Heh, kinda cool! The durability would take a hit, since your proposal has two seperate pieces. And it'd almost surely be bigger, since the iPod's hard drive isn't a standard size - it's super small.
You have an interesting concept, 'cept that those VST drives are huge by comparison. Personally, I felt they could make the iPod slightly wider -- same height just make the width match the height -- and that would give enough room for 2.5" notebook drives. With the buffering system Apple devised, a 2.5" HDD souldn't consume much more power. They could use a very low RPM drive if that were a concern. However, it'd, in general, be heavier, less durable, and of shorter battery life -- if not much bigger: 4x4" instead of 4x2.5".
Toshiba sells the 1.8" in two flavors -- 2.5GB and 5GB -- in a typeII PC-Card package. I don't think apple buys the drives with the steel PC Card casing on them, instead choosing to package a bare drive themselves. It's the only thing that can explain the price, as the PC-card retails for 499. :eek:
Maybe (a very slim maybe at that) Apple could have built the iPod with a typeII PC card slot. The drives would slot in and be quite safe in their enlosure. They'd be sold in a cheaper 2.5GB bundle, and a more expensive 5GB bundle. If/when bigger drives came out, you could just pic up whatever capacity you desire, or with an adaptor, you could use it as a card reader for your CF, MMC, memory stick cards. It would even offer some interesting possibilities for those who wanted a voice recorder. However, such a scheme effectively blocks Apple out of the update path: Why would I buy another iPod when I can just get a bigger HDD for the one I have?
PS. Anyone care to crack open their iPod and check whether or not the drive is encased in a PC-card sleeve?
<strong>Its a good idea but it will probably cost far too much for such large harddrives. If it works on PC's it could succeed.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Even if it worked on PC's I don't think it would survive that long.
WOW, it looks like the drive is in the PC-Card carrier package. Apple, damn you, why didn't you make it a swappable PC-Card slot??? Ooops, forgot, see my previous post.
<strong>No offense but please delete that monstrosity. Nice idea but just not feasible.
Reasons why it wouldn't work:
1.It would be ugly.
2.It wouldn't be the Apple device the original was.
3.Would be heavier.
4.Would be bigger.
5.Would be just another portable mp3 player.
6.Not as simple.
7.Did I mention ugly?
8.How about fugly?
9.No 10 hour battery life.
10.Wouldn't have that certain Apple touch to it.
11.Another logo is visible alongside Apples.
12.Customer would be confused about the different sizes.
13.Wouldn't have the same kind of seamless integration.
14.You're not Steve.
15.VST could be bought by M$ just to ruin the iPod's success.
16.Who the hell has 30+ gigs of mp3s?</strong><hr></blockquote>
I have nearly 30 gigs of mp3s. Not gloating, but it ain't a great deal. 5 gigs of music on the go is pretty sweet - it beats having to carry arount 100 minidiscs.
It is nice to see that one day, when these magical 1.8inch drives come down in price, it *can* be swopped for a larger one.
[quote]<strong>Mediafour announces XPod software for iPod</strong>
Mediafour today officially announced its <a href="http://www.mediafour.com/xpod/"; target="_blank">XPod software</a>, which offers access to iPod music from the Windows operating system. Compatible with Windows Me, 2000, or XP, the software will transfer MP3, AIFF and WAV files to the iPod. Mediafour says it plans to include automatic transcoding of WMA files to MP3 in a subsequent release.<hr></blockquote>
Haven't checked it out in detail, but it looks promising.
Comments
bring a few...
<strong>pick your size hard drive... hot swappable...
bring a few...</strong><hr></blockquote>
That makes me wonder where do you put the battery, and how bad the battery life will suck ~~
Neat concept, though.
I have seen how small the internal HD is soo... that batt should be up near the top... or maybe its flat...?
Either way...
I would think its possible...
It would be a little bit bigger...
But not that big...
It still would fit in a pocket...
I carry my small 10GB VST drive in my pocket... from home to work and back...
Couldnt bare to live without my tunes...
And everyones always whining about the HD size...
If I was "steve" I would have struck a deal with VST...
3GB... 5GB... 10GB... 20GB... 30GB...
I would have bought one...
And any future (Larger Compacity) sizes from VST could be retrofit... for the iPod...
Even if its a little bit bigger, Poeple would still be buying them...
Toshiba sells the 1.8" in two flavors -- 2.5GB and 5GB -- in a typeII PC-Card package. I don't think apple buys the drives with the steel PC Card casing on them, instead choosing to package a bare drive themselves. It's the only thing that can explain the price, as the PC-card retails for 499. :eek:
Maybe (a very slim maybe at that) Apple could have built the iPod with a typeII PC card slot. The drives would slot in and be quite safe in their enlosure. They'd be sold in a cheaper 2.5GB bundle, and a more expensive 5GB bundle. If/when bigger drives came out, you could just pic up whatever capacity you desire, or with an adaptor, you could use it as a card reader for your CF, MMC, memory stick cards. It would even offer some interesting possibilities for those who wanted a voice recorder. However, such a scheme effectively blocks Apple out of the update path: Why would I buy another iPod when I can just get a bigger HDD for the one I have?
PS. Anyone care to crack open their iPod and check whether or not the drive is encased in a PC-card sleeve?
Pictures of the parts of the iPod.
iPod v2 will be imposible with the same size as actual iPod has.
<strong>Its a good idea but it will probably cost far too much for such large harddrives. If it works on PC's it could succeed.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Even if it worked on PC's I don't think it would survive that long.
Reasons why it wouldn't work:
1.It would be ugly.
2.It wouldn't be the Apple device the original was.
3.Would be heavier.
4.Would be bigger.
5.Would be just another portable mp3 player.
6.Not as simple.
7.Did I mention ugly?
8.How about fugly?
9.No 10 hour battery life.
10.Wouldn't have that certain Apple touch to it.
11.Another logo is visible alongside Apples.
12.Customer would be confused about the different sizes.
13.Wouldn't have the same kind of seamless integration.
14.You're not Steve.
15.VST could be bought by M$ just to ruin the iPod's success.
16.Who the hell has 30+ gigs of mp3s?
<strong>No offense but please delete that monstrosity. Nice idea but just not feasible.
Reasons why it wouldn't work:
1.It would be ugly.
2.It wouldn't be the Apple device the original was.
3.Would be heavier.
4.Would be bigger.
5.Would be just another portable mp3 player.
6.Not as simple.
7.Did I mention ugly?
8.How about fugly?
9.No 10 hour battery life.
10.Wouldn't have that certain Apple touch to it.
11.Another logo is visible alongside Apples.
12.Customer would be confused about the different sizes.
13.Wouldn't have the same kind of seamless integration.
14.You're not Steve.
15.VST could be bought by M$ just to ruin the iPod's success.
16.Who the hell has 30+ gigs of mp3s?</strong><hr></blockquote>
I have nearly 30 gigs of mp3s. Not gloating, but it ain't a great deal. 5 gigs of music on the go is pretty sweet - it beats having to carry arount 100 minidiscs.
It is nice to see that one day, when these magical 1.8inch drives come down in price, it *can* be swopped for a larger one.
AJ
[quote]<strong>Mediafour announces XPod software for iPod</strong>
Mediafour today officially announced its <a href="http://www.mediafour.com/xpod/"; target="_blank">XPod software</a>, which offers access to iPod music from the Windows operating system. Compatible with Windows Me, 2000, or XP, the software will transfer MP3, AIFF and WAV files to the iPod. Mediafour says it plans to include automatic transcoding of WMA files to MP3 in a subsequent release.<hr></blockquote>
Haven't checked it out in detail, but it looks promising.