New iMacs (and iPods)

Dilaudid writes "According to this story at MacWorld Apple has just announced three new iMac models - all with Bluetooth and AirPort Extreme. More importantly there are new iPods too. Cool." The iMacs got a speed bump up to 1.25GHz, and the iPods were capacity-bumped up to 40GB.

Comments

Still no OGG

[AkaXakA]

*cries*

Good thing I have an iRiver discman though ;)

-----Article:
>>>Apple upgrades iMac range

By Jonny Evans

Apple today introduced new iMac configurations featuring up to a 1.25GHz G4 processor and faster 333MHz DDR memory as standard.

Three models of iMac are now available as standard from the company: the 1GHz 15-inch screen Combo drive (CD-RW/DVD-ROM) iMac; the 17-inch model (with SuperDrive), hosting a 1.25GHz processor; and the 17-inch SuperDrive Plus model, which offers 1.25GHz, and ships with AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth built-in.

The 15-inch iMac costs 999; the 17-inch SuperDrive costs 1,449; and the 17-inch SuperDrive Plus costs 1,713. Prices include VAT.

All models are AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth ready, though the highest-end model is the only iMac with these features pre-installed. Other features common across the range include: 80GB hard drives (high end, 160GB); 10/100Base-T Ethernet; 56K internal modems; and Apple Pro speakers.

The new iMacs have three USB 2.0 ports and two FireWire 400 ports. They do not offer the new FireWire 800 standard.

The 15-inch model has an NVidia GeForce4 MX graphics card installed with 32MB dedicated DDR video memory - up from a GeForce2 MX. The two 17-inch iMacs offer NVidia GeForce FX 5200 Ultra graphics cards with 64MB DDR memory installed. Previously the 17-inch models featured the GeForce4 MX.

With Mac OS X 10.2 and Apple's iApps (iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes and iDVD), the software bundle includes: QuickTime, iCal, iChat, iSync, DVD Player, AppleWorks, Mac OS X Mail, Internet Explorer, Mac OS X Chess, Otto Matic, Deimos Rising, FAXstf, Acrobat Reader, and the Apple Hardware Test CD.

Apple has also introduced new iPods with a maximum 40GB storage:

>>>40GB iPod launched

By Macworld staff

Apple has introduced a 40GB iPod for 398.99 including VAT.

The new version replaces the 30GB iPod, although the price is unchanged. The 40GB model can hold 10,000 songs, and weighs 176 grams.

The 15GB version has also been replaced by a 20GB version, with pricing fixed at 299.

All iPods include earbud headphones, an iPod power adaptor, a FireWire cable and a 4-pin-to-6-pin iPod FireWire adaptor.

20GB and 40GB models include the iPod Dock, a carrying case and wired remote.

Re:Still no OGG

[hype7]

this was the other big piece of Apple news today:

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2003/sep/08musicst ore.html

iTunes Music Store Sells Ten Millionth Song

Cupertino, California--September 8, 2003--Apple(R) today announced that music fans have purchased and downloaded over ten million songs from the iTunes(R) Music Store since its launch just over four months ago, averaging over 500,000 songs per week. The ten millionth song, "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne, was purchased and downloaded at 11:34 p.m. (PDT) on September 3.

The combination of the iTunes digital music jukebox, the pioneering iTunes Music Store and the market-leading iPod(TM) digital music player provide users with a complete solution for buying, managing and listening to their digital music collections anywhere. The iTunes Music Store will be available to Windows users by the end of this year.

"Legally selling ten million songs online in just four months is a historic milestone for the music industry, musicians and music lovers everywhere," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Apple offers the only complete solution for digital music with iTunes and the amazing iPod, which now holds 10,000 songs in your pocket."

"We are honored and grateful to be one of the top selling artists in the iTunes Music Store," said Chris Martin, singer/songwriter of the Grammy-award winning band Coldplay. "It's clear Apple has delivered a working and successful platform for music fans to discover artists and purchase both albums and single songs instantly with ease. We embrace these efforts enthusiastically and see them as the future of our business."

The revolutionary online music store offers songs from major and independent music labels, groundbreaking personal use rights, and one-click download directly into Apple's integrated digital jukebox software, iTunes--all for just 99 cents per song. Users can listen to free 30-second previews of any song in the store, then purchase and download their favorite songs or complete albums in pristine digital quality. Songs can be burned at no extra cost onto an unlimited number of CDs for personal use, played on up to three computers, and listened to on an unlimited number of iPods.

Re:Still no OGG

[Anonymous Coward]

Complaining that Ipod doesn't support Ogg is like complaining it doesn't support LP's. Put simply on the consumer digital music scene Ogg is a noshow. That's not to say nobody uses it, but the people who do probably make up .002% of all consumers. Why should Apple even bother with a format nobody uses?

MP3 is freely available and is the defacto standard. There is no shortage of MP3 players both hardware and software based, nor apps which rip to MP3. Ogg while not "patent encumbered" is a solution in search of a problem.

I think its great that game companies are going Ogg(although where's the savings for me??) and I think its nice that for commercial products you have this good free codec. But for the rest of us will stick with what works and what is standard, free, and easily available.

So cry all you want for Ogg but don't be surprised when we all ignore you and stick with what works.(Not a flame)

Re:Still no OGG

[Craig Maloney]

Positron Records (label of Chris Randall / Sister Machine Gun) uses OGG formats for sample downloads.

Welcome to reality. Coat-check is on your left.

Re:Still no OGG

[Anonymous Coward]

Why should Apple even bother with a format nobody uses?

Because they sell computers that nobody uses? Sounds like providing OGG would be par for the course.

Re:Still no OGG

[Craig Maloney]

Where "exactly" are those .ogg files you talk about? Sorry to say, I have seen NONE in my life. Yes, I am a win32 user, I have NEVER seen a .ogg file in my life.

...
Wow, a record label I've never heard of, featuring Artists I've also never heard of, uses OGG _in addition_ to mp3. How convincing.

Gee... going from "I've never seen an OGG file" to "Yeah, so some record label out there uses 'em along with MP3 files. Big deal". I provide an example of a place who uses 'em, and you scoff at the example provided. Talk about being closed-minded. :)

Oh, and you might want to download some of those OGG files and pop them into your favorite player of choice. There's some good music waiting to be discovered there. Just because you haven't heard of it before doesn't mean it's not good.

Re:Still no OGG

[larkost]

Just a small note: MP3 is not free. It is owned by the Fraunhofer institute in Germany. They license it to a number of companies, in this case Apple. Apple pays a fixed sum per year to them on their customer's behalf.

There are a number of free players and encoders out there that are not liscenced, but these are explicitly infringing on Fraunhofer's patents. They simply have not been taken to court. This is very similar to the whole gif case (the algorithm behind the gif format was patented... recently expired in the US).

Ogg Vorbis is a small player, but it is a truly free one.

And as an owner of a iPod, why would you use mp3 when AAC is so much better.

Wrong link...

[Viceice]

The link to the actual article is:

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/main_news.cfm?New sI D=6857

Headless iMacs

[Anonymous Coward]

Why can't Apple make a less expensive headless box? All thier lower-priced units have some sort of monitor attached (e/iMac). Why not have an iMac-class system without the screen? Their product line seems to be all or nothing (G5 tower or iMac with integrated monitor).

Re:Headless iMacs

[Chuck Bucket]

They did this with the Cube, but it didn't catch fire like the original iMacs did so I doubt they'll be trying that again. I think their all in one solution for the iMac is sound - it provides a great entry into Apple, at a competitive cost - while providing that 'apple' feel with the design and control of the monitor.

Having said that, I would like to see another go at a 'cube type' solution.

CB

Re:Headless iMacs

[jceaser]

They keep using quality parts, which tends to keep the price up.

Re:Headless iMacs

[Angostura]

Because the iMac is postioned as a plug-and-play consumer appliance. That is its positioning, its raison d'etre. The towers are positioned as the professional boxes - lots of options, upgradable etc. Now, you can argue that this is a purely marketing-led distinction, and you would be right. But Apple has decided that consumers like their machines simple and are put of by more choice than 'fast, faster, fastest'

Re:Headless iMacs

[boaworm]

Why can't Apple make a less expensive headless box?
They did this with the Cube, but it didn't catch fire like the original iMacs did so I doubt they'll be trying that again.

Not exactly true. The G4 Cube was monitor-less, but it was far from cheap. It cost just below a PowerMac with the same peformance, but with very limited expantion slots.

The cool thing with the cube was that it was almost completely silent (no fans what so ever!). Only a 5400rpm disk.

Another interesting thing with the cube is that it's second hand value is still very high, often around 500 to 900 dollars (ebay), even though the model is old. That's about half its retail price as new...

Re:Headless iMacs

[the_2nd_coming]

give it 10 more years and it will be worth more than the origional retail price.

Re:Headless iMacs

[King Babar]

Why can't Apple make a less expensive headless box? All thier lower-priced units have some sort of monitor attached (e/iMac).

I thought about this, and I came with at least 4 reasons.

1. The demand for headless boxes is probably less than you'd imagine. Most Mac buyers are not switchers, so I don't think they are as likely to have a dreamy monitor hanging around *unless* they were already buying the PowerMac line, and that's headless.
2. Headless has gotten more complicated to do right and do well. A dirt-cheap headless box would ahve to be pretty well integrated, but then you face the immediate problem of whether or not to provide DVI connectors, or what size monitor you want to support.
3. A lot of monitors people have lying around to use with a headless box are pretty poor quality, and the one thing Apple *doesn't* want is people running Mac OS X and having the result look crappy. Graphics people have nicer monitors, and would know better than to blame the platform if they used a cheap monitor and it looked bad. The extreme entry level crowd is different.
4. The notebook is the new headless Mac! OK, so it's not really headless, but the low end notebooks (iBook and 12" powerbook) can fill a part of the headless niche, and be notebooks, too. They perhaps aren't optimized for this usage yet, but they can do the job. Or, put it this way: your choice would be a $700 slab or a $999 iBook or a $999 iMac. The difference here is that one of these is *also* a notebook, one of thes comes with a *very nice* LCD monitor, and the other one is just a slab. I don't think it would be such a hot seller.

Re:Headless iMacs

[cosmo7]

but it didn't catch fire like the original iMacs did

You're thinking of the PowerBook 5300.

Re:Headless iMacs

[axelbaker]

I assume you never owned one. Your vent argument holds true for every monitor on the market but no one mentions that. The Cube however had its touch sensitive power button and drive access on top so, no one who owns one would think about setting a drink or some thing with crumbs on top, just as no one would think of setting a drink or some thing with crumbs on top of their monitor (well no one smart enough to consider the consequences). To this day the only thing ever set on top of my cube was the clipboard of an idiot the cable man, and he got yelled at with in 3 seconds.

The Cube was also much more than a headless iMac. It was the test bed for Apple to develop the G4 Powerbook. It has all the complex problems of designing a laptop solved. Small space, heat dissipation with little/no ventilation, and running with low power consumption.

As far as expandability a large percentage of consumers will never even consider upgrading. If they do they will upgrade maybe RAM and maybe the harddrive, Both those are easily upgraded the cube. That is why the iMac is popular, that is why laptops are popular (no one whines about their lack of expandability) thats why the Cube still has its cult following.

For a minute there,

[Mordant]

I thought you were saying that the new iPods had BlueTooth and Airport Extreme support, heh.

Now, that would rock. Apple, are you listening?

Re:For a minute there,

[diamondsw]

What would you use it for? You're not really going to copy over your MP3's at a miniscule 20Mbps, when Firewire is 20x faster?

Re:For a minute there,

[geekoid]

sweet. then you could put on some light weight P2P software and be sharing music with inbody within range.

Re:For a minute there,

[ottffssent]

No, no, no. Not for bulk copies. For updates.

The iPod is small enough (or thereabouts), lasts long enough (I'd imagine), has enough features, (though vorbis audio support would rock), and enough space (there abouts). What it doesn't have is enough convenience.

When introduced, ipod + itunes were dramatically more convenient than their brethren, and rightfully won in the marketplace. Now, they need to continue to evolve to maintain that lead.

Consider: palm pilots need to be charged / sync'd. Cellphones need to be charged and sometimes sync'd. Digital audio players need to be charged / sync'd. All of this introduces clutter and inconvenience; it's time to move forward. The ritual of coming home, plugging in all your gear, running some software, and then getting on with your evening has become familiar to many of us, but is no more reasonable a way to conduct business than using Office out of habit.

While the ipod has come a long way, it has a long way to go in terms of convenience. Bluetooth networking, in combination with magnetic induction chargers provides the technical foundation for another leap ahead in usability. Nobody will begrudge a company a bit of one-time-setup hassle such as plugging in an ipod to grab a few dozen gig of music. But consider the long-term convenience of having a device that you can toss in a corner and expect it to just do the right thing. Personal electronics should enhance and adapt to my lifestyle, not require me to adapt my lifestyle to my gadgets. Having to periodically be within a few feet of a power outlet and a firewire or USB jack is not the right way to interact with one's gear.

A PDA or cellphone or music player or whatever else comes along should be more aware of its surroundings. It should notice when it is in range of its home network and should download new music, new contacts, new appointments or avantgo info, whatever it needs. When it finds itself on a little charging mat, it should charge. When I pick it up in the middle of a transfer and walk away, it should deal with it seamlessly, without complaint or error.

Apple made the first leap; others have followed. It's time for them to move again.

iPod longevity

[bokelley]

It's been a while since the iPod came out, and it still seems to be one of the best MP3 players out there. So what's next? Seems like more storage doesn't make a difference at some point (ooh 15,000 songs instead of 10,000).

Re:iPod longevity

[Shenkerian]

Making it smaller and giving it recording capabilities.

Oh wait, they already did that.

Re:iPod longevity

[mrpuffypants]

I still firmly believe that Apple would do well to release a cheapper version of the iPod ($100-200 range) for those that still want an iPod but can't drop $500 on one.

However, I still appreciate the looks that I get walking to class with my 30GB; I sure wouldn't want to become just "one of the crowd"

Re:iPod longevity

[Frymaster]

I mean if [high end fashion designer] sold t-shirts at $2 fruit-of-the-loom prices, they wouldnt be [high end fashion designer], would they?

well, you're working under the assumption that the hipster label shirt is the same as the fruit of the loom shirt. of course you are correct (as a side note, tommy hilfiger actually manufactures nothing. not a damn thing. they just license manufacturers to put the log on their shirts.).

given the features (storage, connectivity, price &c) the ipod is actually fairly reasonably price. you can find comprable players for maybe ten or twenty per cent less but that's a very thin margin compared to the fashion industry!

Re:iPod longevity

[IM6100]

Color LCDs use significantly more power than monochrome ones.

Perhaps, just for you, they will come out with a color plasma screen version. With a thick cord that tethers it to the big 70 pound lead-acid battery that you wheel around in a cart.

Mercy!

Re:iPod longevity

[in7ane]

What does RIAA think about this? If you look at how many people buy the 15,000 song iPods - have as many people bought 15,000 songs, at a cost of around $15,000 (taking the price from, say, from the iTunes music store)?

More importantly, will RIAA now subpoena the list of people who bought the large iPods to prosecute them?

Clarification: Not all of them have BT & WiFi

[Gubbe]

Only the 1,713 17-inch SuperDrive Plus has BlueTooth and AirPort Extreme pre-installed. The cheaper models are just "AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth ready."

I thought the IPod was "Lame"

[maan]

To this day I still can't forget the comment Taco made when he posted the initial IPod announcement:

No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.

Oh well, I guess opinions change.

Seriously though, the ipod is great...

Maan

Re:I thought the IPod was "Lame"

[Xerithane]

That just means you aren't the target market. The thing that you get with the iPod is decent storage space, decent hardware, and really great system integration.

It is pricey, but so are Plasma TVs. If it's out of your price range, it isn't for you. It's for the millions of people who do buy them. It's ok to not want to buy something, for whatever reasons. I have an Archos mp3 player, it has 6GB of storage. It has good battery life, it's integration is mediocre and it's footprint is fairly large. It still works perfectly fine for me, as it's just a USB hard drive and I don't need iTunes to listen to music.

The iPod isn't for me. I'm ok with that.

I don't need to post a comment bitching about something I'm not going to buy, though. But, if everybody didn't do that there would only be about 15 comments under this story.

Re:I thought the IPod was "Lame"

[pHDNgell]

The big selling point for me was being able to use it for backups. My nightly really-important-to-me backups are far too big to fit on a CD. They do fit on a DVD if I want to wait a couple of hours to master and burn it. It's just a couple of minutes to copy it all to the iPod, though.

Oh, and I get to carry a crapload of my music around at the same time, which means I'm more likely to actually have the thing with me most of the time.

Re:I thought the IPod was "Lame"

[King Babar]

the iPod might be great but it is terribly overpriced.

I disbelieve. There are two heuristics to tell if something is over-priced. The first is: nobody buys the thing, or you sell fewer than you expected. The second is: you have *reliable* marketing research tells you that a lower price would sell you more than enough additional units to make up for the reduced price. I don't think it's always easy to justify the second course of action. If we pretend that the gross profit on an iPod is about $100, than a $50 reduction in price would halve that number, and we would have to sell twice as many of them to make up the difference. I think you can see the risk here. The iPod is the best seller in its category, and while you can find cheaper hard-drive based players, nobody has come out with a clearly better one. I think the nominal prices will drift down over the next couple of years, but the real price will (and has) sunk like a stone. The original iPod was 5 MB for $500. The top-of-the-line model is now 40 MB (8 times the capacity) and comes with much better interface options. That's huge real improvement in 3 years...

Re:I thought the IPod was "Lame"

[amichalo]

Wow, re-reading the score 4-5 /. posts when the iPod was first announced is really quite interesting.

It would be interesting for /. to run a "year in review" and highlight some threads of technology announcements and other geek worthy news with 365 days worth of hind sight to see how people's first impressions can be accurate...or not.

I particularly like the Apple share holder who was upset at the pricing...that it won't sell because it was $400, not $200. I suppose teh same share holder is pretty happy the high margin audio player is the #1 digital music device in the world.

Re:I thought the IPod was "Lame"

[Jeremi]

Or for free if you just rember the tune and hum them to yourself.

It worked for this guy...

Where are the PowerBooks?

[dusanv]

All current models are pretty old and especially the 15'' (introduced November last year). The rumour is that Motorola has trouble churning out the latest G4 in any significant quantities. Or maybe they'll go G5 :) Anybody got any info?

Re:Where are the PowerBooks?

[frankie]

The new PowerBooks will be announced on Tuesday, September 16. Personally, I'm annoyed that they have been delayed for so damn long. I wanted to replace my dear old Pismo last month.

If the new AlBook 15 doesn't have at least FX 5200 video, I'll probably buy a marked-down TiBook instead.

Notice that the pricing is in Pounds, not Dollars

[djh101010]

Before you freak at the prices, those are in pounds, not dollars. 1,713 works out to about $2,715 at today's rate.

Still not a bad price, considering what you get. I'll probably settle for more RAM for my iMac rather than replacing it with one of these, but it's an awfully nice machine.

Re:Dual 1.42 DROP??

[SlamMan]

Thats not new. The speed drop came when they announced the g5's, since the 1.25's could still boot into 9, while the 1.42 can't.

Geez, why not point to the Apple site instead?

[mblase]

New iPods
New iMacs

Bluetooth&Airport only included in High End iM

[SwissMike]

The two smaller models are just Bluetooth and Airport ready, that means you have to purchase the add-on cards for 50$ respectively 99$ (according to Apple Store).

Make sure you order your internal Bluetooth module with your iMac, it can't be added later on (you'll need to use an external Bluetooth-USB-Dongle...).

iMagine...

[Serious Simon]

... an iCluster of these ...

Ipod question

[BenjyD]

Is there anyone out there who has actually filled up a 20Gb Ipod and would want a 40Gb version?

I'm not trying to knock Ipods- I'd actually really like to know if anyone does have that many MP3s etc. I think my entire CD collection would fit several times over in that much space.

Re:Ipod question

[finkployd]

I have mine filled up but it is only about 50% music. The rest is backups of datafiles and source code. One of the great things about the iPod is that is is also a regular firewire disk drive and can be used as that as well.

Finkployd

Re:Ipod question

[chia_monkey]

Is there anyone out there who has actually filled up a 20Gb Ipod and would want a 40Gb version?

I know some people out there actually use their iPods as part of their DJ ensemble. Whereas a typical song may only be 3-4 minutes, a decent trance mix may last half an hour or so. Have a trance section in your iPod, a drum and bass section, house, trip-hop, and you'll see that it fills up rather quickly.

Re:Ipod question

[tbmaddux]

Is there anyone out there who has actually filled up a 20Gb Ipod and would want a 40Gb version?

My MP3 collection is too big to fit on my 30GB iPod, but that iPod is big enough that I went through my iPod playlist to remove artists/songs/albums that I did not want, rather than picking the ones that I did want. I also leave several GB of space open to transfer other data from computer to computer. The automatic updating of play counts and the ability to rate the songs I like/dislike has me using only my iPod to listen to music - I connect it to my home sound system rather than hassle with CDs. The iPod is definitely not lame, and it continues to get less lame.

Mirror

[inertia187]

In case the site is slow, here is a mirror.

Martin Studio Slashdot Policy

Not to mention 10,000,000 songs downloaded

[amichalo]

Also announced along with larger capacity ipods (20 and 40 to replace 15 and 30 GB models with no other changes in HW or SW stated) and faster iMacs (the 1.25 Ghz 17" now packing a 160 GB HD) there is even more significant news.

The real news here is that since April 28th when the iTunes Music Store opened, there have been more than 10,000,000 songs downloaded by the US Apple consumer base runing OS 10.1 and iTunes 4. Very impressive in my opinion. The 10,000,000th song was "Complicated" and was sold on September 3rd. Apple stated they are selling 500,000 songs per week.

The first week Apple stated they sold 1,000,000 songs so that plus half a million a week after corroberates the 10 MM song claim and shows a steady rate.

It would be interesting to know how BuyMusic.com is doing with their knowck off...especially after all the bad press and sites like BoycottBuyMusic.com and DontBuyMusic.com have exposed some shady dealings with artists, consumers, and their advertising.

And Apple a day keeps Windows at bay

I'm waiting for the model with mic/line in

[jcsehak]

No, there's no actual proof that they're ever going to make one, but c'mon, isn't it the obvious next step? Record your entire classroom lecture for study purposes, record the next Phish show, record your own demos -- with a simple little multitracking app, it could kill portable 4-tracks. Or, plug your iSight into a video in and turn it into a video camera.

Also, with a mic in, you'll be able to use Apple's speech recognition software to give it voice commands -- no more fuddling around with menus, just speak into the mic: "iPod, play Smashing Pumpkins, album Gish" or something like that.

Re:Best Buy?

[catseye]

Actually, Best Buy has been selling iPods for a while. They started carrying them when the current Gen. 3 models (slim design, "dock connector") debuted several months ago. You're correct, though: It's only recently that they've been test marketing Apple desktops at select Best Buy stores, presumably in an effort to prepare for a company-wide push.

-A.

I just started using Bluetooth

[sjbe]

Interesting that these machines use Bluetooth. My Thinkpad has bluetooth built in and I've just picked up a Bluetooth phone (Nokia 6310i). Bluetooth is *really* slick. I love not having to get my phone out of my bag to check contacts or sync with my address book. I can send SMS messages from my computer via Mobile Master again without having to locate my phone or punch text into a keyboard not designed for it.

I'm now very seriously considering getting a car speaker set for my vehicle and I'm certain my next PDA will have bluetooth. My next laptop will probably be a Powerbook and I hope they have bluetooth built in by then because I'm going to want it. It's one of those nifty technologies you wonder why you didn't bother with before.

Oh, if you do have a Nokia phone, their Nokia Connection Manager software is a bit hit/miss as to whether it will work with a given bluetooth device. Doesn't work with my T30 but I've been able to work around it. YMMV.

Re:I just started using Bluetooth

[hype7]

Interesting that these machines use Bluetooth. My Thinkpad has bluetooth built in and I've just picked up a Bluetooth phone (Nokia 6310i). Bluetooth is *really* slick. I love not having to get my phone out of my bag to check contacts or sync with my address book. I can send SMS messages from my computer via Mobile Master again without having to locate my phone or punch text into a keyboard not designed for it.

I'm now very seriously considering getting a car speaker set for my vehicle and I'm certain my next PDA will have bluetooth. My next laptop will probably be a Powerbook and I hope they have bluetooth built in by then because I'm going to want it. It's one of those nifty technologies you wonder why you didn't bother with before.

Oh, if you do have a Nokia phone, their Nokia Connection Manager software is a bit hit/miss as to whether it will work with a given bluetooth device. Doesn't work with my T30 but I've been able to work around it. YMMV.

Bluetooth is standard on the 12 inch and 17 inch powerbooks; you have to buy an adaptor to use it on the 15 inch ones, but everyone expects that will change at MacWorld Paris.

The BT integration in OS X is fantastic. It works with a lot of different devices, and all the functionality that you talk about in your post is built in - no third party tools required. iSync syncs contacts via Bluetooth (and for your iPod etc, just not wireless :) and lets you do the SMSing and dialling/answering from the computer.

The other cool thing is connecting via GPRS via Bluetooth. You can have a semi-fast totally wireless connection without even getting your phone out of your bag, just your computer.

-- james

Think of it as backup and insurance :D

[2nd Post!]

I've got 80+ albums at an average of $22 each or so (a lot of import CDs from Japan), so maybe $1,760 worth of music resides on my iPod... my then $399 now $299 10gb iPod is cheap insurance against my music collection getting stolen in my car, for example, while simultaneously allowing me to access *all* my music in a simple fashion.

Then there's the fact that my iPod is *also* a backup of my PowerMac, which is worth much more to me than $299; the peace of mind of having a portable bootable backup is immeasurable, short of spending 2 years recreating all the data on my PowerMac.

Sure, there are other hard drive based mp3 players, but none that allow me to boot my PowerMac, and none that allow me to copy my entire music collection onto it in 6 minutes.

You are so lazy!

[Macka]

You could have looked up http://www.xe.com/ucc and done the conversion yourself in less time than it took you to complain about it.

Consider it a reminder that you don't live in the center of the universe, and that there are actually people living elsewhere on this spinning rock that are just as entitled to have their currency represented as you are!

Re:You are so lazy!

[Anonymous Coward]

uh, no. America is THE most important country in the world. Sorry man, that's how it is.

ipod

[MoFoQ]

D'OH!!!!

And here I am with an out-dated 30GB ipod....

Maybe it's time for those pitchforks and flaming torches again....

Yes they do (well, sort of)

[crow]

If you go to the Apple Store, there are three base models of iMacs to choose from. The top model has the AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth built-in.

Brilliant!

[green pizza]

I thought you were saying that the new iPods had BlueTooth and Airport Extreme support, heh.

Now, that would rock. Apple, are you listening?

Wow, I'll bet Steve Jobs is reading your Slashdot post right now thinking "wireless! Damn, why didn't I think of that!".

*BSD is dying!

[Anonymous Coward]

"*pple : proudly going out of business for 25 years!"

Audio in

[zoidberg2k]

The new Imacs have grown an analogue audio in port.

are you hiring?

[Bizzarobot]

...to help me at my freelance gig where I copy a 17 Meg file from one folder on the hard drive to another folder.

I have experience in copying files of all sizes and can provide references! What's the pay-scale?

ARRRRRGGGGHHHH! What?!? No audio input?

[GryphonTech]

What are they thinking? This is what everyone wants.

This is what everyone is screaming for! (at least I am)
I mean, what with Sony being paranoid with their MD format, the market is screaming for a digital recorder that you can actually use.

Why is this so hard for Apple to understand.

-- I drank WHAT!!??!! , Socrates

Great use for 802.11 & || bluetooth on ipods

[Dave500]

I am beginning to wonder when apple will be brave enough to release what has to be the "killer" 802.11 application for mp3 players - personal streaming.

Just imagine how cool it would be to share your music and playlists with any other ipod user within range. Tired of your own collection? Try listening to Bob's ipod 4 seats behind you.

The register has also thought about this - http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/39/28467.html

What do people think? I would love this, but there are - erm - interesting legal aspects.. ;)

What's really interesting...

[edremy]

is how little money this must be making Apple

10M songs? Yeah, but it's only 0.99 per song, so that's less than $10M. IIRC, Apple keeps about a third of that, so ~$3M.

How much did it cost to program, to feed the lawyers to get all the contracts, to set up the servers/bandwidth needed? (And the Apple Store is *fast*- they didn't skimp here.)

I can't imagine this is going to have a big positive impact on Apple's bottom line, unless (and it's a big unless) the publicity they are getting sells more Macs/iPods. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the sole reason they are bothering.

Re:What's really interesting...

[hype7]

is how little money this must be making Apple

10M songs? Yeah, but it's only 0.99 per song, so that's less than $10M. IIRC, Apple keeps about a third of that, so ~$3M.

How much did it cost to program, to feed the lawyers to get all the contracts, to set up the servers/bandwidth needed? (And the Apple Store is *fast*- they didn't skimp here.)

I can't imagine this is going to have a big positive impact on Apple's bottom line, unless (and it's a big unless) the publicity they are getting sells more Macs/iPods. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the sole reason they are bothering.

All those costs you talk about are fixed costs.

In other words, when this is deployed to Windows (the other 95% of the computer using population) - it will suddenly make up a lot more than 10 mill in revenue. It will go spastic.

That will in turn encourage iPod sales, and those iPod sales will in turn encourage more music store purchases. Then they can start the real cross-pollination; "buy an iPod, get 10 free songs at the Apple Music Store".

If enough people start doing it, it's gonna hit a critical mass then just explode. The only risk Apple faces is if MS/whoever starts eating Apple's dinner. OTOH, very few of the other solutions will work with the world's most popular MP3 player - the iPod.

-- james

Re:What's really interesting...

[discstickers]

Actually, I think that Fred Anderson, Apple's CFO, basically said that. The iTMS is a trojan horse to get people to buy iPods and the iPod is a trojan horse to get people to buy Macs.

Re:What's really interesting...

[NightSpots]

Just to nit-pick:

Servers and bandwidth are not a fixed cost.

When your load increases by a factor of 19, your costs for servers and bandwidth also go up.

Re:What's really interesting...

[Renderer of Evil]

...and Macs are like a Trojan Horse to Microsoft. Once you go Mac, you never go back.

Funny how it all works.

Get a Neuros

[Joseph Vigneau]

Get a Neuros.

• Plays Ogg Vorbis files (DI employs one of Vorbis' founders).
  
• Can sync w/ Linux.
  
• "Backpack" system lets you remove the hard drive when you want to go solid state. Also allows for upgrades (like the upcoming USB 2 backpack).
  
• Open source cross-platform song manager (NeurosDBM)
  
• Built-in FM tuner.
  
• "MiSi" feature, which allows you to record a clip from FM, and have it identified when you sync.
  
• Low-power FM transmitter, which can be picked up by a car stereo, boom-box, etc.
  
• Embraces the open source community.
  
• Stands behind a social contract
  

Re:Get a Neuros

[PhoenixK7]

You forgot something.

• Big and honking

Re:Get a Neuros

[ZackSchil]

Does not play iTMS DRMed files
Costs the same amount as the iPod ($399, 20GB Models)
Is larger and heavier than the iPod: 5.3" x 3.1" x 1.3", 9.4 oz. vs 4.1" x 2.4" x .62", 5.6oz.
Cannot use Firewire or USB 2.0 without a special "backpack" (iPod uses a USB/2.0 adaptor kit to translate pins)
Not nearly as good looking
Difficult syncing
No smart playlists
No Mac support

Your average listener does not have any OGG Vorbis files. The FM transmitter and tuner sound cool but not cool enough. Apple will add voice recording to the iPod with a firmware update, the hardware to do so is already in place. This player sounds cool but it's by no means at all an iPod killer. Has any one out there actually used one as well as an iPod? How do their features compare? Ease of use?

The "insert technology here" ready con

[Midnight Thunder]

A number of computer manufacturers are using the marketing con, of "'insert technology name here' ready". For example "bluetooth ready". In most cases taking a closer look at the specifications reveals that the computer does not come with the technology mentioned, but simply has a slot that will accept the device. So in the case of the iMac, you are going to have to buy the bluetooth card, unless it says something like 'bluetooth included'. I know of a couple of friends being caught on this one.

Just a thought...

[raptor21]

Assuming that a Apple user only downloads songs legally through iTunes MS.

The 40GB ipod would hold $10,000 dollars worth of songs. That's a little too much change to be carrying around in you pocket don't you think. You could get mugged for that kinda dough.

Mugger: hand me you wallet.... no wait, Say, that's one of em new 40GB iPods ain't it, whats that iPod worth.
Guy being mugged: I'd say about 5 grand, it's only half full.
Mugger: Screw the wallet, hand me that iPod.

Re:Just a thought...

[Damek]

No, it makes perfect sense. Most open source advocates are just tired of being involved with a system where the big players don't play fair. Microsoft routinely cheats and lies. They are a convicted monopolist. Perhaps Apple just hasn't had the opportunity yet, but they don't regularly cheat and lie. They sell proprietary software, but they are generally nice and fair in their business dealings. There's little (if any) reason to dislike them like Microsoft.

Just because Company A and Company B both sell proprietary software, this does not make them same in every respect.

Heck, Apple even makes use of open source software and plays fair with open source programmers.

I can't really comment on the lesbians you've been around, except to suggest that perhaps they weren't really lesbians, but instead "adult performers" only claiming to like other women to get you to pay them more.

Re:Just a thought...

[mrpuffypants]

And imagine how much more the robber could get if all that music was bought on CDs?

About $35

[2nd Post!]

It'll cost you about $35 to add FM capability to your iPod.

Re:I want a NVRAM iPod

[Microlith]

Not when said NVRAM devices still cost several times more per MB than a hard drive does.

Apple can cram 40GB into this device for far less than it'd cost for an NVRAM device of the same capacity.

Current iPod models are Amazon #1 #2 #3

[afantee]

In fact, there are 8 iPods in the top 20 best sellers. The question is would the new models kick the competitions out of the top 10 altogether.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t g/browse/-/300330/ref=br_bx_c_1_5/002-8192629-3045 663

Re:Video iPod

[IM6100]

Why not big internal speakers and a permanently attached subwoofer?

Heck, each unit could ship on it's own pallet.

Re:Headless slashdot poster...

[ErnstKompressor]

'Do you feel better now'

No, I don't really feel better...I can't express the depths of my dislike for those who feel the need to endlessly disparage my choice of computing platform...

This is a heartfelt plea...I have dealt with morons like the parent poster for over a decade. It never ends. I don't know what drives these people(or is it you?) to perpetually carp on about us 'Mac-Heads'...I have never gone out of my way to insult linux-users or Windows-users and have only done so sparingly, in response to trolls. How insecure is the rest of the computing population that they feel compelled to ridicule people who choose to use a Mac -- insulting them at every turn, and then accusing them of being elitist or some other B.S.

I use a Mac because I get my work done -- regardless of what it cost me...and that is my choice -- and a good one that has clothed, fed, and housed my family for many years in the past, and many years to come.

What part of the fabric of society has frayed to the point that abuse of a minority is fashionable...Grow up, back off, and let's just try to get along somewhere in the middle.

Thank you for listening...

When the iPod will come with bluetooth or WIFI?

[javatips]

Instead of increasing the disk capacity of the iPods, they should include bluetooth or WIFI.

This would allow one to listen to live stream with their iPod. This could also be used to use the iPod as the computer headset so you can ear the system sounds while listening to your music.

Another use (which the RIAA would certainly not approve) would be to allow one to stream it's music to somebody else (make it to one device at a time with not recording feature, so the "industry" is not to grumpy about it) listen to ones tracks.

Accessory?

[Swannie]

Does anyone else find it funny that apple lists a VW New Beetle as an iPod accessory? Wait until I tell my wife...

Wow!

[dacetone]

Anyone else notice that the new iMac configurations are shipping with Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4? Right on.

Those who live in Mac houses...

[Zhe Mappel]

Owning the Mac does put you in a statistical minority, to be sure, but taking some barbs from PC owners shouldn't be compared with something important like racism or sexism. Pleading you're discriminated against because someone doesn't like your computer and forecasting the end of society is going too far, my friend.

It's especially unfortunate that you don't like being called an elitist, when everything from Apple's ads to pricing is pitched at elites. You don't think it's the Volkswagon Beetle of computers, now, do you? (I'm referring to the cheap VW Bug of yesterday, obviously, not the expensive mutation built today for elites--and featuring an iPod deal right now, LOL!)

I bought my Mac for various reasons, and people can think whatever they please. But one thing is certain: Apple designs and markets its machines for a niche audience, not for Everyperson, and that strategy invites invidious response just as all expensive goods do. Why pretend otherwise?