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Windows Firmware Update 1.3 Added
TechnoPope writes "Apple has finally released the 1.3 Updater for older Windows iPods. It claims UI improvements and longer battery life, but the much desired and asked for on the fly playlist feature is absent. It should also be noted that there is a web petition asking for new firmware for the older generations of iPods." It's a shame that older iPod owners have to live with the functionality that was advertised to them when they bought it.
Fat lot of use an online petition will do.
Anyways, if the new features are so damn important to you buy a new iPod, quit whining.
Being an owner of 20GB touchpad iPod, I have been waiting for this update to come out for months, ever since it was announced as soon back in May. I want the battery life and sound improvements it promises.
I don't expect Apple to give me more features for free. After all that is why they are selling the new product. I would have loved it, sure, but I don't fault them for it.
To expect otherwise is unrealistic.
I don't recall Apple ever advertising on-the-fly playlists as a feature for the old iPod. They didn't even talk about it until the new iPod came out.
The on-the-fly playlists and new games are features that are part of the new iPod only, and I'm pretty sure they'll never be added to the old iPod. That's just how it is.
Vonal Declosion
I really don't simpathize with the older iPod owners. It was the functionality offered at the time of purchase. If you are really itching for a the functionality, you have a couple options...
1) When the new 30GB came out, I sold my 20GB touch-wheel for almost $225. That made the 30GB 'upgrade' almost nothing. A lot of people with pay $200 for a 20GB MP3 player that is still better than all the competition, and acts like a tiny Firewire disk.
2) Complain, sign petitions, and try to get Apple to change policy.
3) Be content in the fact that you still have a 20GB MP3 player that is really cool, and sounds good. It is still better than what the other companies are offering currently, and you'll get many more years of life from it.
4) Shell out the cash and give the used 20GB iPod as a gift to a friend/relative.
It's only when we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything...
He basically said "no way."
the reasons he gave for this were:
1. Push new iPods - because Apple likes money.
2. Reduce testing expenses - because every update needs to be tested on every version of the iPod, which would have added 5 models (including a silent rev of the original 5-gig) to the three they have to test now.
3. Money from 2 better spent adding even more features to latest iPods.
Oh, and the next iPod game is going to be Doom 3, with network games over BlueTooth.
ummm...no....I think it is called sarcasm...
No, "with" is appropriate. It's a sarcastic dig at the "my purchase of a product with a clearly defined feature set entitles me to all improvements and enhancements future iterations bring to the product line in perpetuity till I die" crowd that most recently regained prominence when Apple made the mistake of not charging full price to update to OS X.1. Apparently buying an Apple product once makes Apple your vassal for all eternity.
It's a sarcastic statement. The older iPod never had that feature and never advertised it, and now that it's in the newer ones, the owners of the older iPods are petitioning Apple to backport it.
Apple doesn't have any real reason to do so. It'd be nice PR to add the feature, but not adding it is incentive to buy a new iPod. Although I don't own an iPod, I personally think they should add it for PR reasons (it makes the company look friendly, improves people's view of the quality of its products, etc). Who knows whether they will.
That said, pudge is still being an asshole. When users request a new feature in a project, the developers should either reject it for a reason (even if that reason is "No, we want you to upgrade"), or put it on the to-do list. What they shouldn't do, and what bystanders especially shouldn't do, is sarcastically slag those users because they got what they paid for.
I hereby place the above post in the public domain.
The 30Gb iPod is $500. So youy're saying roughly $275 -- more than you got for your 20GB model -- is "almost nothing." Not to mention that the older 20GB model probably cost you around $500.
And by the way I have the older 20GB model and I plan to keep it. We don't need no steenkin' on the fly playlists! Real men listen to all the songs on their iPod in alphabetical order without taking breaks!!
Seriously, people seem to think upgrades should be free or available to anything and everything. It's almost reminding me of all the hubub about the other updates too. You get 300 new features and you're shocked you may have to pay for them?
Back to the main point though...You buy a Maxima. It has it's list of features. Then the new one comes out with new features (better speakers? better seat adjustments? better cup holders?). We don't expect Nissan to say "bring your car in and we'll 'upgrade' to all the new features for free". You can buy the new Maxima. You can buy a better stereo and install it. You can be happy with the features that came with your car. Your 2001 Maxima is still better than the 2002 Sonatas that are out there.
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
Where should they put it? on the MS site? On the Rio site? Whether the owners like it or not, the iPod is an Apple product, and the manufacturer's site is the best place to post relevant info and updates me thinks.
I think, therefore I am...I think.
That's all us Classic iPod'rs want. We at one time not so long ago had been wooed, courted, impressed, flirted, tickled, aroused by funny talking nerds on Quicktime ads, then #$&-BaBAAM! bitch-slapped and Koby'd in the rear.
The cries you hear are only emotional outburst, not a demand for personal programmers on each of our iPods perpetually, really because, what part of the interface needs improvements? Not 1.3.
1.3(not to be confused with 1.3) is fine. It is void of that commercial interface, thank goodness.
The Classic iPod ruled the world. It was the darling of the rodeo. It had all that class. It was neat-0.
Early 2003, the iPod was given plastic surgery, admittingly better than Christina Applegates, and shoved along into the big world, fending for itself, lacking the original charm. Now it's specifically designed to withdraw finances from the owners like a high maintenance fake boobied hustler.
I'll take a Classic iPod anyday! Update all you want you wannabe New iPod'rs, you still lack the one single thing that matters, a sense of free love and happiness, that which sadly was used by it's pimps to beget this hideous PayTunes4 monster. Toil New iPod with your excessive wires, cables, games, address books, calendars, proprietary formats, Windows software and docking station assemblies, not to mention the pretentiousness that is overbearing, while riding on the laurels of the Classic.
I'll keep my old Classic, you can continue updating your 'New' Apple mp3 Player with the latest "New and Improved" methodical software and watch your money slip away even faster than ever before; the money all goes to the largest demographic of longhaired dope fiends, queers & draft dodging musicians and entertainment executives.
Long live the iPod Classic - King of ALL MP3 players, yes, it still reigns over Apples new model mp3 player.
It all depends if the iPod is seen as a consumer elecronic device - a TV, home stereo, alarm clock - or a computer.
This makes a big difference because a computer implies the ability to manage the software it runs, including the OS. If Apple decided panther would not be supported on my PowerBook G4 you better believe I would be livid - but that I don't have enough video ram to use Quartz Extream is a "sucks for me" situation. It doesn't cause an uproar becuase people are used to upgrading computer software until there are hardware limitations.
But back to the iPod, it evokes an interesting issue. If the iPod was marketed as a device capable of firmware upgrades (that were expected to be released by the manufacturer, just as software is released) then it should live up to that promiss and support the upgrades. Of course they need not be free unless stipulated they would be.
To conclude: If the iPod is a consumer electronic device, then quit the complaining and realize you enjoyed your iPod more an a year longer than those who just bought one. If it is a computer than it should be able to have software upgraded, fee determined by manufacturer, as long as the hardware is capable. That is the modem we IT people are used to. Don't screw it up.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
When I got my 5GB iPod, it didn't have any contacts, a clock, calendars, iSync support, EQ support, sound check support, album shuffle, or a browse menu. I got all that (and probably more) and an update that improves my battery life for free.
What's the bitchin' about again?
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
I know why Apple is doing what they're doing... but this is like saying Panther will only run on G5s and up because they're too lazy to make it work with G4s and G3s.
Actually, it is more like saying that Safari will only run on 10.2 and up. Safari and iPod firmware updates are both free pieces of software that Apple has provided, and they only run on certain generations of machines/operating systems.
And before any of you tell me that Apple isn't obligated to make the older iPods work in any way, shape, or form different from the way they were originally advertised... why'd they add AAC support? To make $$, duh! And why aren't they adding the other new features? To entice people to upgrade! Stating the obvious, I know... but it really pisses me off that they'd shit on the pioneering owners just for the sake of planned obsolescence.
Planned obsolence would be if the original iPods were made poorly with the plan of breaking down in the future in order to force an upgrade to a newer iPod. As an owner of the original 5 GB iPod, I must say that it is still running as good as ever. Apple didn't shit on me one bit. In fact, the firmware updates they've released have made it even more functional with a longer battery life.
OH! But my iPod still plays MP3s just fine, you say. Quit playing devils advocate. MY point is that it is SHITTY that Apple has decided to intentionally ignore older iPods... not that I hate capitalism, or Apple trying to make money, or whatever else some of you people like to pull out of your ass for the sake of argument.
So let me get this straight. I bought an iPod from Apple with certain features. After I bought it, Apple, under no obligation, provided me with new firmware that added more features to my iPod at no cost. Repeat this firmware upgrade process twice more. Now it is shitty that Apple has stopped providing me with more free features? Of course, I should go bitching about not getting new feature foo even though they gave me bar1, bar2, and bar3. I got hosed.
Remember - the original iPod didn't have a clock, calendar, or a handful of other random crap, but Apple added it. Asking that they do so for other features shouldn't spark a flamewar.
Asking that they do it shouldn't start a flamewar. However, calling Apple on the carpet and describing their actions as "shitty" should.
Alas, this whole thing is trivial as there are much more important things to worry about in our world, but Apple really dropped the ball on this, IMHO. At the very least, Apple should open up the (old?) iPod API so people can do whatever the fuck they want with their own hardware.
You can do whatever you want with your own hardware. You want Apple to freely give out trade secrets so that you don't have to do as much work to make your hardware do stuff it wasn't intended for.
This issue really only seems to bother people with older ipods. Gee, I wonder why. Then, those that don't have older iPods are angry because they're tired of listening about the issue altogether...
I own the original iPod, and this issue doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I am so satisfied with my iPod ownership experience that I plan on upgrading to a new 30 GB iPod when I get more money.
What's keeping someone from hacking the new software into old iPods? Afterall, the Non-US volume limit was just hacked...
What's keeping you from putting your code where your mouth is?
Sorry this is offtopic but I just have to answer this troll...
...Jaguar, which only reasonably runs on a G4...
I run Jaguar on my B&W G3 (a petite 400Mhz) and it runs great! It's particularly fast with Mail, Safari, iTunes and iTMS. The only thing I've upgraded is graphics card and only to a cheap Radeon 7500. Word on the street is that Panther is even quicker.
1. Apple never promised "on the go" playlists for 2.0 iPods. To be honest they're not that great; there is only one "on the go" playlist, and it gets reset when you dock the pod.
2. Apple couldn't provide the funcionality even if they wanted to. The OS development for the 2.0 iPods was contracted out. It'd make no business sense for Apple to contract out an update/rewrite. People forget that in a capitalist economy, the firm in the marketplace must make a profit to survive.
The 2.0 iPod is a completely different piece of hardware, running a re-written OS that was developed in-house, and would not be compatible with the 2.0 hardware. Just because it looks similar and has the same generic name doesn't mean that the guts are the same.