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Some iPod Thoughts |
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 Just a few thoughts on this lazy Friday afternoon. It's been a while since I've put my thoughts to typed words, so consider this a little warm-up routine. One of the main reasons for this is that, not only have I been busy with my real job, but also quite busy with things over at iPod Garage. Yup, I've actually had a chance to work with the site that has the best iPod-related content in the world. (Well, y'know, other than when we talk about the iPod once in a while here on 2 Guys, naturally ;-)
Bill Palmer (the founder of iPod Garage) and I had collaborated on MacMischief.com, and he gave me a shot at updating iPod Garage. Granted, the site doesn't really look all that different yet, but we've managed to "PHP-ify" the site. That is, all of the content is in a database and that lets us do cool stuff like seaches, categorizing things, etc. Basically it's a whole Web Content Management thingy, based on MyBlog, a blogging engine I wrote a while back (More info about that on my blog). Anyway, I'm really proud of where it's at now and things are only gonna get better. So check it out and let us know what you think!
But let's move on to some more Apple-related ponderings. This week Apple brought us iTunes 4.9 with Podcasting built-in as well as made photo capabilities standard. Ain't that great? At $300 bucks the standard iPod is looking like a really sweet deal.
This is a pretty normal thing for Apple - to make a new product on the high-end that is initially not necessarily for everyone. The early adopters snap it up, and eventually those features are pushed down into the standard product. The same goes for Macs (for instance the G5 processor, or the SuperDrive which was only available on high-end PowerMacs at first).
It's not a big stretch of the imagination to realize that video is the next logical feature to add to the iPod. Apple is now selling videos along with some albums in the iTunes Music Store, and it makes sense to offer them "to go" on iPods. But Apple has been naysaying video for some time. Steve Jobs himself has been quoted as saying that people don't want to watch video on the go. During a keynote, Steve and company ripped on Microsoft and some other companies for their efforts of getting handheld video systems out the door. I don't know if you remember, but they played a clip from an Indiana Jones movie - the main quote was "They're digging in the wrong place!"
But perhaps the whole "Digging in the wrong place" thing is just to throw pursuing companies off their track, buying time until they can get an "iPod Video" out the door. Remember that at those keynote speeches, it's only Apple's public face we're seeing. Behind closed doors they could be doing anything. And it's not a precedent (by far) for Apple to do an about-face on a stance they've made in public. Just look at the iPod Shuffle. At one point, Jobs had said that flash-based players suck - they don't hold much, you have to keep upgrading them, most people end up tossing them in a drawer (or something to that effect), etc.
Granted, an iPod Video might not be the most ideal way to watch video, but having the capability would be great and it wouldn't take Apple much to do it. Just think about having a few music videos and a couple full-length movies on your 'Pod. It would be your portable mini-entertainment center!
But who knows what Apple has up it's sleeve - your guess is as good as mine. Just remember that Apple has only called the latest iPod update a "revision" and not a whole new "generation" of iPods. Plus, they've saved the iTunes 5.0 moniker for a later date, meaning that we've got a whole lot of interesting stuff on the way!
Have a great weekend and safe 4th of July everyone! |
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July 1 2005, 4:49 PM EDT, by
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Comments:
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| Sebhelyesfarku |
7/3/05, 11:57 AM EDT |
Instead of video they should implement basic music functions like gapless playback and parametric equaliser in the next iPod.
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| Barnaby Jones |
7/3/05, 5:15 PM EDT |
Re: video. Isn't it more logical to theorize that Apple will sell video through the iTMS that you can watch on your computer...or (thru some new magical addition to Airport Express) send to your home theater? Nobody's going to watch video on an iPod.
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| DJLC |
7/3/05, 5:48 PM EDT |
Apple does sell video, now - music videos. If the song you buy has a video elsewhere in the store, it downloads too. As far as a so called "vPod" - I think it will happen, but you won't be able to watch the video on the 'pod. You will have to plug it in to a TV in order to play it.
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| Liam |
7/3/05, 6:07 PM EDT |
I think video for certain students is a good logical step, with have alot of students at my college studying video and said they would love to watch their work on the bus sometimes and see if they can identiffy some things, apperntly they said it would make life alot easier for them. i suppose its one of them things some would find convieniant and others would not.
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| Jonahan |
7/5/05, 1:17 PM EDT |
Well, I think that logically the first step is solely music videos from the iTMS. But yeah, DJLC you may be right - especially for people's home-baked iMovies, to show off just like they can now with photo slideshows. But having the ability to play larger/longer movies would of course be a plus. Not everyone would want to sit there and watch a movie on that small screen, but how cool would it be to watch Batman Begins while you're waiting at the Doctor's office!? :)
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"I'll take that little one, way in the back," I said. "That little collie mix?" said the animal shelter guy. "No," I said, "the one behind him." "The gray terrier?" he said. "He's gray," I said, "but way in the back, in the corner." "You mean the water faucet?" he said. I realized then it was a water faucet, but I didn't want to look like a jerk, so I said, "Yeah, that's the one I want." It ended up costing me almost five hundred dollars to get that faucet removed. But you know, I've still got that faucet, and I wouldn't trade it for any dog in the world.
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