New MiniPod mockup

/\ldie · December 22, 2003 6:25PM

wazzzup fellows

This is a mockup that I whipped up in about an hour. I think this is how the MiniPod could look like in shape and other characteristics. A little shorter, a bit less wide and a slightly fatter. I chose to rearrange the buttons like this, because it saves a lot of space. Waterresistance would be great for sporters or just anyting with water envolved. (also resisting sweat!

)

Let me know what ya think.. and for the artists around here: try to be creative and come up with something better

Al

nr9 · December 22, 2003 6:27PM

the buttons are not ergonomically placed

eupfhoria · December 22, 2003 6:46PM

The buttons are workable.

I think that is a fairly good representation of what the miniPod could be.

(although your screen seems a little bubbly, and 10 minutes of skip protection is absurdly short, the current ones have something like 45)

dylsexic manupilator · December 22, 2003 6:59PM

I'll leave the ergonomics remarks to the specialists, allthough this seems workable to me.

What I miss though is a HUUUGE Apple logo.

After all, this thing is going to be THE trojan horse ( or maybe pony

) so it needs to scream "Apple made made me so now run to that Apple Store on the double and get yourself a decent puter to work with me"

cosmo · December 22, 2003 8:52PM

The scroll wheel (touch pad) is tiny. I don't think they will be able to make the wheel smaller if they want it to be usable. What about no touch pad style wheel at all?

they could easily replace the current wheel with a wheel (actual wheel, not touch pad) on the side. Like a volume nob, but instead of controlling volume, it would take over the job of the scroll wheel. It could be pressed in like a button instead of hitting the centre of the current wheel and turned like a volume nob to scroll. This would save tonnes of space in the minipod. The remaining surace area could be used for the screen and buttons.

the wheel would scream QuickTime 4, but i think an apple design would make this wheel very usable (unlike in quicktime 4) and maybe even better thant he current design.

Hope that made sense.

edit: typos i'm sure there are more, but i'm tired

bunge · December 22, 2003 9:17PM

The wheel/dial is no longer necessary. The functions on the screen are lineary (up and down) so the wheel/dial can become a horizontal bar.

Keep the four buttons like they are now, add a band the same length and width of the buttons. The only difference would be that the band is contiguous while the buttons are four distinct spots. Connect the dots. Running your finger across this band would be the same as rolling it around the wheel.

Doing this would compact the buttons to be about half of what they are now.

aquatic · December 22, 2003 9:31PM

Um you should all get bigger pockets! The iPod is so small already why make it smaller! Add things like a Mic/Line in and keep it the same size. it could be a little shorter but it's pretty small esp. compared to crap like the Dull DJ.

carson o'genic · December 23, 2003 12:52AM

I must say I like the red color!

/\ldie · December 23, 2003 4:13AM

another one:

SPECIAL PANTHER EDITION (I think it looks great, would buy it in a second)

note: the screen on the red MiniPod is a little bit bubbly/warped, thats because of the water protection layer.

macsrgood4u · December 23, 2003 5:49AM

..or revert back to the original wheel and button set-up.

matsu · December 23, 2003 6:49AM

If Apple could sell this for your proposed 149, then they could sell the 10GB version for as much or less. 1" hardrives of 2-3GB capacity cost as much as 10GB 1.8" drives. It might get smaller, but it won't get cheaper that way.

keda · December 23, 2003 7:37AM

Apple need to make product announcement like this before the christmas season. Me and a million others would have picked that up for a gift.

macsrgood4u · December 23, 2003 8:53AM

It's "battery" and "resistant" - no way by the way. Panther (?) Also Apple would show song capability, i.e. "400 to 800 songs in your pocket." Think Secret confirms new MiniPods in colors starting at around $100.

your_ad_here · December 23, 2003 11:40AM

Wow you guys are harsh! /\\ldie, props for the mock up. Don't see many others here taking the time and effort to put something together.

Personally, if we were looking at a smaller (both capacity and physical size) and cheaper 'minipod', I'd like to see it be completely shock proof. I guess that may mean considering a flash based drive (I know 1GB flash is available now but is there anything bigger?) but along with the water proof idea, we could see an angle not only into the low price market, but also the sports market. Whilst i have a 20GB ipod now, I'd jump at the chance of purchasing a smaller/cheaper ipod that I could take out running without the risk of skipping.

Your thoughts...?

dualpupil · December 23, 2003 12:37PM

Maybe a smaller oblong screen showing the battery/clock bar, scrolling title (that could "page through" track information in the same manner rating/volume/etc. works?)and progess bar? That would still leave enough room for vertical browsing through menus.

I doubt they'll change the form factor much considering how recognizable an iPod is and how important the "cool factor" is to the product's positioning. The last revisions was a brilliant evolution, keeping the general look the same while refining various facets (scroll wheel, rounded edges, etc.)

wrong robot · December 23, 2003 1:10PM

While that mock-up has it's merit, I don't like it very much, mostly because of button placement and that TINY scroll wheel, my thumb would never be able to work that thing(and I have slim fingers)

I do like this "3x2x1 inches"

that has a good ring to it.

ipodandimac · December 23, 2003 1:17PM

ok for real people, dont you think th ipod is small enough already?!?!? if you go any smaller it becomes unuseable, and it already fits in my pockets wih plenty of room to spare. not everyone wants to use a stylus to navigate through their ipod. sigh... ok i'm stopping....

wrong robot · December 23, 2003 2:00PM

My iPod is plenty small, I couldn't imagine it being any smaller and still usable, but I said that about the original iPod too.

ichiban_jay · December 23, 2003 2:24PM

I would buy a mini ipod so quickly! though I do have a 10 gb one, I can never fill such a huge hd... a 2 GB ipod would be PERFECT for me, and most ppl

and at 145 dollars, that would be great.

musicaltone · December 23, 2003 2:54PM

I think people may be taking mini iPod too literaly - it will probably be the same size but with a smaller HD and less features. To make it smaller would make it more expensive to produce.

cubist · December 23, 2003 3:14PM

Also I don't get the idea that the mini ipod will be the cheap one. They may have smaller iPods, and they may have cheaper ones, but the smaller ones may not be the cheaper ones.

And since when is black a "juicy" color?

Very nice mockups, BTW!

New MiniPod mockup

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