Next non Mac device - iDock

pkpk
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
A friend of mine interned for Apple this past semester, and talking to him he described some plans for what the iPod really was created. He would not tell me much, other than it will be some sort of a dock that the ipod plugs into, and from there there will be a SVideo plug, RCA (Video/left/right) and another firewire plug. He told me to think entertainment. Anyone else heard of anything like this or is he just lying?





PK



[ 12-03-2001: Message edited by: PK ]</p>
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 59
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    he's just lying, that, or you are.
  • Reply 2 of 59
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    I don't believe it.
  • Reply 3 of 59
    kidredkidred Posts: 2,402member
    God you guys don't think very much. This dock thing could be plugged into a TV and have iPod as the head unit and using the tv and home stereo to play the iPod mp3s with itune visuals or something. Or perhaps it's got other purposes.



    Dorsal M had mentioned a dock of sorts that the iPod slides into _he thought is was a iMac or something) This could be Apple's next iGadget.



    You guys just need to relax and ponder a bit before you grab the stakes out and start gushing for blood.
  • Reply 4 of 59
    pkpk Posts: 6member
    [quote]Originally posted by KidRed:

    <strong>God you guys don't think very much. This dock thing could be plugged into a TV and have iPod as the head unit and using the tv and home stereo to play the iPod mp3s with itune visuals or something. Or perhaps it's got other purposes.



    Dorsal M had mentioned a dock of sorts that the iPod slides into _he thought is was a iMac or something) This could be Apple's next iGadget.



    You guys just need to relax and ponder a bit before you grab the stakes out and start gushing for blood.</strong><hr></blockquote>





    Thats what I think he was hinting at. Maybe something to watch movies/play mp3s on a big screen, and the iPod docks into it. He said that the name wasn't iMp3 or something music related for a reason.



    PK
  • Reply 5 of 59
    That's actually an interesting idea. I presume there'd be an uplink (over Firewire, naturally) to connect to your main Mac if you had one? This has the potential to be pretty cool. Or not.



    The ability to play QT and other movies, etc. would be pretty nice. I know most laptops support it, but most desktops don't.



    We shall see.
  • Reply 6 of 59
    kidredkidred Posts: 2,402member
    maybe it uses gigawire
  • Reply 7 of 59
    This is so patently fake.



    Why would you want s-video out on your iPod? The only reason would be to connect to a TV. Why would you want to connect your iPod to a TV?



    1. To run your iPod GUI on a big screen? How utterly useless. What's the benefit here?



    2. To view movies stored on your iPod? Bad idea. I'm supposed to carry around my iPod, this dock thingy and an s-video cable along with a few rca cables!? All so I can show someone a movie I keep on my iPod!?!?!



    This whole idea of some iPod dock is totally against the whole foundation at Apple of simplicity. Hell they won't even make a 2 button mouse. You honestly thing they're going to make something you attach to the iPod?
  • Reply 8 of 59
    cliveclive Posts: 720member
    [quote]Originally posted by eliahu:

    <strong>This is so patently fake.



    Why would you want s-video out on your iPod?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    No, that's the wrong question.



    Why would you want to hook your iPod to a "hub" that hooked up to your Mac, your TV and your stereo?



    If you don't know the answer then you should give up now and buy a PC.
  • Reply 9 of 59
    Oh, you really got me there, Clive.



    Why would I want the iPod to be a part of the picture here? I'd really rather just connect my stereo and TV into my mac. The iPod is synchronizing with my mac, so there's no benefit to having it in this little fantasy scenario.
  • Reply 10 of 59
    tulkastulkas Posts: 3,757member
    Why is everyone getting so down on this idea. It is entirely possible that PK's friend saw something like this, which doesn't mean we ever will. However, a device like this makes sense. Firewire was created as a way to connect home A/V and computers and peripherials. I have speculated for years that we will see TV's, DVD players and VCR's that use a high bandwidth incarnation of firewire to transmit and receive their signals.

    I think an iDock would help to enable this perfectly. An iDock connected to a Mac, with a few couple A/V ports, S-Video, and a few Firewire ports has obvious saleable features. Your Mac becomes the real centre of a digital entertainment centre, but the entertainment centre isn't entirely reliant on the Mac. The A/V ports would be for legacy equipment only. The Firewire enabled components would communicate with each other, making syncing between devices trivial. High bandwidth Firewire fills the space of both device communication and A/V signal transmission. The iDock would also make a nice, easily accesible Firewire dock for those who like to reach the ports easily. Any other Firewire device like the iPod could be plugged in to charge and connect in a snap.

    Sure, this could be accompished without the iDock, the iDock could just help physically manage the wires etc.

    To take this idea a step further, imagine a second version of iDock which is wireless enabled. Used as a point of physical connectivity for A/V systems, it could be self contained, but able to communicate with your Mac via Airport, or Firewire. This wouldn't make a lot of sense if the Mac is going to be the media depot (unless Airport gets alot more bandwidth) but it would allow the Mac to become a remote management point for your A/V system. The A/V system would be able to operate totally on it's own, but could be controlled by the Mac.



    Basically, I am saying that an iDock could be a great idea. If you had Firewire enabled TV's DVD players, stereo components etc, the Mac becomes a powerful component in your Digital Home Entertainment System. Use your Mac to play MP3's over your stereo system and synch visualizations to your projection TV, play DVD's on your Mac and watch them on your TV (if you don't have a stand along DVD deck), connect to you Mac from the office and set it to record a show from your Digital satellite so you can watch it later. hell, have it tape 20 shows, you 80 gig's of harddrive space will take it-your Mac becomes a TiVo.



    Well, I guess I have rambled on enough, you get the idea. An iDock could be a good thing.



    Tulkas
  • Reply 11 of 59
    [quote]

    I am saying that an iDock could be a great idea. If you had Firewire enabled TV's DVD players, stereo components etc, the Mac becomes a powerful component in your Digital Home Entertainment System.

    <hr></blockquote>



    Good God. There aren't any firewire enabled TVs, DVD players or stereo components. The iPod is not waiting to be transformed into something magical. There will be no iDock. There is no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy.



    Bah, humbug.
  • Reply 12 of 59
    [quote]Originally posted by Tulkas:

    <strong>Why is everyone getting so down on this idea. It is entirely possible that PK's friend saw something like this, which doesn't mean we ever will. However, a device like this makes sense. Firewire was created as a way to connect home A/V and computers and peripherials. I have speculated for years that we will see TV's, DVD players and VCR's that use a high bandwidth incarnation of firewire to transmit and receive their signals.

    I think an iDock would help to enable this perfectly. An iDock connected to a Mac, with a few couple A/V ports, S-Video, and a few Firewire ports has obvious saleable features. Your Mac becomes the real centre of a digital entertainment centre, but the entertainment centre isn't entirely reliant on the Mac. The A/V ports would be for legacy equipment only. The Firewire enabled components would communicate with each other, making syncing between devices trivial. High bandwidth Firewire fills the space of both device communication and A/V signal transmission. The iDock would also make a nice, easily accesible Firewire dock for those who like to reach the ports easily. Any other Firewire device like the iPod could be plugged in to charge and connect in a snap.

    Sure, this could be accompished without the iDock, the iDock could just help physically manage the wires etc.

    To take this idea a step further, imagine a second version of iDock which is wireless enabled. Used as a point of physical connectivity for A/V systems, it could be self contained, but able to communicate with your Mac via Airport, or Firewire. This wouldn't make a lot of sense if the Mac is going to be the media depot (unless Airport gets alot more bandwidth) but it would allow the Mac to become a remote management point for your A/V system. The A/V system would be able to operate totally on it's own, but could be controlled by the Mac.



    Basically, I am saying that an iDock could be a great idea. If you had Firewire enabled TV's DVD players, stereo components etc, the Mac becomes a powerful component in your Digital Home Entertainment System. Use your Mac to play MP3's over your stereo system and synch visualizations to your projection TV, play DVD's on your Mac and watch them on your TV (if you don't have a stand along DVD deck), connect to you Mac from the office and set it to record a show from your Digital satellite so you can watch it later. hell, have it tape 20 shows, you 80 gig's of harddrive space will take it-your Mac becomes a TiVo.



    Well, I guess I have rambled on enough, you get the idea. An iDock could be a good thing.



    Tulkas</strong><hr></blockquote>



    You are so on to it!! Think about it this way. Apple will never get the whole entertainment industry to switch like that. It just isn't going to happen. However, what if they created a device that was a bridge of sorts. I know that having an iPod syncing to my Mac would be great. But what about playing it on my stereo?? Or having iTunes visuals appear on my TV screen?? It could be that bridge. Sure, the iPod might be one bit, but who says this bridge has to be??



    And what about video?? This kind of bridge would be perfect for people who want to keep their legacy VHS systems, but want to record their iMovie-enhanced to Tape?? Have your VHS Recorder connected to the iBridge and there you have it. Instand Video Bridge!!



    There are a lot of possibilities here, just because you can only see one idea, doesn't mean that others aren't already there.
  • Reply 13 of 59
    tulkastulkas Posts: 3,757member
    [quote]Originally posted by eliahu:

    <strong>



    Good God. There aren't any firewire enabled TVs, DVD players or stereo components. The iPod is not waiting to be transformed into something magical. There will be no iDock. There is no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy.



    Bah, humbug.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I am not actually trying to say that the iDock would transform the iPod into anything more than it is, which is a great MP3 player and mini HD. However, an iDock would enable the Mac to fulfill it's role a a Digital Hub. The iDock would be a point on connection for Firewire devices.

    <a href="http://www.cedmagazine.com/ced/9808/9808c.htm"; target="_blank">http://www.cedmagazine.com/ced/9808/9808c.htm</a>;

    <a href="http://www.idg.net/idgns/2000/09/14/FCCTreadsWaterMakesRulingOn.shtml"; target="_blank">http://www.idg.net/idgns/2000/09/14/FCCTreadsWaterMakesRulingOn.shtml</a>;

    <a href="http://www.pixbox.tv/data.html"; target="_blank">http://www.pixbox.tv/data.html</a>;

    While commercially available Firewire enabled A/V devices other than camcorders are few, they do exist. The future of TV is HDTV and the most likely connector of HDTV's is Firewire (mebbe DVI).

    I am in no way suggesting that the iDock makes or breaks the scenario I presented above (which I do believe is inevitable, though if not from Apple, then an MS hodge podge-why do you think MS supports Firewire so strongly over USB 2 which is not up to this task), I do think the iDock would help greatly. No one could deliver something like this with as much elegance as Apple. An iDock could help clear the clutter.



    Stop trying to make this about the iPod. Yes, PK said it would show what the real plans for the iPod were. I think he meant as a part of a great whole.



    Tulkas
  • Reply 14 of 59
    Seems like for the iPod to show movies it would need more than 5 GB.



    But what if the iPod were used to display PHOTOs? It's the perfect device for it. Just dump all your digital photos into the iPod while on vacation, and you don't need expensive flash ram or any BS like that. All it would need is an adaptor to read flash cards.



    Surly the iPod has enough power to display still photos? If not, then perhaps that's what this dock is for. Imagine, it would be like carrying around a hi-tech slide projector.



    If it could do this, then what about powerpoint-type presentations? Who needs a full laptop for these when an iPod would work? That would be so damn cool to be able to do this!



    Neither of these things takes very much processing power, although they need good 2D video support. I'm not sure how good the iPod would be for this, but if this dock can provide the video acceleration needed, then apple could be on to something. As long as it doesn't cost too much.
  • Reply 15 of 59
    To those that commented why worry about an iDock, I could just hook my computer to my TV, Stereo, etc. How's this fixed then. My computer stuff is in my bedroom, right next to one small tv. Our tv and stereo equipment is in my living room. That's a lot of wires. If I had an iDock (say $100-$300) and an iPod ($300) and could connect them I can play my mp3s on my stereo (along with anything else they enable), iMovies on my TV, etc. I can't afford another computer (we have an old duck taped together powerbook running as an mp3 player in the living room right now) and an iMac would look stupid in that room anyway. iDock however is part of my stereo, fits right in.



    Also, when I go visit my family, i take my iPod, with songs for the 4 hour trip, along with a few short videos to play on their iDock without burning any discs or recording back to a camcorder and taking that.



    Now if they would just make the iPod do some of the other things I've mentioned before (stuff helpful for a student) I'd buy one tomorrow.
  • Reply 16 of 59
    kidredkidred Posts: 2,402member
    [quote]Originally posted by Junkyard Dawg:

    <strong>Seems like for the iPod to show movies it would need more than 5 GB.



    But what if the iPod were used to display PHOTOs? It's the perfect device for it. Just dump all your digital photos into the iPod while on vacation, and you don't need expensive flash ram or any BS like that. All it would need is an adaptor to read flash cards.



    Surly the iPod has enough power to display still photos? If not, then perhaps that's what this dock is for. Imagine, it would be like carrying around a hi-tech slide projector.



    If it could do this, then what about powerpoint-type presentations? Who needs a full laptop for these when an iPod would work? That would be so damn cool to be able to do this!



    Neither of these things takes very much processing power, although they need good 2D video support. I'm not sure how good the iPod would be for this, but if this dock can provide the video acceleration needed, then apple could be on to something. As long as it doesn't cost too much.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Exactly. There's another thread here about the new iMac having a swappable harddrive. Why? To pop into this iDock. What if all the new iGadgets pop into this dock and the iDock plugs into your TV, Computer, Stereo, etc?



    You have a digital hub &lt;I made the connection if any of this happens-ipod, idock, swappable harddrive on iMac all linking together &gt;
  • Reply 17 of 59
    I really hope this isn't all wishful thinking.



    People say it's great to be able to burn a clients video to a DVD, cause the quality is excelent. But it's still not as good as the raw data.



    Which can be stored on an iPod.



    Which, if the iPod had stero/sVHS outs, then could be WATCHED from the iPod, without having to burn it to a DVD first. If you're showing a lot of clients info and you do 10 a week, on one iPod, you save $60 a week. $240 a month, and over $2500 a year due to the iPod, and not having to burn DVDs. Plus the time it takes to program and encode a DVD.



    And the fragility of the DVD.



    I posted in the other thred about the iMac with the removeable drive.



    This is amazing stuff.



    Andrew



    (PS, this would really make people switch to Mac)
  • Reply 18 of 59
    hey perhaps the iPod would connect to this proposed iDock and the dock would give it extra features, Like microphone capabilities???



    at first I didn't think not having a mic would really matter



    then I realized for a pro audio electronic musician that is trying to get more into sampling or already is big on sampling, having a pocket sized mic that encoded directly into say 128 kbps mp3s or even lower , its still SUPER portable and good quality(compared to some other sampling methods) sampling device.

    but thats not for everyone.
  • Reply 19 of 59
    Hello!



    I'm keeping a running toll of what I'm seeing here. I'll compile a list of positives (reasons, and backing evidence, supporting points) for this "iDock":



    1. Intern at apple might have seen one???



    2. All of the ports on the iPod are on one side (the top)



    3. Would embody the digital hub ideal.



    4. You could put digital video/photos/music on it and share it with your friends, without a dvd player.



    5. Supporting the previous point: it seems that the price of the R/D for the iPod would be really high, right? Well, I'm sure that you have all seen the el cheapo DVD players out there (example: APEX). Well, they play MP3's, and (obviously) DVDs, and with iDVD, they will show Photo Albums. The internal electronics are readily available, and highly adaptable; there are many cheap DVD players in that price range, all probably have the same chip set. The iPod might have that chipset too, (who knows???), if so, it could do all of those things, and the r/d wouldn't be nearly as expensive.



    6. It would make the INSANE $399 price tag seem much more reasonable.



    7. If it has hardware DVD decoding, Maybe it could be reversed somehow so it would do hardware ENcoding, you could do DVD encoding in realtime, perhaps (probably) faster.



    8. It would be COOL



    the end
  • Reply 20 of 59
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    [quote]Originally posted by eliahu:

    <strong>



    There is no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy.



    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    See, you obviously know nothing! Everyone knows they exist!
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