Next non Mac device - iDock

he's just lying, that, or you are.

I don't believe it.

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.

The iPod has a 1-bit screen. Think.

God you guys don't think very much. This dock thing could be plugged into a TV and have iPod as the head unit and using the tv and home stereo to play the iPod mp3s with itune visuals or something. Or perhaps it's got other purposes.

Dorsal M had mentioned a dock of sorts that the iPod slides into _he thought is was a iMac or something) This could be Apple's next iGadget.

You guys just need to relax and ponder a bit before you grab the stakes out and start gushing for blood.

That's actually an interesting idea. I presume there'd be an uplink (over Firewire, naturally) to connect to your main Mac if you had one? This has the potential to be pretty cool. Or not.

The ability to play QT and other movies, etc. would be pretty nice. I know most laptops support it, but most desktops don't.

We shall see.

maybe it uses gigawire

This is so patently fake.

Why would you want s-video out on your iPod? The only reason would be to connect to a TV. Why would you want to connect your iPod to a TV?

1. To run your iPod GUI on a big screen? How utterly useless. What's the benefit here?

2. To view movies stored on your iPod? Bad idea. I'm supposed to carry around my iPod, this dock thingy and an s-video cable along with a few rca cables!? All so I can show someone a movie I keep on my iPod!?!?!

This whole idea of some iPod dock is totally against the whole foundation at Apple of simplicity. Hell they won't even make a 2 button mouse. You honestly thing they're going to make something you attach to the iPod?

[quote]Originally posted by eliahu:
<strong>This is so patently fake.

Why would you want s-video out on your iPod?</strong><hr></blockquote>

No, that's the wrong question.

Why would you want to hook your iPod to a "hub" that hooked up to your Mac, your TV and your stereo?

If you don't know the answer then you should give up now and buy a PC.

Oh, you really got me there, Clive.

Why would I want the iPod to be a part of the picture here? I'd really rather just connect my stereo and TV into my mac. The iPod is synchronizing with my mac, so there's no benefit to having it in this little fantasy scenario.

Why is everyone getting so down on this idea. It is entirely possible that PK's friend saw something like this, which doesn't mean we ever will. However, a device like this makes sense. Firewire was created as a way to connect home A/V and computers and peripherials. I have speculated for years that we will see TV's, DVD players and VCR's that use a high bandwidth incarnation of firewire to transmit and receive their signals.
I think an iDock would help to enable this perfectly. An iDock connected to a Mac, with a few couple A/V ports, S-Video, and a few Firewire ports has obvious saleable features. Your Mac becomes the real centre of a digital entertainment centre, but the entertainment centre isn't entirely reliant on the Mac. The A/V ports would be for legacy equipment only. The Firewire enabled components would communicate with each other, making syncing between devices trivial. High bandwidth Firewire fills the space of both device communication and A/V signal transmission. The iDock would also make a nice, easily accesible Firewire dock for those who like to reach the ports easily. Any other Firewire device like the iPod could be plugged in to charge and connect in a snap.
Sure, this could be accompished without the iDock, the iDock could just help physically manage the wires etc.
To take this idea a step further, imagine a second version of iDock which is wireless enabled. Used as a point of physical connectivity for A/V systems, it could be self contained, but able to communicate with your Mac via Airport, or Firewire. This wouldn't make a lot of sense if the Mac is going to be the media depot (unless Airport gets alot more bandwidth) but it would allow the Mac to become a remote management point for your A/V system. The A/V system would be able to operate totally on it's own, but could be controlled by the Mac.

Basically, I am saying that an iDock could be a great idea. If you had Firewire enabled TV's DVD players, stereo components etc, the Mac becomes a powerful component in your Digital Home Entertainment System. Use your Mac to play MP3's over your stereo system and synch visualizations to your projection TV, play DVD's on your Mac and watch them on your TV (if you don't have a stand along DVD deck), connect to you Mac from the office and set it to record a show from your Digital satellite so you can watch it later. hell, have it tape 20 shows, you 80 gig's of harddrive space will take it-your Mac becomes a TiVo.

Well, I guess I have rambled on enough, you get the idea. An iDock could be a good thing.

Tulkas

[quote]
I am saying that an iDock could be a great idea. If you had Firewire enabled TV's DVD players, stereo components etc, the Mac becomes a powerful component in your Digital Home Entertainment System.
<hr></blockquote>

Good God. There aren't any firewire enabled TVs, DVD players or stereo components. The iPod is not waiting to be transformed into something magical. There will be no iDock. There is no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy.

Bah, humbug.

[quote]Originally posted by Tulkas:
<strong>Why is everyone getting so down on this idea. It is entirely possible that PK's friend saw something like this, which doesn't mean we ever will. However, a device like this makes sense. Firewire was created as a way to connect home A/V and computers and peripherials. I have speculated for years that we will see TV's, DVD players and VCR's that use a high bandwidth incarnation of firewire to transmit and receive their signals.
I think an iDock would help to enable this perfectly. An iDock connected to a Mac, with a few couple A/V ports, S-Video, and a few Firewire ports has obvious saleable features. Your Mac becomes the real centre of a digital entertainment centre, but the entertainment centre isn't entirely reliant on the Mac. The A/V ports would be for legacy equipment only. The Firewire enabled components would communicate with each other, making syncing between devices trivial. High bandwidth Firewire fills the space of both device communication and A/V signal transmission. The iDock would also make a nice, easily accesible Firewire dock for those who like to reach the ports easily. Any other Firewire device like the iPod could be plugged in to charge and connect in a snap.
Sure, this could be accompished without the iDock, the iDock could just help physically manage the wires etc.
To take this idea a step further, imagine a second version of iDock which is wireless enabled. Used as a point of physical connectivity for A/V systems, it could be self contained, but able to communicate with your Mac via Airport, or Firewire. This wouldn't make a lot of sense if the Mac is going to be the media depot (unless Airport gets alot more bandwidth) but it would allow the Mac to become a remote management point for your A/V system. The A/V system would be able to operate totally on it's own, but could be controlled by the Mac.

Basically, I am saying that an iDock could be a great idea. If you had Firewire enabled TV's DVD players, stereo components etc, the Mac becomes a powerful component in your Digital Home Entertainment System. Use your Mac to play MP3's over your stereo system and synch visualizations to your projection TV, play DVD's on your Mac and watch them on your TV (if you don't have a stand along DVD deck), connect to you Mac from the office and set it to record a show from your Digital satellite so you can watch it later. hell, have it tape 20 shows, you 80 gig's of harddrive space will take it-your Mac becomes a TiVo.

Well, I guess I have rambled on enough, you get the idea. An iDock could be a good thing.

Tulkas</strong><hr></blockquote>

You are so on to it!! Think about it this way. Apple will never get the whole entertainment industry to switch like that. It just isn't going to happen. However, what if they created a device that was a bridge of sorts. I know that having an iPod syncing to my Mac would be great. But what about playing it on my stereo?? Or having iTunes visuals appear on my TV screen?? It could be that bridge. Sure, the iPod might be one bit, but who says this bridge has to be??

And what about video?? This kind of bridge would be perfect for people who want to keep their legacy VHS systems, but want to record their iMovie-enhanced to Tape?? Have your VHS Recorder connected to the iBridge and there you have it. Instand Video Bridge!!

There are a lot of possibilities here, just because you can only see one idea, doesn't mean that others aren't already there.

[quote]Originally posted by eliahu:
<strong>

Good God. There aren't any firewire enabled TVs, DVD players or stereo components. The iPod is not waiting to be transformed into something magical. There will be no iDock. There is no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy.

Bah, humbug.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I am not actually trying to say that the iDock would transform the iPod into anything more than it is, which is a great MP3 player and mini HD. However, an iDock would enable the Mac to fulfill it's role a a Digital Hub. The iDock would be a point on connection for Firewire devices.
<a href="http://www.cedmagazine.com/ced/9808/9808c.htm" target="_blank">http://www.cedmagazine.com/ced/9808/9808c.htm</a>
<a href="http://www.idg.net/idgns/2000/09/14/FCCTreadsWaterMakesRulingOn.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.idg.net/idgns/2000/09/14/FCCTreadsWaterMakesRulingOn.shtml</a>
<a href="http://www.pixbox.tv/data.html" target="_blank">http://www.pixbox.tv/data.html</a>
While commercially available Firewire enabled A/V devices other than camcorders are few, they do exist. The future of TV is HDTV and the most likely connector of HDTV's is Firewire (mebbe DVI).
I am in no way suggesting that the iDock makes or breaks the scenario I presented above (which I do believe is inevitable, though if not from Apple, then an MS hodge podge-why do you think MS supports Firewire so strongly over USB 2 which is not up to this task), I do think the iDock would help greatly. No one could deliver something like this with as much elegance as Apple. An iDock could help clear the clutter.

Stop trying to make this about the iPod. Yes, PK said it would show what the real plans for the iPod were. I think he meant as a part of a great whole.

Tulkas

Seems like for the iPod to show movies it would need more than 5 GB.

But what if the iPod were used to display PHOTOs? It's the perfect device for it. Just dump all your digital photos into the iPod while on vacation, and you don't need expensive flash ram or any BS like that. All it would need is an adaptor to read flash cards.

Surly the iPod has enough power to display still photos? If not, then perhaps that's what this dock is for. Imagine, it would be like carrying around a hi-tech slide projector.

If it could do this, then what about powerpoint-type presentations? Who needs a full laptop for these when an iPod would work? That would be so damn cool to be able to do this!

Neither of these things takes very much processing power, although they need good 2D video support. I'm not sure how good the iPod would be for this, but if this dock can provide the video acceleration needed, then apple could be on to something. As long as it doesn't cost too much.

To those that commented why worry about an iDock, I could just hook my computer to my TV, Stereo, etc. How's this fixed then. My computer stuff is in my bedroom, right next to one small tv. Our tv and stereo equipment is in my living room. That's a lot of wires. If I had an iDock (say $100-$300) and an iPod ($300) and could connect them I can play my mp3s on my stereo (along with anything else they enable), iMovies on my TV, etc. I can't afford another computer (we have an old duck taped together powerbook running as an mp3 player in the living room right now) and an iMac would look stupid in that room anyway. iDock however is part of my stereo, fits right in.

Also, when I go visit my family, i take my iPod, with songs for the 4 hour trip, along with a few short videos to play on their iDock without burning any discs or recording back to a camcorder and taking that.

Now if they would just make the iPod do some of the other things I've mentioned before (stuff helpful for a student) I'd buy one tomorrow.

[quote]Originally posted by Junkyard Dawg:
<strong>Seems like for the iPod to show movies it would need more than 5 GB.

But what if the iPod were used to display PHOTOs? It's the perfect device for it. Just dump all your digital photos into the iPod while on vacation, and you don't need expensive flash ram or any BS like that. All it would need is an adaptor to read flash cards.

Surly the iPod has enough power to display still photos? If not, then perhaps that's what this dock is for. Imagine, it would be like carrying around a hi-tech slide projector.

If it could do this, then what about powerpoint-type presentations? Who needs a full laptop for these when an iPod would work? That would be so damn cool to be able to do this!

Neither of these things takes very much processing power, although they need good 2D video support. I'm not sure how good the iPod would be for this, but if this dock can provide the video acceleration needed, then apple could be on to something. As long as it doesn't cost too much.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Exactly. There's another thread here about the new iMac having a swappable harddrive. Why? To pop into this iDock. What if all the new iGadgets pop into this dock and the iDock plugs into your TV, Computer, Stereo, etc?

You have a digital hub &lt;I made the connection if any of this happens-ipod, idock, swappable harddrive on iMac all linking together &gt;

I really hope this isn't all wishful thinking.

People say it's great to be able to burn a clients video to a DVD, cause the quality is excelent. But it's still not as good as the raw data.

Which can be stored on an iPod.

Which, if the iPod had stero/sVHS outs, then could be WATCHED from the iPod, without having to burn it to a DVD first. If you're showing a lot of clients info and you do 10 a week, on one iPod, you save $60 a week. $240 a month, and over $2500 a year due to the iPod, and not having to burn DVDs. Plus the time it takes to program and encode a DVD.

And the fragility of the DVD.

I posted in the other thred about the iMac with the removeable drive.

This is amazing stuff.

Andrew

(PS, this would really make people switch to Mac)

hey perhaps the iPod would connect to this proposed iDock and the dock would give it extra features, Like microphone capabilities???

at first I didn't think not having a mic would really matter

then I realized for a pro audio electronic musician that is trying to get more into sampling or already is big on sampling, having a pocket sized mic that encoded directly into say 128 kbps mp3s or even lower , its still SUPER portable and good quality(compared to some other sampling methods) sampling device.
but thats not for everyone.

Hello!

I'm keeping a running toll of what I'm seeing here. I'll compile a list of positives (reasons, and backing evidence, supporting points) for this "iDock":

1. Intern at apple might have seen one???

2. All of the ports on the iPod are on one side (the top)

3. Would embody the digital hub ideal.

4. You could put digital video/photos/music on it and share it with your friends, without a dvd player.

5. Supporting the previous point: it seems that the price of the R/D for the iPod would be really high, right? Well, I'm sure that you have all seen the el cheapo DVD players out there (example: APEX). Well, they play MP3's, and (obviously) DVDs, and with iDVD, they will show Photo Albums. The internal electronics are readily available, and highly adaptable; there are many cheap DVD players in that price range, all probably have the same chip set. The iPod might have that chipset too, (who knows???), if so, it could do all of those things, and the r/d wouldn't be nearly as expensive.

6. It would make the INSANE $399 price tag seem much more reasonable.

7. If it has hardware DVD decoding, Maybe it could be reversed somehow so it would do hardware ENcoding, you could do DVD encoding in realtime, perhaps (probably) faster.

8. It would be COOL

the end

[quote]Originally posted by eliahu:
<strong>

There is no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy.

</strong><hr></blockquote>

See, you obviously know nothing! Everyone knows they exist!

Ok, I have acquired some more (very interesting) information to support the iDock speculation from iPoding.com. Here it is:

1. The iPod has a socket inside that is currently USELESS! That's not an accident.

2. The iPod has the ability to fully burn a cd on a firewire CD-R drive with out a computer, i.e. standalone.

3. The iPod has code for a remote control, not included with the iPod. This seems to imply an intended use of the iPod from afar i.e. accross the room while the iPod is hooked up to the home theater, or as a presentation device for your meeting.

We don't know exactly what this entails for sure, but one thing IS FOR CERTAIN!!!: The full functionallity of the iPod has not yet been realized/admitted by Apple.

The iPod will, repeat WILL absolutely be more functional than it already is. ABSOLUTELY!!!!!

[ 12-04-2001: Message edited by: Nixholas ]</p>

This is so obviously the future of the iPod, it amazes me that anyone should think otherwise!

Apple have seen where the PDA market is going (can you say 'mobile phone') and they don't want to be competing in that cut-throat space; Yet, the iPod is one of the most powerful PDA platforms out there! (2 x ARM processors, 1 x Motorola DSP, 32 megs RAM, 5 gig disc), what's all that for?

The iPod is to become your personal 'space' where all your stuff resides; files, music, pictures, video etc. This is a long term project which is why at the moment 5 gigs is a little small and $399 a little expensive. But they have got away with it and it is selling in sufficient numbers. The form factor was the most important aspect to get right.

I don't know whether the DSP is for MPEG2 decoding or whether a DV decoding chip in an iDock is required but you will DEFINITELY be playing out movies from the iPod at some point. This also raises the whole TiVo possibility of a timed DVR, however that issue just got a little uglier with Sonic Blue's recent court victory.

I think the next two things likely to happen are a) the full support of booting from, (or at least 'user profiles' ) iPod into OS X and b) the long awaited iPhoto app and the playback of photo albums on to tv via a dock.

Think about this: when to use your laptop? When you are on your own working and surfing. What do you do with it when you are with work colleagues, friends, family? You present stuff to them and share; thats what the iPod is for.

[quote]But what if the iPod were used to display PHOTOs? It's the perfect device for it. Just dump all your digital photos into the iPod while on vacation, and you don't need expensive flash ram or any BS like that. All it would need is an adaptor to read flash cards.<hr></blockquote>

Funny you should say that. I've always assumed that one of the next digital hub devices would be a small, simple digital camera done iMac style, with a simple interface, and a firewire port. The camera would prolly have a compact flash slot, but the big thing would be the ability to offload all of that data to your iPod so you could keep on shooting in the field. There would probably be an option to have it as the primary storage mechanism as well, with the iPod sitting in your pocket, connected via firewire while you shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot.

Sounds good to me.

I really don't think we will see either cameras or camcorders from Apple. These are both very competitive and mature markets that now require huge R&D investment to make any sort of difference. Sony chips dominate both markets and you would need a deal with Sony to become a player.

Apple is a niche player and is looking to produce innovative products at the margins of these markets where it can dominate, make money and make the Mac platform more compelling.

[quote]Originally posted by vinney57:
<strong>I really don't think we will see either cameras or camcorders from Apple. These are both very competitive and mature markets that now require huge R&D investment to make any sort of difference. Sony chips dominate both markets and you would need a deal with Sony to become a player.

Apple is a niche player and is looking to produce innovative products at the margins of these markets where it can dominate, make money and make the Mac platform more compelling.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I don't know, how about a digital camera that uses the iPod as a removable "film-back", just slide it in and you've got 5 GB photo storage. The camera itself could be relatively inexpensive, although knowing Apple it would have Zeiss precision-ground glass optics, a 5 megapixel resolution and cost $1000 w/out the iPod. : ) I can see that shiny metal back with the Apple logo becoming the back of a digital imaging device.

[ 12-04-2001: Message edited by: briareos ]</p>

[quote]Originally posted by eliahu:
<strong>Oh, you really got me there, Clive.

Why would I want the iPod to be a part of the picture here? I'd really rather just connect my stereo and TV into my mac. The iPod is synchronizing with my mac, so there's no benefit to having it in this little fantasy scenario.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Ok, take the iPod out if it pleases you, you still have a hub to connect your a/v to your Mac. Connecting the iPod too is just a bonus.

Damn, guys. Are we really so starved for information that we have to jump onto every bit of earwax that is flicked at us?

Guys, this is real easy. The iPod is a 5G FireWire drive with a nifty little MP3 player as a bonus, that's the way you need to think about it. It's pretty safe to say that in the coming months the price may go down, and the storage may go up, let's say....10G. If you look at Apple's jobs site it says that they are looking for people on the iPod team with experience in things like MPEG video. So instead of thinking of the iPod as an MP3 player, think of it as a "Digital Media Storage Device" - with a dock, you could do 2 extra things:

1) When iPod is in the dock, you can use it with your home stereo system. I'm guessing the dock would even have a remote control.
2) When iPod is in the dock, you could use it as a TIVO-style digital video recorder (using any unused space on the internal HD). Or perhaps you could load your iMovies onto it and then watch those on TV.

The beauty? It's what everyone thought the iPod might be in the first place - a home stereo/video component that is related to the data from your computer. But, with a great extra: you take the iPod out of the dock, and you have a self-contained portable MP3 player. You take it to your friend's house and place it in HIS dock, and you have access to all your MP3's and any video recordings.

Sounds like a very great and "Appleish" idea to me.

That said, I don't believe it is actually anything under development quite yet. But an interesting idea nonetheless.

-S

[quote]
Ok, take the iPod out if it pleases you, you still have a hub to connect your a/v to your Mac. Connecting the iPod too is just a bonus.
<hr></blockquote>

Ugh. OK, let's take a look at this scenario and a mere 2 seconds of analysis will show that this is really unwise.

So, my mac is connected to my A/V system via this dock thingy. How exactly is this connection established? Is it ethernet or some other wire based technology? Most folks don't have their computer in the same room as their A/V system. A wire based connection is a bad idea...most people would avoid running a wire down the hallway and into the living room. So that would leave us with a wireless connection. The only option here is Airport.

Now that I have this connection, how does this whole mess work? Do I control my A/V from my mac or vice-versa? Remember that the computer and A/V system are in different rooms. I can't adjust the volume of my amp from my computer, and I won't really enjoy listening to music being played in another room, so it seems like the best way for this to work is to control the computer from where the A/V system is located.

So how exactly do I interface with my computer via my A/V system? I would definitely need a GUI. This won't be OS X on my TV. NTSC televisions don't have high enough resolution, HDTV is too many years and I don't want to have a keyboard and a mouse on my coffee table. This will need to work with a simple remote control (think TiVo) and read well on NTSC TV. That means Apple needs to work up a new UI. It's all they can do to get OS X into shape--I really don't see Apple investing the time, energy and resources into this A/V GUI. I haven't even addressed issues of bandwidth over Airport. I don't think it's even possible for video data to be sent/received over Airport.

If the iPod is synchronized with my mac, what's the "bonus" of being able to connect it to this dock?

I like the idea of linking my mac and my A/V system--It's just not possible or practical right now. Sorry.

[quote]I really don't think we will see either cameras or camcorders from Apple. These are both very competitive and mature markets that now require huge R&D investment to make any sort of difference. Sony chips dominate both markets and you would need a deal with Sony to become a player.
Apple is a niche player and is looking to produce innovative products at the margins of these markets where it can dominate, make money and make the Mac platform more compelling.<hr></blockquote>

Apple doesn't construct the LCD screens it uses in its displays either. Somehow I don't think it's THAT big of a deal. I bet they release that, along with iPhoto software.

Wrong scenario: The DOCK is the connection to your AV system. The problem with the whole convergence thing is precisely as you have outlined - your Mac is nowhere near your AV - they are two different activities. Apple understands that (Steve even said it). The iDock is the bridge. Edit your music, photos, video on your iMac, write them to your iPod via firewire, take it home, downstairs, whatever. Stick it into the dock and play back on your huge TV and stereo. Obvious.

[quote]Originally posted by eliahu:
<strong>

Ugh. OK, let's take a look at this scenario and a mere 2 seconds of analysis will show that this is really unwise.

So, my mac is connected to my A/V system via this dock thingy. How exactly is this connection established? Is it ethernet or some other wire based technology? Most folks don't have their computer in the same room as their A/V system. A wire based connection is a bad idea...most people would avoid running a wire down the hallway and into the living room. So that would leave us with a wireless connection. The only option here is Airport.

Now that I have this connection, how does this whole mess work? Do I control my A/V from my mac or vice-versa? Remember that the computer and A/V system are in different rooms. I can't adjust the volume of my amp from my computer, and I won't really enjoy listening to music being played in another room, so it seems like the best way for this to work is to control the computer from where the A/V system is located.

So how exactly do I interface with my computer via my A/V system? I would definitely need a GUI. This won't be OS X on my TV. NTSC televisions don't have high enough resolution, HDTV is too many years and I don't want to have a keyboard and a mouse on my coffee table. This will need to work with a simple remote control (think TiVo) and read well on NTSC TV. That means Apple needs to work up a new UI. It's all they can do to get OS X into shape--I really don't see Apple investing the time, energy and resources into this A/V GUI. I haven't even addressed issues of bandwidth over Airport. I don't think it's even possible for video data to be sent/received over Airport.

If the iPod is synchronized with my mac, what's the "bonus" of being able to connect it to this dock?

I like the idea of linking my mac and my A/V system--It's just not possible or practical right now. Sorry.</strong><hr></blockquote>

It's not possible or practical just because you don'y have answers to your questions? Just because you don't know how something will work doesn't make it unpractical.


This is specualtion about new products, we have no clue how they will work so that makes the topic upractical? Please

[quote]
It's not possible or practical just because you don'y have answers to your questions? Just because you don't know how something will work doesn't make it unpractical.
<hr></blockquote>

Wow. What a compelling case you make . Your logic is so flawed I hestitate to even respond. You may as well be asking me to prove the iDock doesn't exist.

I'm bringing up significant real-world problems with this whole iDock thingy as envisioned here. Do you deny that it would need a GUI that would work on an NTSC TV? Perhaps you think you'll be able to read the display of your iPod from where it sits in the dock and it won't present a GUI on the TV. Sure hope you have good eyes.

The iPod needs to be much bigger to hold any reasonable amount of data. Make it 50GB not 5. OOh, idea - go a video store with your iPod, fill up on your evening's entertainment, go home and watch through your iDOCk.

[quote]Originally posted by eliahu:
<strong>

Wow. What a compelling case you make . Your logic is so flawed I hestitate to even respond. You may as well be asking me to prove the iDock doesn't exist.

I'm bringing up significant real-world problems with this whole iDock thingy as envisioned here. Do you deny that it would need a GUI that would work on an NTSC TV? Perhaps you think you'll be able to read the display of your iPod from where it sits in the dock and it won't present a GUI on the TV. Sure hope you have good eyes.</strong><hr></blockquote>


HAHAHA, and I suppose your "I don't know how it will work so it's therefore unpractical is compelling'? haha, please. My logic is flawed because I stated that you can't make assumptions without all the info? hahaha. I am saying, read this slow and carefully before looking more foolish the next time you try to respon in a cunning and slick manner to my post, you have a fewbit of info, so how can you conclude anything? Wow, that thinking is flawed? hahaha

Since we don't have any facts and since we don't have tons of info I can't say how the GUI would look or work. That means the idea is unpractical? hahaha I hope you have good eyes as well, cause you don't seem to read very well

[quote]Originally posted by eliahu:
<strong>
So, my mac is connected to my A/V system via this dock thingy. How exactly is this connection established? </strong><hr></blockquote>

Gigawire? (Which I've heard rumored MAY be a fast wireless connection.)

[quote]Originally posted by eliahu:
<strong>
Now that I have this connection, how does this whole mess work? Do I control my A/V from my mac or vice-versa?. . .it seems like the best way for this to work is to control the computer from where the A/V system is located.

So how exactly do I interface with my computer via my A/V system? I would definitely need a GUI. . .This will need to work with a simple remote control (think TiVo) and read well on NTSC TV. </strong><hr></blockquote>

Don't remember the site I saw it on, but people were theorizing about one of the output jacks on the iPod. It was said that it appeared to be for some sort of remote control.

. . .and the plot thickens. :eek:

Umm... If we had the answers to all these questions, why would we be here instead of working at Apple or somewhere?

Just because you raised questions that are not currently answered doesn't mean they cannot be either: a) answered with a little bit of research or b) answered with new developement

I'd bet an answer could be developed, all the way to Apple waiting for HDTV to become popular. It is a ways off, but when it comes, they'd be ready. (Not saying that's what they're doing, it's only one possible answer)

From the "iDock" exists crowd: How do you explain Apple's "Digital Hub" concept without some Apple designed or friendly way of connecting TVs, Stereos, etc. Something needs to address that, or it's all crap.

video thru an ipod? before you get into anything else, the ipod has no ventilation to begin with! It totally counts on spinning up a little bit then dissipating the heat thru the other parts of the device before spinning up again. It'll fry after a few movies.