MacGregor makes a good point about ergonomics. I like the idea of a rounded square and simple, clean lines, but curviness can be just as austere and minimal, I suppose. But I don't know.
The biggest problem, I think is balancing the screen size, the device size, the thickness, and the length. Because audio players like to be as small as possible, PDAs as thin as possible, display-based devices as large as possible, mobile phones candy-bar-like, texting devices easy to hold.. I just don't know.
Tough questions. I don't know what Apple would do.
There are things I'd like to see that don't have to come from Apple, and likely wouldn't. New form factors. I'd like to see a smartphone that didn't need a screen to communicate, could just use voice recognition and speech technology, and could light up different colors, and the whole thing could turn different colors (dynamic enclosure, hehe). about 6-8" long, 0.75" wide, 0.75" thick. A little square rod thing. Speaker in one end, mic in the other. Perhaps extendable. Maybe it could hold AAs or AAAs, or of course a special, elongated rechargeable. It would double as like a really big antenna. It may have one touch-sensitive side. Anyhow, it could be an audio player too, just speak to it what you want to hear, stick your headphones in one end. Of course, you'll have the little doohicky remote control on those, since the device will only have one button, for turning it on/off, or disconnecting a call. I'm just tired of phones going towards candybars and flips or honking PDAs and everybody wanting internal and external screens that are huge and immensely backlit and 65,000 colors and gawdy interfaces and ugly buttons for every imaginable use. It's just too much.
I love the iPod, but I like smooth, rounded and "grabby" things (especially when they're INTENDED to be held or toted around). The current iPod is cool...I was just imagining something that might cradle in the hand a bit nicer and more comfortably.
</strong><hr></blockquote>
I've thought in the same lines that perhaps Apple produce a second "Sports iPod". Not unlike Nike's PSA but of course much better interface and using the 5 gig drive. Of course they'd have to ensure that it can be used pretty vigorously without hanging (my 5 gig is okay for jogging but others have not been as lucky).
Keep the existing or improve the current line with many of the features discussed before, i.e. recording, mic, fm tuner etc..
But this sports version would be much more rugged in that you wouldn't be so concerned about scratching it.
Yeah, I've definitely heard my share of "belt-clip horror stories".
But I was trying to make this a complete, end-all/be-all package, where you didn't have to fork out an extra $39 to a third-party company for some sort of carrying case or pouch.
I'm STILL trying to think of a mechanism or design that a) acts as a sturdy, secure clip, b) can also be made to retract out the other way to act as a kickstand and c) be able to be easily taken off completely for those who prefer nothing on the back.
A tall order, especially since I don't know anything about anything.
But, ideally, right out of the box, you're able to comfortably hold your iPod, clip it to your belt or backpack (and KNOW that it will not fall off!) OR, as you're working at your desk, be able to simple set it there, tilted back slightly on its "kickstand", where you can easily see the display or reach over to access the scroll wheel to change songs or grab a contact or whatever.
I fell asleep last night, thinking about all this, and ended up dreaming about iPods and photo viewers and Apple in general.
You know, if Apple wanted to go absurdly small with the iPod, I believe IBM is set to release a 4GB microdrive. Pretty heady stuff.
Anyway, where's my tungsten style mock-up update? Don't try and tell me you have better things to do, your adoring public demands more Mr Scates, let's have it!
If this device were to use airport one of two things would have to change. 1) the Airport card would have to be shrunk/shape changed. The current Airport cards are barely smaller than an iPod itself. or 2) the curvey stuff would have to go. Also, where would the antenna go?
I like the idea of the dock, but how would one go about switching applications? If one application has control of the screen, must you *quit* it to switch to another, or something else. I'm thinking a *quit* approch because of the limited resources on a handheld. Or maybe using a menu button to switch to the dock.
One thing to think about with "grabby" things are the natural differences in people. Some people's hands are larger, smaller, or shaped differently than others. You have to figure out a design that would feel comfortable to people with these differences. Thats why I would stay with the deck of cards design.
For a OS design like this, everything would have to be mighty quick for this to catch on. Just look at how some people (not myself ) complain about OS X's speed on the current hardware. The transparency effects and such would have to be dropped, or extreamly optimized.
I really like the hour glass shape. Other than making you not making the belt clip thingy removable it looks perfect to me...how bout designing a pair of bluetooth ear buds too? That would be so cool.
Hmm. I love the idea a lot. I personally would prefer a "normal" (rectangle) iPod, unless of course this were smaller. With a larger, color screen. But, still, this is very sweet and would not mind at all if they took this direction with it. Good work!
<strong>pscates, you can make the screen larger up and down if you put "iPod" on the wheel....not on the button as it may rub off...maybe above the center button with iPod written to go with the curve, not straight across like now....that would add another 15 to 20% in height....i do like the mini dock idea and how you scroll from app to app...give me an iPod with address book, iTunes lite, iCal, voice recording and iPhoto lite (and video!?!?! damn what won't this thing do??) and i would snatch one up in a heartbeat....truthfully, it could be made to do all those things...shit, 20 gigs is huge....my kids have an iMac with a 10 gig hd and they use iTunes and iMovie and all that shit....g</strong><hr></blockquote>
The iPod currently does not have "iPod" on the front at all...it is only visible that the device is an Apple iPod when you look on the shiny metal back.
It's been a long time since I've felt the "mock up" urge (to me, the iMac and iBook are damn near perfect...what's for me to improve on or wish better? Same for the new PowerBooks and, really, the eMac. Since I'm not a tower fella, I simply don't care about them... )
But the iPod...to me, that's just begging to be made into something more than an mp3 player!
And the name is perfect. I like how Apple didn't give it a music-specific name because that leaves it open-ended for any future redesigns or upgrades, without having to come up with any "iPDA" or "iContact" (hey...) silliness.
Having a blue screen iPod would be really cool. It goes along with the current trend to add blue highlights to products. It would also make the iPod easier to read.
Did a little twiddling today (on the iPod mockup...jeez) and took the advice above to make the screen larger and all.
Then I mocked-up the photo component, to what I'd like to see.
As you can see, it would be like iPhoto or iTunes (or the current iPod navigation) in that you get a list. In this case, the various photo albums from iPhoto (or whatever you specify). You scroll down to select the album you want, then you go to a little thumbnail thing (like iPhoto, only much smaller ).
Then, when you scroll to a photo you want to view (by the way, a thick white border travels along as you go from photo to photo, so you know which one you're on), you click the middle button (like you do to begin a song) and the menu and "dock" goes away and the photo fills the screen.
Also, I thought it would be cool to implement a "zooming" feature, using the scroll wheel: you know how in iPhoto you can slide that little slider to shrink or grow the photo, right? Well, here you would spin the wheel around to the left to shrink the photo, or to the right to enlarge/zoom it.
This lets you fit the photo to the screen best, depending on the orientation of the photo (wide or tall), or to zoom in on the actual subject a bit more.
As for a post above talking about how a photo viewer is kinda lame, I don't agree. It's simply the digital equivalent to all the photos in your wallet, size-wise (actually probably a little larger in some cases), except you're not limited to only a few (however many you can cram into your wallet). You could have tons of photos, of all kinds (not just the wife and kids).
I'm convinced that that is a cool, useful and neat function.
You go on vacation and take a bunch of pics and post them to your .mac site or whatever. But if you're visiting someone who doesn't have a computer (or you're at work and a co-worker stops by to welcome you back or whatever) you just go "hey, check out some quick photos...".
<strong>very nice...but still, lose the iPod logo or move it to the scroll wheel and you can make the screen that much taller.....g</strong><hr></blockquote>
If he must have it to fit his image of a perfect ideal iPod..move it to the very bottom, underneath the scroll wheel.
under the scroll wheel wouldn't work well with the shape...the scroll wheel needs to be within the rounded part of paul's iPod to "work" aesthetically.... either loss the word or place it on the scroll wheel itself...but for god's sake, stretch that screen as large as it will go if you want to do photos or video or both....g
I'll figure something out. I wanted to keep "iPod" on the face, just because a) I dig that new Apple font and b) the iMac, eMac and iBook have it on the front, visible to the user, and I dig consistency and stuff like that.
I don't like the name of what it is on the back, like the current one has.
Also, no laser etching on mine because the entire think is like the iBook (or the front of the current iPod): white glossy plastic, encased in a think shell of acrylic (or whatever that clear material is...VERY thin though. Hardly noticeable.
Comments
The biggest problem, I think is balancing the screen size, the device size, the thickness, and the length. Because audio players like to be as small as possible, PDAs as thin as possible, display-based devices as large as possible, mobile phones candy-bar-like, texting devices easy to hold.. I just don't know.
Tough questions. I don't know what Apple would do.
There are things I'd like to see that don't have to come from Apple, and likely wouldn't. New form factors. I'd like to see a smartphone that didn't need a screen to communicate, could just use voice recognition and speech technology, and could light up different colors, and the whole thing could turn different colors (dynamic enclosure, hehe). about 6-8" long, 0.75" wide, 0.75" thick. A little square rod thing. Speaker in one end, mic in the other. Perhaps extendable. Maybe it could hold AAs or AAAs, or of course a special, elongated rechargeable. It would double as like a really big antenna. It may have one touch-sensitive side. Anyhow, it could be an audio player too, just speak to it what you want to hear, stick your headphones in one end. Of course, you'll have the little doohicky remote control on those, since the device will only have one button, for turning it on/off, or disconnecting a call. I'm just tired of phones going towards candybars and flips or honking PDAs and everybody wanting internal and external screens that are huge and immensely backlit and 65,000 colors and gawdy interfaces and ugly buttons for every imaginable use. It's just too much.
I'd like an un-phone.
<strong>
I love the iPod, but I like smooth, rounded and "grabby" things (especially when they're INTENDED to be held or toted around). The current iPod is cool...I was just imagining something that might cradle in the hand a bit nicer and more comfortably.
</strong><hr></blockquote>
I've thought in the same lines that perhaps Apple produce a second "Sports iPod". Not unlike Nike's PSA but of course much better interface and using the 5 gig drive. Of course they'd have to ensure that it can be used pretty vigorously without hanging (my 5 gig is okay for jogging but others have not been as lucky).
Keep the existing or improve the current line with many of the features discussed before, i.e. recording, mic, fm tuner etc..
But this sports version would be much more rugged in that you wouldn't be so concerned about scratching it.
But I was trying to make this a complete, end-all/be-all package, where you didn't have to fork out an extra $39 to a third-party company for some sort of carrying case or pouch.
I'm STILL trying to think of a mechanism or design that a) acts as a sturdy, secure clip, b) can also be made to retract out the other way to act as a kickstand and c) be able to be easily taken off completely for those who prefer nothing on the back.
A tall order, especially since I don't know anything about anything.
But, ideally, right out of the box, you're able to comfortably hold your iPod, clip it to your belt or backpack (and KNOW that it will not fall off!) OR, as you're working at your desk, be able to simple set it there, tilted back slightly on its "kickstand", where you can easily see the display or reach over to access the scroll wheel to change songs or grab a contact or whatever.
I fell asleep last night, thinking about all this, and ended up dreaming about iPods and photo viewers and Apple in general.
Anyway, where's my tungsten style mock-up update? Don't try and tell me you have better things to do, your adoring public demands more Mr Scates, let's have it!
I like the idea of the dock, but how would one go about switching applications? If one application has control of the screen, must you *quit* it to switch to another, or something else. I'm thinking a *quit* approch because of the limited resources on a handheld. Or maybe using a menu button to switch to the dock.
One thing to think about with "grabby" things are the natural differences in people. Some people's hands are larger, smaller, or shaped differently than others. You have to figure out a design that would feel comfortable to people with these differences. Thats why I would stay with the deck of cards design.
For a OS design like this, everything would have to be mighty quick for this to catch on. Just look at how some people (not myself
Over all though, I'll take two.
<strong>...6-8" long
...Perhaps extendable
...special, elongated rechargeable. It would double as like a really big antenna. It may have one touch-sensitive side.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Sounds like the iBrator to me...
If Apple sold this sort of design I would indeed buy one. [Even though I promised I would not purchase any Apple/Computer product till 2004]
<strong>pscates, you can make the screen larger up and down if you put "iPod" on the wheel....not on the button as it may rub off...maybe above the center button with iPod written to go with the curve, not straight across like now....that would add another 15 to 20% in height....i do like the mini dock idea and how you scroll from app to app...give me an iPod with address book, iTunes lite, iCal, voice recording and iPhoto lite (and video!?!?! damn what won't this thing do??) and i would snatch one up in a heartbeat....truthfully, it could be made to do all those things...shit, 20 gigs is huge....my kids have an iMac with a 10 gig hd and they use iTunes and iMovie and all that shit....g</strong><hr></blockquote>
The iPod currently does not have "iPod" on the front at all...it is only visible that the device is an Apple iPod when you look on the shiny metal back.
Good job.
Well, cool. Appreciate it.
It's been a long time since I've felt the "mock up" urge (to me, the iMac and iBook are damn near perfect...what's for me to improve on or wish better? Same for the new PowerBooks and, really, the eMac. Since I'm not a tower fella, I simply don't care about them...
But the iPod...to me, that's just begging to be made into something more than an mp3 player!
And the name is perfect. I like how Apple didn't give it a music-specific name because that leaves it open-ended for any future redesigns or upgrades, without having to come up with any "iPDA" or "iContact" (hey...) silliness.
Then I mocked-up the photo component, to what I'd like to see.
As you can see, it would be like iPhoto or iTunes (or the current iPod navigation) in that you get a list. In this case, the various photo albums from iPhoto (or whatever you specify). You scroll down to select the album you want, then you go to a little thumbnail thing (like iPhoto, only much smaller
Then, when you scroll to a photo you want to view (by the way, a thick white border travels along as you go from photo to photo, so you know which one you're on), you click the middle button (like you do to begin a song) and the menu and "dock" goes away and the photo fills the screen.
Also, I thought it would be cool to implement a "zooming" feature, using the scroll wheel: you know how in iPhoto you can slide that little slider to shrink or grow the photo, right? Well, here you would spin the wheel around to the left to shrink the photo, or to the right to enlarge/zoom it.
This lets you fit the photo to the screen best, depending on the orientation of the photo (wide or tall), or to zoom in on the actual subject a bit more.
As for a post above talking about how a photo viewer is kinda lame, I don't agree. It's simply the digital equivalent to all the photos in your wallet, size-wise (actually probably a little larger in some cases), except you're not limited to only a few (however many you can cram into your wallet). You could have tons of photos, of all kinds (not just the wife and kids).
I'm convinced that that is a cool, useful and neat function.
You go on vacation and take a bunch of pics and post them to your .mac site or whatever. But if you're visiting someone who doesn't have a computer (or you're at work and a co-worker stops by to welcome you back or whatever) you just go "hey, check out some quick photos...".
Anyway, I think it would be a neat feature.
It would be a killer feature and it would hardly take up any HD space.
<strong>very nice...but still, lose the iPod logo or move it to the scroll wheel and you can make the screen that much taller.....g</strong><hr></blockquote>
If he must have it to fit his image of a perfect ideal iPod..move it to the very bottom, underneath the scroll wheel.
I don't like the name of what it is on the back, like the current one has.
Also, no laser etching on mine because the entire think is like the iBook (or the front of the current iPod): white glossy plastic, encased in a think shell of acrylic (or whatever that clear material is...VERY thin though. Hardly noticeable.