[starman]

Originally posted by Landos Mustache:
Excuse me? REMOTE CONTOL!!!?????

A little history:

I don't have the link, but I read an article when the Airport Express was released. Steve was demoing it and someone said "But you have to be next to your compter to change songs", and Steve looked at him with a grin on his face.

Someone should dig that up.

Mike

[velodev]

Originally posted by G4ME:
i think flat black would look better,

meah wish they had 60 gig non photo.

Wow, in a one-two punch you have my feelings captured perfectly.

Matte black, teh newest-newest hottness.

60 gig without the iPhoto mumbo-jumbo and $100 less would have made a 1 U2 iPod purchase become a 1 U2 iPod purchase for her and 60gb non-photo for him.

[Millennium]

The photo capability is beyond useless; the screen is too small and too low-res, and the battery life when displaying photos is horrible. This will be borne out by the market; people will flock to it because it's cool and 1337, but within a month no one will be using the photo capability at all. The color screen, while a nice amenity, is wholly unnecessary; another thing to have on just because it's cool and 1337.

Shame on you, Apple. You had the greatest thing going, and now you're starting to bloat it with stuff that a device that size just plain isn't useful for. Do one thing and do it well; that's the way to lasting success.

That said, at least it's a decent value, unlike its Mini cousin.

[Millennium]

Silly me; I hadn't seen the video-out capability. That changes a few things. For one, it makes the photo capability actually useful for something. At the same time, it renders the color screen completely unnecessary; no one will use the built-in screen for viewing pictures anyway.

[velodev]

Originally posted by Millennium:
The photo capability is beyond useless; the screen is too small and too low-res, and the battery life when displaying photos is horrible. This will be borne out by the market; people will flock to it because it's cool and 1337, but within a month no one will be using the photo capability at all. The color screen, while a nice amenity, is wholly unnecessary; another thing to have on just because it's cool and 1337.

Shame on you, Apple. You had the greatest thing going, and now you're starting to bloat it with stuff that a device that size just plain isn't useful for. Do one thing and do it well; that's the way to lasting success.

That said, at least it's a decent value, unlike its Mini cousin.

See, but on the other hand... who would have thought a cellular phone needed a camera? I think, though, the marketplace who might make the most use is a bit younger and $599 is steeeep.

[shabbasuraj]

so how is this stuff oging to work?

Via iTunes or iPhoto or both?

I am interested in seeing if the iPod photo is gonna bog down when you start trying to move and display and show slideshows with music....

60 gigs of pictures is a damn lot, and I know iPhoto can't currently work smoothly with that many pics, thus i use other cataloging image software...

any thoughts?

[Landos Mustache]

Originally posted by starman:
A little history:

I don't have the link, but I read an article when the Airport Express was released. Steve was demoing it and someone said "But you have to be next to your compter to change songs", and Steve looked at him with a grin on his face.

Someone should dig that up.

Mike

I remember that also but steve says sneaky stuff like that also. Keeps MOSR in business.

[xi_hyperon]

Somebody must be interested. It took a good minute for the Apple site to load.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally posted by xi_hyperon:
Somebody must be interested. It took a good minute for the Apple site to load.

Sorry about that.

[chris v]

I just want 60 GB of wholesome music-y goodness, with 15 hrs of battery life. I don't care about the photo bit, but the color screen isn't exactly a turn-off, either. Would be nice for the cover art, calendars, etc. I'm about to outgrow my 20...

[djohnson]

Mmmmm Airport Remote Control. Now only $99

[d4nth3m4n]

photo capability for $100? sounds pretty cool to me. good thing i still have my composite line from my first iBook.

now if only the U2pod came with U2 music ON IT.

[GoGoReggieXPowars]

Originally posted by DeathMan:
The $150 U2 box set sounds interesting though. I only have 2 of their albums (give you 2 guesses which ones)

'Boy' and 'The Unforgettable Fire.'

[AKcrab]

Originally posted by d4nth3m4n:
now if only the U2pod came with U2 music ON IT.

It would get wiped out the first time you hooked it to your computer, unless you really knew what you were doing...

[Apple Pro Underwear]

Originally posted by Millennium:
Silly me; I hadn't seen the video-out capability. That changes a few things. For one, it makes the photo capability actually useful for something. At the same time, it renders the color screen completely unnecessary; no one will use the built-in screen for viewing pictures anyway.

the video-out capabilty means i can basically carry my entire graphic design portfolio with me as long as i have my iPod. i could even preview my portfolio to people i meet

[MrBS]

I'm not excited about the photo stuff. I really hope they offer a bluetooth headphone (or some wireless headphone) interally without the color screen at some point.

Odd that when the ONE valid selling point the sony product has is battery life that they make this move that's not about the music at all and hurts their battery life.

~BS

[cjrivera]

Combine this
http://www.xmradio.com/myfi/
with an ipod and you'd have a winner.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by Apple Pro Underwear:
the video-out capabilty means i can basically carry my entire graphic design portfolio with me as long as i have my iPod. i could even preview my portfolio to people i meet

You are showing your graphic design portfolio on a TV ?
Or are you carrying around a projector as well ?

In any case, a laptop would do you better...

-t

[AKcrab]

Originally posted by turtle777:
In any case, a laptop would do you better...

-t

Sure, but perhaps not everyone can afford a laptop.

[MrBS]

Also I don't like the shift of iTunes from an awesome music app that happens to have some hooks for the ipod to being a front end for the ipod. What's itunes have to do with pictures? or the iPod (outside of music)? Nothing. Apple kind of needed to do this for the pc crowd, but I think they had enough of a free ride with ipod and itunes. If they want to have this added functionality that no one else is offering point them at an ibook or that imac that was designed just to lure ipod converts over and have them install iphoto. No need to pervert itunes for the unwashed masses' needs.

~BS

[brapper]

...the canadian prices suck ($679 and $799.) Even including the $25 levy for digital music, it's still $50 too expensive at today's exchange rates.

[mitchell_pgh]

I would say that the iPod Photo makes perfect sense... it was a natural progression for Apple and I'm rather happy they didn't rush it.

Pros
- Color is cooler then monotone
- Pictures are cool to look at (even when they are on a small screen)
- Video Out (I would have been very upset if this wasn't a feature...)
- Cover art. (While not critical to the music, I'm a visual person... and being able to see the album covers helps me remember the names of bands.

Cons
- More expensive (not really, but the price didn't change...)
- HD isn't any larger (which is fine)

[ManOfSteal]

Somebody's socks smells here....oh wait, it's Apple's...

[Landos Mustache]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
I would say that the iPod Photo makes perfect sense... it was a natural progression for Apple and I'm rather happy they didn't rush it.

Pros
- Color is cooler then monotone
- Pictures are cool to look at (even when they are on a small screen)
- Video Out (I would have been very upset if this wasn't a feature...)
- Cover art. (While not critical to the music, I'm a visual person... and being able to see the album covers helps me remember the names of bands.

Cons
- More expensive (not really, but the price didn't change...)
- HD isn't any larger (which is fine)

Con, much thicker.

[the_glassman]

Originally posted by Landos Mustache:
Con, much thicker.

12"...... AROUND!

[Cung]

I can't belive alot of people don't don't see the value in this progression from a basic b/w screen to color...the digital hub starting to come together, 6.4 oz from 5.6 can't be that much?! being a designer, being able to display and sync photos/artwork on the fly is nice, ..plug it into a tv for larger viewing cool,Im sure for long rides,viewing some pictures while listing to tunes is a good time killer.. hell if u have a nice receiver/sound system attached to a tv, plug it in at a party and anyone can dj via the tv instead of leaning your head down on the 2inch screen..i'm sold

[ThinkInsane]

Since my 1G iPod is still working just fine, I think it will make an excellent photo storage firewire hard drive while I play my music on the new U2 iPod I ordered this afternoon.

[theolein]

The one thing that keeps me from buying an iPod, either this one or the others, is a simple feature that would make an iPod incredibly useful: A built-in microphone and software to make voice notes, voice calendar entries etc. To me the iPod is made for this (well, apart from playing music).

I also have the feeling that Apple might not do too well with this new iPod Photo. The inclusion of a USB 2.0 port would have been very useful as a lot of newer digital cameras use that. Paying so much for the ability to carry images around is somehow strange, to me. While I think that a built-in camera would have been too much, the lack of connectivity is perhaps going to get this thing bad reviews. People would want to sync to their cameras first, and then to their computers, not the other way round.

I suppose Apple will eventually bring out a version that can play Quicktime or mpeg2 movies, and firewire would be useful there as most video cameras have them, but not digital cameras.

Pity.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by AKcrab:
Sure, but perhaps not everyone can afford a laptop.

Uhm, wait, you are willing to spend $ 500 on an iPod, but wouldn't save up some more money to buy an iBook for $ 1000 instead ?

-t

[thunderous_funker]

Originally posted by Cung:
....hell if u have a nice receiver/sound system attached to a tv, plug it in at a party and anyone can dj via the tv instead of leaning your head down on the 2inch screen..i'm sold

I had not thought of that. Holy Pocket DJ w/ pictures, Batman!!

Now I'm wondering if the Alpine, BMW, etc car adapter kits will now offer PhotoPod integration for cars with LCD stereo interfaces.

The idea of just having pictures didn't really appeal to me, but now I'm thinking this could be seriously cool!

[turtle777]

Originally posted by theolein:
The inclusion of a USB 2.0 port would have been very useful as a lot of newer digital cameras use that.

Easy and cheap fix:

http://www.sendstation.com/us/products/pd_combo.html

-t

[chris v]

Hey, where's Charles? He's long past-due to bitch about no built in mic.

(Okay, I'll do it for him)

What? No built in mic? Apple is teh suck.

[itai195]

Originally posted by turtle777:
Easy and cheap fix:

http://www.sendstation.com/us/products/pd_combo.html

-t

I think he meant for transferring digital images directly from a camera to an iPod. The Belkin device kind of sucks.

[waxcrash]

If the iPod Photo had the same features as the Nikon Coolwalker I'd buy it in a second.

[thunderous_funker]

Originally posted by chris v:
Hey, where's Charles? He's long past-due to bitch about no built in mic.

(Okay, I'll do it for him)

What? No built in mic? Apple is teh suck.

built in mic would be nice, but the top of my wish list is a FM tuner. Ideally, an FM/AM tuner, but I'll settle for just FM tuner if I have to.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally posted by thunderous_funker:
built in mic would be nice, but the top of my wish list is a FM tuner. Ideally, an FM/AM tuner, but I'll settle for just FM tuner if I have to.

Christ then buy the iTrip, I would be happy if they kept it out to save me $10.

[thunderous_funker]

Originally posted by Landos Mustache:
Christ then buy the iTrip, I would be happy if they kept it out to save me $10.

The iTrip is an FM transmitter, not a tuner. I want to listen to FM radio, not broadcast to my car stereo.

[Mafia]

it would also be nice if i could press a button and the ipod sprouted legs and arms and did all the housework

[ironknee]

Originally posted by Mafia:
it would also be nice if i could press a button and the ipod sprouted legs and arms and did all the housework

without complaining

[Apple Pro Underwear]

Originally posted by turtle777:
You are showing your graphic design portfolio on a TV ?
Or are you carrying around a projector as well ?

In any case, a laptop would do you better...

obviously, this is not optimal.

but let's say you're called for a time-sensitive hiring when you don't have your portfolio around.

or if you go to your friend's halloween party at his workplace and you find out they need a photographer/designer/whatever - you can preview your work for them immediately so they get the idea and a real interview can be held later. it's a tool...

the point is, not everybody has a laptop or carries it around as frequently as a iPod.

[MrBS]

Housework aside, it would be nice if the iPods new features had something to do with music. FM tuner maybe (i wouldn't use it), wireless headphones, gapless playback... that kind of stuff would make more sense than pictures or a special edition to me.

~BS

[Evan_11]

Well for $400 more you can buy a 12" ibook.

I also think people will get the wrong impression and think that there's a digital camera included.

I don't have any problems with them adding a color screen, video out but as a professional videographer I also want QT capabilities. Steve-O says that people don't watch video on 2" screens. Bullsh*t. That's what the video out is for. What if you want to put together your photos in a cool iMovie using the 'Ken Burns' effect? Who really wants to watch static photos on a tv with no transitions? Actually I think QT capabilities are coming but instead of saying "the technology just isn't there yet" he says "you don't need it". Of course the Apple Nerds eat that up as gospel.

I could go on but as it is the iPod is starting look half-baked.

[AKcrab]

Why are people comparing the new iPod Photo to a laptop?? There is no comparison. They aren't competing products.

[Evan_11]

Originally posted by AKcrab:
Why are people comparing the new iPod Photo to a laptop?? There is no comparison. They aren't competing products.

Because the two are becoming more a like.

[OAW]

Originally posted by Evan_11:
Well for $400 more you can buy a 12" ibook.

I also think people will get the wrong impression and think that there's a digital camera included.

I don't have any problems with them adding a color screen, video out but as a professional videographer I also want QT capabilities. Steve-O says that people don't watch video on 2" screens. Bullsh*t. That's what the video out is for. What if you want to put together your photos in a cool iMovie using the 'Ken Burns' effect? Who really wants to watch static photos on a tv with no transitions? Actually I think QT capabilities are coming but instead of saying "the technology just isn't there yet" he says "you don't need it". Of course the Apple Nerds eat that up as gospel.

I could go on but as it is the iPod is starting look half-baked.

The question is does the iPod CPU have the horsepower to do video? While transitions for the photo slideshows would be nice, I also shudder to think what full motion video would do to the battery life. A color UI is one thing. Even displaying static pictures is one thing. Full motion video is another thing altogether. IT seems to me that the CPU and battery requirements would go up dramatically if these features were offered.

OAW

[Evan_11]

Originally posted by OAW:
The question is does the iPod CPU have the horsepower to do video? OAW

No but a scaled back G4 could handle things. It's coming but you'll never get Steve to hint at it.

[Brass]

Originally posted by MrBS:
Also I don't like the shift of iTunes from an awesome music app that happens to have some hooks for the ipod to being a front end for the ipod. What's itunes have to do with pictures? or the iPod (outside of music)? Nothing. Apple kind of needed to do this for the pc crowd, but I think they had enough of a free ride with ipod and itunes. If they want to have this added functionality that no one else is offering point them at an ibook or that imac that was designed just to lure ipod converts over and have them install iphoto. No need to pervert itunes for the unwashed masses' needs.

~BS

Personally, I think that instead of having iTunes handle photos (which really does NOT fit), they should have added an iPodSync application which works with both iTunes and whatever photo collection the new iTunes 4.7 works with. Would be neater in my mind, but I guess they wanted fewer apps to simplify it for other people.

But photo management in iTunes? That does seem silly, even if it is only a very small part of phot management (ie, syncing between iPhoto, etc and iPod). Seems that iTunes is now a portal between iPod and a variety of applications (wait until the video iPod comes out).

On the Mac, this job SHOULD be for iSync! They should have written an iSync for Windows (and limit it to only iPod on the windows version, if they want).

[ironknee]

hey this is just the 1st generation of the color ipod picture. i think it will sell out this christmas season...people want gadgets...

i say in a year, who knows what they've already thought of...quicktime, or maybe the ability to turn the ipod into a remote control for itunes...whatever...i bet it's alredy built in

[Big Mac]

Originally posted by Evan_11:
No but a scaled back G4 could handle things. It's coming but you'll never get Steve to hint at it.

Uh, huh... Now how is a scaled back G4 along with all of the supporting components ever going to fit into the space an embedded chip now occupies? Full motion video on an iPod? My 8600/300 (with its standard video card) choked on newer, low resolution QuickTime video, and people are expecting FMV from an iPod. You're going to have to wait a long time for that, folks.

I too immediately thought it was awkward for iTunes to be managing photos, but a previous poster hit the nail on the head when he speculated that Apple does not wish to code iPhoto for Windows. Makes sense. Nor do they wish to create a separate Windows application for managing photos. For better or worse, iTunes is going to be the iPod media manager. Maybe Apple should just get it over with and change iTunes name to iPod. It would certainly help the clueless among us to figure out what's going on when they connect their iPods.

On a different note, I'm wondering why the dialog posted by Landos Mustache has oddly spaced text. I'm not insinuating anything, but it does not look right to me.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by OAW:
1. There already exists an accessory to download digital photos to the iPod. The Belkin Media Reader does just that and has been available for quite some time.

Which works just fine with the plain old iPod. Which should have come with the iPod photo to make it worth the extra cost, but doesn't, making me wonder what's the point of the iPod Photo besides the extra battery and hard disk.

2. So I suppose adding an additional port as you have suggested doesn't constitute "bloat"?

You'd have to justify how something very small and very much in line with the iPod's core purpose (music) would be bloat and something completely unrelated, which adds considerable weight and volume to the unit, and which has limited usefulness is not bloat.

It's kind of the Windows-using friend I used to have who thought integrating Internet Explorer into the file browser was a brilliant idea but that the little "package name" which appeared under app's names in the OS 9 Get Info window was feature bloat. Whatever...

And if a mic port would really be so much of a problem, hell, you could make the headphone port two-way and use it as a mic port when a mic was plugged into it. I understand that the iPod on Linux people have already got something like that partially working.

What I like about this product's development is that as it evolves and adds more capabilities, the ease of use does NOT diminish whatsoever. Everything that makes and iPod an iPod still exists. It's still just as intuitive and simple to use as ever. It just now has a few more bells and whistles that one can choose to utilize or not.

However, the bulk is now increased, and the elegance is now decreased.