Improvements for iPod
Okay, so let's work with the current iPod:
5GB HD, 1-bit display, FW, audio out.
1. What would you add via software?
2. What would you add via hardware (peripheral)?
Let's think about this... with the iPod, you can put things in, you can work with them in a very basic way, and you can transfer them back to your Mac.
The current things you can put in: Audio, files.
How you can put them in: iTunes (audio) and the Finder (files).
What you can do with them: Listen to and browse audio files only.
It seems there is a lot more that can be done with this great little device; a device that has decent processing power, great storage and upgradable firmware.
I'll start with the first suggestion, one that is both hardware and software.
Imagine a device similar to the Griffin iMic that was FireWire instead of USB, and that had a built-in microphone, and S/PDIF optical input. With a simple firmware update, you could theoretically:
1. Encode voice recordings, sound samples and live music directly to MP3 from the microphone or the analog input.
2. Encode MP3s directly from a digital source (such as a portable CD player) through the optical input (assuming the CD player also has S/PDIF.
What do you think, and what ideas do you have?
5GB HD, 1-bit display, FW, audio out.
1. What would you add via software?
2. What would you add via hardware (peripheral)?
Let's think about this... with the iPod, you can put things in, you can work with them in a very basic way, and you can transfer them back to your Mac.
The current things you can put in: Audio, files.
How you can put them in: iTunes (audio) and the Finder (files).
What you can do with them: Listen to and browse audio files only.
It seems there is a lot more that can be done with this great little device; a device that has decent processing power, great storage and upgradable firmware.
I'll start with the first suggestion, one that is both hardware and software.
Imagine a device similar to the Griffin iMic that was FireWire instead of USB, and that had a built-in microphone, and S/PDIF optical input. With a simple firmware update, you could theoretically:
1. Encode voice recordings, sound samples and live music directly to MP3 from the microphone or the analog input.
2. Encode MP3s directly from a digital source (such as a portable CD player) through the optical input (assuming the CD player also has S/PDIF.
What do you think, and what ideas do you have?
Comments
My software idea: Pong! It's already got the control wheel to play it with, and imagine how long the battery would last if you were just playing Pong, no MP3s.
Records directly to MP3/audible format for lectures, meetings, etc... and, records to 48khz AIFF for the musicians out there.
Take out the drive, add in another 32MB or so of RAM, keep all the other features, and sell it for half the current price. Keep the current iPod in the line-up, too, of course.
Jobs line is a little odd. First he says:
[quote]... stealing music is a behavioral problem more than a technological problem. We believe most people are honest and want to pay for their music.<hr></blockquote>
Which is a great sentiment. Let the recording industry deal with the behavioral problem. But then he adds:
[quote]We just don't want to make it too easy for them not to be.<hr></blockquote>
Hmm.
I wonder what Apple will do if copy protection systems like CDS become the norm in the coming months? The first CDs using it have appeared this month. It effectively kills iTunes and iPod, and the whole MP3 bandwagon Apple climbed aboard two years too late.
Belle, you seem to know about this stuff, where's the best site on the net to find copy-protection work-arounds?
<strong>Belle, you seem to know about this stuff, where's the best site on the net to find copy-protection work-arounds?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Hmm, no idea, Matsu. I've never looked. Most copy protection schemes are a cinch to get round. You can bypass CDS with a few lines of Perl. The problem is that companies like Apple can't rely on hackers to provide functionality. And it's going to get worse - at the moment the main force of the recording industry is aimed at CDs. In the coming months, as DVD writers become more widespread, the usefulness of the devices and software like iDVD and DVD Studio Pro is going to become questionable as studios look beyond the current macrovision protection and annoying regional coding.
Mandricard
AppleOutsider
Just some thoughts.
An iPod, should be a Pod for more things than Music.
That's silly.
And as for copy protection, I wouldn't be too worried. Hackers are always one step ahead.
My hopes lie with the courts. A California Appeals Court has already fired an important salvo in removing the preliminary injunction against publishing the DeCSS code (citing it as prior restraint of free speech). I'm hoping that encryption, in toto, is judged to be prior restraint, along with the bulk of the DMCA. That would undo a lot of damage right there, and doom the DMCA's successor, which is currently lurking in Congress. Once that's done, the hacks are all legal. :cool:
As for the iPod, I can't find much to change. Removal of the CYA features Belle cites would be a good start.
I think that, via firmware, you could upload a DVD into an iPod and have it recognize the chapters and sections, navigate through them and stream them over FireWire to a Mac or FW-aware DVD player. That would be cool.
[ 11-19-2001: Message edited by: Amorph ]</p>
<strong>I'd add the ability to receive data from more sources such as digital cameras equiped with FW ports. Go on a vacation, bring your iPod and your FW digital camera. Fill up the 32MB card on the camera, then download the images to the iPod. Repeat as necessary. Would fit right in with the digital lifestyle and the ambiguous naming of the iPod.
An iPod, should be a Pod for more things than Music.</strong><hr></blockquote>
You can already do this. Read the iPod FAQ page. :cool:
1. Radio Tuner (Better yet: World Band Radio or XM Satellite Radio)
2. QT Management System: Audio (mp3), Video (.mov from iMovie)
3. 8-bit Display: Play Movies, Games, iTunes Surreal interface
4. Games: Pong, Chess,
5. Wireless: Ability to add Airport Card or Bluetooth, etc.
6. Voice Recording: (inc Optional Add on Mic)
7. Faster and Bigger Drive (They get smaller and faster and cheaper) to handle apps
8. Email & Instant Messaging (like Blackberry). Use for when you go to Airwave, WiFi or Surf & Sip Airport Hub locations
The term iPod implies so many universal purposes.
I think for apple strategy of the digital hub the key tech and apps they have and control are FW, QT, Airport, and their iApps (iTunes, iMoves, etc), their ease of use, their design, their brand.
renoski
[quote]Okay, so let's work with the current iPod:
5GB HD, 1-bit display, FW, audio out.
2. What would you add via hardware (peripheral)?
<hr></blockquote>
I would want it to get an 8Bit, 640x480 Display, some way to attach an external monitor and a keyboard (possibly both via FW) so I could use it as a portable digital wallet to carry around my email and be able to work on basic stuff en route or at different locations.
It would need a basic version of MacOS-X for this (without Classic).
* FM Tuner
* FM Transmitter (transmit to an unused FM station to make car "un"hook-up easy.)
* Bass/Treble control.
* Equalizer
* Crossfader
* 10 gig drive
<strong>Originally posted by tonton:
I would want it to get an 8Bit, 640x480 Display, some way to attach an external monitor and a keyboard (possibly both via FW) so I could use it as a portable digital wallet to carry around my email and be able to work on basic stuff en route or at different locations.
It would need a basic version of MacOS-X for this (without Classic).</strong><hr></blockquote>
Basically goodbye iPod, hello Newton2.