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Apple Creates new iPod and Macintosh Divisions
KH2002 writes "According to a New York Times/Reuters report, Apple is creating a separate division for the iPod. Apple Senior VP Hardware Engineering, Jon Rubenstein, will head the iPod division, and Executive VP of Worldwide Sales and Operations Tim Cook will lead the Mac division. The report quotes a spokesman as saying, 'This organizational refinement will focus our talent and resources even more precisely on our industry-leading Macintosh computers and the wildly successful iPod.'"
What I'm hoping will happen with the iPod division will be that they will start making their own iPod accessories. What I really want is a car head unit that has a slot that one just pops the iPod into. Current iPod adapter solutions are all crap and don't measure up to Apple design standards.
If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
Besides moolah. When I read this report I thought it may be a response to Apple Records pressure and a preemptive action to divorce the music selling business the content creation side of the equation.
As nice as it is, the iPod is pretty much a one-trick pony. Do you really think Apple could sustain itself on the (relatively small) profit margins of the iPod alone? Additionally, iTunes and the iTMS are presumeably staying in the Mac division.
Dunno why you'd presume that.
Also, the new division may be responsible for other one-trick-pony devices, should Apple decide to market them.
The thing that I find the most notable about this is that Jon Rubinstein (not going to check the spelling, sorry) is the guy that everyone lauds for the iMac, the tiBook & the alBook, the cheesegrater, and the iPod's excellent design. You'll note how four out of those five items are Macintoshes and not tiny consumer electronic devices.
Was Jon a figurehead, will he still be involved in Mac hardware design, or does this mean that we'll be seeing lamer (maybe just different) design for the next generation of Mac enclosures?
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
converting from one lossy format to another is a horrible solutions, if a solution at all. It's a kludge, and a pretty bad one, too.
It would be relatively trivial for apple to implement support for other codecs, given that their code doesn't look like dogshit. I'm pretty sure it's not a technical decision, but rather a purely political one.
Jeff Raskin can take a hike as far as I'm concerned.
Apple should still be listening to Tog he has some good ideas.
I agree. I don't think we'll see much more (successful) convergence until there is a paradigm shift in user interfaces.
I'm thinking along the lines of having a 'convergent device' in my pocket (no, I'm not just happy to see you), with wireless technology feeding images to me through glasses or similar technology, with voice recognition, hand gesture recognition, etc (perhaps built into the glasses).
"Search engine. How do I get to Target from here?"
[Device looks up mapquest directions, map displays on HUD w/directions]
"Phone. Call Dave Jones."
[Phone dials, microphone and earphones are built into your glasses.]
"Calendar. Remind me. December 7, 1941 12PM. A date that will live in something something..."
[Calendar alarm is added to your schedule.]
"Take a memo. Subject: Convergent devices. Here are some more ideas for convergent device user interfaces..."
[New memo is created.]
"Camera. Pic."
[Camera built into glasses takes a picture.]
"Music. Shuffle. Dave Matthews Band."
[Device starts playing music, channeled to your earphones built into the glasses.]
Only problem with this thing is everyone will be wearing glasses. It's either that or implants.
Ironically, the word ironically is often used incorrectly.