Rumors of Mini iPods 621
TheKidWho writes "According to Thinksecret: 'Reliable sources inside and outside of Apple have confirmed Apple will announce the new pocket-size iPods in a number of capacities and in various colors, including stripes. Capacities will be 2 and 4GB -- meaning users could store some 400 and 800 songs, respectively. Prices will start at around $100US, Think Secret has learned. It is not known if the new product line will be available immediately after introduction. It is also expected that current iPod models will be revamped to add body colors as well.' With the $99 price tag, it seems these rumored iPods could make big headway in the low end mp3 player market."
Batteries? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Batteries? (Score:4, Interesting)
Belkin makes an external battery pack for 3G iPods (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Batteries? (Score:5, Informative)
really? i didn't think so either.
neuros.. (Score:3, Informative)
The NiMH batteries in the Neuros and the Lithium Ion battery in the Neuros HD are expected to last at least 1 1/2 - 2 years (depending on usage). Only our Neuros technical team can replace the battery for you and, as a result, it is not consumer-serviceable. Our battery replacement policy is as follows.
Within Warranty (90 days parts, 1 year labor)
-If within first 90 days of purchase - NO CHARGE
-Past 90 days, but within 1 year- $7
Outside of Warranty
Neuros
Creative offers replacable batteries (Score:4, Informative)
Notice that the copy even suggests why you would want replaceable batteries as a standard feature - road trips. Also notice that they aren't dinging you for $100, plus shipping, to replace a battery.
Don't be surprised when Apple finally caves and makes iPod batteries easily replaceable. They'll claim it's a great new feature.
i didn't think so either.
Yep, I agree. You didn't think.
Re:Batteries? (Creative Nomad) (Score:5, Insightful)
what are the dimensions of a Nomad Zen NX? would you care to give a comparison to iPod's dimensions? i haven't found on their site any documentation about which battery it uses, how much it costs, and what it takes to replace it. It does say it's a replaceable battery, but technically, iPod *also* has a replaceable battery.
hint: if the iPod is a smaller, more portable form-factor while touting similar capacity, while being less confusing, with less holes to plug shit in, less buttons to fuck with, your average consumer ain't guna give a shit about a device that's a geek's dream. detachable this or that, believe it or not, is confusing to the average user. It's a matter of which audience you cater to. More on this later.
There are reasons why there are tradeoffs. the iPod is extremely small for the capacity it offers, it is extremely portable and unintrusive. i have fit mine (2G) in just about any pocket i've had. Furthermore, many of my co-workers had bought competing players, absolutely every single one of them complained about either its form-factor or lack of capacity. Nomad Jukebox3 is a big square-ish size, much like today's CD players that are basically the size of a CD, which is NOT a form factor that is nearly as appealing as one of an iPod's. Don't get me wrong the features and interoperability capabilities of the Nomad jukebox3 are simply impressive but when a device's form-factor is not really a constraint, you can go to town with features. That doesn't mean this is necessarily what the average user Apple targets will be drawn to. The Jukebox3's affluence of buttons and holes to plug things in also make it, to your average non-computer geek, a "complicated", "confusing" device, while geeks see those features as a God-Sent. it's all relative. Sure the lack of replaceable battery is frustrating. But it ain't the first time, nor is it ever guna be the last time this sort of issue will plague consumer electronics.
Replacing an iPod battery is NOT that hard, you just gotta be careful and requires a bit of skills. If that doesn't do it, then pay the $100 for the cost of the battery and to have someone else install it and be done with it. Or buy extended warranty such as AppleCare or one from Fry's, Best Buy, CompUSA, FNAC, or whoever sells you the iPod. It ain't that bad. People always pit the price of a battery against the price of the device it goes into and get infuriated to "pay $100 for a battery for a device that's only $400". No no no and no. Most resilient, quality batteries are expensive and that's the fucking way it is. Especially the type of flat one required for the iPod, it is quite a nice piece of engineering. When it dies, you gotta pay. period. Take a deep fucking breath and accept this fact.
It always works like this: you shop for some device, it tells you it's rechargeable, but no one ever cares to ask "yes but for how long, what do i do when it can no-longer hold a charge" to make an informed purchasing decision based on those questions. They don't think, then get pissed when the inevitable happens, then go whine at their lawyers, who in the end will be the only winners in the upcoming class-action lawsuit. Once people also get the device they rarely ever look at best practices included in their manual to enhance battery life. There you have it.
feel free to read a couple more ideas about why things may be the way they are. [slashdot.org]
this isn't about zealotry. some people happened to have understood why Apple has made the compromises it did at the time it did and accept 'em without whining all fucking day, and will eventually vote with their feet and potentially wait for improvements, others choose to bitch around, karma-whoring on slashdot, thinking they're smart and have a fucking clue about industrial design and stating the obvious ad nauseum, bragging about how device X or Y has a detachable this or that while never addres
Re:Batteries? (Score:4, Insightful)
What really annoys me is I can't carry a spare battery with me to swap if it dies when I'm out. I'll have to wait until I can recharge the battery before I can use the iPod again.
Jason
ProfQuotes [profquotes.com]
Re:Batteries? (Score:3, Informative)
A quick search gave me two AA powered [adelphia.net] solutions [belkin.com].
Myself, I just keep mine plugged in in the car [drbott.com] and have 10 hours of charge whenever I leave the car. Easy enough?
Re:Batteries? (Score:3, Funny)
Sure - it will cost $99 and you will be responsible for shipping and handling charges both ways.
Re:Batteries? (Score:4, Insightful)
Adding an easily user-accessible battery door would (to my mind) break the seamlessness of the iPod's design and possibly require that it be larger as well (consider a door that's the size of practically the entire back of the device -- or whether the dimensions would change if some sort of snap-release tab-in-slot mechanism was added to the entire length and breadth of the current iPod back).
Given that the battery lasts at least 18-months, I'd prefer to have a seamless design, and then have a little fun with a screwdriver when the time comes (rarely) to change the battery. In addition, I wonder how long the tiny hard drive will last given the conditions in which it's used and the forces to which it's subjected -- it wouldn't surprise me if (had I an iPod) I'd only need to replace the battery once.
What's that, you didn't know the battery IS user-replaceable? See IpodBattery.com [ipodbattery.com] for details on the $49 ipod batteries they sell and to read the installation instructions. It doesn't look all that difficult for anyone who knows how to use a screwdriver.
People seem to like to pile on criticism of the fact that the iPod battery is not easily replaceable. But I haven't heard the same sort of griping about the non-easily-user-replaceable lithium-ion batteries built into most PDAs (Palm Tungstens, Sony Clies, RIM Blackberrys, Compaq Ipaq, etc). I doubt all these companies forgo providing easy access to the batteries as some conspiracy to force consumers to replace the devices or pay to have a new battery installed, but rather the devices are designed to be as small and tightly packed as possible, and given this concern less regard is rightly given to putting the battery in an easily accessible spot and adding a door.
It is worth griping a bit about Apple's previous battery replacement policy (they wanted $255 to replace the battery), but they've since changed their tune quite a bit and it'll now cost $99 to have them replace the battery for you. In addition, when buying an iPod, an additional $59 gets the warranty extended to two years.
'Course, the iPod is out of my price range. I spent less than the cost of a $49 iPod battery on my teensy 128Mb USB-memory-stick-mp3-player-voice-recorder toy (Andus resound, flashed with some similar player's firmware to allow it to be mounted on Macs, Windows, and whatever-else as a real generic USB storage device), and find that this is a more than adequate amount of memory for a few hours of jogging. But if I were to buy an iPod, it would be because I appreciate things that are well designed and a joy to use, and the battery issue wouldn't even be on my radar.
Karaoke Recorder (Score:5, Funny)
4 gigs full of karaoke. Yeecchhh!
Not to mention an accumulation of embarassing bathroom sounds because you forgot to turn it off at some point during the day.
Re:Batteries? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Batteries? (Score:3, Informative)
Why didn't you just say that you want to steal music right away, and save the confusion?
Re:Batteries? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Batteries? (Score:4, Insightful)
not bad imho, though as always it remains to be seen. apple hw is funny in the sense that the RUMOURS are told in the fashion that normal announcements would be otherwise(and likewise, rumours used as facts when comparing to other upcoming hw with shipping dates, specs and reviews).
-
Re:Batteries? (Score:5, Informative)
What you're asking for is already done.
What ISN'T done, is the ability to manage files by directory: to drag and drop them using your os and "just have it work." This isn't done for several reasons, not the least of which is indexing. Maintaining an index of the ID3 data inside an MP3 file is as important as its name...because it is this metadata that allows you to search by genre, artist, 'star' rating, etc. If you just dragged and dropped the files, you'd either have to a) build this index on disconnect, which could lead to LOTS of trouble, not to mention a lengthy startup time or b) build this index when the files are copied, which means having to attach data to the driver, and gets you no closed to cross platform compatibility than having a uniform application.
Another reason is to assuade fears that Apple was making a file swapping tool. Apple's software is one way only...copy to the ipod or delete it. You can't copy from it. Therefore, Apple can't be sued for abetting piracy...since all the pirates have to use third party tools, of which there are several good ones for Windows, Linux and OSX.
All told, the iPod is the best cross platform solution around. Apple just doesn't make a Linux version of its software...and there are TONS of compatible options for Linux users. They've already made your dream come true. And they've just answered essential questions you didn't even think to pose in the process.
Re:Batteries? (Score:3, Interesting)
If you are reasonably adept at the CLI, you can shoe-horn files into and out of the active playlists directory on your ipod. This would be a laborious task, and there is no reason to do so, when the iTunes interface is so slick.
As for flexibility from your
Re:Batteries? (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm not sure about how it works on Windows, but on a Mac you can have it in firewire disk mode and have iTunes open at the same time, which provides you access to both modes quite easily.
This is not quite correct (Score:3, Informative)
Apple's software, yes. But XPlay lets you drag and drop music either to or from the iPod; I find its a more elegant solution than iTunes, because it lets you use the pieces you like for downloading, ripping, managing ID3 tags. Then when you connect an iPod, it shows a special music folder that you drag and drop your music.
And yes music comes off as easily as it goes on.
Re:Batteries? (Score:4, Informative)
A challenge by the RIAA against the iPod would've never made it to court. The RIAA sued Diamond over the very first portable MP3 player, the Rio. The RIAA lost. That was the case that set the prescident.
Finally! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Finally! (Score:3, Informative)
Small MixUp (Score:3, Informative)
This is not to say that ThinkSecret is clear of wrongdoing. They did post about an Apple PDA called the MacMate back in 1999, but obviously that never came to fruition.
RonB
Cat got my tounge!~~ (Score:5, Funny)
If they would see the iPod you'd instantly be removed from their hardcore powergaming group!
this is good for joggers (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:this is good for joggers (Score:5, Insightful)
It has little to do with bulk. I've run with things as large as an iPod. I'm just afraid that a few months of the bouncing would cause a hard drive failure. It's why I haven't gotten one.
Re:this is good for joggers (Score:5, Informative)
Re:this is good for joggers (Score:3, Informative)
Re:this is good for joggers (Score:5, Informative)
The hard drive in there spins real slow (spindle speed being the major component of shock damage) and it only spins when it's seeking for music. Start a playlist and it'll load 32 meg of your list into memory IMMEDIATELY...and only spin up to add more, which it can usually do in under 10 seconds. This equates to 20-30 seconds of hard disk spin during a 45 minute run.
Combine that with the one year warranty and an iSkin (with which I've dropped mine a number of times onto concrete from 4 feet, no problems) and you've got the best solution joggers ever had.
Re:ipod sucks for jogggers (Score:3, Informative)
Mine (gen 3 30 gb) USED to do what your describing, occasionally, if I was running on the road with the 'pod in my hand. It never did it on trails or on a cushioned indoor track. The last update (2.1) fixed the problem. Something to think about.
And it is certainly not too heavy to run with. My friend's wife (who is around 115 lbs) runs with his, but wouldn't do so until he bought her an iSkin. The iSkin, besides protecting the shell from impact, is silicon
Re:this is good for joggers (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course it can't last forever, but it's lookin' good so far.
Re:this is good for joggers (Score:4, Informative)
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:this is good for joggers (Score:4, Interesting)
2 GB of flash is currently much too expensive. however, in volume, dram should be sufficiently cheap. yes, it's volatile. but if they have enough battery power to spin up and power a hard-drive, keeping dram alive for a few days at a time should not be a big deal. if you plug it into a usb port every few days, it should never lose power. and if it dies, well, you just have to reload all your music.
pretty clever.
smaller == cheaper?? (Score:5, Funny)
The Sony Way? (Score:5, Insightful)
100$ for a 2gb lightweight device by apple? amazing indeed.
Just like the Playstation 2's specs killed the Dreamcast.
Sorry, I'm just bitter.
I probably just need more brandy in my coffee.
Merry Xmas
Re:The Sony Way? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The Sony Way? (Score:3, Informative)
Just off the top of my head i can name:
thinksecret.com [thinksecret.com]
spymac.com [spymac.com]
macrumors.com [macrumors.com]
and i'm sure there are a lot more. i seriously doubt this is apple using a pr stunt, as these sorts of leaks happen often within apple and apple isn't to happy about it usually.
Re:The Sony Way? (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm sick of that argument. Sega did a perfectly fine job of running the Dreamcast into the ground all by themselves, Sony just helped them along.
Re:The Sony Way? (Score:3, Insightful)
Seriously, Slashdot, why are you still posting rumours from the people who cried "G5s in the new Powerbooks," "New PDAs from Apple," and other insane, no-chance-is-it-true rumors? Their "reliable sources" aren't.
Pocket-Sized?? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Pocket-Sized?? (Score:3, Funny)
but (Score:5, Funny)
Re:but (Score:4, Funny)
you can still spot users by their uncontrollable, spastic dancing [apple.com] wherever they go.
Xmas? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Xmas? (Score:4, Interesting)
Makes perfect sense (Score:5, Insightful)
So the idea of releasing them for xmas is a horrible one indeed.
I think that the timing of the cheaper miniPods coincides nicely with the $100 mill Pepsi give-a-way starting in February.
It's all a game, the game called 'Maximize Profits'. And selling only the current iPods for xmas make you a big fat winner winner chicken dinner. Also, how many people are going to return their $150 128 meg POS flash MP3 player to Best Buy to get one of these new miniPods? I'd say more than a few.
Pocket SIzed? Huh? (Score:3, Insightful)
My only thought is that by getting into the ~$100 range, that makes it something parents will buy for spoiled teens more readily. That would make it pocketbook sized. Assuming there is any truth to the rumor, of course.
Why buy an ipod (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Why buy an ipod (Score:3, Funny)
And you left out the time for decorative case modding.
please... (Score:5, Funny)
Pocket size! (Score:5, Funny)
Brand Dilution (Score:5, Interesting)
Steve Jobs is well known for keeping a clean image on his products - it seems strange to me that he would allow rainbow iPods. Rumour has it he objected to the coloured backgrounds in the iPod adverts.
It seems strange that he would dilute the iPod brand at such a critical point in its existence.
Hmm.
Small iPods - no hard drives, only RAM based??
back to their roots (Score:5, Informative)
perfect gift (Score:5, Insightful)
Then I could just give them iTMS gift certificates for all future gifts. I'd be the best uncle ever!
Storage device? (Score:5, Interesting)
My first thought was the CompactFlash-sized "microdrive" hard drives developed by IBM (not sure if they belong to Hitachi now). A 1GB microdrive sells for about $200, though. Even with the volume discount Apple would surely get, it's hard to image they could hit that $99 price point at any capacity. And I guess flash memory is ruled out for price reasons too....
Re:Storage device? (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe a 'Cornice Storage Element', like the iGP-100 [iriveramerica.com]?
Re:Storage device? (Score:4, Interesting)
If Apple came to IBM with an offer to buy a million of the 1 gig drives at $40 each, ($40,000,000 contract), I'm sure some VP would work their ass off to make it happen. Especially since it would help them reduce their price on CF Mirco Drives, and push regular flash memory out of the market. There's a massive market for 1-2 gig Micro Drives that is waiting for the price to get reasonable. Portable USB storage, video and photo cameras, MP3 players, PDAs, digital picture frames, just to name a few. It's actually pretty amazing that a solid state storage device has greater market share than a disc based one right now.
2.2G microdrive for $180 (Score:3, Informative)
Personally I use an ipaq 2215 (sdio/cf/
Roll on iTunes music store (Score:5, Interesting)
So where the hell's the store!?
Re:Roll on iTunes music store (Score:5, Funny)
And will be, what, free if done by buying cd's? You just said that cd's are more $. Good closing argument.
Re:Roll on iTunes music store (Score:3, Funny)
I think it's safe to assume he doesn't already have those songs/albums on cd.
I've filled 25 Gigs of my I-Pod without spending any money. I already have CD's...
So your music collection is worth nothing? It figures.
interview (Score:5, Funny)
Steve Jobs: STRIPES! The new iPod will come in STRIPES! Who cares about the battery when you have STRIPES!
Screw the little one. . . (Score:4, Interesting)
seems more interesting to me. .
Sounds like an ideal companion to a mini-dv camcorder. If one could dump video to it in the field, and possibly do edits to it (portable iMovie?) - that'd be great. I don't really have much use for an ipod - too big for pocket transportability (really). Too small (storage-wise) to be useful as a semi-portable "desktop music server" - (though a G4 iBook serves that purpose pretty well).
1" Hard Drive? (Score:3, Informative)
This snippet is what I recalled:
Toshiba plans to expand into 1" hard drives in the future. 1" form factor drives are already being produced by Hitachi at this time.
Toshiba supplies 1.8" drives for the current iPods. Seems a 1" drive is more likely than solid state memory for the new miniPods.
I'll believe it.. (Score:5, Funny)
Why you can't use AA's (Score:3, Informative)
That said, since a 600mAh Lithium polymer cell phone battery [altwireless.com] costs $34.95, the 850mAh or 1200mAh iPod batteries [ipodbattery.com] aren't a bad deal at $49.00, and Apple will even do the labor and return shipping for $50 more.
Re:Why you can't use AA's (Score:3, Insightful)
and for storage, they will use... (Score:3, Interesting)
Toshiba's new 0.85-inch hard disks! [eetimes.com]
...or at least it would be QUITE a coincidence if they did not use these drives.
ELiTeUI
I hope they keep the games (Score:5, Insightful)
That's right. The 4 crappy games that came on it are a blessing.
I HATE shopping. I've hated shopping since I was young and my mother dragged me out to malls to shop around. Back then, they didn't even have chairs everywhere. I stood around and hated the experience. Now, when I go shopping there are chairs everywhere, but nothing to do. It turns out, I still hate the experience.
But now that I have an iPod, I can listen to the music, toodle around with Parachute or Name that Song, and look up every once in a while to say, "Yes dear, that looks great." I don't know if any of the other MP3 players out there have these little time wasters on them, but they should.
(Oh, I hear the iPod does other things, too, like keep your contacts, alarms, notes and files. So handy!)
Part Price List (Score:5, Funny)
Battery 99.
Song
Damn You Apple!! (Score:5, Funny)
She'll never fill it up, and I knew that, but she wanted an iPod.
Now there are smaller ones that are $200 cheaper, and in colors as well, after I shelled out another $50 and got a custom paint job on it at ColorWare [colorwarepc.com].
Apple, damn you!
Only So they Can Really Say (Score:5, Funny)
Or
"Would you like to buy the battery replacement plan for 99 dollars sir?"
vaporware?? (Score:3, Insightful)
what we really need ... (Score:3, Funny)
I'll have my credit card ready (Score:3, Informative)
iPod battery FAQ (Score:5, Informative)
Q: Is the iPod's battery replacable?
A: Yes. Apple has an official battery replacement program [apple.com] for $99. You send your iPod in (any model iPod), and Apple will replace the battery for $99.
Q: Is the iPod's battery user-replaceable?
A: Yes and no. The iPod's case is not designed to be opened, so, in that repsect, it's not what you would generally refer to as "user-replaceable". But, the case can be opened, and there are several third parties that offer replacement batteries for the iPod, such as iPodBattery.com [ipodbattery.com] (instructions available at that link) and PDASmart, for as low as $49. Some will even do the replacement for you if you send it it.
Q: What's the deal? Does Apple think the iPod is disposable?
A: No.
Q: I heard that the iPod's battery only lasts 18 months, and then you have to buy a new iPod, is that true?
A: NO! The vast, vast majority of even the earliest iPods, now over two years old, continue to function just fine. Some iPods, however, have had issues with batteries. Lithium ion batteries are only good for 300 to 500 charge/discharge cycles [batteryuniversity.com]. For this reason, certain customers' usage patterns may cause the batteries to degrade, or fail, sooner than others.
A2: If the battery does fail, and the iPod is no longer under its original one year warranty or $59 AppleCare Protection Plan [apple.com], or any of numerous third party service plans, you don't have to buy a new iPod. You may replace the battery yourself for as little as $49, or have Apple perform the replacement for $99.
Q: Why didn't Apple use better batteries?
A: Apple used the best lithium ion battery technology available from leading battery manufacturers. This is the best, most cost effective battery technology available given the requirements of the device. The lithium ion batteries Apple uses are no different than lithium ion batteries used by anyone else. The battery should last most normal users several years.
Q: Why doesn't Apple make the battery easily replaceable, then? Or use different batteries, like AA?
A: Because if they did either, the size of the batteries and/or the access panels and mechanisms required to access the battery would make the unit significantly larger than it is, likely by several milimeters in thickness at a minimum, and it may possibly affect other dimensions as well. It was an engineering decision to use an integrated battery; if it were not integrated, the unit would not have the small, sleek form factor that makes it so attractive. Additionally, the iPod's battery is indeed replaceable, as has been discussed above.
Q: Well, no one else does that!
A: Wrong. Prime example: Dell's new DJ portable music player uses an integrated, non-user-replaceable lithium ion battery, just like the iPod. Dell also has no plan or program to replace batteries outside of warranty at this time.
Q: But, Apple only released their battery replacement service because of all the bad publicity from the Neistat brothers' video [ipodsdirtysecret.com].
Wrong again. Apple released the battery replacement program as early as November 14. ipodsdirtysecret.com was only registered on November 20, and started being heavily publicized on November 21. Additionally, Apple had been planning the battery replacement program for months - these types of service programs don't just happen overnight - before Casey Neistat even had his first contact with Apple. The video campaign had nothing to do with Apple's rollout of the battery replacement program.
Re:iPod battery FAQ (Score:5, Interesting)
Lets say, the iPod had the choice of using 2AA batteries. Lets's say you got your AA's at $0.50(too high? too low? i dont have to buy them). Lets's see what youve paid for JUST BATTERIES over the "300-500" charge average lifetime of apples built in battery:
err, $300-$500... I made my math too easy =(
Probably more depending on how much you use the ipod, if the ipod could run on only 2AAs, and what quality battery you buy for it. Still complaining? If you are really desperate, i think some companies offer *gasp* external battery packs. But even at 99 bucks, Apples battery replacement nost likely means your not gonna blow double that much on batteries over the next few years.
*CHEERS*
Re:How about a PDA? (Score:5, Funny)
Apple is going to release a 10# PDA that has pointy barbs sticking out if it? Sweet!
Re:How about a PDA? (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, it will come with a handy carrying chain and will be called the iMace.
I will swing it mercilessly at anyone using Microsoft crap who dares call me an Apple fanatic...
Re:$99 iPod (Score:5, Informative)
On occasion you will get a 'dud' something common to all consumer electronics. While it's unfortunate that Apple didn't have a battery replacement/warranty program when those two gentlemen made their movie, that is no longer an issue now. Applecare and battery programs were announces before the ipod's dirty secret domain was even registered.
Furthermore, if you don't want to pay apple to supply and replace your battery, you can do it yourself - see ipodbattery.com
Mod down if you must:I know it gets annoying seeing the same old "ipods aren't disposable" posts every day but I'd be upset if someone didn't buy me an iPod for christmas because they saw the parrent post and asusmed it was accurate.
Re:$99 iPod (Score:5, Informative)
A little more info on ipod batteries.
The batteries cost about $50. That's a damn good deal for a Li-Poly battery. Apple just charges you $50 more for them to replace it for you. If it's not wrth it to you, buy a battery, pop the case off, and replace it. pretty easy. Yes your cell phone battery is cheaper, but that's becasue it's a low-capacity NiMH battery. A similar battery would almosy double the size of the ipod and last about for 30 mins of music.
Apple can' use a standard battery. Cylinder cells hold little charge and are huge. Apple's custom batteries can be molded to make use of every spare area inside the ipod. I remember people comlaining about how the smaller G2 ipods had a shorter battery life. It if was a standard (which doesnn't exist) battery, it would be a lot worse. And a battery hat neesds to be replaced every 300 charges (whiich is about 3 years for most people; the ones whose batteries are dying must charge it too often) doesn't need a little door. THe case isn't that hard to remove.
Disclaimer, etc:
I'm a mac fan. Also i just got my new G5 Sunday and am still getting used to the new keyboard, so sorr about the bad typing.
I think it would be Perfect Timing (Score:5, Insightful)
All you have to do is introduce a cheap player and then they have the free music, and you have the Apple Ipod cast in stone as the mp3 player to buy.
Re:a $99 iPod AFTER CHRISTMAS? (Score:3, Insightful)
If I was on Apple's shoes, and knew I'd not be able to manufacture enough units on time for christmas, I'd release it in the summer, and make sure the product is not announced until AFTER christmas, to avoid competing against the normal Ipod.
Nintendo has used a similar tactic in the past when releasing new Gameboy "flavors", It makes the best business sense IMHO. It's just that we've heard about the new product a week too soon.
Re:a $99 iPod AFTER CHRISTMAS? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Ogg Vorbis (Score:3, Insightful)
From our point of view, yes. But from Apple, I wonder if a cheap 2 or 4GB iPod will be iTunes music only?
Just a thought.
Re:Ogg Vorbis (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm honestly not trying to make fun of you or say something bad about ogg(it's AS good as mp3), but I see no reason to support it just like I don't see any reason to support, FLAC,Monkey's Audio, Real Audio, etc in this particular application. I would be nice to have support for all audio formats in every audio player, but I don't think that is too realistic a thing to ask for right now. It's just not what the majority of Apple's customers are using or asking for.
I guess as a Linux and OpenSource user I'm supposed to stand up for what's open, but that doesn't change the fact that MP3 is the defacto portable digital audio standard. Maybe over time the Music Store vendors will be able to snuff it out in favor of a "secure" audio format, but until then I'm perfectly content with plain old functional MP3 for portable music players. Just IMHO, YMMV, blah, blah.
DRM + Ogg (Score:3, Interesting)
Apple's in a very good position right now - they've managed to get themselves into the good books of both the Free software community and the music industry.
However, if they add Ogg Vorbis support to the iPod then they'll have to
It seems that they are pursuing the third option: ignore Ogg Vorbis and piss off the very
Re:Pocket-size? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I'd spend a lot less with actual batteries (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Pricetag (Score:3, Insightful)
and some chips, and a circuit board, and a battery, and a CD, and box, and some profit. Stuff like that.
They could ship the same device, 'cept for a smaller drive, and people will bitch.
or they'll reduce the form factor or use lesser components and people will bitch.
They could have the exact same product they sell today, reduce the price by $150,
give $150 iTunes credit, and people would -still
Re:Plain old MP3's? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:i don't get it (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:i don't get it (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Preposterous (Score:3, Interesting)
The only reason i am not getting one for christmas is becasue of price. If my significant other could have saved 100 bucks and gotten a 5gig instead of 10gig, i could be rockin out christmas night to my cool new mp3 player.
Re:Preposterous (Score:3, Funny)
remember breakout? ya, good times.
Re:OGG support? (Score:5, Insightful)
Is there support for OGG files?
Probably not. Yes, OGG is an open standard. Yay. That's nice. I don't feel like re-encoding 10GB of songs.
Can I use it between my home PC and my work PC both of which run Linux?
Hasn't someone released software to let your Linux-using PC's talk to the iPod? I think so.
Can I copy a new track to the iPod at home and then download from it to my work PC?
Yes, just use the iPod like a FireWire hard drive, which it is.
Will it play those files that I want to copy FROM IT to my other PC?
This is the same question you just asked. Are you expecting a different answer?
Oh, and if Apple thinks I am going to pay $100 for a portable player and then $50 for batteries, they are nuts.
What does the Neuros run on? Happy rays of sunshine? I couldn't tell from the site. Maybe it said it in the "demo", but I'm not downloading flash over dialup.
BTW, if you don't want DRM, don't download music from a music service. That's the only way you get it, and that's true for any service, not just the iTMS.
Also, if you get modded, you'll probably be modded flamebait. A troll has to actually look like he knows what he's talking about.
Re:OGG support? (Score:4, Informative)
I thought I read in a post that if you copy music to the iPod as a regualer hard drive, then the iPod won't play it. If that is the case, then it is pretty worthless IMO.
Okay, here's how it works. The iPod is one drive that works in two different ways. One way is an automatic sync up with iTunes (which you can also do yourself). The other is to use it as a detachable hard drive. The files iTunes puts on your iPod aren't visible when you view it as a hard drive. This makes sense, actually, as it keeps the two uses of it logically separate.
Now, to copy music back to a computer and be able to play it on your iPod, there are two ways to do it.
First, is the simple way. Copy the file to your iPod when it's acting as a hard drive. Copy it to the computer in question. Drop it into iTunes (or whatever) and let it copy back to the iPod.
Second, you can open up the iPod when it's acting as a hard drive, go into the invisible iPod_Control folder, then the Music folder. Next you'll have various folders to choose from. I have F00 - F19. You file will be in one of these folders. Why it spreads your music across 20 folders, I don't know. Maybe it's to try to prevent copying back (but that's a pretty weak scheme for doing so). Maybe it's because the iPod can find a song more easily using some sort of hash (but why not simply access by filename?). Doing it this way, however, you'll notice that all non-alphanumeric and non-period characters have been turned to underscores. I can only assume that's so they can use the same code on the Windows side, which doesn't allow nearly as many characters in filenames as the Mac does.
(It's interesting to note that each of the folders, F00 - F19, has files running A-Z. It doesn't split up based on first letter, at the very least.)
Re:2gigs for 400 songs? (Score:4, Interesting)