So when can Apple get the job done. I hope making the Pixo more sophisticated will not slow down the transfer significantly.

Btw, is the firewire or usb speed sufficiently fast for transfer of data from camera to iPod?

If iTunes is used to set up your iPod photo, then why not use iTunes as a bridge for loading the correct driver to the iPod as well?

After all, if your iPod recognizes the family's digital camera's after syncing, wouldn't that be enough?

However convenient it might seem, I don't necessarily want the iPod to recognize every conceivable camera, just MINE...

And that would be such a beautiful set-up, giving you such autonomy, and making your mac so much more a digital hub...

Have pictures for display when on holiday, but also load pictures from camera, freeing the flash card, sync with iPhoto, optionally deleting the pictures on the iPod afterwards, maybe put back on iPod but for display, ... hours of fun, it would justify buying such an expensive toy, it really would.

xxx

Having the capturing from camera to iPod feature could lead to wanting a bigger capacity iPod photo.

Currently, I resist taking too many pictures, afraid that the memory is full when a good picture presents itself. With that feature, I might shoot like a cowboy, resulting in a huge reservoir of pictures in the iPod. 60GBytes would be too low for me.

The iPod is set up as a repository for your files: you downlaosd tunes and pictures from the computer onto the iPod. You DON'T upload from the iPod to the computer …
In this case, how can the iPod serve as a temporary storage device between your CF/SD card and the computer ? Once you've taken the pictures out of the card, they're gone (if you so choose, in order to make room on the card and reuse it) and the iPod isn't supposed to be a 2-way device, so how do you print your pics ? or move them to your iPhoto library ?
Of course, if you download them as data, you will be able to move them to the computer, but in this case, you won't be able to show them to your family and friends (or visualize them yourself) until you've sync'ed your iPod and Mac, moved the pictures to iPhoto, an then loaded them into your iPod photo library …

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jacrav wrote:
... how can the iPod serve as a temporary storage device between your CF/SD card and the computer ? …

We are talking about wishing Apple implements a feature that allow picture captured by a camera go directly to the iPod instead of to the CF/SD card in the camera. So, there is no need for an intermediate like Belkin card reader. It is implicit in the wish that Apple will implement, amongst other functionalities, the ability to upload pictures to Mac for a smooth experience.

The direct connection is called USB to go and exists on plenty of iPod competitors including those e.g. from Archos or even (in Germany) from low price Aldi. The solution does not need any drivers (I don´t know how this works technically) and simply downloads the photos. On the Archos I believe you can preview them (heck, even digital cameras can do that), on others they are simply stored. That would be more than enough for me

I love the iPod an am on my 3rd device now (iPod Photo - 60 GB) but I think Apple is getting slow in the innovation area regarding the iPod. Maybe they are getting complacent with the 90% + market share ??

Greetings, Klaus

A firewire cable with a standard firewire connector at one end and a dock connector at the other and a iPod update that would allow connection to a commpact card reader (which I already have, thank you) that would allow me to download a CF card, powered by the iPod itself. Now that would be useful.

I'm surprised how often this suggestion keeps coming up, because it just doesn't make any sense. If your need is to be able to offload pictures in the field, then buy one or two new flash cards. With 1 gigabyte SD or CF cards often available under $60, I can just swap cards and take thousands of pictures for a lot less cost and hassle than plugging in my iPod. A bigger problem would be carrying enough batteries to shoot a couple of gigabytes of pictures. There would be an undeniable "cool" factor to be able to upload directly to the iPod, but the practical reality is that it would be a overly-complicated solution for a very simple problem. An expensive, overly-complicated solution at that.

Apple was right in not designing this function into the photo iPod, and I don't expect to see them wasting much money making the modifications to do it in the future.

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edtekker wrote:
If your need is to be able to offload pictures in the field, then buy one or two new flash cards. ... A bigger problem would be carrying enough batteries to shoot a couple of gigabytes of pictures.

I carry my camera on my belt, and I'd carry an iPod in my pocket. What I don't carry around is cables, flash-cards and batteries. I just don't. I'm sure there's people who love to have those bags, clothing and I don't know what just to carry around lots of junk. I'm the kind of guy who loses everything smaller than a credit card.
So I've bought a camera with hours of continuous shooting just on one battery. In practice that keeps me happy for a MONTH.
And I bought the biggest bastard of a memory stick I could find. In practice that only keeps me happy for a few days. That's the downside of a 5mpx camera.
Now, an iPod photo that would let me dump the memory stick on it would solve a real problem, and make all our friends and relatives happy, one that does not is just overpriced. IMVHO...

I'm certain there are individuals that could make use of a photo iPod as an external storage device with their digital camera. I just don't think there are enough of them to make it worth the R&D expenditure for Apple to engineer it. For most people, in-camera storage will be cheaper and easier to use. Sony just announced a new 4 gigabyte compact-flash micro drive, with a list price of $299. By the time Apple could adapt the iPod, those will be half the price. Besides, cameras and iPods get lost or stolen - I'm paranoid about getting my pictures downloaded to the computer as soon as possible and backed up on DVD. I would never carry around a month's worth of pictures on my belt and/or in my pocket without copies on the home computer. Heck, I get nervous with just a few dozen shots in my camera.