For recording music, the iTalk is an absolute joke and is completely useless. It's not Griffin's fault, though - it's Apple's firmware on the iPod. The audio hardware is able to record 96 kHz stereo, but Apple's firmware cripples it. Currently you can record 44.1 kHz by using Linux on iPod instead of the default Apple firmware (the 96 kHz recording on Linux is still a bit flaky apparently), but Linux currently only works with the 3rd generation hardware, and still, it shouldn't be necessary to do this.
It's weird. When I first saw it, I didn't think much of it. It didn't strike me as being one of Apple's breakthrough products, though it was nice to look at.
I don't particularly like the way it does things. There should be a batch renamer, it should open multiple pictures the way that Preview does it, and it should have more than 3 exporting options!
If they'd integrated Preview's features into iPhoto but still kept Preview separate, I'd like it a lot more.
It's just that you can almost do more useful things in Preview than you can in iPhoto...
Jimzip
Well actually, you can view your pictures in multiple windows.
Go into iPhoto's preferences and under the general pane and click the option to "open photos in edit window". Now every photo you double click on will open in its own seperate window.
You can also click the option to open your photos in another application such as Preview or PhotoShop.
iPhoto may not be the end all the digital photo management, but it does a pretty good job at keeping up with the competition.
Anyone else think that this announcement could also be an oppotunity to lower prices on the iPod and iPod minis?
There is a lot of competition coming on the marketplace and at some point Apple has to realize that price will become an issue sooner or later. Virgin is in the game, Creative Labs has some interesting players, sony is now going to support MP3's....... All of these devices cost a lot less than the iPod family of players and more are on the way. Just look up gizmodo or engadget and see the barrage of players being announced.
Is there any reason why the the 20 and 40G 4G iPod's wouldn't be able to flash with the new 60G firmware to enabel monochrome viewing of photos? Perhaps the architecture to support photo's and video are already present but not enabled.
Lastly, any reason why they wouldn't upgrade the 20g and 40g players with color schemes and keep the prices the same accross the board?
Does anyone have a calendar of when/how long Apple goes between making iPod announcements?
Anyone else think that this announcement could also be an oppotunity to lower prices on the iPod and iPod minis?
There is a lot of competition coming on the marketplace and at some point Apple has to realize that price will become an issue sooner or later. Virgin is in the game, Creative Labs has some interesting players, sony is now going to support MP3's....... All of these devices cost a lot less than the iPod family of players and more are on the way. Just look up gizmodo or engadget and see the barrage of players being announced.
Is there any reason why the the 20 and 40G 4G iPod's wouldn't be able to flash with the new 60G firmware to enabel monochrome viewing of photos? Perhaps the architecture to support photo's and video are already present but not enabled.
I don't think Apple's iPod margins are so great that we're likely to see an imminent price drop. If you look at the prices of competing hard drive based music players, they're very similar. In order for the iPod to function as a photo slide show device, it needs some kind of video out. I don't think current iPods already have that, although I have heard there are components in there that are not currently being used. As for viewing photos on the two inch monochrome screen, I'm not sure why you'd want to.
Some way to get the memory card to read into the iPod. As a photographer who carries around 3 1GB cards, this is a dream.
Sorry I didn't see this earlier. There are portable HDDs that do this. None of them are particularly good implementations but for a travelling photographer, the best that is available at the moment. I wonder if Apple are smart enough to spot this market? I'd buy an iPod which had this feature well implemented.
For those comparing iPods to GameBoy DS and mobile phones, consider that they are both sold under a subscription type system. In the case of mobiles, they are heavily subsidised by the service provide, as you have a contract for a year, while the GBDS relies on the royalties from game sales to make a profit, just like any other game console. Apple does not make sufficient money from the ITMS, so the iPod is the profit maker, so while the tech may be comparable, the price is not.
They've been kinda anal about everyone not calling it a Gameboy. Even though it supports Gameboy games.
Jimzip
Seems kinda stupid to me, considering how strong the Gameboy brand is. My guess is they're just being cautious because they really don't know how well a gameboy with two screens and a stylus might work out. I hope this ain't another Virtual Boy.
It seems to me like an iPod with a colour screen only needs a lens and a CCD chip to also be a camera. I think I remember reading somewhere that the chip Apple uses in its iPod actually has all that's necessary to make this happen already. This could be the start of the somewhat expected convergence that will inevitably make the iPod more than just an mp3 player (hence why the name iPod was chosen in the first place).
I don't agree that the iPod will or should become a mulit-purpose device containing a camera, phone or whatever. It's fine the way it is, as a digital music player with some limited pda functions and games. To turn it into a camera, it would need a lens. To turn it into a phone, it would need a microphone, speaker and number keys.
Many offices are going to multi-function office machines. A single machine faxes, scans, copies and prints. If you have a problem with it or more than one person wants to use it, the pains outweigh the benefits. Since it does so many things, I believe it's more likely to break down than a machine designed for a single purpose.
Enhancing the iPod to present photo slide shows might be a pretty good idea. Since it's already a storage device and it already has an output port, I don't think major modifications would be necessary. The addition would be complimentary but not radical.
I don't know about all the complexity suggested by some posters. I think the ability to display images is not all that important to me, as I'd prefer a larger format (e.g. powerbook) for that. I suppose a video out to a TV might be okay, but the resolution of digital images usually far exceeds that of a typical TV.
The most important new feature, IMHO, will be the increased capacity (60 GB), which would be a welcome upgrade to my current 30 GB. As for the color display, that might be a fun/useful addition, as long as they don't change the user interface excessively. In fact, I'd be happy with this:
Please NO!!! Don't let Apple make the menu items different colors.
My Accounting Professor does this with hid PPT slides. Every frickin' line is a different color. It makes my eyes cross after a three hour long night class.
... I suppose a video out to a TV might be okay, but the resolution of digital images usually far exceeds that of a typical TV.
Agreed, I think this would only be useful if no computer is available. Although a lot of people will love it just because the TV screen is bigger, photos look much better on a computer screen. (I don't know about HDTVs and whether this rumored iPod function would be compatible. That might be great!)
Although a lot of people will love it just because the TV screen is bigger, photos look much better on a computer screen. (I don't know about HDTVs and whether this rumored iPod function would be compatible. That might be great!)
The iPhoto output of a powerbook on a Plasma screen (1024x768?) looks great.
Of course, you'd need to have a VGA port on the iPod to plug into the screens I've seen (or a miniVGA with an adaptor)... which takes a bit of space.
Agreed, I think this would only be useful if no computer is available. Although a lot of people will love it just because the TV screen is bigger, photos look much better on a computer screen. (I don't know about HDTVs and whether this rumored iPod function would be compatible. That might be great!)
I think you and GregAlexander have it right. If we can get a high-resolution output for high-resolution display devices (monitors, HDTVs, etc.), then that would be something. As many others have said, though, looking at digital photos (some with 4-5 Mpixels) on a 2-3 inch screen is going to be somewhat underwhelming (even with a lot of creative resampling).
Please NO!!! Don't let Apple make the menu items different colors.
My Accounting Professor does this with hid PPT slides. Every frickin' line is a different color. It makes my eyes cross after a three hour long night class.
Sorry, I thought color as a verification of what menu you select might be helpful (and it's also a nod to Apple days of old...
Comments
Originally posted by JLL
Uhm, it's already here:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/italk/
Yes, the iTalk gives you the microphone port. But you still have the crippled Apple firmware on the iPod that limits the recording to 8 kHz mono:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/pro.../techspecs.php
For recording music, the iTalk is an absolute joke and is completely useless. It's not Griffin's fault, though - it's Apple's firmware on the iPod. The audio hardware is able to record 96 kHz stereo, but Apple's firmware cripples it. Currently you can record 44.1 kHz by using Linux on iPod instead of the default Apple firmware (the 96 kHz recording on Linux is still a bit flaky apparently), but Linux currently only works with the 3rd generation hardware, and still, it shouldn't be necessary to do this.
Originally posted by Jimzip
Yeah I agree iDave.
It's weird. When I first saw it, I didn't think much of it. It didn't strike me as being one of Apple's breakthrough products, though it was nice to look at.
I don't particularly like the way it does things. There should be a batch renamer, it should open multiple pictures the way that Preview does it, and it should have more than 3 exporting options!
If they'd integrated Preview's features into iPhoto but still kept Preview separate, I'd like it a lot more.
It's just that you can almost do more useful things in Preview than you can in iPhoto...
Jimzip
Well actually, you can view your pictures in multiple windows.
Go into iPhoto's preferences and under the general pane and click the option to "open photos in edit window". Now every photo you double click on will open in its own seperate window.
You can also click the option to open your photos in another application such as Preview or PhotoShop.
iPhoto may not be the end all the digital photo management, but it does a pretty good job at keeping up with the competition.
Mike
There is a lot of competition coming on the marketplace and at some point Apple has to realize that price will become an issue sooner or later. Virgin is in the game, Creative Labs has some interesting players, sony is now going to support MP3's....... All of these devices cost a lot less than the iPod family of players and more are on the way. Just look up gizmodo or engadget and see the barrage of players being announced.
Is there any reason why the the 20 and 40G 4G iPod's wouldn't be able to flash with the new 60G firmware to enabel monochrome viewing of photos? Perhaps the architecture to support photo's and video are already present but not enabled.
Lastly, any reason why they wouldn't upgrade the 20g and 40g players with color schemes and keep the prices the same accross the board?
Does anyone have a calendar of when/how long Apple goes between making iPod announcements?
Drew
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/1...eut/index.html
Originally posted by adamrao
Check it out, this made CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/1...eut/index.html
One of the Scarier things I've ever read:
Many financial analysts who follow Apple also closely track the rumor sites,
I hope they don't come to AI, or we might have another Dot Bomb!
Originally posted by drew138
Anyone else think that this announcement could also be an oppotunity to lower prices on the iPod and iPod minis?
There is a lot of competition coming on the marketplace and at some point Apple has to realize that price will become an issue sooner or later. Virgin is in the game, Creative Labs has some interesting players, sony is now going to support MP3's....... All of these devices cost a lot less than the iPod family of players and more are on the way. Just look up gizmodo or engadget and see the barrage of players being announced.
Is there any reason why the the 20 and 40G 4G iPod's wouldn't be able to flash with the new 60G firmware to enabel monochrome viewing of photos? Perhaps the architecture to support photo's and video are already present but not enabled.
I don't think Apple's iPod margins are so great that we're likely to see an imminent price drop. If you look at the prices of competing hard drive based music players, they're very similar. In order for the iPod to function as a photo slide show device, it needs some kind of video out. I don't think current iPods already have that, although I have heard there are components in there that are not currently being used. As for viewing photos on the two inch monochrome screen, I'm not sure why you'd want to.
Originally posted by legaleagle
Some way to get the memory card to read into the iPod. As a photographer who carries around 3 1GB cards, this is a dream.
Sorry I didn't see this earlier. There are portable HDDs that do this. None of them are particularly good implementations but for a travelling photographer, the best that is available at the moment. I wonder if Apple are smart enough to spot this market? I'd buy an iPod which had this feature well implemented.
Originally posted by iMacfan
For those comparing iPods to GameBoy DS and mobile phones, consider that they are both sold under a subscription type system. In the case of mobiles, they are heavily subsidised by the service provide, as you have a contract for a year, while the GBDS relies on the royalties from game sales to make a profit, just like any other game console. Apple does not make sufficient money from the ITMS, so the iPod is the profit maker, so while the tech may be comparable, the price is not.
David
That is so true. It was a bad comparison.
Originally posted by Jimzip
Nintendo DS.. Nintendo..
They've been kinda anal about everyone not calling it a Gameboy. Even though it supports Gameboy games.
Jimzip
Seems kinda stupid to me, considering how strong the Gameboy brand is. My guess is they're just being cautious because they really don't know how well a gameboy with two screens and a stylus might work out. I hope this ain't another Virtual Boy.
Many offices are going to multi-function office machines. A single machine faxes, scans, copies and prints. If you have a problem with it or more than one person wants to use it, the pains outweigh the benefits. Since it does so many things, I believe it's more likely to break down than a machine designed for a single purpose.
Enhancing the iPod to present photo slide shows might be a pretty good idea. Since it's already a storage device and it already has an output port, I don't think major modifications would be necessary. The addition would be complimentary but not radical.
The most important new feature, IMHO, will be the increased capacity (60 GB), which would be a welcome upgrade to my current 30 GB. As for the color display, that might be a fun/useful addition, as long as they don't change the user interface excessively. In fact, I'd be happy with this:
Color iPod
Any more than that would be icing, but I hope it doesn't compromise the simplicity of the current interface.
My Accounting Professor does this with hid PPT slides. Every frickin' line is a different color. It makes my eyes cross after a three hour long night class.
Originally posted by osXuser
... I suppose a video out to a TV might be okay, but the resolution of digital images usually far exceeds that of a typical TV.
Agreed, I think this would only be useful if no computer is available. Although a lot of people will love it just because the TV screen is bigger, photos look much better on a computer screen. (I don't know about HDTVs and whether this rumored iPod function would be compatible. That might be great!)
Originally posted by iDave
Although a lot of people will love it just because the TV screen is bigger, photos look much better on a computer screen. (I don't know about HDTVs and whether this rumored iPod function would be compatible. That might be great!)
The iPhoto output of a powerbook on a Plasma screen (1024x768?) looks great.
Of course, you'd need to have a VGA port on the iPod to plug into the screens I've seen (or a miniVGA with an adaptor)... which takes a bit of space.
Originally posted by OrbitPink
Look at Dell's and other new offerings.
Yeah, look at them.
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)
Originally posted by iDave
Agreed, I think this would only be useful if no computer is available. Although a lot of people will love it just because the TV screen is bigger, photos look much better on a computer screen. (I don't know about HDTVs and whether this rumored iPod function would be compatible. That might be great!)
I think you and GregAlexander have it right. If we can get a high-resolution output for high-resolution display devices (monitors, HDTVs, etc.), then that would be something. As many others have said, though, looking at digital photos (some with 4-5 Mpixels) on a 2-3 inch screen is going to be somewhat underwhelming (even with a lot of creative resampling).
Originally posted by Keda
Please NO!!! Don't let Apple make the menu items different colors.
My Accounting Professor does this with hid PPT slides. Every frickin' line is a different color. It makes my eyes cross after a three hour long night class.
Sorry, I thought color as a verification of what menu you select might be helpful (and it's also a nod to Apple days of old...