Rumors of special edition Madonna iPod abound

Wow, who could be next! Falco? The lead singer of Human League?
One can dream.

glad to see new possible special edition iPods... I wish more groups would get into the act. How much would Madonna's whole collection eat up though? 4GB may not be so much space when confronted with Madonna's prolific career.

So far the iPod only appeases one sense-- hearing. A lot of people seem to be of the opinion that Apple is going to tackle 'seeing' next with a video iPod. I think if we really try, we can convince Apple to make the smellPod! Air freshener and music all in one. The AromaTherapod!

Who's with me?

Ok. PINK iPod nano... Madonna... mmmh... this sounds just... Gay (not that there's anything wrong with it...)

Hey, at least the ladies will be happy...

So then why did you mention it?

I'm just sad that this is the most (and only, so far) important news of the day here.

An iPod nano rimmed with lace and engraved with some arcane kabbalah symbols.

"preloaded with her entire music catalog."

Wow. At first glance, this sounds exactly like the U2 Edition iPod, but with one VERY interesting difference (assuming that it's true)--this time, the music would be PRELOADED on the iPod in question.

This raises two interesting questions--one legal, one technical:

--it was my understanding that until the Apple/Apple Corp/Beatles debacle is settled, one of the things which Apple is NOT allowed to do is to sell music in a PHYSICAL MEDIUM--in other words, they can sell the iPod, and they can sell digital downloads, but they aren't allowed to sell music CDs. The U2 edition cleverly sidestepped this issue by including a *coupon* for the music, which was then downloaded off the iTMS (thus avoiding the sale of "music in a physical medium"). By preinstalling Madonna's music, wouldn't this be violating that aspect of the agreement? They're already pushing their luck awfully hard, as the iTMS is already on the verge of being a label in its' own right.

--even if it's all kosher to do so, how is the preloaded music supposed to be identified with/connected with the iPod's owner? When you use the U2 coupon, the music is downloaded from the iTMS with the same FairPlay DRM info attached to it as any other iTMS song--including the accountholder's name, etc. If the music is preloaded, it would have to be (gasp!) DRM-Free (or, at least, with minimal DRM). Since the iPod is (officially) one-way only--the music is not supposed to be able to go from the iPod back onto the computer--how are buyers supposed to transfer it? There are dozens of 3rd-party workaround utilities to do this, but Apple can't include any of them, I don't think.

So, again, assuming that the pre-loaded music angle is correct, it sounds like this means any or all of the following will be announced:

--Apple has settled favorable with Apple Corp, and is now completely free to sell music any way they see fit with no legal challenges

--Madonna has, amazingly, agreed to include DRM-less copies of her ENTIRE LIBRARY to be included with the iPod; and/or

--Apple has arranged to allow for *official* 2-way music syncing between iPods and computers.

If any or all of the above three are correct, it would be a major piece of news, I would think.

Special Editions give Apple a good way to try different colors--AND nobody can say "apple they lie u take way the only cool ipod apple sux" when those colors become unavailable. They can come and go as Apple sees fit. See what sells.

Which works better if the artist tie in stays on the back--like U2--leaving it just a special-colored iPod on the front.

Actually, her career may not be quite as extensive as you'd think--I just ran a check on her discography, and I only count somewhere between 150-200 tracks total, which would be only around 600-800 MB. I think she has about 15 distinct albums (as opposed to "greatest hits/best of" collections, etc), with 10-12 songs apiece; throw in a handful of no-album singles, and that's around 170 or so total.

I suspect the reason she *seems* to have a larger number of songs than many other artists is because her "batting average" is *very* high--out of those 170 or so songs, a much higher percentage of them became hits than other prolific artists.

More likely it's just going to be like the U2 and Harry Potter situations.

Enh, it could swing both ways.

Space is only a concern if you loaded all of Madonna's GOOD songs.

ALL media players have room for ONE song.

She DOES have a lot of GOOD songs. So space would be a problem.

Rumor has it Madonna started this rumor herself to gain media attention and boost album sales

Or not. But if there isn't a pPod we know who to blame.

And will Pink sue Madonna for infringing on her inherent business iPossibilities?

I'm holding out for my Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods iPod! I've got to decide whether I'll go for the 4MB version that holds "Billy, Don't Be a Hero" in compressed AAC format or spring for the 40 Meg that can hold that song in uncompressed AIFF format.

When you're a one-hit wonder, the true fans want to hear every last nuance of that magical, unrepeatable phenomenon.

Now that I think about it, a few weeks ago I saw a light pink car with a signature of Mary Olsen on the left rear trunk top. Don't remember the model. It was being driven by a middle aged woman.

As Jack Paar would say; "I kid you not!"

Erm ... "Mary Kay" or "Mary Kate"?

I don't remember. We were all traveling fast, and it was a signature. I just got a quick glance. I read that the Olsen twins were getting these sort of deals.

Edit: As I think back, it looked like four letters, but it was quick.

Mary Kay Cosmetics has long been known for giving their salespeople pink Cadillacs after reaching a certain level. I doubt you saw a marketing ploy of the Olson twins.

It wasn't a Caddie, I would have recognized that. But it's a nice perk.

Finally some kind of Nano protection from Apple.

Actually a Madonna vPod would be the best promo such a product would ever get. At least for us who remember the 80s.

Not because Madonna made anything I liked in the 80s but she is one of the video icons from the pre-assbreastdancealittleandfilltherestwithhandsignand sunglassesandnostoryline

Well, I did what I always do when presented with this kind of situation.

I asked my wife.

She did what she always does in these situations.

She said I was wrong. It was a Caddie.

So, I could be wrong about thinking it was four letters in the second name as well.

I was sure bacause I read in AD Age last year that they and their company are doing these deals. The Mary Kay thing is new to me. Well, now we see why witnesses are wrong more than 40% of the time. We see what we expect to.

I rather liked the idea that a middle aged woman would be driving around in a car signed by 19 year old Mary Kate.

Yeah.. why not a vPod with _everything_ Madonna released! Music, videos, movies and books? I wonder how "Sex" would be like an audio book?

No... give us the Milli Vanilli iPod nano.

Something like this (picture link)?

I really don't think so

Made by Creative?

Wow. My new iPod stand.

what I can't figure out, is with all these Madonna iPod rumours, nobody is mentioning the fact that she already had one. Do you really think they are going to come out with another one? Maybe they'll just paint original one pink and rerelease it.

http://www.macobserver.com/images/ne...adonnaipod.jpg

Wow! Apple needs to update their website interface to look more Tigerish

Classic!

The pink Cadillac is the top sales incentive for Mary Kay Cosmetics but they also have a pink Pontiac Grand Prix below that.

The original article stated that "like the U2 special edition it will come preloaded with her entire music catalog" so it's obviously an error on their part. They didn't realize the U2 special edition isn't preloaded with songs so this was just an incorrect assumption.

One word. Why?

They should make a Jay-Z ipod, that'd sell well.

Where is the Bay City Rollers special edition iPod?

Just look for the special Apple event that is going to take place on

S-A-T
T-U-R
T-U-R
Night
and
Day!

This screams jumping-the-shark. it reminds me of the Claudia Schiffer Palm V, and we all know how well Palm did after that...

BTW, Falco is dead. He got hit by a car while crossing a street. Fortunately, that means there will be no Falco edition iPod.

or it won't be preloaded.
The U2 one was orginally thought to be pre-loaded as well until its release. I expect if they do this (which seems unlikely) they will do the same thing and offer $40(or so) off her back catalogue.