But the kicker is that firewire port, firewire is good, especially for HHD devices and charging, BUT for a digital wallet it's the pits. It MUST HAVE USB to be of any use in the digital camera scene, right or wrong, that's the way it has to be.
This makes me think of the rumors that Apple was producing a new cable, USB and FireWire in one. Could this sort of setup work? FireWire connector on one end, but it splits to give you either FireWire or USB on the other?
The iPod will remain a music machine. Video will come along with another device.
Now, my predictions on what we'll see on Monday.
Probable:
3 new models, 10, 20 and 30 Gig. Larger screen. Thinner case. Backlit buttons. Dock. Dual Use (Win/Mac).
I think Apple needs to keep the 5GB iPod. It's great for those just getting into the Mac, and who don't want to pay for the extra space they probably won't use.
Also, I think a dock for the iPod is a bad idea. If by dock you mean something to stand it up in, then I think it is a good idea. But if you mean the dock will be something that charges the battery and transfer music, then I think it is a bad idea.
I do not think Apple would use a USB port to connect cameras and download pictures. The main reason I have against this is that USB requires a lot of processing, and though the two chips have excess power, I do not think they had the ability to work with data from USB. I may be wrong, but the USB idea does not seem right.
I think sometimes the processing overhead of USB is vastly overstated. Just to DL pics, it wouldn't be that big of a problem, I'm sure a CPU that can decode MP3's can also run a little driver to DL data over USB.
Hmmm... get's me thinking, I can actually agree with most of Pscates arguments about a fun little doo-dad to play with, show friends your slide shows, yadda yadda...
As well you should It's a good, cool idea. BTW, a couple of the people here who say "yeah, but the iPod screen is too small and...", uh...how large, exactly, are the photos you're showing people in your traditional wallet? 2x2.5 at the MOST? This isn't meant to be an end-all/be-all ultimate photo viewer. Just something nice to show people around the office or whatever. You could always direct them to your .mac homepage for the larger, more detailed versions. Right?
Quote:
But it still needs to be primarily functional first.
Exactly. That's why I agree with your idea about offloading your camera shots to it and freeing up the memory card. THAT is a truly functional, practical use that most people would dig. Married with my idea above, that makes for a cool one-two punch of a photo-oriented feature for an iPod.
Imagine a family on vacation: while at Magic Kingdom, they can take photos all day. Upon arriving back at the hotel that evening, they can throw them all on to the iPod and free up the memory card for more photos the next day (assuming they didn't want to carry the iPod with them and do this as the day went on...depends on the family, what they want to lug around and keep up with, how many photos they think they'll take, etc. Different for everyone). So that's great. You come back from Orlando or wherever with a HUGE gob of photos because, even though you're away from your home and main computer, you were able to throw this stuff onto your 20/30GB iPod and probably end up taking more pictures than you'd normally be able to because you weren't concerned with "uh oh, this card is getting pretty full...".
That, alone, makes it a good idea. And certainly qualifies it for "functional". I like them both.
I really dislike the ideas of running video on such a small screen. However, there are truly instances where still frames shots can come in handy.
Palm has just announced their new Zire with a built in camera. That's probably as far as I'd like to see the iPod go. Anything more would really require a separate device.
I hear ya scates, but that niggling firewire issue remains, can't dump images from a USB camera (99.9% of cameras out there) to a firewire iPod unless Apple cooks something up in the form of some hybrid or just tacks on a second USB port.
Of course, if Apple were to make a firewire based consumer digital still cam...
Absolutely no "docking" though, banish the thought!
As well you should It's a good, cool idea. BTW, a couple of the people here who say "yeah, but the iPod screen is too small and...", uh...how large, exactly, are the photos you're showing people in your traditional wallet? 2x2.5 at the MOST? This isn't meant to be an end-all/be-all ultimate photo viewer. Just something nice to show people around the office or whatever. You could always direct them to your .mac homepage for the larger, more detailed versions. Right?
Exactly. That's why I agree with your idea about offloading your camera shots to it and freeing up the memory card. THAT is a truly functional, practical use that most people would dig. Married with my idea above, that makes for a cool one-two punch of a photo-oriented feature for an iPod.
Imagine a family on vacation: while at Magic Kingdom, they can take photos all day. Upon arriving back at the hotel that evening, they can throw them all on to the iPod and free up the memory card for more photos the next day (assuming they didn't want to carry the iPod with them and do this as the day went on...depends on the family, what they want to lug around and keep up with, how many photos they think they'll take, etc. Different for everyone). So that's great. You come back from Orlando or wherever with a HUGE gob of photos because, even though you're away from your home and main computer, you were able to throw this stuff onto your 20/30GB iPod and probably end up taking more pictures than you'd normally be able to because you weren't concerned with "uh oh, this card is getting pretty full...".
That, alone, makes it a good idea. And certainly qualifies it for "functional". I like them both.
Your second point there is exactly what I'm thinking about, even if it may not have come across in my original post . I'd love to be able to shoot a ton of pictures, and then offload them to the iPod, thus freeing up the space again. That way, over the course of a holiday, I could shoot almost as many shots as I'd like, without being limited to the two 512MB cf cards that I have.
Now you could argue that I could just buy one of the other digital wallet solutions that are available, but an iPod would be so much cooler .
One thing we have not addressed is battery life. A color screen must be back lite all the time correct? What kind of effect would that have on the iPod's battery life?
One thing we have not addressed is battery life. A color screen must be back lite all the time correct? What kind of effect would that have on the iPod's battery life?
No, it wouldn't, they could use a transflective screen with sidelight, for a small screen it would be fine.
I hear ya scates, but that niggling firewire issue remains, can't dump images from a USB camera (99.9% of cameras out there) to a firewire iPod unless Apple cooks something up in the form of some hybrid or just tacks on a second USB port.
Well, that would be okay, wouldn't it? A USB port?
But Apple, in all their proven savvy, "thinking different" and coolness, probably could come up with some sort of hybrid converter cable/adapter thing that would let you plug a USB connector into your USB camera and stick the FireWire end of the little cable to you iPod and BOOM...there you go.
They've got those display conversion boxes and cables, so...
Apple, Dr. Bott, Belkin or some sort of partnership amongst Apple and others could probably figure something out.
Is there a definite "no way in hell" that info from a USB-based camera could be transferred to a FireWire-based device like the iPod? Is it just completely, 100% impossible and unable to be done?
Because if it's NOT, then I believe - based on recent history and remembering what company we're dealing with - they'll find a way.
Whatever one thinks about Apple, but when it comes down to it, they make stuff happen. Just think of all the cool little "why has no one else thought of that?" innovations in just the past 2-3 years alone!
I personally don't think I'd buy an iPod until it has video playback capability. It certainly is possible. It'd be great to be able to carry around short videos and show them to people even if its on a small screen, if it has video out in addition, that'd be even better.
The problem I foresee with the camera to iPod idea is drivers. Image Capture curently requires 10 different sets of camera drivers (taking up 2.5 Mb on the HD), and Digital Cameras have been around how long. It's looking like for every 'evolution' these things make another set of drivers are required, and with the iPod being a niche (or even competing) product you would have to rely on Apple to relese a 'firmware' patch for every new camera that is released. For a product like this to be sucessfull it has to work simply and flawlessly with all cameras, not just some or 'most'.
The concept that was posted was cool , I like the idea with the dock to get to the different function with the 'jog' dial. But what sort of size are we thinking. The current iPod is the rectangular shape it is because that is the size/shape of the HD it is built round, for it to be that curvy shape ether the Drive has to be reshaped (unlikely) or it has to be (a lot) bigger.
I dont think the colour screen would be to much of a problem, most (top end) mobile phones now have colour screens, and they don't have giant batteries. The New GameBoy Advance also has a (decent, the old one was heavly criticized about the non backlit) colour screen, and that also has a decent 'on' time.
Isn't there some sort of USB mass storage protocol that could function in an essentially driverless way? I imagine new cameras could work with this. I've never installed camera drivers under Windows XP, just plugged in Cameras and it's worked, so mebbe newer cameras don't require drivers unless there are some custom features? I dunno.
3 new models, 10, 20 and 30 Gig. Larger screen. Thinner case. Backlit buttons. Dock. Dual Use (Win/Mac).
My guesses were pretty good! 15 Gig instead of 20. Don't know if the screen is larger. I predicted backlit buttons, I don't think anybody else did. Thinner case. Dual use also.
Now if I can do as well buying stock in the stock market!
Well, that would be okay, wouldn't it? A USB port?
But Apple, in all their proven savvy, "thinking different" and coolness, probably could come up with some sort of hybrid converter cable/adapter thing that would let you plug a USB connector into your USB camera and stick the FireWire end of the little cable to you iPod and BOOM...there you go.
They've got those display conversion boxes and cables, so...
Apple, Dr. Bott, Belkin or some sort of partnership amongst Apple and others could probably figure something out.
Is there a definite "no way in hell" that info from a USB-based camera could be transferred to a FireWire-based device like the iPod? Is it just completely, 100% impossible and unable to be done?
Because if it's NOT, then I believe - based on recent history and remembering what company we're dealing with - they'll find a way.
Whatever one thinks about Apple, but when it comes down to it, they make stuff happen. Just think of all the cool little "why has no one else thought of that?" innovations in just the past 2-3 years alone!
It's amazing how good we can get at this isn't it?
It appears that the inline converter I've been clamoring for since USB2.0 started taking off is finally here. At least in a poprietary iPod only way for now. Looks like the bridge is in the iPod itself, by the looks of the cable, but it at least prooves that it can be done. Great for multi-platform iPod users, and for a possible digital wallet Hack! even without a color screen, I'd be happy with te ability to grab a whole "roll" off a camera of my choice, and have iPhoto then recognize it when plugged in my iPod!
This also means that a slim inline converter from the likes of Dr.Bott/MacAlly/Grffin can't be far behind, and all those consumer mac users can buy and use affordable USB2.0 device at full speed.
Damn, actually, it appears not. Looks like just a proprietary socket that carries USB2 and firewire into the same port. They probably could have gone with the two standard ports side by side. Damn.
Still good for a digital wallet though! I hope someone writes a nice app for it that lets people use the iPod to pull files directly from an assortment of digital cameras and then call up iPhoto when the pod is docked!
Also, the new position of the port is an improvement from the perspective of 3rd party periphs that can nopw attach at the bottom and leave the top ports free. The pod is so small that any number of attachments could fit the port, like a jacket and the overall package would still be nice and tiny!
I'm thinking an FM/DAB reciever with a mic and line-in would make a great addition, even if they ended making the iPod as much as 50% bigger!
I believe one of the main differences between FW and USB is that FW devices can communicate with eachother without having a CPU involved. This was behind the idea of using FW (Sony's i.Link) to be able to connect various consumer electronic devices.
Unfortunately, most consumer cameras are USB, so communcation with the iPod would require something similar to what Mindstor does with their Digital Wallet device. Would be nice to be able to offload images from a digital camera when traveling, instead of buying more memory cards.
Well there's enough HDD space and RAM in the iPod to store a driver/app for different cameras. The question is now, is there enough processing power in the little pod to run said app/driver?
I wonder if USB mass storage protocols work with USB cameras?
When I plug digital cameras into the PC's around here, I never install drivers, they just seem to work under XP. Some of the cameras are brand spanky new, XP couldn't possibly have specific drivers built in.
So mebbe a set of generic drivers is all thats really needed for the basic task of offloading card data from cam to pod?
Comments
Originally posted by Matsu
But the kicker is that firewire port, firewire is good, especially for HHD devices and charging, BUT for a digital wallet it's the pits. It MUST HAVE USB to be of any use in the digital camera scene, right or wrong, that's the way it has to be.
This makes me think of the rumors that Apple was producing a new cable, USB and FireWire in one. Could this sort of setup work? FireWire connector on one end, but it splits to give you either FireWire or USB on the other?
Originally posted by MacsRGood4U
The iPod will remain a music machine. Video will come along with another device.
Now, my predictions on what we'll see on Monday.
Probable:
3 new models, 10, 20 and 30 Gig. Larger screen. Thinner case. Backlit buttons. Dock. Dual Use (Win/Mac).
I think Apple needs to keep the 5GB iPod. It's great for those just getting into the Mac, and who don't want to pay for the extra space they probably won't use.
Also, I think a dock for the iPod is a bad idea. If by dock you mean something to stand it up in, then I think it is a good idea. But if you mean the dock will be something that charges the battery and transfer music, then I think it is a bad idea.
Originally posted by Matsu
Hmmm... get's me thinking, I can actually agree with most of Pscates arguments about a fun little doo-dad to play with, show friends your slide shows, yadda yadda...
As well you should
But it still needs to be primarily functional first.
Exactly. That's why I agree with your idea about offloading your camera shots to it and freeing up the memory card. THAT is a truly functional, practical use that most people would dig. Married with my idea above, that makes for a cool one-two punch of a photo-oriented feature for an iPod.
Imagine a family on vacation: while at Magic Kingdom, they can take photos all day. Upon arriving back at the hotel that evening, they can throw them all on to the iPod and free up the memory card for more photos the next day (assuming they didn't want to carry the iPod with them and do this as the day went on...depends on the family, what they want to lug around and keep up with, how many photos they think they'll take, etc. Different for everyone). So that's great. You come back from Orlando or wherever with a HUGE gob of photos because, even though you're away from your home and main computer, you were able to throw this stuff onto your 20/30GB iPod and probably end up taking more pictures than you'd normally be able to because you weren't concerned with "uh oh, this card is getting pretty full...".
That, alone, makes it a good idea. And certainly qualifies it for "functional". I like them both.
Palm has just announced their new Zire with a built in camera. That's probably as far as I'd like to see the iPod go. Anything more would really require a separate device.
http://www.palm.com/products/handhelds/zire71/
Of course, if Apple were to make a firewire based consumer digital still cam...
Absolutely no "docking" though, banish the thought!
Originally posted by pscates
As well you should
Exactly. That's why I agree with your idea about offloading your camera shots to it and freeing up the memory card. THAT is a truly functional, practical use that most people would dig. Married with my idea above, that makes for a cool one-two punch of a photo-oriented feature for an iPod.
Imagine a family on vacation: while at Magic Kingdom, they can take photos all day. Upon arriving back at the hotel that evening, they can throw them all on to the iPod and free up the memory card for more photos the next day (assuming they didn't want to carry the iPod with them and do this as the day went on...depends on the family, what they want to lug around and keep up with, how many photos they think they'll take, etc. Different for everyone). So that's great. You come back from Orlando or wherever with a HUGE gob of photos because, even though you're away from your home and main computer, you were able to throw this stuff onto your 20/30GB iPod and probably end up taking more pictures than you'd normally be able to because you weren't concerned with "uh oh, this card is getting pretty full...".
That, alone, makes it a good idea. And certainly qualifies it for "functional". I like them both.
Your second point there is exactly what I'm thinking about, even if it may not have come across in my original post
Now you could argue that I could just buy one of the other digital wallet solutions that are available, but an iPod would be so much cooler
Cheers,
Dave.
Originally posted by salmonstk
One thing we have not addressed is battery life. A color screen must be back lite all the time correct? What kind of effect would that have on the iPod's battery life?
No, it wouldn't, they could use a transflective screen with sidelight, for a small screen it would be fine.
Originally posted by Matsu
I hear ya scates, but that niggling firewire issue remains, can't dump images from a USB camera (99.9% of cameras out there) to a firewire iPod unless Apple cooks something up in the form of some hybrid or just tacks on a second USB port.
Well, that would be okay, wouldn't it? A USB port?
But Apple, in all their proven savvy, "thinking different" and coolness, probably could come up with some sort of hybrid converter cable/adapter thing that would let you plug a USB connector into your USB camera and stick the FireWire end of the little cable to you iPod and BOOM...there you go.
They've got those display conversion boxes and cables, so...
Apple, Dr. Bott, Belkin or some sort of partnership amongst Apple and others could probably figure something out.
Is there a definite "no way in hell" that info from a USB-based camera could be transferred to a FireWire-based device like the iPod? Is it just completely, 100% impossible and unable to be done?
Because if it's NOT, then I believe - based on recent history and remembering what company we're dealing with - they'll find a way.
Whatever one thinks about Apple, but when it comes down to it, they make stuff happen. Just think of all the cool little "why has no one else thought of that?" innovations in just the past 2-3 years alone!
The concept that was posted was cool , I like the idea with the dock to get to the different function with the 'jog' dial. But what sort of size are we thinking. The current iPod is the rectangular shape it is because that is the size/shape of the HD it is built round, for it to be that curvy shape ether the Drive has to be reshaped (unlikely) or it has to be (a lot) bigger.
I dont think the colour screen would be to much of a problem, most (top end) mobile phones now have colour screens, and they don't have giant batteries. The New GameBoy Advance also has a (decent, the old one was heavly criticized about the non backlit) colour screen, and that also has a decent 'on' time.
Probable:
3 new models, 10, 20 and 30 Gig. Larger screen. Thinner case. Backlit buttons. Dock. Dual Use (Win/Mac).
My guesses were pretty good! 15 Gig instead of 20. Don't know if the screen is larger. I predicted backlit buttons, I don't think anybody else did. Thinner case. Dual use also.
Now if I can do as well buying stock in the stock market!
Originally posted by pscates
Well, that would be okay, wouldn't it? A USB port?
But Apple, in all their proven savvy, "thinking different" and coolness, probably could come up with some sort of hybrid converter cable/adapter thing that would let you plug a USB connector into your USB camera and stick the FireWire end of the little cable to you iPod and BOOM...there you go.
They've got those display conversion boxes and cables, so...
Apple, Dr. Bott, Belkin or some sort of partnership amongst Apple and others could probably figure something out.
Is there a definite "no way in hell" that info from a USB-based camera could be transferred to a FireWire-based device like the iPod? Is it just completely, 100% impossible and unable to be done?
Because if it's NOT, then I believe - based on recent history and remembering what company we're dealing with - they'll find a way.
Whatever one thinks about Apple, but when it comes down to it, they make stuff happen. Just think of all the cool little "why has no one else thought of that?" innovations in just the past 2-3 years alone!
It's amazing how good we can get at this isn't it?
It appears that the inline converter I've been clamoring for since USB2.0 started taking off is finally here. At least in a poprietary iPod only way for now. Looks like the bridge is in the iPod itself, by the looks of the cable, but it at least prooves that it can be done. Great for multi-platform iPod users, and for a possible digital wallet Hack! even without a color screen, I'd be happy with te ability to grab a whole "roll" off a camera of my choice, and have iPhoto then recognize it when plugged in my iPod!
This also means that a slim inline converter from the likes of Dr.Bott/MacAlly/Grffin can't be far behind, and all those consumer mac users can buy and use affordable USB2.0 device at full speed.
EXCELLENT!
Still good for a digital wallet though! I hope someone writes a nice app for it that lets people use the iPod to pull files directly from an assortment of digital cameras and then call up iPhoto when the pod is docked!
Also, the new position of the port is an improvement from the perspective of 3rd party periphs that can nopw attach at the bottom and leave the top ports free. The pod is so small that any number of attachments could fit the port, like a jacket and the overall package would still be nice and tiny!
I'm thinking an FM/DAB reciever with a mic and line-in would make a great addition, even if they ended making the iPod as much as 50% bigger!
Unfortunately, most consumer cameras are USB, so communcation with the iPod would require something similar to what Mindstor does with their Digital Wallet device. Would be nice to be able to offload images from a digital camera when traveling, instead of buying more memory cards.
I wonder if USB mass storage protocols work with USB cameras?
When I plug digital cameras into the PC's around here, I never install drivers, they just seem to work under XP. Some of the cameras are brand spanky new, XP couldn't possibly have specific drivers built in.
So mebbe a set of generic drivers is all thats really needed for the basic task of offloading card data from cam to pod?