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How the iPod Touch Works
Posted by
Zonk
on Fri Sep 14, 2007 10:02 AM
from the need-to-roll-out-wifi-syncing-in-an-update dept.
from the need-to-roll-out-wifi-syncing-in-an-update dept.
starexplorer2001 writes "The iPod Touch isn't in stores yet, but HowStuffWorks has a nice summary of how the 'touch' part of the iPod Touch works. Very similar to how the iPhone works, without those pesky rebates! From the article: 'The iPod touch also has a few other features that iPod enthusiasts had hoped to see on standard iPod models. Some users hoped for a wirelessly enabled iPod so they could synch their music or share files with friends over a Bluetooth or WiFi connection. The iPod touch is the first iPod to have wireless capability, although it doesn't use it to synch with a computer or friends' iPods. Instead, you can use it to browse the Web, watch YouTube videos or download music from a WiFi-specific iTunes Music Store. With its widescreen display and WiFi capability, the iPod touch might sound like a big step up from older iPod models. But the iPod touch isn't for everyone.'"
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CmdrTaco's dream come true! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:CmdrTaco's dream come true! (Score:5, Funny)
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Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
iTunes now runs under windows.
iPods now only work with USB. (I once made the mistake of using a Firewire iPod cable with a 5G iPod. The iPod itself will display an error message. It simply doesn't support Firewire any more.)
It was only AFTER Apple supported Windows and the iPod gained USB support that the iPod took off. Before then it was only a curiosity enjoyed by Apple fanbois.
Re:CmdrTaco's dream come true! (Score:5, Informative)
The first time I heard this, I was shocked and dismayed. Every time I've heard it since, I've been angry.
Via USB, my iPod takes 15 to 20 minutes to transfer my 18 GB of music.
Via Firewire, the same operation takes 8 minutes.
Why am I forced to put up with inferior mechanisms when I replace it? New iPods suck ass because of stupid people that don't know that Firewire is better. This isn't just simple anger, this is pure hate. I hate idiots and the stupidity they cause.
4G iPod forever! (Or at least until Apple puts Firewire support back in.)
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:CmdrTaco's dream come true! (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:CmdrTaco's dream come true! (Score:5, Informative)
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Plus, it has paradox-absorbing crumple zones.
But does it have Bluetooth or not? (Score:5, Insightful)
Stereo bluetoth headphone support is long overdue for ipods. If hte hardware is there software coudl be round the corner?
Re:But does it have Bluetooth or not? (Score:5, Interesting)
What's so important about BT headphones? I'm sorry but that is one thing that I don't see a big deal about. That's just extra power that my iPod will be wasting and another thing to charge/replace batteries in (the headphones). There are a few circumstances I can see (jogging, maybe). But I don't think it is a big necessary thing for most people.
That said, if the BT hardware is in there (like it is in the iPhone), I see no excuse for not including support for it (because all the hardware is there and I can see people using). I just don't see it as important enough to put the hardware in.
Now wireless syncing, I would be big on.
Parent
Yes it is (Score:2, Informative)
How the iPod Touch Works? (Score:5, Funny)
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Well, most of the Slashdot is very well aware that they themselves "work by touching it" but for use of their own devices outside of that realm, they need to have a little more in-depth manual and this is exactly that!
Re: How the iPod Touch Works? (Score:4, Funny)
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But what if it's in my pocket? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:But what if it's in my pocket? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Not a PDA replacement... (Score:5, Interesting)
The part of this article that I found most interesting is that you need to use your skin for the touch screen to work - that kinda rules out any sort of future handwriting recognition.
I guess I just really want Apple to give me a real PDA - an iNewton - instead of an iPod that looks kinda like a PDA.
Re: (Score:2)
If it included support for using a stylus and had InkWell handwriting recognition, I would finally be able to replace my Newton MessagePad --- instead, I guess I'll just get another Fujitsu Stylistic, which will preclude my getting a MacBook (or Axion ModBook), which is a shame since I prefer Mac OS X.
Hopefully when Leopard comes out it'll be feasible to run it on a Tablet PC.
William
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
The part of this article that I found most interesting is that you need to use your skin for the touch screen to work - that kinda rules out any sort of future handwriting recognition.
Not necessarily. I wouldn't expect to see handwriting recognition, but you have to use your skin because touchpads detect the electrical difference caused by your finger. Non-conductors won't work for a touchpad. That doesn't mean, however, that there can't be a special pen that can be used to write on it (like PDAs have)
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Re:Not a PDA replacement... (Score:4, Interesting)
I read somewhere that Apple was approached by a team wanting them to create a tablet for medical use - and they said that touch-screen technology wasn't up to where it needed to be for such a device to be as good as they'd want to make it. They didn't say that they would never consider such a device, or that people wouldn't want it - just that it wasn't currently feasible.
By PDA, I just mean I want something that I can enter scheduling and to do info into on the go, rather than at my computer. It doesn't seem like it would be hard to make the iPod touch do this, and probably a third party will do it soon.
Now, a true tablet Mac, that's really my dream-come-true, and I think it will happen eventually. No, not everyone wants or needs one, but I think there's enough of a niche market for it that if Apple could do it really well, they'd do it. But as the anecdote above shows, they won't do it until they know they can do it better than anyone else.
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Storage is the biggest limitation (Score:4, Insightful)
I like to watch video on these portable players (I have a Cowon A2 myself), so there's also seasons of anime or whatever to take up 4-8 gigs each.
In a year or so, when these things will hold 64 Gigs of flash memory, they will be great purchases for someone like myself. Until then, they're not even an option. And that's the single biggest "improvement" I'm looking forward to in future iPods. (Though I'll probably just grab a Q5 when it's available.)
But hey gotta start somewhere.
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Buddy, I have 900+ original CDs that I've MP3ed up that takes up around 100GB of disk space.
30-40 albums is not a large music collection, believe me!
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Re:utter bs (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't "need" to carry around 100GB of music with me - I "like" to have it with me because I listen to a lot of music, it sits in a small DVD case on 25 DVDs alongside my laptop so I can copy stuff off to my MP3 player any time I like.
I'm willing to bet that most people with more than 30GB haven't listened to every song they own.
Wrong. I don't watch much TV, I have music on in the background most of the time and generally find an hour or two each day to just sit and listen to some music.
To be honest I think it's more of an ego thing for people like the parent poster, they need to have as much music as possible with them at all times.
Wrong again. 25 DVDs in a small case is simple enough to stick in a laptop bag and forget about. It's just "easy" to have my music collection with me most times, it makes no odds what other people think.
These type of people download the entire discography of the doors (about 30 albums) just to say they have it, not because they love the doors..
Who said anything about downloading? Yep, I download from BitTorrent or Usenet occasionally to preview an album - but if it's good, I buy the CD and make my own MP3s, if it's crap then I delete it. MP3s are just a convenience for me, I much prefer the disc to play in a reasonably good hifi - but I've never paid to download music and never will.
Suffice it to say, I don't earn enough to buy the entire catalogue of an artist. I buy what I like, and that's it.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Even though I know you won't ever agree, i'm sure in that 100GB of music there are plenty of son
Re:utter bs (Score:4, Informative)
I can tell you that I've listened to them all at some point, I can't tell you an exact day. My collection's a bit fluid anyway, in as much as there's the occasional CD I've lost interest in that I resell on eBay but I do get through them. Sure, having an album on in the background isn't truly "listening" to it but I do have music on around 4 hours a day.
Yeah, sure you bought all that music.. if you dont earn enough to buy an entire back catalogue, you dont earn enough to have 100GB which, is probably over 1000 albums..
I'm in my 40s, I've been listening to the likes of Yes, Genesis, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd since I was about 13 years of age, as well as rock I now listen to blues, Motown, some electronic stuff like Tangerine Dream and Mark Shreeve and even a bit of classical.
I never buy CDs in high street shops, look for the best prices and buy used on eBay and in local shops. I can ***100%*** guarantee you that I have 900+ original, non-copied CDs. With that size of collection, there is no point my downloading and hoarding stuff because I just wouldn't find the time to listen to it - like I said, it's a great way of previewing stuff that I can't hear on the radio, nothing more.
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As for saying 1000 gigs of music is impossible to have without piracy or whatever, I encourage you to check out something like ocremix.org or vgmix or whatever. Lots of free-to-download music out there if you like that kind of stuff and know where
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Either you use a low bitrate, or listen to short track (or both). My music collection is just over 2000 tracks at the moment, and is just under 16GB. It will probably go over 16GB by the time I get a new iPod; I've been waiting for a 24GB iPod Nano.
I took a random sampling of my mp3s which includes one 44MB concert, 2 x 26ish MB symphonies, and a plethora of other files. They average 5569258 bytes or about 3000 songs per 16GB.
If you're using an aggressively large bitrate, then perhaps you are seeing only 2/3rds of the song capacity that I am. That's not outside the bounds of probability at all. I've ripped mine with a mix of tools over the years, and it looks like I'm averaging about 144 Kbits/s, with most being 128 or 192 Kb/s.
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Performance goes up, price goes down (relatively). The usual. But that doesn't mean people can't in the meantime comment on the iPhone's/iPod Touch's small storage, or the PS3's price, or the price of standalone HD players or 1080p TVs, or whatever.
Anyway I did say "gotta start somewhere" in my OP so it's not like I'm saying it was a mistake to release...
Re:Storage is the biggest limitation (Score:5, Insightful)
The "I MUST have every single song in my collection at all times!!" demand is such a red herring.
Well, these days it's somewhat reasonable to expect a device to exist that will hold the music collections of everyone who isn't a professional DJ. That said, such a device exists: the full-size regular iPod. What's not reasonable is to expect every music player on the market to hold all the music you could possibly own.
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Deliciously hackable (Score:2, Insightful)
I expect there to be multiple hacks for sharing music wirelessly with friends within a month after it hits stores. And to be honest I'm starting to expect this kind of wink-wink nudge-nudge release from Apple. They can't release a product the way consumers want it so they get the recording ind
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With regards to non-OS products, I have no clue what kind of "hacking" the Zune has attracted (from personal experience though it's a total POS and no amount of "hacking" will make it not suck donkey dong but that's an as
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Wait a week... (Score:2)
THEN it'll be the product we've all been waiting for!
I hear Apple has a prototype that does just that, but in true Apple fashion, it's wire-wrapped by hand, weighs 47lbs, and for some reason there's a Sony rep hidden in the closet...
really (Score:2)
But what do I know, I use a Rio Karma...
Re:really (Score:5, Interesting)
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But... (Score:2, Funny)
Wireless Sync (Score:2)
Wireless sync is all I care about. That would make my life much easier. I've got a 40GB 3rd gen and I really like it, but I don't have a lot of reason to move up. I probably buy the either the 16GB touch or the 80GB classic. Not sue which. But I would have bought one of those two very fast.
As it is, the only compelling reason for me to upgrade is the video ability. The surfing on the Touch seems neat, but it isn't enough for me. I am not using the video now. TiVo announced that they will bring TiVoToGo to
I'm waiting a bit (Score:5, Insightful)
As a long time Apple fanboy, I'll invoke the don't buy the rev a rule on the iPod Touch. To an extent, the Touch is what I wanted when I saw the iPhone. Unfortunately, the storage space isn't big enough for my music collection. I'd like to have at least 32GB of storage available before I think about buying one.
This should be a short article (Score:4, Insightful)
This Slashvertisment rates a 4.7 out of 5 (Score:5, Insightful)
Excellent opening statement. It stimulates Desire, which we all know is the precursor to in the marketing "AIDA" scheme. (And when you release the product, just submit another article.)
Great introduction of the features, especially the "big step up" part. And you've even given your target audience a reason to click into the submitted link too. (You've suggested there are people this product may not be perfect for, not that anyone reading this on Slashdot would fall into that "un-hip" category.)
Fellow Slashvertisers take note - this format can be applied to your next submission too!
Pesky Rebate? (Score:3, Informative)
That's a very pesky "rebate" which I received within 5 minutes of clicking the link.
Not 6-8 weeks if I'm lucky.
Give Up on The Wireless Hacking (Score:4, Interesting)
1. We're talking about a low-power device with very limited programming capacity. That's different from the storage capacity.
2. How, in technical terms will files be shared?
Let's say a hacker can use the wireless+dhcp client. Then what? A bonjour client perhaps? Maybe, but bonjour just advertises services. So, put an ftp server behind that maybe? Great! The hacker will need, Bonjour libraries and all the underlying dependencies, an ftp server and an ftp client and enough cpu/memory to run it all. It reminds me of a line from the remade Oceans 11, "Let's say you rob Terry Benedict's casino. You're still in the middle of the f*cking desert!"
iPod Touch == Crippled iPhone (Score:5, Interesting)
They disabled appointment entry for the calendar widget. [engadget.com] That's really too bad, since I was hoping that this device could be the convergence of my Palm T|X and my iPod. Does anyone know if they crippled any other features of the iPhone? I would have bought one if it truly was an iPhone minus the phone. (I refuse to give AT&T $1500 on top of the not-even-subsidized cost of the iPhone [business2.com].)
I guess the other thing I'm waiting for is an API for programmers. I like to store my passwords and PINs using encryption on my device. (1) Storing them on someone's server using their Safari-based web app won't work, and (2) Hacks people are using to write native apps aren't sanctioned and may stop working in the future. Sigh... C'mon Apple, open it up!
Re:eBook? (Score:4, Informative)
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