Making the iPod

ctriv writes "digitalchain.com has a real interesting article about the making of the iPod." Gosh, I am glad I am a software designer, not a hardware designer.

Yee Haw

[dl248]

What a horrid article that explained almost NOTHING of the engineering behind the iPod.

Re:Yee Haw

[andfarm]

Agreed. If anything, more mention of the financial/managerial issues than the engineering ones.

Re:Yee Haw

[jaoswald]

Not to be harsh, but financial/managerial issues are as important to the success of a product as the engineering issues are, and outsourcing is more and more what the electronics industry is about. Apple can't succeed making this hardware alone, but also can't simply slap an Apple label on a generic MP3 player.

Make vs. buy is a huge issue for people making complicated products, and this article goes through pretty thoroughly the tradeoffs Apple must have made in making these decisions.

Perhaps you just want a series of pixellated JPEGs to ooh and aah at, but face it---most chips look alike.

I thought this was a refreshing change from the usual Slashdot fare of "look at some piece of hardware get torn apart" or "look at the goofy enclosure someone has put a Beowulf cluster in."

Re:Apple's Hardware VP

[jaoswald]

Dude. I think he meant the Anonymous Coward :-)

Details gimme details.

[pagercam2]

Pretty lame article, but what do you expect from Digital Chain magazine? Article has few details and paints designers as making careful technical decisions when the answers are given (i.e. decided to use Toshiba 1.8" HD, well being that they are the only ones making 1.8" drives this is hardly careful engineering). They also push the custom ARM processor, which isn't required the GUI is very simple, Firewire took some effort but would have on any processor. The iPod is a nice piece of HW but this is from Apple's Industrial Design (ID) group not from some external contract design house. EEtimes had a much superior article with pictures, breakdown of components, bill of materials and costing which was well done and only a few weeks after the launch. Apple builds really nice HW but the guts of the iPod aren't special.

Re:Details gimme details.

[Gogo Dodo]

For those looking for the EETimes iPod Under The Hood [eetimes.com].

EETimes' article is superior if you're looking for just hardware info, but if design process from a management point of view is your thing then the Digital Chain article is better. Either way Portelligent still provided the info for both articles.

Re:Details gimme details.

[Spencerian]

Funny that you say that "the guts of the iPod aren't special" considering how much inaccurate flak Apple gets when it comes to their hardware.

The iPod is proof yet again that, wherever possible for the best, least expensive product, Apple avoids its old way of using proprietary components and uses ordinary tech and good industrial design to make extraordinary creative product.

They're not perfect in this--note the Apple Display Connector, a variant on the DVI connector except it also provides electrical power in addition to digital display data and USB signals. It's a nice connector because you only use one cable for their digital displays (no separate power or USB cables), however, it works only with Power Mac desktops and PowerBook G4s (with adapter). You can get it to work with a PC, but I think that's too much work.

Innovation doesn't always require new technology. Sometimes it only requires a repackaging of existing tech with an efficient twist. Apple's key to the iPod's success is the use of the FireWire interface for very speedy data transfer as well as using it to recharge the device, and the integration of its iTunes software to make song transfer seemless.

Note that even iTunes itself is taken from a previous Mac MP3 player product from Casady and Greene.

more technical info

[morcheeba]

Check out this summary [eetimes.com] of an ipod teardown - pretty pictures! Or you can order the full 60 page report for $1950 [portelligent.com]

Re:more technical info

[Icculus]

Or you can order the full 60 page report for $1950

Jesus, for $1950 I'll buy my own stack of iPods and take them apart myself.

Design Chain, Not "Digital Chain".

[jeffehobbs]

Look at the url. It says "design chain". What phrase is mentioned about 30 times in the article? "Design chain".

You should be glad you're not a proofreader.

~jeff

Ipod..

[Suppafly]

Realistically, when you have the r&d that apple has, it's trivial to design something like the ipod.. works out great fro apple though..

Take off the shelf components (albeit very small ones) toss in a mixer, sprinkle lightly with simple software, bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees, let cool and sell for big bucks..

"entire music collection in your pocket"

[ottffssent]

Any idea when Apple's going to release a bigger iPod? Obviously Tosh will have to make a bigger drive first, but a bigger drive doesn't automatically mean a bigger iPod.

If Apple wants to live up to their advertizing, they'll need to do a damn sight better than 10G. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the current iPod, but my music collection would fill several iPods (yeah, the "big" ones), which then would fail to fit in my pocket.