I'm Prepared to be Blown Away
Like everyone else, I'm am nervous and excited about what the new product
announcement that is going to blow me away will be. I've seen the iWalk and while I wasn't blown away, I did feel a breeze. Whether it's a fake or not, lets face it, there's
no reason for Apple to do a PDA, even if they did it exactly right. I don't think they could do anything impactful. Then again, we would have never guessed an MP3 player either.
However, I began to think about a product I already have and how much cooler it could be if Apple did some additional R&D on it. I own a little gadget called the Kodak MC3. It's a digital camera, camcorder and MP3
player all rolled into one. Many have been disappointed in the camera's
output, citing poor image quality, and they're right, the resolution is not
the best, but the concept is right on IMHO. Unlike the other multifunction
devices, as far as I know, the MC3 is the only one that can actually function as a camcorder. Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but the other
cameras that I'm familiar with, such as the Fuji, allow only about 2 minutes worth of video. With CF card prices dropping the way they have, I'm able to get a decent looking 10 minute, 20fps video on a 128MB card on
my MC3. And did I mention it does an acceptable job of playing MP3 files?
Now, what if Apple were to take that concept a couple of steps further by employing the HD now present in the iPod? A 5 gig HD is roughly capable of handling 25 min of
DV @ 30fps. Now maybe the gadget has a limited form of QT Pro built in where you could take a 720 x 480 video and scale it to say 240 x 180 and encode it in MPEG4, rendering it acceptable for email or posting on your
iTools web page? Maybe there's even an update to iMovie with a new MPEG4
codec? Maybe the DV coded is totally non-existent and it only uses G4 and possible has the capability of being Tivo like in operation?
Instead of CCD the camera would use a CMOS chip, but the best CMOS currently available (I think Olympus is using the higher end CMOS chip on one of their prosumer cameras). Obviously, this camera would sport firewire and could be both a digital camera, camcorder, and web cam, and
like the iPod, a portable HD. Maybe there is even a revision to iTools as well, with a NetMeeting like feature built into it. Imagine a swivel lens so that your image could be captured while you look at the person you're
talking to. Oh yeah, it would still play MP3's.
And if I really wanted to be blown away, it would have a 3G wireless phone
built in and be compatible with the new CDMA2 networks being rolled out by
Sprint and Verizon. (Gotta dream big).
I'm sure there are features I'm not hitting sufficiently that others would
like to see. And obviously, I know no more than any of the rest of you out
there. But something remotely close to the above would surely: BLOW ME
AWAY!
announcement that is going to blow me away will be. I've seen the iWalk and while I wasn't blown away, I did feel a breeze. Whether it's a fake or not, lets face it, there's
no reason for Apple to do a PDA, even if they did it exactly right. I don't think they could do anything impactful. Then again, we would have never guessed an MP3 player either.
However, I began to think about a product I already have and how much cooler it could be if Apple did some additional R&D on it. I own a little gadget called the Kodak MC3. It's a digital camera, camcorder and MP3
player all rolled into one. Many have been disappointed in the camera's
output, citing poor image quality, and they're right, the resolution is not
the best, but the concept is right on IMHO. Unlike the other multifunction
devices, as far as I know, the MC3 is the only one that can actually function as a camcorder. Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but the other
cameras that I'm familiar with, such as the Fuji, allow only about 2 minutes worth of video. With CF card prices dropping the way they have, I'm able to get a decent looking 10 minute, 20fps video on a 128MB card on
my MC3. And did I mention it does an acceptable job of playing MP3 files?
Now, what if Apple were to take that concept a couple of steps further by employing the HD now present in the iPod? A 5 gig HD is roughly capable of handling 25 min of
DV @ 30fps. Now maybe the gadget has a limited form of QT Pro built in where you could take a 720 x 480 video and scale it to say 240 x 180 and encode it in MPEG4, rendering it acceptable for email or posting on your
iTools web page? Maybe there's even an update to iMovie with a new MPEG4
codec? Maybe the DV coded is totally non-existent and it only uses G4 and possible has the capability of being Tivo like in operation?
Instead of CCD the camera would use a CMOS chip, but the best CMOS currently available (I think Olympus is using the higher end CMOS chip on one of their prosumer cameras). Obviously, this camera would sport firewire and could be both a digital camera, camcorder, and web cam, and
like the iPod, a portable HD. Maybe there is even a revision to iTools as well, with a NetMeeting like feature built into it. Imagine a swivel lens so that your image could be captured while you look at the person you're
talking to. Oh yeah, it would still play MP3's.
And if I really wanted to be blown away, it would have a 3G wireless phone
built in and be compatible with the new CDMA2 networks being rolled out by
Sprint and Verizon. (Gotta dream big).
I'm sure there are features I'm not hitting sufficiently that others would
like to see. And obviously, I know no more than any of the rest of you out
there. But something remotely close to the above would surely: BLOW ME
AWAY!
Comments
They are more into the 1 device, 1 app kind of approach. Using that apporach it is also much easyer to sell hardware(read: line apple's pockets)
Also, I think multifunction devices, while a cool novelty are rarely pulled off. (look at all other Phone+PDAs besides the Treo)
It would make more sence to do each device "right" then try to roll them all into one.
-Paul
P.S. 200th Post! And it actually had some good substance!
[ 01-04-2002: Message edited by: psantora ]</p>