMALLER BUT WIMPIER. Less music in a device marginally smaller at about the same price. Get it? I didn’t, and few others will, either. In fact, while I was watching Jobs give his spiel, my mind replayed the infamous scene from the cult classic mockumentary Spinal Tap where the dim rock band tries to explain that dials on their amplifiers go to 11 — and that’s what makes them louder. I was left with the same sense of befuddlement after watching Jobs show off the smaller but much wimpier miniPod.

I’m a PC guy, but I wouldn’t mind one of those duel-G5 power Macs. The miniPod, however, is another story.

It seems even Apple’s legendary esthetic has failed them on this one. “iMac” is a cool looking name. So is “iPod.” But “miniPod” looks like it’s printed backwords, and even looks bigger than the name of the product it’s supposed to be smaller than.

You going to buy one?