They'll keep it. It's the iDevice of choice for young kids until mom and dad decide to pay up and get them a phone and upgrade the family share plan if necessary to accommodate an additional phone in the family.
Except there's no reason to keep it. Like I said, everything else already has the iPod built into it. Why spend $199 on an iPod Touch when you can spend $199 on an iPhone, or $99 on an iPhone 5C? Makes no sense to keep it alive.
That’s an interesting idea. Would it be better to capitalize on the iPad name now that the iPod has run its course? And what becomes of the iPod line after that? Having just an iPod nano and iPod shuffle without an iPod seems odd.
Originally Posted by macxpress
Except there's no reason to keep it. Like I said, everything else already has the iPod built into it. Why spend $199 on an iPod Touch when you can spend
$199 on an iPhone, or $99 on an iPhone 5C? Makes no sense to keep it alive.
Because some people have no desire to spend THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON MANDATORY DATA AND PHONE SERVICE when all they want is a music player and handheld game thing for their kids.
That’s an interesting idea. Would it be better to capitalize on the iPad name now that the iPod has run its course? And what becomes of the iPod line after that? Having just an iPod nano and iPod shuffle without an iPod seems odd.
Apple needs to prop up the iPod line not drop it. Like I mentioned above it's not the brand that's run its course, it's the market for those devices. Just reinvent the line for different markets. iPod is already well ingrained in the fitness market thanks to their partnership with Nike. It is also one of the biggest selling portable gaming systems. Why not expand into those markets.
1. Keep the nano as a fairly cheap media player. ( < US$100 )
2. Release the so called iWatch as the iPod fit - a fitness / health tracking band that also plays music - for workouts and such - over bluetooth or through a pair of Lightning (or micro stereo) EarPods. (US$149)
3. Release an iPod touch with a larger display (the rumored 5.5" iPhone) and beefier specs; A7, min 32GB (US$299). Sell a single cheaper smaller 4" model that comes with 16GB (US$199).
Apple needs to prop up the iPod line not drop it. Like I mentioned above it's not the brand that's run its course, it's the market for those devices. Just reinvent the line for different markets.
3. Release an iPod touch with a larger display (the rumored 5.5" iPhone) and beefier specs; A7, min 32GB (US$299). Sell a single cheaper smaller 4” model that comes with 16GB (US$199).
I love the idea of the iPod touch being given a greater handheld gaming focus. A8, not A7. They really need to unify products released at the same time.
2. Release the so called iWatch as the iPod fit - a fitness / health tracking band that also plays music - for workouts and such - over bluetooth or through a pair of Lightning (or micro stereo) EarPods. (US$149)
I’m really bothered by this. Because this is a great name for a product that otherwise wouldn’t need to exist and they’re not going to use it.
Except there's no reason to keep it. Like I said, everything else already has the iPod built into it. Why spend $199 on an iPod Touch when you can spend $199 on an iPhone, or $99 on an iPhone 5C? Makes no sense to keep it alive.
An iPhone 5s costs $649, not $199, and the 5c is $549, not $99 ... That is, unless you're willing to spend $2000+ on a cell plan.
An iPhone 5s costs $649, not $199, and the 5c is $549, not $99 ... That is, unless you're willing to spend $2000+ on a cell plan.
Both my brother and sister bought subsidized iPhones from VZW, and pay $60 (unadvertised plan) for unlimited talk, text, and 2 GBs of data. That works out to $1440 for the 2 yrs, not $2000+ like you suggest.
I love the idea of the iPod touch being given a greater handheld gaming focus. A8, not A7. They really need to unify products released at the same time.
There's no way it'll have an A8. Apple has stressed over and over that their new "Metal" SDK was designed for the A7, why? Because their next gaming machines; the iPod touch and AppleTV will have an A7.
Quote:
I’m really bothered by this. Because this is a great name for a product that otherwise wouldn’t need to exist and they’re not going to use it.
Not sure I understand what you're saying here? They won't release a fitness band?
Both my brother and sister bought subsidized iPhones from VZW, and pay $60 (unadvertised plan) for unlimited talk, text, and 2 GBs of data. That works out to $1440 for the 2 yrs, not $2000+ like you suggest.
Sorry, my plan on AT&T is $85 a month - I assumed that was the low end? My bad.
But honestly, come on man. $2000? $1440? Plus, the subsidized cost... that's still a sh!t ton more than $199, which was the original argument.
There's no way it'll have an A8. Apple has stressed over and over that their new "Metal" SDK was designed for the A7, why?
BECAUSE THE A8 HASN’T BEEN ANNOUNCED YET. AND FOR NO OTHER REASON AT ALL. They do this every single year. They’re not going to tell you about a product before they announce it, and they’re not going to release a new iPhone without a new processor! When iOS 6 was “optimized to work on the iPhone 5”, that didn’t mean they weren’t going to make an iPhone 5S.
Not sure I understand what you're saying here? They won't release a fitness band?
Given that we have EXACTLY as much proof of the existence of the “iWatch” as we did of the “iTV”, no, I doubt they’re going to waste their time on something like this. But that name is pretty great.
BECAUSE THE A8 HASN’T BEEN ANNOUNCED YET. AND FOR NO OTHER REASON AT ALL. They do this every single year. They’re not going to tell you about a product before they announce it, and they’re not going to release a new iPhone without a new processor! When iOS 6 was “optimized to work on the iPhone 5”, that didn’t mean they weren’t going to make an iPhone 5S.
Not sure what the iPhone has to do with this? We all know Apple releases a new SoC with every new iPhone. What we don't know is how they're going to treat a product they've let languish for more than two years. The A7 is in full production right now, there's no reason not to update all older hardware that still uses the A5 (iPod touch and AppleTV) to the A7 while continuing to push newer hardware forward. Moving from the A5 to the A7 is a HUGE jump and Apple may not have the yields to move ALL their products to an A8 and they certainly aren't going to sacrifice whatever is produced by sticking any A8's in the iPod touch and/or AppleTV, when they'll probably need all they can get for the next iPhone and iPad models.
So please, instead of saying, NO, NO, NO... How about a little logic behind why you think they'll use an A8 if they do indeed update the iPod touch?
Quote:
Given that we have EXACTLY as much proof of the existence of the “iWatch” as we did of the “iTV”, no, I doubt they’re going to waste their time on something like this. But that name is pretty great.
Again, WE ALL KNOW it doesn't exist and there's no proof of it. (I swear I thought this was "AppleInsider" a rumor site?) This is purely speculation on how Apple might be able to revamp the iPod line. And again, you give no rhyme or reason why this would be a waste of time?
Here's another logical explanation for this product...
There are many, many people who use their OLD iPods when they workout. And they haven't had a reason to upgrade to anything new, because a music player, is a music player and the old players work fine. however, if Apple were to come out with a product that just might have A LOT of extra features they could actually use, those people who haven't upgraded in a long time, just might consider doing so. Sales potential that did not exist, now does.
An iPhone 5s costs $649, not $199, and the 5c is $549, not $99 ... That is, unless you're willing to spend $2000+ on a cell plan.
These days EVERYONE I see has a cell phone....I work in 2 school districts and kids of all ages have cell phones, most of them iPhones. This is a very low income area too so its obvious they're willing to pay for the monthly bill.
I wish. Although the 5th gen touch was an A5 after the A6 was announced, so I'd guess an A7. Not to mention the A8 is gonna be slammed with keeping up on iPhone, and ipad sales
To those saying, why this and no iPhone:
I don't want my 5 year old to have an iPhone. When I'm flying to Hawaii, her watching doc mic stuffins on that and taking pictures on it is perfect. Not an iPad mini, and def. not an iPhone.
The iPod touch is phenomenal for those purposes.
That’s an interesting idea. Would it be better to capitalize on the iPad name now that the iPod has run its course? And what becomes of the iPod line after that? Having just an iPod nano and iPod shuffle without an iPod seems odd.
I think the standalone iPod line is finished. It's at 2.7m units per quarter now for all models combined. When you consider that half are iPod Touches, this means there are 27 iPhones sold for every iPod Touch and this is while the iPod Touch starts at $199. People don't want standalone music players any more because it's just one more device to have to carry around. This price drop could be to clear out inventory before a transition to a new category in September.
I reckon the direction to take the iPod line in is to integrate them into Beats headphones and this gets rid of the cable. People are buying mobile devices and 3rd party headphones:
Beats has 50% of the premium market so if they put the audio player inside the headphones, people get both an iPod and a set of premium headphones. For people who want to use other headphones, they can use those with the smartphone they likely have anyway.
If you go out running or to the beach, you don't need to take a smartphone. With Beats, you'd simply sync a playlist to the headphones before you go (even from a phone directly) and you are wire-free and because the headphones aren't streaming audio wirelessly, they should last as long as an iPod connected to wired headphones, which can easily be 60 hours with a suitable battery. When you get home, you can keep the headphones on and they'll connect to a smartphone, tablet or computer.
I expect that if they integrate the iPod with Beats, they can use the iPod brand with it, like they do with Nike:
As for the 5.5" device, I'm very skeptical that Apple will do this. It's a ridiculous form factor IMO. I have seen people with these phablets and they walk around treating them like pocket tablets. I can see some benefit for women as they fit into small handbags but it's one of those devices that is like a fridge/toaster. It's not big enough to give you the real-estate benefit of a tablet and it's too big to comfortably use in a pocket or as a phone.
The phablet market seems to be taking off in Asia and apparently 34% of all smartphones are 5" or above:
However it's important to note that this opportunity for Apple is small as they can only take a portion of the sales at a certain price point. I reckon it represents a potential unit volume of 5m per quarter for Apple, which is ~1/10th of Apple's iPhone volume. This is a similar ratio that the Note makes up for Samsung. I don't see that it's worth doing.
I think 4.7" for the flagship iPhone is too large but if they feel it works ok in practise, so be it. I don't think there will be a 5.5" device at all. If it was to be a 5.5" iPod, I don't see it improving sales.
My expectations are that the iPod line disappears and is replaced with Beats and there is a single larger iPhone 6. I'd prefer 4.4" but if it's to be 4.7", it's not such a big deal. I'd like to see the 3.5" iPhone go away and have 4" models on all the lower models with a less expensive entry point and ideally all metal.
Apple needs to prop up the iPod line not drop it. Like I mentioned above it's not the brand that's run its course, it's the market for those devices. Just reinvent the line for different markets. iPod is already well ingrained in the fitness market thanks to their partnership with Nike. It is also one of the biggest selling portable gaming systems. Why not expand into those markets.
1. Keep the nano as a fairly cheap media player. ( < US$100 )
2. Release the so called iWatch as the iPod fit - a fitness / health tracking band that also plays music - for workouts and such - over bluetooth or through a pair of Lightning (or micro stereo) EarPods. (US$149)
3. Release an iPod touch with a larger display (the rumored 5.5" iPhone) and beefier specs; A7, min 32GB (US$299). Sell a single cheaper smaller 4" model that comes with 16GB (US$199).
I've been hoping for years Apple would improve the iPod shuffle with a more sensible clip-on design and Bluetooth headphones. The shuffle is great for workouts, but that headphone cable! Very frustrating.
I wish. Although the 5th gen touch was an A5 after the A6 was announced, so I'd guess an A7. Not to mention the A8 is gonna be slammed with keeping up on iPhone, and ipad sales
To those saying, why this and no iPhone:
I don't want my 5 year old to have an iPhone. When I'm flying to Hawaii, her watching doc mic stuffins on that and taking pictures on it is perfect. Not an iPad mini, and def. not an iPhone.
The iPod touch is phenomenal for those purposes.
Apple want to keep cost down by using the last generation SoC in things like iPods. The difference in cost is pretty costly! Last year A6 and the current A7; the production per unit is around $9 difference. So you see why Apple is using the older SoC!
Apple should do as you suggest but will not! It all about money! If the ipod touch can be repackaged and through marketing make it seem like a new generation again; that will eliminate the need to produce a new touch. Apple can keep selling the same 5th generation and people will think it a great deal since it is at a lower price. From Apple's view point; they have taken care of upgrading the Touch for 2014 with the new 16GB and lowering the price of the other storage models. But you never know if they are doing this to clear inventory for a new touch or trying to sell the 5th generation with a new marketing angle.
Improve iTunes iTunes folks have gotten LAZY as HELL and im gettinf sick of waiting a frekin DECADE for them to make simple improvements. Itunes programmers need to be FIRED.
Expound, please.
Allow network music playback with networked itunes xml file to keep track of your non-itunes lossless music if you put it on the cloud.
Yeah, no one is going to let you stream lossless down, and you’re not going to want to do that when the files are 40+ megs.
Make ipod touches 128gb+
Chips have to exist first.
Where is my multi-genre support? Multi-artist support?
Right there in genres/artists where you type in whatever you want.
Foreign music support?
Are you pretending iTunes can’t play anything outside the language of the interface?
Ipod 's interface is still clunky when interfacing with car systems... Are they going to fix that with carplay?
Sounds like that’s not Apple’s problem.
Can we get an ipod with double the battery life?
No.
Wireless charging?
You can have one or the other. You can either want twice the battery life or twice the power draw. Not both.
The iterations are seriously lacking in imagination these days.
Gee, I wonder if that might have to do with the iPod being superseded by its younger siblings.
They need a new exec at apple. i would take the job of "fix all the old stuff ceo".
Comments
They'll keep it. It's the iDevice of choice for young kids until mom and dad decide to pay up and get them a phone and upgrade the family share plan if necessary to accommodate an additional phone in the family.
Except there's no reason to keep it. Like I said, everything else already has the iPod built into it. Why spend $199 on an iPod Touch when you can spend $199 on an iPhone, or $99 on an iPhone 5C? Makes no sense to keep it alive.
That’s an interesting idea. Would it be better to capitalize on the iPad name now that the iPod has run its course? And what becomes of the iPod line after that? Having just an iPod nano and iPod shuffle without an iPod seems odd.
Except there's no reason to keep it. Like I said, everything else already has the iPod built into it. Why spend $199 on an iPod Touch when you can spend
$199 on an iPhone, or $99 on an iPhone 5C? Makes no sense to keep it alive.
Because some people have no desire to spend THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON MANDATORY DATA AND PHONE SERVICE when all they want is a music player and handheld game thing for their kids.
That’s an interesting idea. Would it be better to capitalize on the iPad name now that the iPod has run its course? And what becomes of the iPod line after that? Having just an iPod nano and iPod shuffle without an iPod seems odd.
Apple needs to prop up the iPod line not drop it. Like I mentioned above it's not the brand that's run its course, it's the market for those devices. Just reinvent the line for different markets. iPod is already well ingrained in the fitness market thanks to their partnership with Nike. It is also one of the biggest selling portable gaming systems. Why not expand into those markets.
1. Keep the nano as a fairly cheap media player. ( < US$100 )
2. Release the so called iWatch as the iPod fit - a fitness / health tracking band that also plays music - for workouts and such - over bluetooth or through a pair of Lightning (or micro stereo) EarPods. (US$149)
3. Release an iPod touch with a larger display (the rumored 5.5" iPhone) and beefier specs; A7, min 32GB (US$299). Sell a single cheaper smaller 4" model that comes with 16GB (US$199).
Apple needs to prop up the iPod line not drop it. Like I mentioned above it's not the brand that's run its course, it's the market for those devices. Just reinvent the line for different markets.
3. Release an iPod touch with a larger display (the rumored 5.5" iPhone) and beefier specs; A7, min 32GB (US$299). Sell a single cheaper smaller 4” model that comes with 16GB (US$199).
I love the idea of the iPod touch being given a greater handheld gaming focus. A8, not A7. They really need to unify products released at the same time.
2. Release the so called iWatch as the iPod fit - a fitness / health tracking band that also plays music - for workouts and such - over bluetooth or through a pair of Lightning (or micro stereo) EarPods. (US$149)
I’m really bothered by this. Because this is a great name for a product that otherwise wouldn’t need to exist and they’re not going to use it.
Except there's no reason to keep it. Like I said, everything else already has the iPod built into it. Why spend $199 on an iPod Touch when you can spend $199 on an iPhone, or $99 on an iPhone 5C? Makes no sense to keep it alive.
An iPhone 5s costs $649, not $199, and the 5c is $549, not $99 ... That is, unless you're willing to spend $2000+ on a cell plan.
Both my brother and sister bought subsidized iPhones from VZW, and pay $60 (unadvertised plan) for unlimited talk, text, and 2 GBs of data. That works out to $1440 for the 2 yrs, not $2000+ like you suggest.
I love the idea of the iPod touch being given a greater handheld gaming focus. A8, not A7. They really need to unify products released at the same time.
There's no way it'll have an A8. Apple has stressed over and over that their new "Metal" SDK was designed for the A7, why? Because their next gaming machines; the iPod touch and AppleTV will have an A7.
I’m really bothered by this. Because this is a great name for a product that otherwise wouldn’t need to exist and they’re not going to use it.
Not sure I understand what you're saying here? They won't release a fitness band?
Both my brother and sister bought subsidized iPhones from VZW, and pay $60 (unadvertised plan) for unlimited talk, text, and 2 GBs of data. That works out to $1440 for the 2 yrs, not $2000+ like you suggest.
Sorry, my plan on AT&T is $85 a month - I assumed that was the low end? My bad.
But honestly, come on man. $2000? $1440? Plus, the subsidized cost... that's still a sh!t ton more than $199, which was the original argument.
There's no way it'll have an A8. Apple has stressed over and over that their new "Metal" SDK was designed for the A7, why?
BECAUSE THE A8 HASN’T BEEN ANNOUNCED YET. AND FOR NO OTHER REASON AT ALL. They do this every single year. They’re not going to tell you about a product before they announce it, and they’re not going to release a new iPhone without a new processor! When iOS 6 was “optimized to work on the iPhone 5”, that didn’t mean they weren’t going to make an iPhone 5S.
Given that we have EXACTLY as much proof of the existence of the “iWatch” as we did of the “iTV”, no, I doubt they’re going to waste their time on something like this. But that name is pretty great.
BECAUSE THE A8 HASN’T BEEN ANNOUNCED YET. AND FOR NO OTHER REASON AT ALL. They do this every single year. They’re not going to tell you about a product before they announce it, and they’re not going to release a new iPhone without a new processor! When iOS 6 was “optimized to work on the iPhone 5”, that didn’t mean they weren’t going to make an iPhone 5S.
Not sure what the iPhone has to do with this? We all know Apple releases a new SoC with every new iPhone. What we don't know is how they're going to treat a product they've let languish for more than two years. The A7 is in full production right now, there's no reason not to update all older hardware that still uses the A5 (iPod touch and AppleTV) to the A7 while continuing to push newer hardware forward. Moving from the A5 to the A7 is a HUGE jump and Apple may not have the yields to move ALL their products to an A8 and they certainly aren't going to sacrifice whatever is produced by sticking any A8's in the iPod touch and/or AppleTV, when they'll probably need all they can get for the next iPhone and iPad models.
So please, instead of saying, NO, NO, NO... How about a little logic behind why you think they'll use an A8 if they do indeed update the iPod touch?
Given that we have EXACTLY as much proof of the existence of the “iWatch” as we did of the “iTV”, no, I doubt they’re going to waste their time on something like this. But that name is pretty great.
Again, WE ALL KNOW it doesn't exist and there's no proof of it. (I swear I thought this was "AppleInsider" a rumor site?) This is purely speculation on how Apple might be able to revamp the iPod line. And again, you give no rhyme or reason why this would be a waste of time?
Here's another logical explanation for this product...
There are many, many people who use their OLD iPods when they workout. And they haven't had a reason to upgrade to anything new, because a music player, is a music player and the old players work fine. however, if Apple were to come out with a product that just might have A LOT of extra features they could actually use, those people who haven't upgraded in a long time, just might consider doing so. Sales potential that did not exist, now does.
An iPhone 5s costs $649, not $199, and the 5c is $549, not $99 ... That is, unless you're willing to spend $2000+ on a cell plan.
These days EVERYONE I see has a cell phone....I work in 2 school districts and kids of all ages have cell phones, most of them iPhones. This is a very low income area too so its obvious they're willing to pay for the monthly bill.
I wish. Although the 5th gen touch was an A5 after the A6 was announced, so I'd guess an A7. Not to mention the A8 is gonna be slammed with keeping up on iPhone, and ipad sales
To those saying, why this and no iPhone:
I don't want my 5 year old to have an iPhone. When I'm flying to Hawaii, her watching doc mic stuffins on that and taking pictures on it is perfect. Not an iPad mini, and def. not an iPhone.
The iPod touch is phenomenal for those purposes.
I think the standalone iPod line is finished. It's at 2.7m units per quarter now for all models combined. When you consider that half are iPod Touches, this means there are 27 iPhones sold for every iPod Touch and this is while the iPod Touch starts at $199. People don't want standalone music players any more because it's just one more device to have to carry around. This price drop could be to clear out inventory before a transition to a new category in September.
I reckon the direction to take the iPod line in is to integrate them into Beats headphones and this gets rid of the cable. People are buying mobile devices and 3rd party headphones:
https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/premium-us-headphone-market-surpasses-$1-billion-in-2013-according-to-npd/
Beats has 50% of the premium market so if they put the audio player inside the headphones, people get both an iPod and a set of premium headphones. For people who want to use other headphones, they can use those with the smartphone they likely have anyway.
If you go out running or to the beach, you don't need to take a smartphone. With Beats, you'd simply sync a playlist to the headphones before you go (even from a phone directly) and you are wire-free and because the headphones aren't streaming audio wirelessly, they should last as long as an iPod connected to wired headphones, which can easily be 60 hours with a suitable battery. When you get home, you can keep the headphones on and they'll connect to a smartphone, tablet or computer.
I expect that if they integrate the iPod with Beats, they can use the iPod brand with it, like they do with Nike:
https://www.apple.com/ipod/nike/
It could be Beats + iPod.
As for the 5.5" device, I'm very skeptical that Apple will do this. It's a ridiculous form factor IMO. I have seen people with these phablets and they walk around treating them like pocket tablets. I can see some benefit for women as they fit into small handbags but it's one of those devices that is like a fridge/toaster. It's not big enough to give you the real-estate benefit of a tablet and it's too big to comfortably use in a pocket or as a phone.
The phablet market seems to be taking off in Asia and apparently 34% of all smartphones are 5" or above:
http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/mobile-business/phablet-sales-surge-what-will-apple-do/d/d-id/1252800
However it's important to note that this opportunity for Apple is small as they can only take a portion of the sales at a certain price point. I reckon it represents a potential unit volume of 5m per quarter for Apple, which is ~1/10th of Apple's iPhone volume. This is a similar ratio that the Note makes up for Samsung. I don't see that it's worth doing.
I think 4.7" for the flagship iPhone is too large but if they feel it works ok in practise, so be it. I don't think there will be a 5.5" device at all. If it was to be a 5.5" iPod, I don't see it improving sales.
My expectations are that the iPod line disappears and is replaced with Beats and there is a single larger iPhone 6. I'd prefer 4.4" but if it's to be 4.7", it's not such a big deal. I'd like to see the 3.5" iPhone go away and have 4" models on all the lower models with a less expensive entry point and ideally all metal.
I've been hoping for years Apple would improve the iPod shuffle with a more sensible clip-on design and Bluetooth headphones. The shuffle is great for workouts, but that headphone cable! Very frustrating.
That on a two year contract! If you look a the promotion that is in small print!
I wish. Although the 5th gen touch was an A5 after the A6 was announced, so I'd guess an A7. Not to mention the A8 is gonna be slammed with keeping up on iPhone, and ipad sales
To those saying, why this and no iPhone:
I don't want my 5 year old to have an iPhone. When I'm flying to Hawaii, her watching doc mic stuffins on that and taking pictures on it is perfect. Not an iPad mini, and def. not an iPhone.
The iPod touch is phenomenal for those purposes.
Apple want to keep cost down by using the last generation SoC in things like iPods. The difference in cost is pretty costly! Last year A6 and the current A7; the production per unit is around $9 difference. So you see why Apple is using the older SoC!
Improve the ipod: with at least enhanced siri.
Improve itunes
Allow network music playback with networked itunes xml file to keep track of your non-itunes lossless music if you put it on the cloud.
Make ipod touches 128gb+
Add smartlists to ipod touch (duh)
Itunes folks have gotten LAZY as HELL and im gettinf sick of waiting a frekin DECADE for them to make simple improvements.
Itunes programmers need to be FIRED.
Where is my multi-genre support?
Multi-artist support?
Foreign music support?
Ipod 's interface is still clunky when interfacing with car systems... Are they going to fix that with carplay?
Can we get an ipod with double the battery life?
Wireless charging?
The "next best thing" needs to be to perfection of the first best thing. The iterations are seriously lacking in imagination these days.
They need a new exec at apple. i would take the job of "fix all the old stuff ceo".
blazer,
Apple should do as you suggest but will not! It all about money! If the ipod touch can be repackaged and through marketing make it seem like a new generation again; that will eliminate the need to produce a new touch. Apple can keep selling the same 5th generation and people will think it a great deal since it is at a lower price. From Apple's view point; they have taken care of upgrading the Touch for 2014 with the new 16GB and lowering the price of the other storage models. But you never know if they are doing this to clear inventory for a new touch or trying to sell the 5th generation with a new marketing angle.
Happening.
Expound, please.
Yeah, no one is going to let you stream lossless down, and you’re not going to want to do that when the files are 40+ megs.
Chips have to exist first.
Right there in genres/artists where you type in whatever you want.
Are you pretending iTunes can’t play anything outside the language of the interface?
Sounds like that’s not Apple’s problem.
No.
You can have one or the other. You can either want twice the battery life or twice the power draw. Not both.
Gee, I wonder if that might have to do with the iPod being superseded by its younger siblings.
That’s nice. Go away.