[gedto]

Songs will be much more expensive when bought through a phone, as you have to pay the connection and the GPRS/UMTS traffic... not good business for me.

[psmith2.0]

I can see it appeal to a certain group or demographic. But enough to make all this worthwhile?

I dont' know...I STILL smell a Cube!



We'll see. Always takes a good 4-6 months to get a handle on this kind of thing. By next spring, it should be apparent if this is flying or landing with a thud.

At some point, I'll probably be getting a new phone (I'm with Cingular already). If it wasn't a gazillion dollars and looked decent, I'd perhaps be slightly interested. But mostly from a "new phone" standpoint, rather than any "ohmigosh, I can have my 55 favorite songs on here!" one.



Will this come with a camera and Bluetooth? My current phone has neither, so things like that would make it somewhat more useful and attractive to me...it would feel like a new, modern "step up" after a year or two with my simple little Samsung x427. And would it work with iPhoto, further playing up the Apple-ness of it? I'd hope it would.

[Messiahtosh]

Paul, don't you think that the future of mobile music is the phone/music model? I honestly do, just because it doesnt make sense to seperate the functions into two devices that take up precious pocket space.

It may not be something that can happen right away, but down the line, I don't see how music-only devices will outsell phone/music devices. Or I could just say that I don't see why a music-only device would be more attractive to a consumer than a phone/music device, especially when both devices have almost the exact same technology in them. They both synch up to computers, have rechargeable batteries, screens, and flash or hd storage.

However, the cheaper, shuffle-like device may always be a hot product because people don't want a full-fledged gadget while exercising or whatever.

[spotcatbug]

It'll be like an iPod Shuffle plus a cell phone. Shuffles can't hold all of your songs and they aren't flops.

[psmith2.0]

Maybe. Perhaps this is just that beginning, initial step and it's somehow lost on me. Maybe I'll understand it all better after a dose of RDF next week?



That usually helps, because Steve will do his absolute best to make it sound like we can't live without this thing!

[Messiahtosh]

Originally Posted by spotcatbug It'll be like an iPod Shuffle plus a cell phone. Shuffles can't hold all of your songs and they aren't flops.

And the only reason it will be like the shuffle is because Apple would screw itself if the phone packed 60 GBs of storage. If it were the same size and weight as an iPod, with the same interface, who'd want an iPod anymore?

[curiousuburb]

Originally Posted by Mac+ bastard ... and no smilie either? Yeah, (well sort of - no mention of a micro) but mine's neater.

ok, you win teh prettier prediction™ award

[Franz Josef]

Originally Posted by Messiahtosh And the only reason it will be like the shuffle is because Apple would screw itself if the phone packed 60 GBs of storage. If it were the same size and weight as an iPod, with the same interface, who'd want an iPod anymore?

I'm not so sure 'tosh - lots of this is about personal perference and maybe we have simply different perceptions.

I like each gadget to have great ease of use and that's more important to me than having fewer gadgets. So re cellphone, I use a Nokia smartphone because I know and like the Nokia UI and the shape of the phone works for me - ie it isn't too small. Re musicplayer, I use an iPod becuase the UI is first rate and at 40GB I can carry a gazillion songs, audiobooks and podcasts on the go.

I could store and buy music/audiobooks on my Nokia, but it would drive me insane trying to use it. The iPod UI is so much better that I expect to take both with me and keep them in separate jacket pockets. Similarly I would never use the camera on the phone (1.3 megapixels - OK by phone standards) and I'd take my Sony if I wanted to take some digital photos when I'm out.

The long and the short of it is simply that ease of use matters more to me than the convenience of one gadget. If I used an iPod phone it would have to be 100% Apple (not a RAZR or Nokia with iTunes) so that I could be 100% sure of the UI - and I would probably miss Nokia's UI for making phone calls because I know and like the Nokia approach on cellphones.

The reason I don't think this is just me is that, for example, of the handful of my clients who use Blackberries, all of them use them for email only and have an additional cellphone, presumably because they like Blackberries for email but hate holding the thing to their respective faces to make calls.

[SlackerDX]

I don't know where I read/heard this (probably Engadget), but I thought that the deal with Samsung was a one shot deal. Supposedly, Samsung is just trying to move a lot of product and the price that they told Apple was only temporary. So Apple would be able to release 4GB flash-based iPods at the same price as HD models for like a quarter or two and then after that they would be forced to pay normal prices.

Again, maybe I misunderstood what was said. I'll try and find where I heard it (I think it was the Engadget podcast).

As for the phone thing, I'm hoping for something much more exciting. The spin of having the entire iTunes catalog in your pocket is neat and sounds like it came straight from Steve. However, if the phone has the Moto UI, I won't touch it (plus I have a Treo 650 anyway). Maybe after being exposed to the RDF, I'll look at it more favorably.

I don't have an iPod yet so I'm personally hoping for a redesign, price cut, or the video iPod (even though I don't see that one happening). Maybe there is something totally different that will be announced this month that we haven't even though about yet.

[Artap99]

Originally Posted by curiousuburb Welcome to 'Nova Artap99... Don't forget that you're probably pricing single chip shipments of flash memory at those prices... Corporate wholesale prices are usually calculated by the 100,000 unit volume. Certainly this is/was the standard model in the Integrated Circuit world. Joe D.I.Y assembling his home PC with mobo and CPU whinges about the cost of AMD/intel chips but is usually paying a vast premium over the costs paid by a white box manufacturer who orders by the container load. While Apple has never really allowed for home-rolled gear (unless your name was Steve and it was a garage), the cost of after market G4 upgrade chips was similarly always higher than the cost to the fruit company. And then there's the markup...

I didn't necessarily mean that the drives themselves were so expensive. The company who provides the drives spends most of their money on the research and development, while the actual product is relatively cheap to produce. I just meant the end price, the one that the actual consumer will shell out.

[Satchmo]

If it's simply a phone that plays iTunes, how much would Apple have had in designing the thing? I mean most of what makes Apple's products so appealing is the integration of both hardware and software.

I'd rather wait till the day Apple releases their own Ive designed phone. Of course I might be waiting a very very long time.

[Robo]

Well, I predicted an "iPod micro" days ago, before this thread was even around.

So there.

[T2dak668]

http://www.macshrine.com/forums/atta...1&d=1125509043


apple best have really applefied this thing...

[citizen1nsn]

“1000 songs in your pocket changed everything. Here we go again.”

I don't think this means that they are changing the 1000 songs into something new (iTunes Phone). I think they are just referring to their last revlution in the industry. Here we go again is referring to the revolution they hope to start, most likely with videos IMO.

[The Return of the 'nut]

I changed my mind, it's a phone.

A video iPod, the more I think about it, is retarded. People simply don't watch videos on the go enough. It doesn't make sense. They also don't watch them repeatedly enough and to enjoy them you need to be stationary.

Video iPod is dumb

[Messiahtosh]

Originally Posted by citizen1nsn “1000 songs in your pocket changed everything. Here we go again.” I don't think this means that they are changing the 1000 songs into something new (iTunes Phone). I think they are just referring to their last revlution in the industry. Here we go again is referring to the revolution they hope to start, most likely with videos IMO.

I hope you're right.

[T2dak668]

Originally Posted by The Return of the 'nut I changed my mind, it's a phone. A video iPod, the more I think about it, is retarded. People simply don't watch videos on the go enough. It doesn't make sense. They also don't watch them repeatedly enough and to enjoy them you need to be stationary. Video iPod is dumb

exactly... i really dont see them making a video ipod ANY time soon... if at all.
well not at least until they have some sort of service set up to buy/dload movies...

and didnt steve say they would never make a video ipod - i know he might be blowing some smoke when he said that but who knows... maybe it wont be a "ipod" that will play video if they do but a whole other spereate line of products for video and portable video? who knows...

[Robo]

Here's why Apple should make an iPod video:

I'd buy one.

In fact, I'd spend more on it than I'd ever spend on an audio iPod.

Throw in the Movie Store that would inevitably accompany it and Apple would have just guaranteed themselves hundreds of dollars of my money.

Many other people would buy it, as well - why is there constant speculation over a "video iPod" if no one would be interested in it?

Other companies are making portable video players. The prices have dropped, they have reached design practicality (see: Zen Vision) and they are finally ripe to reach the mainstream market.

Right now, Apple is the hottest company on Earth. What remains to be seen, however, is whether Apple will make portable video the Next Big Thing or whether Apple will be the company that finally puts out their own video player about two years too late for anyone to care.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Roboman Here's why Apple should make an iPod video: I'd buy one.

That's a lovely reason.

Many other people would buy it, as well - why is there constant speculation over a "video iPod" if no one would be interested in it?

Why has there been constant speculation over a new Apple PDA or an Apple tablet (or a two-in-one) when the PDA market is dying and the tablet market has never taken off nor ever will?

Other companies are making portable video players. The prices have dropped, they have reached design practicality (see: Zen Vision) and they are finally ripe to reach the mainstream market.

You mean companies like Creative? I didn't realize they had much of a market share. Oh right, they don't.

What remains to be seen, however, is whether Apple will make portable video the Next Big Thing or whether Apple will be the company that finally puts out their own video player about two years too late for anyone to care.

They iPod came three years after MP3 players were somewhat popular. Did it take over the market? Totally.

[oldmacfan]

Originally Posted by chucker The iPod came three years after MP3 players were somewhat popular. Did it take over the market? Totally.

Somewhat popular Did the combined forces of all those somewhat popular devices before the iPod even total a million unit sales?

Somewhat popular was 2003.

[jwdawso]

All who have PSPs and don't believe it's time for an iPod Video raise your hand!

[Mac+]

I don't think this Sept 7 announcement is a video iPod, but - like Roboman (whom, I should add, thought of the iPod micro days ago ) - I would buy one.

I also think that the content helps drives product demand and Steve would be leveraging his success with the iTMS to woo movie houses and offer movies online exclusively via Apple. This way, if a video iPod is released, it would have a strong selection of movies available to back it up.

As for blowing smoke with the "who watches movies on the go?" line, I think that was just salesman talk and a portable video viewing device of some sort will appear. Whether it carries the iPod brand name or not might depend on how much Steve wants to save face.

[iDaver]

Originally Posted by Roboman Here's why Apple should make an iPod video: I'd buy one. In fact, I'd spend more on it than I'd ever spend on an audio iPod. Throw in the Movie Store that would inevitably accompany it and Apple would have just guaranteed themselves hundreds of dollars of my money.

Just curious: Where would you take it? When would you watch it, and with what display?

I don't know, but I just can't imagine sitting on a plane or in a car watching a movie on a two inch screen. I also can't imagine going to a friends house and saying, "hey, let's watch the cool movie I have on my iPod that I've already seen three times, on your TV."

Movies I like to watch these days (but not all) are in high definition on HBO, recorded with a DVR and watched just once at my convenience. I doubt any iPod could decode high definition content (which is where the world of video is going).

I think the September 7 special event will be all about iTunes, music and a phone; or something completely out of left field.

[Mac+]

There could be tight iMovie integration with the unit.

"Hey, check out our holiday movie", or "Grandma, look at this school concert" on your TV type stuff.

Not everybody has a DVD burner and not all parents or grandparents will own a DVD player either. I'm pretty sure, though, that most of them would own a TV. To this end, a portable video device could come in handy.

jwdawso - For the record, I like the PSP and could imagine that it might change people's portable viewing habits in the same way the iPod (and other portable audio units ... the Walkman before it also) has changed people's listening habits and cell phones have changed people's communication habits.

[HezMah19]

I got my PSP at 12:01AM this morning, making me one of the first in Australia to purchase a non-imported version played with it all day at school, I haven't bought any UMD Movies yet, however I see NO problem with watching movies on it.

If there is indeed a "vPod" that has a screen close to the PSP's, I reckon it will sell no worries, there are a few times I can think of when It would be PERFECT to watch movies/music vids & listen to your music.

jmahe19

[onlyafterdark]

Here is my question: would the movie business want to do business with Apple after seeing how they did things with the music companies? We all know how Apple revitalized the music industry but now all of the companies are crying out that they arent making enough money.

We can continue to say that the music industry is run by a bunch of brain-dead scrooges (which they are IMO), but the movie industry is the same way. I think it will be harder for Apple to enter the movie selling game than it was for them to get into the music selling game.

Just look at what has been happening with the supposed iPhone (or whatever you want to call it). It started off as a huge deal but it slowly died down and kept getting delayed. I dont think it is because of the hardware or software, but rather dealing with the phone companies. They saw what Apple did with the iTMS and they dont want Apple getting in on what could be very profitable for them. And lets face it, the iPhone will go nowhere unless some major phone companies decide to pick it up and play by Apples rules.

So right now Im really pessemistic about a videoPod and the iPhone. I dont think the iPhone will take off and I think that everyone is watching how well the UMD movies on the PSP work out. If they start selling and are a huge hit (which is possible), I think it will be harder for Apple to get the same kind of co-operation they got with they music industry.

Dont get your hopes up too high people, we might be in for a huge let down.

[naashraf]

It is going to be video iPod.

[Franz Josef]

Originally Posted by onlyafterdark We can continue to say that the music industry is run by a bunch of brain-dead scrooges (which they are IMO), but the movie industry is the same way. I think it will be harder for Apple to enter the movie selling game than it was for them to get into the music selling game.

Hollywood will have learnt much from how Apple dealt with the music industry but do bear in mind that Jobs is a Hollywood insider via Pixar.

As an aside, there's a great comment by music industry execs re dealing with Apple on iTunes - 'It's a monologue with them,' one label executive who asked not to be identified says. 'They pretty much say, 'This is what we want to do,' and if you disagree with them you're an idiot. It's like dealing with a cult.' . A cult!

The article on iPoddailynews is here - http://www.iPoddailynews.com/index.p...w ith_a_cult/

[morningstarrising]

Silly rabbits, Apple isn't going to announce any new type of iPod the last part of this year.

They are going to wait till AFTER Christmas in January for that so they can have a awesome first quarter in 2006. The iPod will be selling like hotcakes for Christmas with what they just updated already.


So don't be too dissapointed that this Special Event is just the ITunes Phone from Motorola and iTunes mobile.

iPod version 5? Maybe it'll come, but I think that won't happen till next year sometime. Yuo jsut don't bump to color and then go to version 5 less then 2 months later...

[action]

the reason video on psp has not taken off is due to the cost of the umd movies. they are $20-$30, they should be $10 and under. video on psp is beautiful but i don't think that will translate to the video iPod. the screen size on the psp is the smallest it can be and while still making it worth watching. due to this restriction it's impractical to watch a movie on the iPod's current form factor.

i don't think apple would increase the size the iPod to incorporate a larger screen.

how then can a video iPod work? it can work if:
it is incorporated into a broader software and hardware philosophy. it has already started with the inclusion of images on the iPod.

the next leap for the iPod should be a "homepod" (hpod). this is where all of your home folders sync to your pod so you have your music, pictures, videos and documents with you.

this would fit into a larger philosophy instead of just adding features on to the iPod almost haphazardly. this would also justify the purchase of larger capacity iPods and would be a convenient way for people to back up their most important files. if the homepod occurs then apple can take it's time in incorporating an itunes movie store etc...

to do this would take nothing for apple to do and increase the functionality of the higher capacity iPods and you can add video funtions in a slow methodical way without jobs losing face since it will be part of a larger apple philosophy then just adding video fucntionality to the iPod.

the homepod will give you the videopod functionality but more importantly a backup of your home folder you can access from any mac.

chung lee