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Some iPod Thoughts |
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 Ok, it's time for me to write about something I haven't written about for some time: the feudal society of the Middle Ages and the negative effects of serfs not having any music handy to listen to as they futilely toiled their lives away under the false hopes of one day getting out of indentured servitude and maybe retiring in Florida.
Just think about how iPods would have helped those poor folks! Indoor plumbing might have been nice too, but c'mon, iPods would have helped spark a revolution.
(If you haven't guessed by now, the subject that I cleverly segued to and the real subject of my sad little scribbling is the iPod.)
First off, I ran across this article from Insanely Great that says Apple applied for a patent back in aught-3 that should minimize the damage to hard drives if said hard drives are rapidly accelerated and then suddenly stop (i.e. an iPod gets dropped while playing like yours truly's was and the hard drive decides to take a dirt nap).
You may have seen commercials for this technology, as IBM has something similar and if I recall correctly they were pimping the feature a few months back. We might assume that Apple would use this technology in all their laptops as well, but iPods are a bit more prone to bumps and drops.
Now, just for the not-so-tech-savvy, let me explain what's going on when hard drives are dropped. There's a little arm that reads and writes data to the drive, and normally this arm retracts if the hard drive is inactive. For instance, if you put your iBook to sleep, the hard drive spins down. Well, if the arm is reading and writing (i.e. you're listening to music on your iPod) and it gets dropped, there is a much higher chance of doing irreparable damage the hard drive than if it was paused/sleeping.
So, let's hope this Apple gets the patent and makes use of it right quick.
Next up is a site I found via MacSurfer. It's just a dude's blog [Ed - site is here: Metroxing], but it's really good and the most recent article talks about how iPod's success is NOT due solely to Apple's marketing - as the ignorant mass of (not so technically-inclined) Tech writers would have you believe, but rather because Apple was the first to create an easy to use music player and not just an MP3 player that conformed to certain specs. The 7 reasons listed for iPod success are (sic):
itunes
Syncing
itunes music store
accessories
design
must-have factor
marketing & PR
Check out the site, it's a must read and has lots of great info, including a piece on why the iPod is and isn't a monopoly.
Lastly are some musings of mine about Apple's earbuds. They sound great, but this stupid cable keeps getting in the way. Aren't cables stupid? Hasn't Apple taught us that and tried to eliminate cables as much as possible?
iPod owners, how many times have you had the earbuds ripped out of your ears as the cable catches on something and your self-contained 'Pod world comes shattering down as you're forced into the reality around you?
Ok, maybe it's not as dramatic as all that, but still, why can't we have some sort of Bluetooth headphones? Surely Apple is experimenting with such things in their labs.
Some problems would come up right away though, like how do you get them to stay on your ears? Are they connected? Are they self-powered? They could connect to each other through a strap above or behind your head, but that might seem ungainly/unwieldy for some (or might mess up your precious hair... pfff... pretty boy).
If the headphones were individual units though, you could easily lose on or the other.
So it would be good if the earbuds on either side of your ear are connected, and have some sort of smallish battery.
Now if we expand this out a bit, the bluetooth headset could be set to connect to either an iPod, a Mac, or Airport Express. You could also feasibly direct your Mac using Voice Recognition and iChat integration would be, pardon the expression, "sweet as shit".
With rumor of an Apple iPhone I'm sure you could do quite a lot more. And I'm sure Apple will add features that none of us could possibly think of just because they're the ones doing the hands-on designing and experimenting. Well, assuming they have been playing with such a device, that is.
So whaddaya think? Is it a pipedream or something that will one day be reality? Any other features you can think of? Am I the only person who thinks this would be a useful product? Or have I sparked any ideas about completely different products? Shout it out...
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December 25 2004, 10:12 AM EDT, by
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Comments:
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| verano |
12/25/04, 2:31 PM EDT |
*still fawning over newly opened 40 gb iPod currently laying in lap* .... AH the dumb headphones snagged on my desk, ehh back to reality for me
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| papabean |
12/25/04, 4:15 PM EDT |
Being the proud new owner of a U2 iPod, I think I've discovered just one more reason the iPod is so popular. The music from your iTunes library is YOURS. It's personal to you. And once the earbuds are on, your life has its own personal soundtrack.
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| speedyrev |
12/25/04, 10:12 PM EDT |
Bluetooth would be revolutionary. Bluetooth ear buds, bluetooth speakers, bluetooth syncing, bluetooth interfaces for home stereo...Hey, I like typing bluetooth.
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| Dj-LC |
12/25/04, 10:44 PM EDT |
DAMN! If that happens, there's more for me to want.
The only reason I don't have one is because my dad "thinks" it will get "stolen".
Hey, if anyones iPod's HD dies, can I have the iPod?
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| nhmacusr |
12/27/04, 9:51 AM EDT |
Do you have a URL for the blog?
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12/28/04, 2:22 PM EDT |
Hold on. What ever happened to the white earbuds being the symbol of the ipod - with out the white cord, how are you going to recognize your fellow ipod groupies?
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| Jonahan |
12/28/04, 4:27 PM EDT |
Bah... I somehow missed the blog URL nhmacusr!
HEre it is: http://homepage.mac.com/metroxing/iblog/B1641024610/index.html
(it's in the article now too FYI)
Thanks!
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| Jason |
12/29/04, 12:58 PM EDT |
If they do have something like this, I feel sure the two sides would connect together and I'm sure it would be white so you could still look "cool". But yeah I think bluetooth is a great idea but I want the tech built into the ipod so it doesn't take up any extra room outside of it. And also have a normal headphone jack and if something is plugged in it overrides the bluetooth unit. B/c there are a lot of audiophiles out there who prefer those $200 earphones.
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