Flash-based iPod sneak preview
Like John Gruber, we were skeptical. But TheMacMind has a highly detailed description (they had generated a CG image of the device that they’ve since taken down as a result of being slashdotted and unable to keep bandwidth afloat) of just such a device, as described by an anonymous tipster:
The Meat: Milano cookie. That’s the basic principle. I like Tim-Tams, but that’s just me. Rounded edges, flat, and tiny. We’re looking at something that is about 2.5” long, 1.5” wide, and just .5” thick.
Get this: NO SCREEN. Got a cellphone with one of those flat joysticks? This is apparently how you’ll get around on the screenless iPod. Left and right move between songs, up and down change the volume, and pressing straight down will play/pause your music. With any other company, I’d be incredibly doubtful that their techs would be able to pull off anything useable. Scroll through 250 songs in one big list? We’re betting Apple has something better up their sleeve, and we’ll hopefully be able to tell you about the interface in the next few days. Evenything goes in and out through a full-size FireWire port. Apparently, they are also virtually indestructible.
Now that I read the description, it’s starting to make more sense. The iPod is portable, yes, but as yet I haven’t
seen anyone sporting theirs on a lanyard around their neck. This flash-based device would make it a cinch to literally
carry tunes on your person at all times.
I can even see how the relatively small 256M - 1G size could be to the unit’s advantage: it would lend itself to ‘quick
and dirty’ playlists of your current ‘listening pool.’ My music library is huge, but I often go in cycles of listening
to a set of artists or albums repeatedly over a period of several weeks or months. The selection becomes an ad hoc
‘soundtrack’ of that time in my life. The flash-based iPod would really lend itself to capturing that practice by
making the contents of the player far more dynamic. The goal is not to store my entire collection (which my 40G iPod
does quite nicely already), but to store a subset of ‘current listening’ that is easily and frequently changeable. It’s
yet another way of ‘remixing’ the music library I already own.
And at a $99 price tag? I would be seriously tempted. Would you buy one?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MickeyTosh said 12:36PM on 10-05-2005
Yes I would definetly buy one. I would buy it for my girlfriend. Like you say my 40Gb holds everything but like you I'd be more than happy to have a 1Gb playlist on my person at all times (erm that is when my girlfriend is not using it). This cunning plan would alleviate the problem of me having to justify buying another iPod.
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nt said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
Would definately look into one.. Currently I use a RCA Lyra player strapped to my arm at the gym. The iPod is too big for that, and stays at home or in the car. Something this small would definately fit the bill and let me retire the Lyra.
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nole said 10:05PM on 8-31-2005
i'd buy the 1gb version depending on price. transfer files and still have my current playlist.
too bad they didn't come out before x-mas, would have made a perfect stocking stuffer
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Brendon Chrus said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
I think they will need to do something great with the interface to make it a decent follow up to the ipod. I have a 20g G4 and love it but at the moment im a little wiery of the flash player. I think its odd for apple to be leading in this direction. They have finally got enough popularity that they dont have to conform to the low end, low quality market trend. And then they undermine one of there flagship products. Im very interested to see how they market it? In the end i think i will by one ;)
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Joe said 1:26PM on 9-16-2005
I don't understand, now that Apple is making a smaller flash based device, the idea of only carrying around select songs makes sense, but it never did before that?
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barb dybwad said 4:41PM on 10-07-2005
I've been conceptualizing in my head a device with some sort of display, something maybe slightly smaller than the size of my cell phone - and having a hard time imagining wanting to carry around yet another device in my pocket. The concept of getting rid of the display altogether is yet another innovation from a team of some tres cool industrial designers. The idea of wearing it around my neck - yep, didn't occur to me before. Having that new image in my head definitely makes it easier to pick up the vibe of this (still hypothetical!) new device...
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rohn said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
I'd like it to be able to update also directly from my iPod without need for a computer.... just dump an entire playlist into it replacing whatever was in it before.
I have my 20gig iPod with me at work for during the day listening, but I don't take it with me to the gym over lunch. A flash based unit - as was said - would be great for this.... but my desire for what music to hear will undoubtedly change from the prior evening when I would load it at home. Being able to update it from my iPod just moments before leaving to work-out would guarantee a purchase! :-)
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barb dybwad said 4:41PM on 10-07-2005
rohn - awesome idea. How cool would it be to plug the dock connector into iPod, the firewire connector into the flash iPod, and suck down a few playlists? Like the satellite crew docking with the mother ship. :)
Since my music library actually lives on an external drive, even though I carry my laptop with me almost everywhere it would still be a real useful function to be able to do this.
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brian said 6:01PM on 9-26-2005
Sound pretty cool, it does stink about not being out before xmas...and no screen? Would be cool if it could read the name of the song or playlist to you..hmm...that would be awesome.
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Bobby Jo said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
Mmmmmmmmm..... $99
Mmmmmmmmm..... Joystick thingie
Mmmmmmmmm.....Cookies
Yuck! Screenless
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Taylor Kesler said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
I am very interested to see how one could manage 1GB of music (~500 songs) without a screen! I think it would be a safe bet to assume that like the iMac, the more you pay, the bigger the screen. I would also bet (going off of Apple's trends) that this thing would be called "iPod Express" also continuing my speculation I think they will give it a softer feel. If you think about the apple products like Final Cut Pro HD vs. Final Cut Express there is a difference in appearance. Based on this I would venture that Apple will change to a rounder feel, or going the other direction give it a xServe feel with the brushed metal surface. We'll have to see tomorrow if anything I guessed turns out to be correct. Also another note is that Apple does seem to like to price there pro products (iPod photo) at around $499 while making there lowest version (iPod Express) around $99. I think it'll be fun to see how this turns out. I have done a lot of searching around on this thing and I haven't heard of anyone referring to it as the "iPod Express" so remember where you heard it first!!!
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