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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2009-08-31, 17:39

I'm kind of scared for the iPod touch.

Here's why: Apple's third-generation products are always WTF?-inducing.

Not convinced?

The 3G iPod classic was WTF?-inducing because it moved the buttons from the scroll wheel and placed them in a row up top, a move that was quickly rectified with the click wheel. Apple has never looked back.

The 3G iPod mini was WTF?-inducing because it didn't exist; Apple killed the world's (then) most popular music player dead. (Viewing the iPod nano as the 3G iPod mini, we saw a reduction in capacity and the elimination of the iPod mini's popular colors and aluminum shell in favor of black and white plastic. WTF?)

The 3G iPod nano was WTF?-inducing because it swapped out the trademark tall design for a squat little square; it was actually larger by volume than its predecessor and it had an odd mix of a colored aluminum front and a polished stainless steel back (the only Apple product to combine the two). The super-light pastel colors might not have helped; the design proved less popular and Apple returned to the tall form factor (with brighter colors than ever) with the 4G iPod nano.

The 3G iPod shuffle is WTF?-inducing because...well, what about it is not WTF?-inducing? Oh, and they continued to sell it alongside the previous generation models, a first for iPods (since the 2G iPod classic).

The 3G iPhone (that'd be the iPhone 3G S, not the iPhone 3G) was a little WTF?-inducing, because (oleophobic screen and metallic text on the rear aside) it looked exactly the same as its predecessor, which is again something Apple had avoided since the 2G iPod classic. (Like that model, the iPhone 3G S was also sold alongside a discounted version of the previous model.)

The 3G iMac would be, by most counts, the iMac G5, which was WTF?-inducing not only because it was several months late (remember that weird September pre-announcement, when Apple ran out of iMacs after WWDC?) but also because it took everything Jobs said Apple had avoided doing with the iMac G4 and shoved it into one product (with a massive, massive chin). It was, um, thinner...but by any other measure, it was (and still is) a total step backwards (there, I said it). It took some getting used to, to say the least. (Alternatively, you could also consider the eMac a sort of "third iMac," one that used a CRT display just after Jobs announced Apple would no longer be using them. WTF?)

So...yeah. Expect the 3G iPod touch to do something ridiculous, like break compatibility with iPhone apps or only come in Flower Power and Blue Dalmatian or something. Who knows!

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong

Last edited by Robo : 2009-08-31 at 17:49.