I'm actually surprised Apple is still producing the iPod. The only customer I could think of who might actually want one is maybe a preteen who doesn't have a phone yet. I recently replaced my aging Fiio potable amplifier with their newer E6 model, it's smaller and sounds amazing, especially when paired with my Bower & Wilkins P5's or C5's. I was thinking of grabibg their new bluetooth version of the P5's but than I couldn't use my Fiio E6 which is an absolute must have as far as I'm cconcerned. Anyway I brought that up because the only way I would be interested in an iPod is if it had a built in amplifier. As it stands now though it's audio quality, though okay, is nothing that stands out. No where near that of a Fiio stand alone MP3 player with a built in DAC and headphone amplifier.
Maybe if the iPod had an HDMI out so I could display my movies and games on my TV it would have made a nice portable entertainment system for when I'm traveling. Yes I know you could display it wirelessly if you had a Apple TV, but the last time I checked, hotels don't stock their rooms with them. Honestly though, I would still prefer my phone or tablet.
Somebody else who can't think beyond their own personal requirements.
My point is, everyone has a phone that can do everything the iPod can, so what's the point of doubling up. I can see a 9 - 13 year old using one who hasn't gotten a phone yet, though I haven't seen many children over 11 who doesn't already have a phone, Further the iPod doesn't have that stand out feature, if it's meant to be a music player than I would have liked to seen Apple go after the audiophile by using a built in DAC with headphone amplifier. If it was meant to be a video player than I would have liked to seen a built in HDMI port, if was it meant for gaming than I would have liked to seen a included joypad that connects to the bottom of the unit. It doesn't have any of that, it's basically an iPhone without the phone, so than why wouldn't I just use my phone. There's nothing that stands out or has that one thing that I can't already do on a phone.
I'll give you one example that you missed in your narrow thought process. I've posted my personal use case for the iPod Touch here before, so I apologize to others for the redundancy. My cell phone is company issued. They do not care that I use it for personal calls, but they do frown upon us loading unapproved apps. It's their phone, so they can do what they please. I have two choices. I can buy a second phone or a Touch. In my case, I bought a Touch. It does virtually everything the phone does, and since I can be on wifi most of the time, I can avoid having to pay for a phone plan.
I'm actually surprised Apple is still producing the iPod. The only customer I could think of who might actually want one is maybe a preteen who doesn't have a phone yet. I recently replaced my aging Fiio potable amplifier with their newer E6 model, it's smaller and sounds amazing, especially when paired with my Bower & Wilkins P5's or C5's. I was thinking of grabibg their new bluetooth version of the P5's but than I couldn't use my Fiio E6 which is an absolute must have as far as I'm cconcerned. Anyway I brought that up because the only way I would be interested in an iPod is if it had a built in amplifier. As it stands now though it's audio quality, though okay, is nothing that stands out. No where near that of a Fiio stand alone MP3 player with a built in DAC and headphone amplifier.
Maybe if the iPod had an HDMI out so I could display my movies and games on my TV it would have made a nice portable entertainment system for when I'm traveling. Yes I know you could display it wirelessly if you had a Apple TV, but the last time I checked, hotels don't stock their rooms with them. Honestly though, I would still prefer my phone or tablet.
What exactly are you trying to say? First you claim that your Fiio E6 is an "absolute must have" then you're complaining the iPod doesn't have a betterDAC/amplifier built in? If it had an amplifier then what happens to your "must have" E6?
Reminds me of another post of yours talking how you're using a bunch of Jetson K1 development boards to convert HD video. Or your BB to start compile jobs remotely.
Nobody really cares for your 1 in 1,000,000 bizarre use-case scenarios that you put forward to either bash Apple or praise competitors.
...I bought a Touch. It does virtually everything the phone does, and since I can be on wifi most of the time, I can avoid having to pay for a phone plan.
I agree this is a great use case scenario, especially if you can use your company issued phone as a hot spot for your personal phone.
But I'm not sure Apple is thinking this way. Although it does make the Touch more useful to a wider customer base.
Personally this seems like a no-brainier to me. Apple is positioning the Touch to replace the Classic, with 128GB coming close to the storage of the Classic -- with the added benifits of streaming music and downloads. Having built-in storage is important since it doesn't have a cellular radio.
The screen size is to prevent canibalization from other products. It's a niche music player with a camera that can run apps and access the Internet as needed. It's not designed for browsing, or even gaming with other better options now available with the mini, 6 & 6Plus. The fact it was upgraded with an A8 suggests this is the end of the line for such a dedicated device.
The nano will likely be discontinued in favor of the ?Watch, with the inexpensive shuffle likely left as the only music only product until the ?Watch is so ubiquitous, even the shuffle doesn't make sense anymore.
I'm actually surprised Apple is still producing the iPod. The only customer I could think of who might actually want one is maybe a preteen who doesn't have a phone yet. ...As it stands now though it's audio quality, though okay, is nothing that stands out.
Does Apple even support 24bit HD audio on its mobile devices? The iPhone 6 didn't as of the iOS 8 introduction ... Has this been addressed in an update? That may explain why the Touch got an A8 update, as iOS 9 might bring it if it hasn't yet arrived. That makes the Touch as an "audiophile" device far more appealing. A simple DAC dongle is enough to get that HD audio output to headphone if you don't like Apple's built-in DAC and amps. Though I would find a high quality Bluetooth speaker or headphone just as satisfying. The Phillips Lightning headphones have likewise gotten some very high marks in their reviews, and that may ultimately be a solution Apple is going to surprise us with soon.
Maybe if the iPod had an HDMI out so I could display my movies and games on my TV it would have made a nice portable entertainment system for when I'm traveling. Yes I know you could display it wirelessly if you had a Apple TV, but the last time I checked, hotels don't stock their rooms with them. Honestly though, I would still prefer my phone or tablet.
Im pretty sure a cheap Lightning dongle will give you HDMI without an ?TV. Either way the ?TV is so small I have traveled with mine before for just such situations.
The biggest mystery is why doesn't it support ?Pay or Touch ID.
It's time for the touch to shed its iPod name and become the iPad nano. It doesn't fit in as an iPod. Never did. Offer the iPad nano with the same cell chip as the iPads and call it a day. Kill the iPod nano and only offer the shuffle as the only iPod and be done with it.
It's time for the touch to shed its iPod name and become the iPad nano. It doesn't fit in as an iPod. Never did. Offer the iPad nano with the same cell chip as the iPads and call it a day. Kill the iPod nano and only offer the shuffle as the only iPod and be done with it.
I think with the larger iPhones out these days, that the iPad MINI is pointless. I want the full 9.7" iPad at the smallest. I'm hoping for the rumored iPad Pro at over 12" in size.
...makes sense. In fact I would have liked to have seen all three of your suggestions in the new iPod. Then the device would have been extremely compelling.
This is relevant to my interests. My daughter is about to enter Jr. High. She's in that "doesn't have/need a cell phone but needs/wants a better computing device" demographic. I don't want to shell out for a MacBook for her, and she is very happy with the games, etc. on the hand-me-down iPod she uses now. We're strongly considering an iPad mini for its larger screen, but then she loses the pocketability of the iPod. That leads me to think of cobbling together an iPod, Apple TV, monitor, and bluetooth keyboard, but at that point I'm close to a laptop in price.
Hopefully the iPad mini will be updated to the A8 soon. So I won't have to choose between current processor or bigger screen.
The article missed out on a biggie for the iPodTouch and WiFi iPad Mini. GPS
I would tend to agree with this, especially since people with portable music players tend to run with them, except it's clear why Apple didn't -- they're trying to meet a price point.
I am surprised there's no obvious compatibility with the ?Watch, because that would allow people to use all the features the phone is lacking. While GPS is still missing, the step counting feature is still reportedly pretty accurate. But I have a sneaking suspicion that all Apple devices will eventually be able to pair with the watch, thereby expanding the potential pool of customers. Once the watch is more autonomous, and less reliant on the phone in particular. I don't see TouchID as an issue as touch ID can be disabled, and ?Pay can be used with a 4-digit passcode. ?Pay can be used on the internet just fine without an NFC antenna. Maybe with Watch OS2 we'll start seeing support for these kinds of things.
But here's a thought ... A lot of parents are giving their old iPhones to their kids when they upgrade. And a lot of people keep their old iPhones to use as an iPod. So how long will it be before a 64GB iPhone 6 ends up in a child's hands, or as a dedicated iPod? 2-3 years? Guess when the iPod Touch will be discontinued. ;-)
So the iPhones shouldn't be considered iPhones because they have had different screen ratios?
I don't see aspect ratio bearing any weight on what Apple would do.
If anything, Apple should make the entire iPad family 16:10/16:9 ratio to go along with everything else they make. The iPads are actually the oddballs in the computing family.
But here's a thought ... A lot of parents are giving their old iPhones to their kids when they upgrade. And a lot of people keep their old iPhones to use as an iPod. So how long will it be before a 64GB iPhone 6 ends up in a child's hands, or as a dedicated iPod? 2-3 years? Guess when the iPod Touch will be discontinued. ;-)
I'm guessing a good number of the iPodTouch sales are in the education market. The iPodTouch is used to teach students how to shoot video, edit, do time-lapse and other things. Using an iPhone would be much too expensive. Also the TouchID would be a waste here as the devices are usually use by a number of different people...unless Apple finally adds multi-user logins.
If Apple gives up the education market then they loose the lead-in for future buyers as people tend to stick with what they're used to. If students all use Android devices then it's more likely they will buy an Android phone later in life.
So the iPhones shouldn't be considered iPhones because they have had different screen ratios?
I don't see aspect ratio bearing any weight on what Apple would do.
If anything, Apple should make the entire iPad family 16:10/16:9 ratio to go along with everything else they make. The iPads are actually the oddballs in the computing family.
All iPads have been 4:3 format, and all recent iPhones are 16:9 format, although the format was 3:2 until the iPhone 5.
I can't see Apple changing the iPad format anytime soon and 4:3 certainly isn't "oddball"; it's very appropriate for productivity apps like word-processing in portrait mode. Likeier, the iPod Touch will disappear and be replaced any a iPad Mini model.
It's an HDMI adapter for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
Also note that the audio coming from the Lightning connector is not the same as the the headphone output, it is a direct line out pre headphone amp, hence better quality audio.
I'm actually surprised Apple is still producing the iPod. The only customer I could think of who might actually want one is maybe a preteen who doesn't have a phone yet. I recently replaced my aging Fiio potable amplifier with their newer E6 model, it's smaller and sounds amazing, especially when paired with my Bower & Wilkins P5's or C5's. I was thinking of grabibg their new bluetooth version of the P5's but than I couldn't use my Fiio E6 which is an absolute must have as far as I'm cconcerned. Anyway I brought that up because the only way I would be interested in an iPod is if it had a built in amplifier. As it stands now though it's audio quality, though okay, is nothing that stands out. No where near that of a Fiio stand alone MP3 player with a built in DAC and headphone amplifier.
Maybe if the iPod had an HDMI out so I could display my movies and games on my TV it would have made a nice portable entertainment system for when I'm traveling. Yes I know you could display it wirelessly if you had a Apple TV, but the last time I checked, hotels don't stock their rooms with them. Honestly though, I would still prefer my phone or tablet.
Many businesses use the iPod touch. Apple sold 14M iPods last year. People can replace the discontinued iPod classic with the new 128GB model. If you listen to MP3s, you don't know shit about audio quality. You could always bring an AppleTV with you to a hotel, or use the Lightning to HDMI adapter. They are small and all flatscreens at hotels have HDMI. Sounds like your phone and tablet are Android trash.
My point is, everyone has a phone that can do everything the iPod can, so what's the point of doubling up. I can see a 9 - 13 year old using one who hasn't gotten a phone yet, though I haven't seen many children over 11 who doesn't already have a phone, Further the iPod doesn't have that stand out feature, if it's meant to be a music player than I would have liked to seen Apple go after the audiophile by using a built in DAC with headphone amplifier. If it was meant to be a video player than I would have liked to seen a built in HDMI port, if was it meant for gaming than I would have liked to seen a included joypad that connects to the bottom of the unit. It doesn't have any of that, it's basically an iPhone without the phone, so than why wouldn't I just use my phone. There's nothing that stands out or has that one thing that I can't already do on a phone.
How big do you want this thing with built in DAC, amp, joystick, HDMI? You are brilliant for figuring it all out by yourself. The iPod touch is an iOS device without the cellular chip. That is one of its stand out features. Full iOS device without monthly fees. Did it take you seven years to figure that out, since the first gen iPod touch? How much available space do you have on your phone for music, along with apps, photos and other media? You know nothing about the iPod because you are an android lover. People who want a large dedicated music player can now get the 128GB model since Apple killed the classic. You can go back to listening to your lousy MP3s.
Comments
I'm actually surprised Apple is still producing the iPod. The only customer I could think of who might actually want one is maybe a preteen who doesn't have a phone yet. I recently replaced my aging Fiio potable amplifier with their newer E6 model, it's smaller and sounds amazing, especially when paired with my Bower & Wilkins P5's or C5's. I was thinking of grabibg their new bluetooth version of the P5's but than I couldn't use my Fiio E6 which is an absolute must have as far as I'm cconcerned. Anyway I brought that up because the only way I would be interested in an iPod is if it had a built in amplifier. As it stands now though it's audio quality, though okay, is nothing that stands out. No where near that of a Fiio stand alone MP3 player with a built in DAC and headphone amplifier.
Maybe if the iPod had an HDMI out so I could display my movies and games on my TV it would have made a nice portable entertainment system for when I'm traveling. Yes I know you could display it wirelessly if you had a Apple TV, but the last time I checked, hotels don't stock their rooms with them. Honestly though, I would still prefer my phone or tablet.
Somebody else who can't think beyond their own personal requirements.
My point is, everyone has a phone that can do everything the iPod can, so what's the point of doubling up. I can see a 9 - 13 year old using one who hasn't gotten a phone yet, though I haven't seen many children over 11 who doesn't already have a phone, Further the iPod doesn't have that stand out feature, if it's meant to be a music player than I would have liked to seen Apple go after the audiophile by using a built in DAC with headphone amplifier. If it was meant to be a video player than I would have liked to seen a built in HDMI port, if was it meant for gaming than I would have liked to seen a included joypad that connects to the bottom of the unit. It doesn't have any of that, it's basically an iPhone without the phone, so than why wouldn't I just use my phone. There's nothing that stands out or has that one thing that I can't already do on a phone.
I'll give you one example that you missed in your narrow thought process. I've posted my personal use case for the iPod Touch here before, so I apologize to others for the redundancy. My cell phone is company issued. They do not care that I use it for personal calls, but they do frown upon us loading unapproved apps. It's their phone, so they can do what they please. I have two choices. I can buy a second phone or a Touch. In my case, I bought a Touch. It does virtually everything the phone does, and since I can be on wifi most of the time, I can avoid having to pay for a phone plan.
What exactly are you trying to say? First you claim that your Fiio E6 is an "absolute must have" then you're complaining the iPod doesn't have a betterDAC/amplifier built in? If it had an amplifier then what happens to your "must have" E6?
Reminds me of another post of yours talking how you're using a bunch of Jetson K1 development boards to convert HD video. Or your BB to start compile jobs remotely.
Nobody really cares for your 1 in 1,000,000 bizarre use-case scenarios that you put forward to either bash Apple or praise competitors.
But I'm not sure Apple is thinking this way. Although it does make the Touch more useful to a wider customer base.
Personally this seems like a no-brainier to me. Apple is positioning the Touch to replace the Classic, with 128GB coming close to the storage of the Classic -- with the added benifits of streaming music and downloads. Having built-in storage is important since it doesn't have a cellular radio.
The screen size is to prevent canibalization from other products. It's a niche music player with a camera that can run apps and access the Internet as needed. It's not designed for browsing, or even gaming with other better options now available with the mini, 6 & 6Plus. The fact it was upgraded with an A8 suggests this is the end of the line for such a dedicated device.
The nano will likely be discontinued in favor of the ?Watch, with the inexpensive shuffle likely left as the only music only product until the ?Watch is so ubiquitous, even the shuffle doesn't make sense anymore.
The biggest mystery is why doesn't it support ?Pay or Touch ID.
It's time for the touch to shed its iPod name and become the iPad nano. It doesn't fit in as an iPod. Never did. Offer the iPad nano with the same cell chip as the iPads and call it a day. Kill the iPod nano and only offer the shuffle as the only iPod and be done with it.
Not appropriate as iPad's are 4:3 format.
I think with the larger iPhones out these days, that the iPad MINI is pointless. I want the full 9.7" iPad at the smallest. I'm hoping for the rumored iPad Pro at over 12" in size.
Yes, a $499 16GB touch would sell so well. :no:
This is relevant to my interests. My daughter is about to enter Jr. High. She's in that "doesn't have/need a cell phone but needs/wants a better computing device" demographic. I don't want to shell out for a MacBook for her, and she is very happy with the games, etc. on the hand-me-down iPod she uses now. We're strongly considering an iPad mini for its larger screen, but then she loses the pocketability of the iPod. That leads me to think of cobbling together an iPod, Apple TV, monitor, and bluetooth keyboard, but at that point I'm close to a laptop in price.
Hopefully the iPad mini will be updated to the A8 soon. So I won't have to choose between current processor or bigger screen.
I am surprised there's no obvious compatibility with the ?Watch, because that would allow people to use all the features the phone is lacking. While GPS is still missing, the step counting feature is still reportedly pretty accurate. But I have a sneaking suspicion that all Apple devices will eventually be able to pair with the watch, thereby expanding the potential pool of customers. Once the watch is more autonomous, and less reliant on the phone in particular. I don't see TouchID as an issue as touch ID can be disabled, and ?Pay can be used with a 4-digit passcode. ?Pay can be used on the internet just fine without an NFC antenna. Maybe with Watch OS2 we'll start seeing support for these kinds of things.
But here's a thought ... A lot of parents are giving their old iPhones to their kids when they upgrade. And a lot of people keep their old iPhones to use as an iPod. So how long will it be before a 64GB iPhone 6 ends up in a child's hands, or as a dedicated iPod? 2-3 years? Guess when the iPod Touch will be discontinued. ;-)
Not appropriate as iPad's are 4:3 format.
So the iPhones shouldn't be considered iPhones because they have had different screen ratios?
I don't see aspect ratio bearing any weight on what Apple would do.
If anything, Apple should make the entire iPad family 16:10/16:9 ratio to go along with everything else they make. The iPads are actually the oddballs in the computing family.
But here's a thought ... A lot of parents are giving their old iPhones to their kids when they upgrade. And a lot of people keep their old iPhones to use as an iPod. So how long will it be before a 64GB iPhone 6 ends up in a child's hands, or as a dedicated iPod? 2-3 years? Guess when the iPod Touch will be discontinued. ;-)
I'm guessing a good number of the iPodTouch sales are in the education market. The iPodTouch is used to teach students how to shoot video, edit, do time-lapse and other things. Using an iPhone would be much too expensive. Also the TouchID would be a waste here as the devices are usually use by a number of different people...unless Apple finally adds multi-user logins.
If Apple gives up the education market then they loose the lead-in for future buyers as people tend to stick with what they're used to. If students all use Android devices then it's more likely they will buy an Android phone later in life.
So the iPhones shouldn't be considered iPhones because they have had different screen ratios?
I don't see aspect ratio bearing any weight on what Apple would do.
If anything, Apple should make the entire iPad family 16:10/16:9 ratio to go along with everything else they make. The iPads are actually the oddballs in the computing family.
All iPads have been 4:3 format, and all recent iPhones are 16:9 format, although the format was 3:2 until the iPhone 5.
I can't see Apple changing the iPad format anytime soon and 4:3 certainly isn't "oddball"; it's very appropriate for productivity apps like word-processing in portrait mode. Likeier, the iPod Touch will disappear and be replaced any a iPad Mini model.
Hey Relic,
I guess you missed this?
http://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/MD826AM/A/lightning-digital-av-adapter?fnode=3a
It's an HDMI adapter for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
Also note that the audio coming from the Lightning connector is not the same as the the headphone output, it is a direct line out pre headphone amp, hence better quality audio.
Cheers!
dmz
The iPod Touch is a general purpose device, appealing primarily to people that don't have phones.
People that don't have smart phones.
How big do you want this thing with built in DAC, amp, joystick, HDMI? You are brilliant for figuring it all out by yourself. The iPod touch is an iOS device without the cellular chip. That is one of its stand out features. Full iOS device without monthly fees. Did it take you seven years to figure that out, since the first gen iPod touch? How much available space do you have on your phone for music, along with apps, photos and other media? You know nothing about the iPod because you are an android lover. People who want a large dedicated music player can now get the 128GB model since Apple killed the classic. You can go back to listening to your lousy MP3s.