I'll tell you when the 6G iPod is coming out: September or October. Not sooner, not later.
Seriously, why did anyone think it would come out any sooner. Regardless of iPhone, Apple would want this product to fresh for Christmas, not Memorial Day.
What makes you think that Apple is going to RAISE the price of the iPod since you know ... ...Even with the touchscreen, you're probably not going to see a price bump unless they absolutely have to.
Because... it's... APPLE!!!
OMG, I never thought I'd hear in a million years someone doubting that Apple would raise a price when they could. And I say this as an Apple fan.
I don't know why Apple is so sure that their iPhone is going to be such a mega-hit. I personally think it's going to be one of Apple's biggest flops in recent memory.
I only know one person who has even expressed interest in buying it, and even he said the price point is too high.
All of my colleagues and I use MULTIPLE 3rd-party apps on our Treo 650's (Pocket Quicken, FileMaker Pro, DirAsst, Vindigo, CityID, lots of games, and much more), and Apple has told all developers that there is no 3rd-party development opportunities available for the iPhone. Therefore, there is no reason for a consumer like myself and my colleagues to EVER buy an iPhone. Why would I spend $600 on a phone that doesn't even give me the ability to do what I can currently do on my phone?
In fact, I see very little reason for ANY consumer to spend so much money on a phone that doesn't even offer HALF the functionality of many of the phones on the market right now. The iPhone has:
- no vibrate mode
- no real keyboard that gives you tactile feedback
- no hot-swappable batteries
- no 3rd party apps nor games
- no built-in videocamera
- no "type ahead" feature to quickly find an address in your address book
- and much much more.
These are all VERY IMPORTANT features!
Not to mention the fact that most people hate Cingular! And their Internet prices are 10 times higher than Sprint's data rates! There's just way too much working against the iPhone for it to succeed.
Come on now, let's be honest for a moment -- now that all the hype has died down since Steve Jobs' reality distortion field at the MacWorld keynote, do you really know ANYBODY who is still clamoring for an iPhone? Nope, neither do I.
Sorry, but the iPhone is going to be a gigantic flop. Consumers aren't that stupid to plunk down that much money for a half-thought-out device like the iPhone.
there are plenty of users out there who will be very upset if they cant fit their entire library on an ipod, for instance 60 or 80gb sizes. i just cant imagine apple cutting those out. the iphone is NOT an ipod substitute and therefore apple shouldnt treat it like one.
@scotty321: according to current surveys, you couldnt be more wrong. and ive had a lot of friends telling me they want one. you must live in cambodia.
I don't know why Apple is so sure that their iPhone is going to be such a mega-hit. I personally think it's going to be one of Apple's biggest flops in recent memory.
I only know one person who has even expressed interest in buying it, and even he said the price point is too high.
All of my colleagues and I use MULTIPLE 3rd-party apps on our Treo 650's (Pocket Quicken, FileMaker Pro, DirAsst, Vindigo, CityID, lots of games, and much more), and Apple has told all developers that there is no 3rd-party development opportunities available for the iPhone. Therefore, there is no reason for a consumer like myself and my colleagues to EVER buy an iPhone. Why would I spend $600 on a phone that doesn't even give me the ability to do what I can currently do on my phone?
In fact, I see very little reason for ANY consumer to spend so much money on a phone that doesn't even offer HALF the functionality of many of the phones on the market right now. The iPhone has:
- no vibrate mode
- no real keyboard that gives you tactile feedback
- no hot-swappable batteries
- no 3rd party apps nor games
- no built-in videocamera
- no "type ahead" feature to quickly find an address in your address book
- and much much more.
These are all VERY IMPORTANT features!
Not to mention the fact that most people hate Cingular! And their Internet prices are 10 times higher than Sprint's data rates! There's just way too much working against the iPhone for it to succeed.
Come on now, let's be honest for a moment -- now that all the hype has died down since Steve Jobs' reality distortion field at the MacWorld keynote, do you really know ANYBODY who is still clamoring for an iPhone? Nope, neither do I.
Sorry, but the iPhone is going to be a gigantic flop. Consumers aren't that stupid to plunk down that much money for a half-thought-out device like the iPhone.
The iPhone is very cool, and does make the phone much easier to use (according to the wonderful video demonstrations and the glowing accounts of those who have actually handled it).
However, Scotty321 has an excellent point: There are other things for phones to do besides be a phone, an internet device, and an ipod. The body of software that the Palm Developers have built is extremely large. Despite the interface problems, my Treo 650 does a lot of different things rather well. I am greatly looking forward to upgrading to an iPhone, however, I do not relish the idea of giving up the ability to read .doc, .xls and .ppt files and to edit .doc, .xls, .ppt files with A GODDAMNED STYLUS, bank with Quicken, trade stocks with Scott Trade, you get the idea. Overall capability is a HUGE issue, and yes it is way too early to know the full capabilities of iPhone, yes I am sure that iPhone will be expandable, but I'm not seeing that it is right now.
And another thing: Cingular. I don't know anyone in Indianapolis who's in a rapture that Cingular is their carrier; quite the opposite. Those who no longer are with Cingular will never, ever go back. Ever. Those with Cingular are wailing and gnashing their teeth and imploring time to speed up so that they can escape their Plans. My wife had Cingular on her phone, I had/have Verizon on mine and we'd lose connections constantly. Fraking constantly! I got her a Treo650 with Verizon and now we NEVER lose connections.
Back to Cingular? Goddamnit all to Goddamned, Goddamned Hell, those bastards better have their Goddamned act together.
And what is the plan with the iPhone? $599 for the phone that I want and what is the plan exactly?
In fact, I see very little reason for ANY consumer to spend so much money on a phone that doesn't even offer HALF the functionality of many of the phones on the market right now. The iPhone has:
- no vibrate mode
Yes, it does.
Quote:
- no real keyboard that gives you tactile feedback
No, it has a faster, non-space-consuming keyboard. Did you complain when you couldn't jam a VHS tape into a DVD player, too?
Quote:
- no hot-swappable batteries
Do you or anyone you know spend 5 hours a day on a cell phone? Do you feel that these three insane people in the world are a large enough segment that Apple will feel the hurt for alienating them?
Quote:
- no 3rd party apps nor games
Says who?
The SDK isn't going to be freely available, that doesn't mean that there's no third party software.
Quote:
- no built-in videocamera
Says who? That's three things that you've completely made up now.
Quote:
- no "type ahead" feature to quickly find an address in your address book
Now you're just stretching. This is ridiculous. Have you even seen the demo?
Quote:
- and much much more.
I take that back. NOW you're stretching.
So, all in all, you've pulled three non-existant flaws out of your ass, two useless artifacts of the past that the iPhone has obsolesced, and now "much much more." I can't wait to find out what great problems it has to face now.
I love when people say their are missing features on the thing when its not even out yet and only a handfull of people have actually played with it.
And I dont need a wide-screen iPod. I will have one on my iPhone.
Quote:
All of my colleagues and I use MULTIPLE 3rd-party apps on our Treo 650's
Your Treo's are kinda like the ugly geek kids in school that get straight A's but dont get any girls or attention.
The iPhone is the popular cute guy in school that may not have all the smarts of the geek kids, but gets by and gets all the girls and attention.
Thats how I sum up why the iPhone is going to be a hit. May not have all the "geek" features, but is still badass and looks cool so people will buy it.
1. Scotty: Jobs has said that Apple will retain tight control over third party app developers for the iPhone (only approved developers and apps will be allowed), NOT THAT THIRD PART APPS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED. Granted, this will eliminate thousands of crappy and useless apps (and some useful ones) that are available on other phones, but that is the point.
2. No vibrate function? Have you used an iPhone? Why don't we wait until the thing actually ships before we start making assumptions about what the phone does/does not have?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aries 1B
And another thing: Cingular. I don't know anyone in Indianapolis who's in a rapture that Cingular is their carrier
Cingular will cease to exist over the next few months. AT&T is the company that you want to start thinking about.
IWhat I am thinking is the portable home folder idea that was rumored a while back. With say 100 gb on an iPod with a wide screen you can bring all your music videos and your home folder with you when you travel.
You could be right but I see a slight problem. Apple dropped firewire from the iPods a while back. Is USB 2 really good for shifting tens of GB in one go? As I understand it the peak speed of USB can seem high but it can't be sustained as with firewire.
I would like to see firewire make a come back as my Powerbook Ti doesn't have USB 2.
could leave consumers hung up till early next year
Apple would be nucking futs to wait that long. The current iPod form factor (introduced in October 2005 or so) will look rather old by this time next year and Apple would likely be losing market share. If they really wait that long. Q3 this year is stretching it already IMHO.
There are more and more music players out (or out soon) with lovely big screens. Like the iRiver Clix 2 with its active matrix OLED screen. Same size as the current iPod, but lots bigger screen.
While the iPhone has a bigger screen it is not suited for video with its 4/8GB, some of which already being lost to the OS. And I doubt people would buy an iPhone just to watch photos or TV shows.
Apple would be nucking futs to wait that long. The current iPod form factor (introduced in October 2005 or so) will look rather old by this time next year and Apple would likely be losing market share. If they really wait that long. Q3 this year is stretching it already IMHO.
There are more and more music players out (or out soon) with lovely big screens. Like the iRiver Clix 2 with its active matrix OLED screen. Same size as the current iPod, but lots bigger screen.
While the iPhone has a bigger screen it is not suited for video with its 4/8GB, some of which already being lost to the OS. And I doubt people would buy an iPhone just to watch photos or TV shows.
most of the competitors still havent caught up to the first gen iPod.
E There are plenty of players out there with superior sound quality...
Could someone please enlighten me please. I frequently read statements like this about just about every other MP3 player on the market - if you believe some people - having better sound quality than the iPod.
Are these opinions based on assessments of the sound quality coming out of the iPod itself or the sound quality coming out of the supplied earbuds?
I am really mystified by this. I have a 3rd gen iPod. I never used the supplied earbuds - sold em on eBay - because I have a pair of good headphones and a fairly decent Hi-Fi.
To my ears, the iPod playing high bit rate tracks (192 < kbps) through the main Hi-Fi, is indistiguishable in sound quality from my CD player.
I have ripped tracks off CDs at various bit rates and loaded them on the iPod, then played back the original CD tracks, synchronised in time with the playback on the iPod. My pre-amp lets me balance the volume of inputs so when you switch from one source to another the perceived sound level is the same.
When I do all this I can use the remote to switch between CD player and iPod and can compare the exact same bit of music from the two sources.
So this is why I do not understand people who knock the iPods sound quality. To my ears it is so good I have almost given up listening to CDs and mainly use the iPod because it is so much more convenient and flexible.
Could it be that 4th and 5th gen iPods are not as good, or are people - as I suspect - really just rating the earbud sound quality?
most of the competitors still havent caught up to the first gen iPod.
Yes. But all they need is a window of opportunity. One 'killer feature' that might persuade a good number of people to buy their product instead. And IMHO a bright, big screen is such a feature. Apple might lose market share by missing the boat again. As they have done with CD burners where Apple thought consumers would rather prefer DVD players than CD burners. They can be stupid at times.
@ all of the iPhone naysayers rergarding imagined or real missing features.
I just want a phone that is intuitive and not complicated. The iPhone offers all of that and more and (for the inner child in all of us) it's way cool.
Before the iphone was announced I decided to look at smart phones as a replacement for my Verizon V810. They all sucked - way too confusing to use - small keyboards - hard to dial number pads (even worse in poor lighting. All in all, not very user friendly.
iPhone for me? Maybe, but I guess I am that rare one who dose not care about music or video on it. I want an iPod for music only wide screen or otherwise that holds 100 to 200 GB of music so I can take 25-35 thousand songs with me Anywhere. The iPhone and wireless is fine for communication, but music?
There is no way Apple will release a 6th gen iPod before the release of the iPhone and that there would be no way we would see one until the holidays.
The've released or updated iPods in the Sept / Oct time frame pretty often. I think it might be because the device needs to generate a little buzz so that the general public learns about them. That's about three months, which I think is fine. It seems as if Apple releases or updates a couple products every one to three months to keep their name in the buzz and on ink, it's a mind share thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ashnazg
What if Apple included 10 GB of FLASH memory, and another 80-120 GB HARD DRIVE memory?
Then, things that are played most often (higher play counts) would be automatically moved to the FLASH memory upon a sync with iTunes. Other data used less often would be stored on the HARD DRIVE. That way, one could still carry their whole movie/music collection but still be able to save on battery life when viewing/listening to the things they do most often...
No, I don't think so anyway. It would have the cost of flash and the unreliability of the 1.8" hard drives, with added complexity to boot. I will grant that there's an outside chance that they might make them entirely flash or offer an all-flash model. I do now remember when they first released the nano, it costed about as much as its retail equivalent in flash memory.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ebrunn
most of the competitors still havent caught up to the first gen iPod.
I think that's blatant fanboyism, because you are focusing on a certain aspect of the product, a subjective one at that. That said, I'm not convinced that OLED is ready yet, I haven't heard of any breakthroughs in the operational life of OLED.
Quote:
Your Treo's are kinda like the ugly geek kids in school that get straight A's but dont get any girls or attention.
The iPhone is the popular cute guy in school that may not have all the smarts of the geek kids, but gets by and gets all the girls and attention.
Thats how I sum up why the iPhone is going to be a hit. May not have all the "geek" features, but is still badass and looks cool so people will buy it.
I think calling on "cool factor" is generally tantamount to calling it a fad object, so it's probably not something you want to argue. That said, "cool factor" hasn't been shown to be a major reason that the iPod has been a big seller.
Comments
I'll tell you when the 6G iPod is coming out: September or October. Not sooner, not later.
Seriously, why did anyone think it would come out any sooner. Regardless of iPhone, Apple would want this product to fresh for Christmas, not Memorial Day.
Exactly! I was about to say much the same thing.
What makes you think that Apple is going to RAISE the price of the iPod since you know ... ...Even with the touchscreen, you're probably not going to see a price bump unless they absolutely have to.
Because... it's... APPLE!!!
OMG, I never thought I'd hear in a million years someone doubting that Apple would raise a price when they could. And I say this as an Apple fan.
.
I only know one person who has even expressed interest in buying it, and even he said the price point is too high.
All of my colleagues and I use MULTIPLE 3rd-party apps on our Treo 650's (Pocket Quicken, FileMaker Pro, DirAsst, Vindigo, CityID, lots of games, and much more), and Apple has told all developers that there is no 3rd-party development opportunities available for the iPhone. Therefore, there is no reason for a consumer like myself and my colleagues to EVER buy an iPhone. Why would I spend $600 on a phone that doesn't even give me the ability to do what I can currently do on my phone?
In fact, I see very little reason for ANY consumer to spend so much money on a phone that doesn't even offer HALF the functionality of many of the phones on the market right now. The iPhone has:
- no vibrate mode
- no real keyboard that gives you tactile feedback
- no hot-swappable batteries
- no 3rd party apps nor games
- no built-in videocamera
- no "type ahead" feature to quickly find an address in your address book
- and much much more.
These are all VERY IMPORTANT features!
Not to mention the fact that most people hate Cingular! And their Internet prices are 10 times higher than Sprint's data rates! There's just way too much working against the iPhone for it to succeed.
Come on now, let's be honest for a moment -- now that all the hype has died down since Steve Jobs' reality distortion field at the MacWorld keynote, do you really know ANYBODY who is still clamoring for an iPhone? Nope, neither do I.
Sorry, but the iPhone is going to be a gigantic flop. Consumers aren't that stupid to plunk down that much money for a half-thought-out device like the iPhone.
@scotty321: according to current surveys, you couldnt be more wrong. and ive had a lot of friends telling me they want one. you must live in cambodia.
I don't know why Apple is so sure that their iPhone is going to be such a mega-hit. I personally think it's going to be one of Apple's biggest flops in recent memory.
I only know one person who has even expressed interest in buying it, and even he said the price point is too high.
All of my colleagues and I use MULTIPLE 3rd-party apps on our Treo 650's (Pocket Quicken, FileMaker Pro, DirAsst, Vindigo, CityID, lots of games, and much more), and Apple has told all developers that there is no 3rd-party development opportunities available for the iPhone. Therefore, there is no reason for a consumer like myself and my colleagues to EVER buy an iPhone. Why would I spend $600 on a phone that doesn't even give me the ability to do what I can currently do on my phone?
In fact, I see very little reason for ANY consumer to spend so much money on a phone that doesn't even offer HALF the functionality of many of the phones on the market right now. The iPhone has:
- no vibrate mode
- no real keyboard that gives you tactile feedback
- no hot-swappable batteries
- no 3rd party apps nor games
- no built-in videocamera
- no "type ahead" feature to quickly find an address in your address book
- and much much more.
These are all VERY IMPORTANT features!
Not to mention the fact that most people hate Cingular! And their Internet prices are 10 times higher than Sprint's data rates! There's just way too much working against the iPhone for it to succeed.
Come on now, let's be honest for a moment -- now that all the hype has died down since Steve Jobs' reality distortion field at the MacWorld keynote, do you really know ANYBODY who is still clamoring for an iPhone? Nope, neither do I.
Sorry, but the iPhone is going to be a gigantic flop. Consumers aren't that stupid to plunk down that much money for a half-thought-out device like the iPhone.
The iPhone is very cool, and does make the phone much easier to use (according to the wonderful video demonstrations and the glowing accounts of those who have actually handled it).
However, Scotty321 has an excellent point: There are other things for phones to do besides be a phone, an internet device, and an ipod. The body of software that the Palm Developers have built is extremely large. Despite the interface problems, my Treo 650 does a lot of different things rather well. I am greatly looking forward to upgrading to an iPhone, however, I do not relish the idea of giving up the ability to read .doc, .xls and .ppt files and to edit .doc, .xls, .ppt files with A GODDAMNED STYLUS, bank with Quicken, trade stocks with Scott Trade, you get the idea. Overall capability is a HUGE issue, and yes it is way too early to know the full capabilities of iPhone, yes I am sure that iPhone will be expandable, but I'm not seeing that it is right now.
And another thing: Cingular. I don't know anyone in Indianapolis who's in a rapture that Cingular is their carrier; quite the opposite. Those who no longer are with Cingular will never, ever go back. Ever. Those with Cingular are wailing and gnashing their teeth and imploring time to speed up so that they can escape their Plans. My wife had Cingular on her phone, I had/have Verizon on mine and we'd lose connections constantly. Fraking constantly! I got her a Treo650 with Verizon and now we NEVER lose connections.
Back to Cingular? Goddamnit all to Goddamned, Goddamned Hell, those bastards better have their Goddamned act together.
And what is the plan with the iPhone? $599 for the phone that I want and what is the plan exactly?
V/R,
Aries 1B
In fact, I see very little reason for ANY consumer to spend so much money on a phone that doesn't even offer HALF the functionality of many of the phones on the market right now. The iPhone has:
- no vibrate mode
Yes, it does.
- no real keyboard that gives you tactile feedback
No, it has a faster, non-space-consuming keyboard. Did you complain when you couldn't jam a VHS tape into a DVD player, too?
- no hot-swappable batteries
Do you or anyone you know spend 5 hours a day on a cell phone? Do you feel that these three insane people in the world are a large enough segment that Apple will feel the hurt for alienating them?
- no 3rd party apps nor games
Says who?
The SDK isn't going to be freely available, that doesn't mean that there's no third party software.
- no built-in videocamera
Says who? That's three things that you've completely made up now.
- no "type ahead" feature to quickly find an address in your address book
Now you're just stretching. This is ridiculous. Have you even seen the demo?
- and much much more.
I take that back. NOW you're stretching.
So, all in all, you've pulled three non-existant flaws out of your ass, two useless artifacts of the past that the iPhone has obsolesced, and now "much much more." I can't wait to find out what great problems it has to face now.
And I dont need a wide-screen iPod. I will have one on my iPhone.
All of my colleagues and I use MULTIPLE 3rd-party apps on our Treo 650's
Your Treo's are kinda like the ugly geek kids in school that get straight A's but dont get any girls or attention.
The iPhone is the popular cute guy in school that may not have all the smarts of the geek kids, but gets by and gets all the girls and attention.
Thats how I sum up why the iPhone is going to be a hit. May not have all the "geek" features, but is still badass and looks cool so people will buy it.
2. No vibrate function? Have you used an iPhone? Why don't we wait until the thing actually ships before we start making assumptions about what the phone does/does not have?
And another thing: Cingular. I don't know anyone in Indianapolis who's in a rapture that Cingular is their carrier
Cingular will cease to exist over the next few months. AT&T is the company that you want to start thinking about.
the iPhone separated into a tiny iPhone nano and a wide screen, super slim, flash memory vPod
and i, like many others, will pay whatever the retail price is
IWhat I am thinking is the portable home folder idea that was rumored a while back. With say 100 gb on an iPod with a wide screen you can bring all your music videos and your home folder with you when you travel.
You could be right but I see a slight problem. Apple dropped firewire from the iPods a while back. Is USB 2 really good for shifting tens of GB in one go? As I understand it the peak speed of USB can seem high but it can't be sustained as with firewire.
I would like to see firewire make a come back as my Powerbook Ti doesn't have USB 2.
could leave consumers hung up till early next year
Apple would be nucking futs to wait that long. The current iPod form factor (introduced in October 2005 or so) will look rather old by this time next year and Apple would likely be losing market share. If they really wait that long. Q3 this year is stretching it already IMHO.
There are more and more music players out (or out soon) with lovely big screens. Like the iRiver Clix 2 with its active matrix OLED screen. Same size as the current iPod, but lots bigger screen.
While the iPhone has a bigger screen it is not suited for video with its 4/8GB, some of which already being lost to the OS. And I doubt people would buy an iPhone just to watch photos or TV shows.
Apple would be nucking futs to wait that long. The current iPod form factor (introduced in October 2005 or so) will look rather old by this time next year and Apple would likely be losing market share. If they really wait that long. Q3 this year is stretching it already IMHO.
There are more and more music players out (or out soon) with lovely big screens. Like the iRiver Clix 2 with its active matrix OLED screen. Same size as the current iPod, but lots bigger screen.
While the iPhone has a bigger screen it is not suited for video with its 4/8GB, some of which already being lost to the OS. And I doubt people would buy an iPhone just to watch photos or TV shows.
most of the competitors still havent caught up to the first gen iPod.
E There are plenty of players out there with superior sound quality...
Could someone please enlighten me please. I frequently read statements like this about just about every other MP3 player on the market - if you believe some people - having better sound quality than the iPod.
Are these opinions based on assessments of the sound quality coming out of the iPod itself or the sound quality coming out of the supplied earbuds?
I am really mystified by this. I have a 3rd gen iPod. I never used the supplied earbuds - sold em on eBay - because I have a pair of good headphones and a fairly decent Hi-Fi.
To my ears, the iPod playing high bit rate tracks (192 < kbps) through the main Hi-Fi, is indistiguishable in sound quality from my CD player.
I have ripped tracks off CDs at various bit rates and loaded them on the iPod, then played back the original CD tracks, synchronised in time with the playback on the iPod. My pre-amp lets me balance the volume of inputs so when you switch from one source to another the perceived sound level is the same.
When I do all this I can use the remote to switch between CD player and iPod and can compare the exact same bit of music from the two sources.
So this is why I do not understand people who knock the iPods sound quality. To my ears it is so good I have almost given up listening to CDs and mainly use the iPod because it is so much more convenient and flexible.
Could it be that 4th and 5th gen iPods are not as good, or are people - as I suspect - really just rating the earbud sound quality?
most of the competitors still havent caught up to the first gen iPod.
Yes. But all they need is a window of opportunity. One 'killer feature' that might persuade a good number of people to buy their product instead. And IMHO a bright, big screen is such a feature. Apple might lose market share by missing the boat again. As they have done with CD burners where Apple thought consumers would rather prefer DVD players than CD burners. They can be stupid at times.
I just want a phone that is intuitive and not complicated. The iPhone offers all of that and more and (for the inner child in all of us) it's way cool.
Before the iphone was announced I decided to look at smart phones as a replacement for my Verizon V810. They all sucked - way too confusing to use - small keyboards - hard to dial number pads (even worse in poor lighting. All in all, not very user friendly.
The iPhone is the right phone at the right time.
There is no way Apple will release a 6th gen iPod before the release of the iPhone and that there would be no way we would see one until the holidays.
The've released or updated iPods in the Sept / Oct time frame pretty often. I think it might be because the device needs to generate a little buzz so that the general public learns about them. That's about three months, which I think is fine. It seems as if Apple releases or updates a couple products every one to three months to keep their name in the buzz and on ink, it's a mind share thing.
What if Apple included 10 GB of FLASH memory, and another 80-120 GB HARD DRIVE memory?
Then, things that are played most often (higher play counts) would be automatically moved to the FLASH memory upon a sync with iTunes. Other data used less often would be stored on the HARD DRIVE. That way, one could still carry their whole movie/music collection but still be able to save on battery life when viewing/listening to the things they do most often...
No, I don't think so anyway. It would have the cost of flash and the unreliability of the 1.8" hard drives, with added complexity to boot. I will grant that there's an outside chance that they might make them entirely flash or offer an all-flash model. I do now remember when they first released the nano, it costed about as much as its retail equivalent in flash memory.
most of the competitors still havent caught up to the first gen iPod.
I think that's blatant fanboyism, because you are focusing on a certain aspect of the product, a subjective one at that. That said, I'm not convinced that OLED is ready yet, I haven't heard of any breakthroughs in the operational life of OLED.
Your Treo's are kinda like the ugly geek kids in school that get straight A's but dont get any girls or attention.
The iPhone is the popular cute guy in school that may not have all the smarts of the geek kids, but gets by and gets all the girls and attention.
Thats how I sum up why the iPhone is going to be a hit. May not have all the "geek" features, but is still badass and looks cool so people will buy it.
I think calling on "cool factor" is generally tantamount to calling it a fad object, so it's probably not something you want to argue. That said, "cool factor" hasn't been shown to be a major reason that the iPod has been a big seller.
what i wish for christmas
the iPhone separated into a tiny iPhone nano and a wide screen, super slim, flash memory vPod
I'd like to see if they can sell an iPhone shuffle. You don't know who you are going to call!