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New iPod Design Pictures Leak

Brian Hoyt writes "Apple's new iPod design will be announced Monday. A cover picture depicting the new design from Newsweek has been discovered early. MacRumors broke the story - MacRumors and more specifically the cover itself - NewsWeek"

126 of 501 comments (clear)

  1. New Design: by Oculus+Habent · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's not a big stretch from the iPod Mini to the design shown in the picture. I'm pleased with the new design... kind of back to it's roots.

    My biggest problem with the previous design is the unapparent secondary button function. When the buttons are arranged around the wheel, the special combinations (Menu & Play/Pause to reset) make a fair sight more sense. Holding Menu for the backlight is especially obscure. I discovered this intuitively on my Original iPod - all of the buttons on the Original had an important Continuous Press function before the first several updates that gave us a new time search for the songs. My friend didn't know about the Menu Backlight - he used the automatic backlight - until I told him with his 30g. He's not stupid by any means, there just wasn't any reason that the second button over would also be a special Backlight control.

    --
    That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
    1. Re:New Design: by SpooForBrains · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What, did you or your friend ... you know ... RTFM? :)

      Seriously though, the first thing I do when I get a new piece of kit is read the manual front to back. Usually on the loo, but that bit's not essential.

      --
      "The dew has clearly fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning"
    2. Re:New Design: by Oculus+Habent · · Score: 5, Informative
      Link to the Newsweek article. The one at MacRumors isn't quite working.

      Highlights:

      • Click Wheel
      • 12-hour playtime
      • Multiple on-the-go Playlists
      • Delete songs from OTG Playlists
      • Audiobook tempo adjustment
      • No more 15 gig model
      • $100 Cheaper

      Speculations:

      • Uses the same processor as the iPod Mini.
      • There will be a 60gig iPod to fill the top price slot later.
      --
      That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
    3. Re:New Design: by MrBoombasticfantasti · · Score: 3, Insightful
      I'm pleased with the new design... kind of back to it's roots.

      I, for one, do NOT welcome our wheel-clicking overlords. Normally I use my iPod without really looking at it: while driving (car or bicycle) or without getting it out of my coat pocket (to avoid getting too much attention of thugs).

      By having separate buttons and wheel there is almost no clicky-where-no-clicky-was-intended. With this new old approach this is no longer working.

      While I can understand that Steve wants everybody to rejoice the iPod in the open, I prefer mine hidden.

      After all, it's mine! Mine! My preciousss!

      --
      !ERR: Signature not found.
    4. Re:New Design: by lpontiac · · Score: 3, Informative
      My friend didn't know about the Menu Backlight - he used the automatic backlight - until I told him with his 30g.

      I read about it in the manual. The manual wasn't massive - just a little 16-small-page leaflet.

    5. Re:New Design: by CrackedButter · · Score: 5, Informative

      Thats where you pull that odd shiny device back out of the box and connect it between the ipod and the headphones, the remote.

    6. Re:New Design: by Talez · · Score: 5, Informative

      While I appreciate your concern and I've only used a mini at the store, there is no way you can press the click wheel accidentally.

      You have to apply quite a bit of pressure. It's quite a stiff, tactile click.

    7. Re:New Design: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      How true.

      Where I work, we had a Rio on the shelf for about 9 months. I bought it on colse-out (w/ employee discount). When I opened it, it worked without charging! When I took it out of the drawer 6 months later - it STILL worked! In fact, it has never been charged. I assume it still has some charge left now. I should really put it up on eBay.

      That's unlike my iPod, which I charge EVERY day.

    8. Re:New Design: by Pfhor · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well, part of how the ipod is so fast is that itunes actually generates the file database on its end for the ipod. There is a specific file structure on the ipod that is meant to streamline the listening experience. Instead of having ot read file names with long extensions, possibly none english characters, all of that information is stored in a database and the song files are give just a number.

      You can get yourself an Archos which you can just drop mp3s onto and play it back that way, but the battery life from my experience is shorter, its bulkier, and it still takes a while just to browse the disk for files. Also, the ipod has two processors, one for audio playback and one for the gui. So it makes sense that apple would make as simple streamlined file structure that the gui processor can feed to the audio playback (ie, user selects to play "Bob Marley - No Woman.mp3" and the gui system feeds /1234/456/32.mp3 to the audio processor).

      Its ingeniously simple: why make processor on the ipod built for effeciency have to do all this directory / database management (althou the 3g ones do this now) when you can get a desktop computer to do it in a snap.

      And i believe there are third party programs out there which you can mount on the ipods "data share" that will easily let you drag and drop files back and forth from the playable section of your ipod.

    9. Re:New Design: by Apaturia · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Just curious: did you even TRY iTunes?

    10. Re:New Design: by Pirogoeth · · Score: 5, Funny

      I agree. I've felt the same way about OpenOffice. I've got a dictionary sitting above my desk. Why should I have to load up a bunch of well-designed software to do what I want to get done? My computer should be able figure out what words I want and arrange them for me automatically.

      Don't even get me started on the spreadsheet...

      --
      Happiness is like peeing yourself. Everybody can see it but only you can feel its warmth.
    11. Re:New Design: by Anonymous+Writer · · Score: 2, Informative

      Normally I use my iPod without really looking at it: while driving (car or bicycle) or without getting it out of my coat pocket (to avoid getting too much attention of thugs).

      There's an iPod Jacket specially designed with controls on the sleeve, so you don't have to pull it out of your jacket to access the controls. And if you use it while driving, well then you can get an Alpine system or a BMW that works with it! Ofcourse, with the money you'd be spending, you could simply hire a live band to follow you around.

    12. Re:New Design: by sockonafish · · Score: 2, Informative

      Go grab a copy of Anapod Explorer from http://www.redchairsoftware.com/. If you value drag and drop functionality (and among other things, using your iPod for Shoutcast streaming) that much you can pay Red Chair the $25 they're asking for their awesome software. I bought Dudebox for my Dell DJ, its a great product.

      iTunes doesn't DRM your existing mp3 collection, its just as free as anything else. It just happens to be not so great on Windows cause it's not integrated so well with everything else as it is on the Mac.

      Oh yeah, anyone wanna buy a Dell DJ?

    13. Re:New Design: by Jesus_666 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You know, I'm quite happy with my little iPod look-alike.
      So it does not have gigabytes of storage space or multiple playlists. I don't need that, I'm quite happy with my 128 MiB CF card (accessible as a standard USB storage device) and one playlist. And with the fact that sometime people ask me whether the thing was an iPod.
      Not bad for a product I bought used for just about 30 bucks.

      Now if they only would get the promised OGG support working...

      --
      USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
    14. Re:New Design: by Pfhor · · Score: 4, Informative

      You can get a new 2000mAh battery for that model if you want to drop $90 on it.
      Various iPod batteries
      I may pick one up myself for this 2G i just got from my sister (first ipod owner too, im such a nerd but I can't afford to buy one myself).

    15. Re:New Design: by pediddle · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If that's true then it will be far better than the current design, where the slightest touch by a conductive material will activate the buttons. I can't even put my 3G iPod in my pocket without its case because the skin on my thigh clicks the buttons through my pants!

      Not that I don't love my iPod. But normally I just have to keep it in the case and use the remote. I long for some tactile buttons.

    16. Re:New Design: by ischorr · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Er, the only manual I got with my G4 or G5 was a big, shiny, 12-page "How-to-use" document that described virtually nothing. Considering OS X's help system still stinks, users really don't have much in the way of good documentation for new systems. I'd have to disagree that "Apple's manually are usually very good", that's why the "Missing Manual" series has been such a success.

      The iPod's documentation was pretty sparse too, though I'd have to admit that it did cover nearly everything I'd want to know as a "normal" (non-hacking) end user...

    17. Re:New Design: by tyrione · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yeah you know those MP3 Decoder Chips you can't seem to find? Try looking in your DVD player that supports MP3 on the fly.

      DVD Player Market is separate from the portable MP3 player market and millions upon millions of MP3 Decoder chips are in standard DVD home entertainment units.

      HVAC Systems for commerical and home use aren't in the same market as automobile A/C units but you get the point.

    18. Re:New Design: by afidel · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There are TONS of open source iPod file loaders. Part of the reason the iPod works so well is the file database, since people figured out the format within about a month of the initial iPod's launch I wouldn't be too worried about losing the ability to use your iPod.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    19. Re:New Design: by Necr0maN · · Score: 2, Funny

      any self-respecting techie instantly ditches the manual and goes messing around with the device right away.

    20. Re:New Design: by pmcc · · Score: 2, Informative

      That's what the handy little switch on top labelled "Hold" is for, so that very thing doesn't happen. :)

    21. Re:New Design: by Jord · · Score: 4, Informative

      You read wrong. Apple's market share on portable players is based on units sold. Review the keynote at the WWDC for confirmation.

    22. Re:New Design: by sootman · · Score: 2, Informative

      Correct. I was at the WWDC keynote and specifically remember Jobs saying "iPod has X% of the market measured in units... even more when measured in revenue." OK, OK, so I forget the exact percentage, but it was well over 50 (70%?) and I got a good chuckle out of that at the time--IOW, "we have most of the market *and* we've got higher margins than everyone else."

      watch the keynote for the exact figures & quote.
      http://stream.apple.akadns.net/

      --
      Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
    23. Re:New Design: by chromaphobic · · Score: 2, Funny

      That thing looks like an iPod in the same way that Rosie O'Donnell looks like Jennifer Garner. :)

      But, as long as it does what you need it to do, who cares really?

  2. Awww crap by NetCAM · · Score: 4, Funny

    Makes me wish I didnt just buy a 40gig iPod in Ginza. Damn damn damn

  3. features by the_unknown_soldier · · Score: 2, Informative

    the site is down, but the article has all the new features http://dogmatic.typepad.com/ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5457434/site/newsweek/ if it ever comes back up... it looks nice, cheaper longer battery etc. no 60 gig promised by toshiba though

  4. close up by catwh0re · · Score: 5, Informative

    i'm sure this is going to flood someone badly, but here is a close up http://www.spymac.com/upload/gallery/f_0/user_117/ medium/upload_200466.jpg

    1. Re:close up by catwh0re · · Score: 3, Informative

      It looks like spymac.com block referred URLs, copy/paste into a new browser window to get the image.

    2. Re:close up by Patik · · Score: 2, Informative

      They're checking referers, so make sure you browse to the homepage, then paste in the image URL, and it will work.

    3. Re:close up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's entirely faked by the owner of http://www.danamania.com/gallery/vhacks/

      THe origenal picture on the newsweek cover is real but the backlit one was done by this photoshop editor

    4. Re:close up by btrapp · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, because all my mp3s sound really crappy in black and white...

    5. Re:close up by catwh0re · · Score: 5, Insightful
      The thickness and power requirements of a colour screen make it a poor choice for a device that is designed to play music. What use is colour? Perhaps some minimal labelling or to flitter visualisations at me here and there?
      When you see people using their iPods, the behaviour is that the interface lets them choose music quickly, with little/or no need to look at the screen after this.

      A colour screen would be nothing more than an eyecandy waste.
      Reality is most of an iPod's life is to live in someone's pocket. Apple realise this, moving the buttons back to a previous arrangement where a user does not need to look at the iPod to press each button, which was a common UI issue with the former generation iPod.

    6. Re:close up by timbloom · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Another, probably most important, drawback to a color screen is that it is very difficult to read in daylight. Since many people use iPods outside, it would probably be very frustrating.

  5. no anodized metal? by BobWeiner · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The only signifcant drawback to the current material used in the regular iPod is its tendency to pick up scratches/fingerprints on its back.

    I was also hoping that the new iPod would have an easy-access compartment for replacing batteries.

    Still, looks interesting. May have to break down and get the 20GB model...

    --
    The PC Weenies: 11 Years of Online Tech 'Too
    1. Re:no anodized metal? by jomas1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Although I have not really heard any complaints about scratches on the ipod mini, anodized metal scratches too. People who don't understand anodizing often complain that the paint on their Sony Clies is coming off even though the Clies are made with anodized magnesium. Anodized metal is better than paint because you can buff the scrathches out to some extent but people who like to whine will still do so.

  6. Nice one. by Reverant · · Score: 2, Informative

    I had a gen 3 iPod. I was very pleased with it, but the 10GB I had was somewhat limiting, considering that my music is at a mere 12-14GB in the last 3 years. So I sold mine, which was very scratched, and I'm now waiting for the new 20GB model. What I really like, is the mini's jog dial/key combo. It works REALLY well, I've tried it first-hand and I could really say that it's the only thing I would really want the gen 3 iPod to have.

    1. Re:Nice one. by psergiu · · Score: 2, Funny
      > So I sold mine, which was very scratched,

      I will not buy this iPod, it is scratched.

      --
      1% APY, No fees, Online Bank https://captl1.co/2uIErYq Don't let your $$$ sit in a no-interest acct.
  7. I am very pleased. by samrolken · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I always thought that the radial design of the 1G and 2G iPods was superior to the "row of buttons" of the 3G iPod. I thought that the iPod mini was even better with the combining of the wheel and the buttons.

    Another notable difference here is the darker buttons. I've yet to decide if that's a good or bad thing, as far as design goes. What do you people think?

    --
    samrolken
  8. Price drop? by Flyboy+Connor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hopefully the sale of a new iPod will make the price of the older versions drop considerably. I really want one, but I think they currently are ridiculously overpriced. Especially here in the Old World. Is a 15Gb iPod for 100 euros too much to ask?

    1. Re:Price drop? by super+awesome · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The new ones are supposed to be priced lower than the current models, so you might be able to pick one of the new models up. And if not, the introduction of the new iPods will dramatically drive down the price of the 3G ones.

      --

      m y k a r m a i s m o r e p o s i t i v e t h a n y o u r s.
    2. Re:Price drop? by Rhone · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I got the impression that by "overpriced" he really meant "more money than I can reasonably afford." It's not like he was making some thorough criticism of the iPod's cost/value ratio in comparison to other mp3 players or something.

    3. Re:Price drop? by cryptochrome · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Unfortunately, due to the way hard drives are constructed, the major part of the cost is the base cost of the hard drive mechanics. Using multiple platters (the actually disks) for large capacity costs relatively little in comparison; using denser platters raises cost virtually not at all. Thus small hard drives still cost a lot, and larger ones cost only marginally more, and the cost of the cheapest models never really drops even as capacity increases. Likewise, the cost of the rest of the iPod electronics is exactly the same for all same generation models.

      I've been waiting for my magic price point, $200, for some time now. I'm probably going to keep waiting.

      --

      ---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?

    4. Re:Price drop? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you take a look at the Apple quarterly earnings you will find that this is not true. Their profit is relatively small (something like 60 million on 2 billion sales or about 3%.) If they cut the price of their products in half (as you suggest) they would no longer make a 3% profit, they would make about a 47% loss.

      The margin on Apple products is said to be somewhere in the range of 20 to 30%. However, that money goes into R&D, advertising, and other business overhead. The 3% profit is what is left over after all of that. So, if they were to stop advertising, stop all R&D work, and fire as many employees as possible, they could sell the iPod for maybe 25% less. Somehow that doesn't seem like a valid option.

      Is there a way to reduce cost? Probably. They could invest R&D money into reducing cost but what this likely means is 1) design a custom ASIC that has the CPU, LCD drivers, USB/1394 interfaces, and *hard drive control* circuits all on a single chip and thereby 2) attach the hard drive heads, servo, and spindle motor directly to that custom chip. (In other words, eliminate the extra controller circuit board that normally comes as part of an "off the shelf" hard drive and truly make the hard drive part of the iPod custom circuitry.) There are certainly undesirable aspects of this approach - for example, it becomes much more difficult to increase the device storage capacity as you have essentially taken on the R&D that would normally be done by a hard drive manufacturer.

      I think it is much better to spend the R&D money on enhancing the device in other ways.

    5. Re:Price drop? by Blondie-Wan · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Not to mention they already do just fine selling them at the prices they sell them at now; hell, they're selling the minis about as quickly as they can make them, and they're backordered up the wazoo. At the current "overpricing," demand still exceeds supply. Apple has no incentive whatsoever to lower the price to what Flyboy and the AC want to pay.

  9. Repeat of the iMac leak? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    When the last big rev of the iMac got released (flat screen), Time mag. leaked all the details something like 12 hours before Steve officially intro'd it. Obviously, Jobs had a cow over it -- they stole his thunder!

    I wonder if Newsweek just pulled the same stunt by mistake?

    Man, I just would not want to be anywhere near Steve Jobs right now...

    1. Re:Repeat of the iMac leak? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'd never want to be anywhere near Steve Jobs.

    2. Re:Repeat of the iMac leak? by Anm · · Score: 3, Insightful

      My gut tells me this is Jobs's way of getting back at Time. Newsweek is their major competitor anyway. And I don't know of any talks he's giving anytime soon; both Apple world wide developer's con and Macworld Boston both just finished.

      Anm

    3. Re:Repeat of the iMac leak? by AndroidCat · · Score: 5, Funny

      A reality distortion field strength of 1.0 Jobs can be hazardous to your health. However, experts disagree on the long-term effects or danger from background micro- or pico-Jobs fields.

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    4. Re:Repeat of the iMac leak? by Lars+T. · · Score: 3, Funny

      I wonder how Steve manages to manage two companies, when his life is filled with his vendettas against anyone who ever pissed him off.

      --

      Lars T.

      To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

  10. Re:Has anyone heard anything? by plj · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Hopefully larger battery! I don't have an iPod... but I wouldn't be surprised, if I one day decide to buy one. Still, the batteries of the current models seem to last only about some eight hours, which isn't really that much.

    --
    “Wait for Hurd if you want something real” –Linus
  11. Leaked Article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative
  12. Dang! by Some+guy+named+Chris · · Score: 4, Funny

    The only problem with Apple is that I lust after them.

    Now, my 40GB iPod is obsolete! I must have the yellow one.

  13. Re:Haven't we had enough of these ipod stories ? by catwh0re · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I think this article legitimately makes it to the front page.
    The reason for that is, slashdot is about technology, the iPod happens to be an example of technology that has become a growing cultural icon.
    When the three headlines for a huge publication are "9/11", "Iraq", and "iPod", with the "iPod" leading. It's almost surprising that slashdot doesn't have _more_ articles about it.

    Despite the lack of significance (it is, after all, simply a music player), there are many surrounding wider effects that have come from it, and this is where the publicity is deserved.

  14. Macteens (!) beat them to it by rschroeder · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, Looks like Macteens beat them.

  15. Photoshop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Is it just me, or does that iPod look photoshopped in? At first glance, there is something screwy with it. On closer inspection of the headphone cables, look at the one on the right just before it reaches the ear. A little chunk is taken out, probably from a bad masking job. The earpiece looks like its in at the wrong angle, and the wire is supposed to be shadowed. The thumb holding the iPod is also several pixels past the edge, meaning that either the thumb is cupping the iPod, the iPod is inside of the thumb, or that the iPod was put in.

    1. Re:Photoshop by 3vi1 · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's just you. Thumbs are soft, they wrap around leading edges of things you're holding, if they are positioned on the edge. You're also assuming the cables are perfectly round, but these things get pinched and twisted all the time.

      I think it's hilarious that you think they put the iPod in the picture, but didn't just add the whole hand. You think they just have some recent stock pics of Steve Jobs holding his hand like that?

    2. Re:Photoshop by shyfabian · · Score: 2, Insightful

      indeed it may very well have been. the depth of field does seem a bit wonky and the ipod itself should have some light gradation considering the light source on Mr. Jobs. If nothing else I'm fairly sure that the ipod screen has been enchanced using photoshop, as is the style of the time.

  16. Out of the ordinary by Xemu · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Apple's marketing department is the best. Not many vendors can get their products announced to the target audience before they officially exist, but Apple keep making front page news on slashdot. Here most of the readership are in their teens and thus are a perfect match the products intended demographics. It's marked up as news and not as the ad it really is. This is a marketers wet dream.

    Best of all, you don't even realize your strings are being pulled. You think you're outsmarting Apple and reading something they don't want you to read.

    --
    Tell your friends about xenu.net
    1. Re:Out of the ordinary by Pope · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Apparently you haven't been reading Nvidia's, ATI's or Intel's press releases :)

      --
      It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
    2. Re:Out of the ordinary by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Apple's marketing department is the best. Not many vendors can get their products announced to the target audience before they officially exist, but Apple keep making front page news on slashdot.

      I wonder how much it has to do with marketing in certain cases and instead with the shear enthusiasim of the the customers? For example are there AppleInsider.com or macrumors.com equivalents for other stuff such as Microsoft, Dell, HP, etc?

      Few companies in the IT world provide a line of products where people are willing to cut off their arm to find out what's coming next. Its like people expect Christmas from Apple.

      --
      Jumpstart the tartan drive.
    3. Re:Out of the ordinary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...are there AppleInsider.com or macrumors.com equivalents for other stuff such as Microsoft, Dell, HP, etc?

      Of course. You can find scoops on future Dell products here.

  17. Re:Never going to buy one by catwh0re · · Score: 5, Informative
    To address some points you've made:

    The sensible (and arguably the best) method of putting tracks on it is iTunes, even when music match for the PC was responsible for this, it too did a fine job. iTunes is available for Windows & Mac, linux programmers have also created similar music syncing software.

    To address your format concerns, the iPod plays AIFF, WAV, MP3, Audiobooks and AAC. The first three of those are DRM free. Additionally the rights management on AAC is hardly limiting, the rights are static and unable to be changed by a 3rd party over time.

    The price argument is negotiable, with 3Million sales, it couldn't be too limiting a price.

  18. Re:Has anyone heard anything? by Belgand · · Score: 3, Informative

    That eight hours is only for perfect use and just like birth control perfect use is rarely what you end up with.

    In reality the iPod (and I'm talking about the 2G here) tends to last around 4-6 hours depending on use. I personally keep mine on shuffle and skip through songs at a rate of perhaps one skip for every 5 songs or so. This gives me about this range of total battery power. This is all because the only way it gets 8 hours out of the battery is by spinning the hard drive up as little as possible and instead only feeding data into the cache every 20 minutes or so. Thus the often erroneous claim of 20 minutes of skip protection, in particular if the hard drive is set to spin again there is absolutely no skip protection in my experience. Anything you do to make the hard drive spin up (e.g. skip songs, thus running through the buffer faster, randomize songs, etc.) will lower your listening time.

    Don't forget that it constantly loses power (albeit in a low-power sleep state) no matter what you do as there is no way to turn it off. I doubt this is ever a significant factor although you'll probably find it dead or close after a week or so without charging.

    Overall though the battery is, I've found, good enough that if you start fully charged in the morning you can carry it around all day without incident.

  19. Re:Haven't we had enough of these ipod stories ? by psergiu · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's because of the small i at the beginning.
    Iran & Iraq should change their country names in iRan & iRaq to get more leading headlines.

    --
    1% APY, No fees, Online Bank https://captl1.co/2uIErYq Don't let your $$$ sit in a no-interest acct.
  20. Or... by Kjella · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...use Privoxy with referrer-spoofing. Any link I click to www.domain.com/foo/bar.html, has a referrer of "www.domain.com", no matter where I came from. Works with every site I know of. I consider it the same way as pop-ups. It was a privilidge, you abused it, I revoked it. No referrers for anyone.

    Kjella

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  21. Re:One can only hope that it features Bluetooth by Oculus+Habent · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not a chance. Wireless technology would mean the death of battery life. Also, few people would be accepting of a separate technology to sync contancs and notes, especially at the cost of battery life. The addition is hardly needed, either. Most people don't sync from multiple computers so removing the "inconvenience" of having to place the iPod in the Dock - virtually no work - just isn't worth the additional price (or reduced profit) and confusion for the user.

    --
    That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
  22. Re:Hold your horses... by FosterKanig · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I am so confused as to what you are talking about. Are you saying the story isn't true? Are you implying that someone hacked into Newsweek's site and posted 6 fake pages with pictures about the new iPod? Jackass.

  23. Re:Never going to buy one by Xenna · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I agree with your first two arguments.

    I got myself an iRiver H140 this week.

    It addresses your two arguments:

    - Normal USB harddisk that has actual MP3 files on it so you can easily hack up your own tools under any OS. You can also copy the tracks off it.
    - mp3, ogg, wma, asf support

    My main gripe is that it's interface just isn't very good. I can't stand the idea of someone putting up a millions-of-dollars production line to create excellent hardware and then put ill thought out software on it.

    If they'd hire me I'd make it two times better at the very least.

    Biggest problem: The shuffle option always shuffles in the same way. What idiot thought of that gem?

    IMHO 5000+ songs are just begging for a good shuffle!

    That and their marketing which sucks compared to Apple. If they get their act together on that as well as on the software front they could really start competing.

    And competition is good...

  24. What about accessories? by Belgand · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm certainly curious about what this means to the market for iPod accessories. When the 3G came out third-party manufacturers immediately dropped support for 1G and 2G iPods in most cases. Apple as well decided to more or less drop support of the older models up to and including the lack of firmware updates to provide many of the same features as present in the new models (I am told that it would be possible to add such things as on the go playlists and such, but Apple merely chooses not to). As the owner of a 2G I was, of course, upset by the idea that my iPod no longer seemed to exist.

    While this design seems to be much more in line with the non-3G what with the return to the wheel as opposed to the independent buttons I'm curious as to where the compatibility will lie. Will earlier models suddenly be supported once again (probably unlikely, the wheel looks to be sized differently and the cutouts for the various ports are different, it might work as a kludge at best)? Will 3G-style products suddenly drop out of sight just like what happened when the design was last changed significantly?

    There are some valid questions here that I don't think Apple or many others are bothering to consider. Yes there are advantages to making improved designs, but Apple doesn't seem to be paying any attention to the benefits of a consistent design with only functional improvements.

    1. Re:What about accessories? by Moofie · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And the 3G iPod makes your 2G iPod inferior, how? It still solves the problem you bought it to solve.

      This is the computer industry. Get used to seeing betterfastercheaper weeks after you make a purchase. As it was in the beginning, it now and ever shall be.

      --
      Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
  25. Re:Deathwish by bcs_metacon.ca · · Score: 2, Informative

    Standard Apple fan behavior. We tend to go nuts over any minor change (and most changes to Apple products *are* very minor over the life of a particular model). And why not? Why mess with perfection? By definition, any change (minor or not), is an improvement on perfection... logically impossible, but always big news.

    --

    How appropriate. You fight like a cow.
  26. Steve's glasses by Astrorunner · · Score: 3, Funny

    I know its off topic, but damn... Steve's got some sweet glasses. I wonder where a guy gets a pair like that. Those are. by far. the coolest glasses I've seen. /four-eyes since six years old

    1. Re:Steve's glasses by nicwolff · · Score: 5, Informative

      Those are Kazuo Kawasaki frames - they are great, but mine cost about $600 with prescription lenses.

    2. Re:Steve's glasses by gmhowell · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yup, Steveo probably has some ultra expensive frames, but go to your local eyeglass shop with a picture of them, and they'll have certainly seen them. Even if they don't sell the name brand, there are plenty of knock offs available. I have a pair that I got last fall. Cost around $300, but I have those modern auto-darkening lenses, some extra anti-glare coating, and other stuff like that. Also, I've been in glasses since six, like you. Glasses are an every minute of every day thing for me. Since glasses should about two years or so, what's fifty cents per day? Nothing. Foregoing the special lens coatings and infusions, I think it would have been about $150 or so for a pair.

      The greatest benefit of the frames is that they are incredibly light. No, they aren't going to stop a hammer blow like some glasses I've had before, but that's what safety goggles are for:)

      Another poster mentioned how they might be fake. Maybe. But these are also very thin lenses, even with high strength prescriptions. Toss in the anti-glare, and there is little refraction. Throw in some good camera work, and you should have results like that magazine cover.

      Finally, there is one problem: the legs are not super stiff, so it is hard to put them on while wearing a full face helmet on a motorcycle. The legs want to bend around instead of going straight into place. A little practice though, and I figured out the technique.

      --
      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
    3. Re:Steve's glasses by Eric_Cartman_South_P · · Score: 5, Funny
      Those are. by far. the coolest glasses I've seen.

      Before you get some cool glasses, how about getting some commas? Here's a bunch for you, for free. Cut and paste as needed.

      ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

    4. Re:Steve's glasses by That's+Unpossible! · · Score: 4, Funny

      Before you get some cool glasses, how about getting some commas?

      He can't see! He thought those periods were commas, you insensitive clod!

      --
      Ironically, the word ironically is often used incorrectly.
  27. Re:Never going to buy one by BasilBrush · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes, and I think Apple have lost sales to all the other unemployed, Linux using, Ogg Vorbis fans. That's 14 sales lost right there! ;-)

  28. Re:Deathwish by FosterKanig · · Score: 5, Informative

    A lot of people will like the fact that it 100 dollars less. Some will like the 50% improvement in battery life. Others will dig the fact that you can have multiple on the go playlists. A couple will like the menu redesign. And a handful will like that you can speed up or slow down audio books, with no pitch distortion.

  29. Re:Never going to buy one by BasilBrush · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Why do something manually when iTunes does it for you. Just pop the iPod in the dock and you get all the same music on your iPod that you have on your computer. It doesn't get any more sensible or simpler than that.

    Copy and paste using a file broswer is what you do on the cleap and nasty MP3 players.

    One of the TV programs about gadgets did a test of 4 MP3 players this week. They had a newly ripped album on a PC, and they timed how long it took to plug the player in, get the tracks onto the MP3 player, disconnect, and play track 11. iPod was 50 secs. The nearest competitor was 1:50, the longest was 2:35. QED.

  30. A call for perspective by Jack+Auf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In the scope of all things, is it of any real importance that Apple has yet again changed the buttons on the iPod? I own several Macs and an iPod 3G and I couldn't care less.

    What does that say about our society when a fairly simple re-design of a product garners such attention? Is it really important? Does it make your life better somehow?

    Just get over yourselves.

    --
    "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" - BF
    1. Re:A call for perspective by Blondie-Wan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The cover story isn't actually about the new iPod; it's about the iPod phenomenon in general, and it's merely timed to coincide with the release of the latest model. The actual story doesn't even talk about the specs or features of the new model; it only mentions in one place buried deep in the article that there even are new models coming out, and it spends less than a sentence on that. The rest of the article discusses how Apple came to dominate this market, how it came up with the iPod in the first place, how the iPod has transcended the boundaries of a mere consumer product to become a fashion statement, way of life, etc., and so on. This article could just as easily have been written if there weren't new models coming out at all; the only things different would be a couple photos and one sentence.

  31. iBeard by jamesl · · Score: 5, Funny

    Steve needs to get a new iBlade for his iRazor.

  32. Re:Has anyone heard anything? by BenjyD · · Score: 4, Informative

    Surely running on shuffle can't use that much more power - all the iPod has to do is preselect the random songs, read them into cache and then spin down. It might need a bit more seeking, but that can't use that much power compared to spinning the disk.
    It's not like the iPod doesn't know what song it's going to randomly play next.

  33. Re:Eh... by BasilBrush · · Score: 2, Informative
    Here's the selling point: The 20GB and 40GB are $100 cheaper that before.

    But I suspect he's on the cover on Newsweek because of the success of the business model, and the great quarterly results the company turned it last week. Jobs and Apple's business model are the real story, not an evolutionary improvement to the design of the white iPod.

  34. Re:iPod purchase = vote for DRM by guet · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you were talking about the iTunes music store, you might have a point. As it is your post doesn't make any sense.

    The iPod does NOT require DRM, I don't know where you got that idea. You can play your music in multiple formats, the most widely used being MP3. It also plays DRMed music from the music store, if you choose to use that.

    If you want to get the music off it again, there are several apple scripts floating around to do it. The files are only hidden after all.

  35. Re:Haven't we had enough of these ipod stories ? by Refrag · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Xserve was going to be called the iRack until George started talking smack about Iraq.

    --
    I have a website. It's about Macs.
  36. Re:Personally prefer CF based players by BasilBrush · · Score: 4, Informative
    Erm... The 4GB "Compact Flash" drives that are available for a few hundred dollars have a mini HD in them, complete with moving parts, and that is in fact exactly what you will find in an iPod mini. To the extent that some people buy iPod minis to pull apart and use the CF card for photography.

    True 4GB CF cards with actual flash mamory and no moving parts costs >$1000.

  37. Re:Personally prefer CF based players by whitegold · · Score: 2, Informative

    No, the drive inside is a hard drive (with aforementioned moving parts). You're possibly thinking of the Microdrive Iomega sold (and I think were made by IBM) which, just like this, were a standard (though small) spinning platter, mounted and built in such a way as to connect to the CF format. Not the same thing.

    Kind of like those horribly expensive Ram Drive things are just large sticks of ram bunged into a format that means they can be attached like a hard drive. That doesn't MAKE them a hard drive. It's the same thing. Well... the exact opposite technically.

    *note: may be utterly wrong.

  38. Re:Deathwish by Matey-O · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Mostly because the iPod didn't have a whole lotta butotns in the FIRST place. How many devices do you have with buttons EVERYWHERE? (Digital Cameras come to mind...with cellphones a close second.)

    The fact the ipod's hitting it's 4th (5th if you count the mini) generation without a major overhaul of the ui shows how well designed it was in the first place.

    --
    "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
  39. Re:new iPod by Sophrosyne · · Score: 2, Informative

    It isnt just about a minor revision, it's a mix of things such as Apple's recent sale of 100,000,000 songs, the success of the ipod in general and the release of the new iPod...

  40. There are some details here. by mjj12 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Macobserver has a <a href="http://www.macobserver.com/article/2004/07/<nobr>1<wbr></wbr></nobr> 8.1.shtml"> few technical specs</a> of the new model. Apple claim that batterly life is improved by 50%, but I will believe that when I see it. The 20Gb model has been moved to the $299 price point, and the 40Gb model has been moved to the $399 price point, with the 15Gb model being phased out. My guess is that we will see a 60Gb model at the $499 price point when Apple is able to source a good number of the 60Gb 1.8" drives from Toshiba, but that's just a guess in my part.

  41. Re:new iPod by crawdad62 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't think the article has anything to do with the "new" iPod. I'm guessing it has more to do with Apple's dominance in portable music players.

    It's the Apple faithful that's freaking about the iPod itself.

  42. Re:has anyone actually handled one of these? by Chucker23N · · Score: 5, Informative

    Have you actually *tried* dropping them? iBooks look like they would break if you dropped them one inch, but mine never fussed a single time when I dropped it from my desk (about 5 feet) or my bed (about 3 feet).

  43. Re:A black faceplate by adzoox · · Score: 2, Informative

    Go to colorwarepc.com and have them paint it for you.

    OR

    you could just get a mini - I would imagine the colors will be mixed up a little bit in it's next generation.

    OR

    You could get a black exoskin for it.

    --
    Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
  44. Re:has anyone actually handled one of these? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yeah, I know, don't Feed the troll:

    I had a great Sony Walkman in highschool.

    Several in fact...

    It was a marvel of minaturized tech: when not loaded with a cassette it slid shut to a size smaller than a cassette! It was tiny and light, sounded great.

    It was also the most fragile piece of consumer tech I have ever owned.

    Which is why I had more than one... as it was constantly being replaced under warrany... mostly for drops less than 2 feet.

    And it cost a fair bit more than the second iPod i bought yesterday for my household. The first of which has taken a few spills and continues to function *JUST FINE* thank you.

    I suppose if you're referring to the low end of the Sony Walkman line intended to compete with the knockoffs, then yes... all that bulk and plastic and their very disposeable nature would lead one to consider hurling them at the pavement to test durability.

    Better... my ass.

  45. Re:Steve's glasses, faked? by PenguinOpus · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Looking closely at the picture and the size of the lenses, I'll bet that Steve has a fake pair of those just for photos. There appears to be little or no refraction at the edges and, even with 1.7 super high index of refraction material, you would see something.

    sig,
    (-6.5, -8.25)

  46. this didn't scoop a keynote or press event by johnpaul191 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    the LCD iMac leak was the day before MacWorld and Steve was going to pull the "one more thing" line and show everyone with the radical new design.

    there is no press conference or anything scheduled for this iPod. the Newsweek thing was THE official first notification. and i guess Apple will follow with emails and press releases. ThinkSecret.com was the first site to pick up on the new iPod with some solid information, and one thing they kept saying was that Apple would not be using a press event to show it off, just some unusual (for them) way to publically get the word out to the masses.

    ALSO there are rumors from the same sources that a revision to the iPod mini is coming in August. i guess it is known the manufacturer of the mini's drive has made a 6 gig drive (or has one one the way very very soon now?).

  47. Limp Bizkit? by HarbV7.0 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Limp Bizkit? I see they haven't implemented the "taste" or "talent" features yet?

  48. Re:freeipod.com - legit or scam? by generic-man · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's a pyramid scheme. They know that 99% of people will get a few friends to sign up, but not enough to earn an iPod. There are also lots of "mysterious reasons" why people get their order cancelled.

    Engadget did a little investigative reporting about freeipod.com.

    --
    For more information, click here.
  49. Re:Yes. by Flyboy+Connor · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Here in Europe the 15Gb iPod is about 450 euros, or more than $500. Remember that the salaries here are much lower than in the US, and the taxes much higher. So, to compare, I should ask you if you would think that $1000 for a 15Gb iPod is overpriced or not. I thought so.

  50. Re:Hold your horses... by gamgee5273 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Post, not the Times! It was the New York Post that got the VP selection wrong.

  51. Re:Battery issue? by 2nd+Post! · · Score: 4, Informative

    It costs $29-$49 to replace

    More here and here.

  52. Re:I keep hearing about this iPod thing... by 2nd+Post! · · Score: 2, Informative

    The hoopla is from several things:
    UI improvement
    Interface improvement
    50% more battery life
    $100 less

    And it isn't a 'modernized walkman', it's a miniaturized/portable 600 disc CD changer :)

  53. Re:freeipod.com - legit or scam? by cposs · · Score: 2, Informative

    From what I've seen, they're really tough on "referal fraud," that is, when you try to sign up under yourself to get your referals done quicker. Everyone on this board who's done it seems to have been caught, and even a few people who just had similar names as their referals (i.e. Sr/Jr).
    Anyway, the best way to do this is sign up for ancestry.com or AOL, then cancel the service during the free trial. For ancestry.com, you have to call an 800#, and they may make you call twice if you aren't insistant, but it's not hard. It does seem like a pyramid scheme, though, so beware (even though it seems like the site has been up a couple of month).
    Once you get your five referals to complete their offers, they check your info, which takes a week or so, then they let you order your ipod. You can either get a 15 gb, which ships in a week or so, or a mini, which takes an extra month. Be careful, though, because I have heard a personal report from someone claming that right after they signed up, someone used their credit card number to buy some expensive plane tickets, but I think the two are unrelated.
    The link to the forum I posted above has a "conga line" going for people who to refer each other and try to organize the process a bit. I've been siting at two completed for about a week, though, so I'll be a link whore, too.

  54. Re:Never going to buy one by nuxx · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And with that you just explained why most people buy iPods. Not to flame you, but most people don't care about support for anything beyond MP3 and "whatever iTMS uses". Most people also don't care about how the files are stored on the disk. Just the fact that an iPod can be used as a FW/USB external disk is good enough, although most people probably don't care about this either.

    So, yes, once again it comes down to the interface. You can easily use it with one hand while driving, walking, whatever, and it's just fairly intuitive.

  55. Re:Left Unsaid was: by phillymjs · · Score: 3, Informative

    Does it still use the dock?

    Almost certainly - now that 3rd-party products (like the BMW connector and Dension ICELink) are using that dock connector, Apple will most likely stick with it for some time-- and I believe it was designed with that in mind.

    Does is still use the same remote connector?

    Dunno, but probably.

    Will there be a "line in" dock?

    Doubtful, since the article makes no mention of built-in recording features. You still need a third-party accessory to record, so it would be up to one of those devices to allow line-in.

    Is the screen size the same?

    The screen size looks the same. The article says the 4G is a bit thinner, but that's apparently it in terms of form factor changes.

    Will the 3g iPod be upgradeable to some of the new features?

    Wouldn't surprise me at all, it certainly looks feasible. We'll probably get an iPod Firmware Update out of it to add some new features-- I'd guess that the 3G will probably get firmware revision 2.5, and the 4G's firmware will be called 3.0.

    If the powersavings is mostly done in software, will 3g iPods get more life with a firmware upgrade?

    It's certainly possible, and as a 3G owner, I'd love to see improved battery life in my exisiting unit though I have only run out of juice once in the year that I've had mine.

    ~Philly

  56. Obligatory Ogg Plug by GarfBond · · Score: 2, Informative
    But does it play ogg vorbis? :)

    Just to let everyone know, the Rio Karma's still alive and kickin', and so is the iRiver H series. Both play Ogg Vorbis files quite well (and as an owner of the former, I'm incredibly pleased with my purchase). IMHO, the Rio Karma's the closest so far towards a true ipod competitor (USB2/Ethernet, 20GB, easy menu system, easy syncing, MP3/OGG/WMA/FLAC), with the notable exception of USB2 not working on mac or linux yet (use the dock's ethernet connection to sync up).

    As an aside, an engineer from Rio (name changed in the article) posted his unofficial postulations on why the iPod has yet to materialize with Ogg support to Gizmodo. Essentially, his answer is that the processor originally used in the iPods just aren't powerful enough for it. There's also a rebuttal from a xiph.org guy, so I suspect the answer lies somewhere in the middle. In any case, if the 4g ipods use the same processor as the mini (looking likely) then Ogg support just might be coming yet, though Apple still may not do it for the same political reasons as before (mp3 good enough, aac just the same or better, blah blah blah)

    1. Re:Obligatory Ogg Plug by Meowing · · Score: 3, Informative

      At the 28 April iTunes anniversary conference call, Arik Hesseldahl from Forbes asked Teh Steve about that.

      Arik Hesseldahl: Had a small profit. OK. Any interest whatsoever, since in the open source OGG Vorbis format?

      Steve Jobs: We're certainly not getting any requests from customers for it.

      So, if support for that format is something that would make you buy and iPod, it might be a good idea to tell them!

    2. Re:Obligatory Ogg Plug by Meowing · · Score: 2, Informative
      I told them indirectly in a similar fashion as the parent poster: I bought an iRiver.
      The Economist recently published sales figures for the various HD and flash players -- the number of sales lost to iRiver is at the statistical noise level.

      Why this matters is interop. If most people can't make good use of your favorite format, you'll continue to see a limited amount of material available in that format. If you want to get the majority vendors' attention, flying under their radar doesn't accomplish much. That's why it's good to contact them.

  57. Re:Never going to buy one by xrissley · · Score: 3, Informative

    loops and hoops? Are you joking?

    Test one:
    have a cd, have an iPod:

    1) put cd in tray, close tray.
    2) let iTunes find CDDB data, then click import, let import happen.
    3) plug-in iPod.
    ( 3)a) let iTunes work its magic, no user assistance required ;-) )
    4) uplug ipod.

    Which one of these steps qualify as a hoop or a loop? Pray tell me.

    Test two:
    have mp3 in a folder on HD (or on a separate disk, if you friend just plugged in his USB disk-on-key to give you -illegally? ;-) - some mp3) and iPod

    1) locate mp3 files
    2) drag and drop these to iTunes window
    (which lets iTunes add them to its reference library, and if you set preferences so, copy them to its library folder too: better actually, if they are on removable media)
    3) plug in iPod
    ( 3)a) let iTunes work its magic )
    4) un-plug iPod

    Now, if you have an issue with that, I might have to lower my opinion on some of ./ readers.

    Some comments before flame arises:

    * If your ipod capacity is inferior to the volume of your music files, you will have to tweak iTunes magic, obviously.
    i.e. :
    1) either have it let you manually put music on said iPod, up to its capacity

    => annoying after a while... but no worse than managing files and mp3 player as a removable media (because you still have gained bonus as music is also available for iTunes to play and organise)

    2) or: create manual playlists, and only these will be set to update on ipod.
    - you then have to be sure you drag and drop the mp3 files to the playlist, not just iTunes library (step 2 is still one step, just asks you to be a bit more attentive)

    => slightly less annoying, but you have to remember to drag music to the playlist (and not to general library). Still, next time ipod is plugged in, magic works. Only downfall? don't overload the playlist and exceed iPod capacity. Or buy a bigger one

    3) or: create SMART playlists (on top of your manual fixed ones):
    for example, a playlist that tells iTunes that it will be made of the 100 latest new songs.

    => any new songs added to iTunes (step 2) will be copied to iPod (step 3a)

    * if you don't like iTunes for your mp3 (matter of taste, I let you off on this one), you might not like iPod either; so end of story.

    * Now for my personal opinion (above were just plain verifiable FACTS ) :
    The combination of iTunes+iPod gives you a solution where YOU have
    - ease of use (amazing music playing experience, brainless management of songs, easy and fast synch, etc)
    -, control (smart playlists, various settings to be found in prefs, like "import in XXX format, at XXX rate", or "let me / let iTunes organise my music library folders" and more)
    - elegance in the whole approach, and respect for the user (you easily learn to use it, and can do tons with it -burn audio / mp3 cds, organise party playlists, edit all MP3 tags of songs, one or many at once, add cover art, etc etc. AND it has been designed for intelligent people by intelligent people)

    Where were the loops and hoops again?

    Like any tool, it just requires to know its logic and how it works. But unlike most tools, this one is bloody simple.
    I reckon that iTunes is one of the simplest and most useful out there, and is taking a huge place in my life, by being so unobstrusice and useful...

    --
    =====
    I lie all the time, including now
  58. Here's the new features... by Swedentom · · Score: 3, Informative

    - Click wheel (like the iPod Mini)
    - A millimeter thinner
    - More efficient Menus
    - Multiple on-the-go playlists
    - Listen to audiobooks slower or 25 percent faster without affecting pitch
    - Longer play - 12 hours of battery life due to more power conservation
    - Lower price: 40GB - $399, 20GB $299 (no 15 gig model now)
    - Still white

    --
    Sig Nature
  59. Ah, the whine of the rationalizer by 5n3ak3rp1mp · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Wow, not only are you spouting falsities (nobody controls AAC, dude, and iTunes for Mac/Windows is a perfect way to manage the music on the thing), I really think you'd buy one if you could afford it, so you're just whining and rationalizing. Just continue to whine and don't ever get your hands on one, since you WILL want it.

    You sound like the married guy with the hot flirty secretary who keeps telling himself 5 exaggerated things wrong about her every day in order to stay minimally tempted.

  60. Re:I keep hearing about this iPod thing... by Paulrothrock · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Does a Walkman come with games? Can you sync your address book and calendar to it? Can you keep a bootable system on it in the event of a problem? Can you store and view text files on it? Can you upload digital pictures to it?

    It's so much more than a walkman. It's my fourth lobe. (My third being my Powerbook.)

    --
    I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
  61. Re:has anyone actually handled one of these? by Chucker23N · · Score: 3, Informative

    Got my iBook July 2002. It's a 12 inch 700 MHz Combo drive model (G3). The hard drive, a Toshiba MK2018GAS, died April this year. But it's not like I ever treated my laptop well - I wanted a machine I could use *anywhere* and that's exactly what I did. So yes, I *did* carry it around with the drive spinning. And I suppose that eventually caused the drive's quality to deteriorate (it first had lots of problems writing and reading data; then it would start getting so far that it couldn't find all of the kernel on the drive any more, and that's when I realized booting from an emergency Linux CD might be a good idea to do backups.)

    Replaced it upon others' advice with a Hitachi HTS548060M9AT00 (i.e. a Travel Star with 60 GB). Note that you lose any kind of warranty by replacing a hard drive, and that it's everything but easy.

    Also upped RAM, first to 384 Megs, then to 640 Megs. It makes a huge difference. You don't want to use OS X with anything less than 384 Megs, but it won't be a *joy* with anything less than 512 Megs. Everyone will tell you that.

    The hardware itself is incredible. Durable, lightweight, and really powerful enough for everyday work (I'm a programming and networking guy), watching DVDs, burning, etc. Of course, it goes without saying that Mac OS X is one of the best modern operating systems out there. As long as you're willing to deal with *slightly* less hardware and software compatibility (and even that seems to keep getting better) than you'd have on x86 machines, you're good to go. As an example, I just bought a Canon PowerShot A80 yesterday (great product I might add). It said on the backside that it would come with Mac OS X drivers. But up to now, I never used those. I plugged the thing in via USB and instantly, through Apple's ImageCapture software, had access to 1) downloading pictures, 2) sharing camera access over the web - thusly also to Windows and Linux PCs (ImageCapture comes with a built-in web server), 3) taking photos from the Mac, either manually or even in periodic intervals (again, this feature can be accessed from other machines through the network) and simple operations like rotating the images. Note again that this worked without *any* configuration - neither on the camera nor on the iBook - and without any glitches. Now, if I wanted advanced functionality such as Canon's photo stitching tool, I would of course have to install that. But the point is, if someone were to bring his camera over and it supports standards like PTP, I'm ready to go to use it. (My experience with using the Canon on Windows XP has been *muchly* different.)

    (I should maybe note that the iBook does not come with PCMCIA, decreasing upgradeability. You can, of course, get lots of FireWire devices for external hard drives or TV tuners and whatnot, but Gigabit Ethernet or FireWire 800 will never be options for you.)

    If there's anything else you want to know, you may want to register at applenova.com; they have quite a few experienced people there (it's obviously a "fan" board though, but that doesn't mean the people aren't critical of Apple).

    Hope that helps.

  62. Re:Yes. by nordicfrost · · Score: 2, Informative
    Here in Europe the 15Gb iPod is about 450 euros


    Bullshit. It's around 350 See for example Apple Spain

    As for salaries, maybe in Greece or Poland.

  63. Re:Yes. by ax_42 · · Score: 2, Informative

    How many Euros? Where in Yurup are you? The following (German) prices are from www.mac-kauf.de and all include shipping:

    15Gb iPod is 329 EUR from amazon.de
    20Gb iPod is 419 from amazon (417 from novodrom)
    40GB iPod is 519 at amazon, can get it for 500 from other shops.
    iPod mini is 249 EUR at amazon and a few other stores.

    Yeah, Apple stuff is a bit more expensive here than in the USA (c'mon Steve, drop the prices on the iTMS -- 1,20USD per song is a bit rich), but nowhere near the 450 EUR for the 15Gb iPod you were quoting.

  64. yah sure if your rich by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Name the price of those 4gb cards plus a player that can even handle them (many are restricted to 512mb expansion) add the two together and see how many iPod's you can buy for that that still has a couple of times the space.

    Memorie devices do have longer battery lives as the moving HD sucks a lot of juice but for the fast majority of people that is not a problem. Use it a couple of hours a day, plug it into the recharger when home and you never run out. People have already been trained to empty their pockets and recharge with phones and pda's.

    Although I got to admit that I am currently looking for a cheap memory device since my current Nomad Zen battery life of about 8 hours means it often cuts out during work. Not good if you work in a factory and you have to spend the last hour of the night shift without music to keep you going.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

  65. Re:Haven't we had enough of these ipod stories ? by Jesus_666 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Iran & Iraq should change their country names in iRan & iRaq to get more leading headlines.

    Do iRan and iRaq give you portable audio? Can you plug them into your PC? Do they have sleek designs? Are they kind-of status symbols? Last time I checked they lacked all of that. No wonder people are more interested in the iPod.

    --
    USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
  66. Number 1 on my feature wishlist... by SenorCitizen · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ...would be gapless MP3 playback, like on the Rio and coming up (or already there?) on the iRiver iHP series. It's just a pain in the butt listening to live or DJ mix CD's with the annoying pause between tracks.

    I can't understand why this feature isn't already in iPods - it really should be on top of the developers' todo list. Maybe Apple is so convinced that "nobody listens to albums no more"?

  67. Re:Still no gapless playback by aduzik · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I thought the idea behind the iPod was that it loaded about 30 minutes of music into a buffer -- a conveniently-sized 32 MB buffer -- so that it would only have to spin up the hard drive occasionally and thus conserve battery power. If that is, in fact, the case, then something else must account for the gap between songs -- something that could probably be corrected with a firmware upgrade. Perhaps it does not start decompressing the next track until the previous track has been completely played? In any case, gapless playback would be a nice feature in my book.

    --
    If it's not one thing it's your mother.
  68. Archos by moltar77 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I can attest to what you said about the Archos player. I have the Archos Multimedia Jukebox (20GB) which does a fine job of playing mp3's, but it's just a little too big to carry around in your pocket and the battery life isn't that great. It's a nice little device in that it can do many things, the problem is it just doesn't do any of those things extremely well (I cannot speak for any newer models that have come out).

    This is why I am buying an iPod. I want to listen to music and I want something that can last longer and will fit in my pocket better. It can't do nearly as much as the Archos player, but what it does do, it does much better.

  69. Re:Lion battery life. by Moderation+abuser · · Score: 2, Informative

    They are normal lithium ion batteries, but the further you run down a lithium ion battery before recharging the fewer recharge cycles you will get out of them. The circuitry protects against gross problems like too fast charging/discharging, it doesn't protect against normal usage patterns.

    e.g.
    http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-3 4.htm

    It just means charge it up when you can rather than running it to empty before recharge.

    --
    Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
  70. Re:Yuk - bad design. by hondo77 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes, the newer iPods are curvier and sexier because of it, but the ergonomics of the touch buttons is TERRIBLE.

    Writing as someone who uses his iPod in the dock 99% of the time, I like the 3g touch buttons much more than the 1g hard buttons. I don't have to put my hand behind the iPod to push a button and having the click sound on gives me all the feedback I need.

    Why can't we have an iPod with sexy curves and tactile buttons?

    I think you're confusing iPods with Jeri Ryan :-).

    --
    I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
  71. Creepy Newsweek cover shot of Jobs by Zhe+Mappel · · Score: 2, Funny
    Steve's customary self-satisfied guru act is one thing. We can handle that. But what's up with this new look--jaw set, brow knit, eyes flaring wildly, carefully untended stubble shadowing a creepy sidelong glance?

    It looks like a public service announcement: "Kids, don't get into the car with a stranger who offers you an iPod."

  72. Re:Still no radio?!? by Nexx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There's no radio because Apple wants to sell the same box internationally.

    Personally, I don't listen to radio, so it's not a big loss to me.

  73. Re:Still no radio?!? by pangel83 · · Score: 3, Informative

    The iRiver series (Hxxx) with similar functionality have radio (FM only though), and also an option to select your country of residence in order to adjust radio settings appropriatelly (Europe / Japan / USA)