Blast from the Past: What the new iPods ain't got

I don't think my 4G U2 iPod (original b&w model) came with a charger, actually. Don't remember. If so, it's still in the box, I guess, because I've been using the cables to charge it ever since I opened the box, up until I bought a couple docks a month or so ago.

I think the Firewire cable still charges because the power connections are the same for either USB or Firewire. It is just the Firewire data lines that aren't connected.

The loss of firewire kind of hurt the old Macs because Apple was late to the USB 2.0 game, and that most of their computers couldn't be updated for USB2. I guess they assumed that anyone buying a new iPod would have a new computer, which I don't think is a valid assumption. At least with my Windows computers, I have added a USB2 / Firewire card so I can have a USB2 jack on a five year old computer. It's still plenty useful for me, allowing me to use 2.8GHz chips if I saw the need to upgrade it.

I'm still happily using my 3rd gen 40GB iPod (which had a useful remote, dock and power adapter included!).

I'm annoyed by the lack of firewire on new iPods because I use my G4 Cube as my media machine which only has USB1, which is one of the reasons I haven't upgraded my iPod (and plus I love the red glowing touch sensitive buttons).

It would be awesome if Apple put firewire 800 on a widescreen touch sentive iPod (which is very unlikely).

But, I'll probably be upgrading when the new iPods come out anyway, 40GB is too small for my music collection.

I have a G4 Cube god-dammit, which btw does not have USB 2.0 so I'm stuck syncing my music and video over USB which takes hours.
I'm thinking they removed firewire support as they would be able to remove a firewire controller, saving money and/or space.
Still, I wan't firewire back!!

I'm still using my 2nd Gen 10 Gb iPod. This thing is a tank. Dropped many times. Survived a motorcycle crash where it literally had the upper right corner scraped off. The whole thing is covered in scratches.

I finally replaced the battery at the beginning of this year. Cost of the replacement battery (at OWC) was $5. Five freaking dollars.

I'd love more capacity and video, but a new iPod is not high on my list of priorities at the moment. When I do finally get another iPod, my brother has dibs on this one. He's too cheap to buy one for himself, but says he wouldn't mind having mine. =) So, I'd be surprised if I don't get 8 or 10 years of service out of this thing that I bought refurbed from the Apple Store at a considerable discount.

as others have said, i miss the firewire syncing capability, mainly becuase my computer's only got USB1, and, that means that the syncing via USB is deathly slow (12mb/s), and, firewire is, well, ligntening speeds faster than that! Thank goodness it can charge through the firewire charger i got with my previous iPod though.

My 2nd gen iPod lasted a hell of a lot longer than my other ones - it's only the headphone socket that went. I never actually used the remote that came with it by the way.

Also, it's worth thinking how much iTunes has changed since version 4. It's all improved for the better, especially now we have tools like The Filter to fill our iPods.

The biggest thing I miss about older iPods is syncing via FireWire. Even though USB 2.0's 480mbps transfer rate is supposedly faster than FireWire's 400mbps, FireWire always worked SIGNIFICANTLY faster for me...

The article mentions not being able to listen to music while attached to a computer to charge. He seems to have overlooked just 'ejecting' it, restoring playing ability while charging. It doesn't, however, allow continuous play while plugging in to charge, which would mean you'd still need an A/C charger to continue listening without any interruptions.

I am surprised that the click feedback was removed. I haven't updated my Nano since the 1.2 firmware release, so I must have missed this. Admittedly I disabled this after my first week, since I preferred no sound at all, but it does seem weird to have removed the multiple settings and I'd miss have the option.

My first iPod was my Nano, so I can't say I miss features from previous models, but I do have one thing I sort of missed from my previous mp3 player. I like the color screens and all, but at times I wish I had a B&W display to reduce battery use and improve viewing without needing a full backlight. I also never use the display for photos, so the option to buy a non-color model would have been great.

Todd--RTFA, or at least the summary. Both mention the remote.