Just a Thought - ÜberPod
by - September 27th, 2004
Ya know; I enjoy my iPod almost as much as I enjoy air. In fact, I can honestly say that, when I'm forced to converse with a client after he's enjoyed a garlic-ladened lunch, there are times when I enjoy my iPod far more than air.
Be that as it may; there are times when I wish my music playing marvel did just a wee bit more than pump out the tunes. Oh sure, I can go to Griffin Technology, Belkin, or other vendors and find a veritable smorgasbord of add-ons that will let my iPod do everything from broadcast tunes to recording my voice, but even that's not enough for me; I want my iPod to do more.
Then I took a look at the new G5 iMacs and I got to thinking: If Apple were to make the true next generation iPod, one that is as different from the original iPod as the G5 iMac is from the original iMac, what would that player be like?
That's a tough one, I know, because there is no way to have envisioned that the blue, plastic covered egg that was the first iMac would morph into the sleek, Über-cool machine that bears that name today. I know I wanted (and still want) an iMac that has a CPU separate from the screen, but I am man enough to admit that this new G5 wonder is far better looking, and better functioning than I would have expected.
So, with that in mind, I wonder what flower an Apple engineer's brain storm and technological fertilizer would grow from the current iPod seed?
Well, the iPod has all of that storage capacity. True, most use it to store music, but other data can be stored on those dinky, high capacity drives. So, Apple and iPod accessory makers need to be about the business of making that storage more useful and far more accessible.
For instance, Belkin makes a media reader which allows you to transfer photos and other data stored on flash RAM card onto your iPod. Cool! The problem is that there's not much you can do to that data once it is stored on the iPod. If it is photos, I'd like to easily review them; if it is other data, I'd like to be able to manipulate it in some way while on the iPod. In order to do that, the iPod must have a better screen.
So, one of the things my next-gen iPod would have is a nice sized, LCD (or Organic LED) screen. Being able to review my photos, even the QuickTime movies most digital cameras can take nowadays, would be extremely useful. And being able to rename or delete unneeded files while on my iPod would be the cat's pajamas.
Another thing that I'd like for the iPod to do is to have a wireless way to sync data. 802.11(whatever) is great but unnecessary if my new iPod had built-in Bluetooth: with it I could transfer data securely without ever touching my Mac. Accessory vendors would find useful ways of syncing other data, like calendar and addresses, to other Bluetooth enabled devices, such as phones or PDAs.
But one of the coolest features this new iPod would have is something that I call function swapping. One of the biggest problems Windows-based PDAs have today is that they try to do far too much; Microsoft powered PDAs shoehorn more and more functions into smaller devices thinking that it is what most people want. What they wind up with is a confusing hunk of plastic that is too bulky to fit in your pocket, and does not do any one thing well.
Palm knows better; the company defined a set of basic functions that most folks use and made those function extremely usable on a small, affordable device. My new iPod would go Palm one better; the iPod would primarily be a music player, but it would allow you to load in an application or two, possibly supported by hardware add-ons, that would let you do specific tasks. For instance, if you want to play games on your iPod you would add hardware gaming input devices, load in the gaming function, and there ya go. With function swapping, your iPod could become a movie camera, a data input device, a navigation device, nearly anything.
Underneath it all, however, it would still be an iPod; it would play music, interface with iTunes, and look extremely cool. Just as the G5 iMac is still an iMac, just far cooler.
I'm not suggesting that the current iPod needs to be changed -- I happen to think it is the right device at the right time -- but am saying it will eventually change. I hope it changes in ways similar to those I've suggested, because that would not only make the iPod more fun to have, it would keep it almost as necessary as air, sans the garlic.is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He's been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.
You can send your comments directly to me, or you can also post your comments below.
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Observer Comments
QuoteGuest wrote:
So you're saying the iPod will eventually converge with the PDA. What a concept. Haven't heard that before.
No, what I'm saying is that the iPod could be the heart of other useful devices. Take the movie camera example: A hardware vendor can come up with a the part that takes the movie and make it so that you could add your iPod such that the movie is written directly to the drive. Remove the iPod, download the movie to your Mac, and Boom!: MoviePod. I don't know of a PDA that can do that, and I wouldn't want it if it did.
Vern Seward
I, for one, am glad to see these products because I DON'T want the iPod to change.
If someone wants a flashlight on their iPod, they can now buy that. Because that's available, Apple is now much less likely to build something like that into future iPods.
The 3rd part market for iPods is huge, and that's great. Let everyone customize the (simple) iPod how they like it...just be sure to leave it simple, Apple!
(Like a Mr. Potato Head.
www.mrpotatohead.com
How annoying would it be if it CAME with eyes stuck on it?)[/url]
QuoteGuest wrote:
with all the negatices you said about MS PDAs, you want exactly same functions in iPod [chuckle]
Apparently, I did not explain myself fully, and for that I apologize.
As I said, I don't want the iPod to be a PDA, that's boring and it already does some of that now. I want to be able to use that iPod storage in interesting ways. I gave an example of a movie camera that uses the iPod's drive directly, it is a good example, but I would also offer data collection as an example.
Yes PDAs can be made to do data collection, but few can collect a boatload of scanned images, for instance, or gigabytes of other data however it may be collected. The storage is the key. By adding only what it takes to do a specific task very well, you increase the value of the iPod, and separate it from do-it-all PDAs. Think about the add-on the Griffin provides, then think about adding just enough processing power, or other IO to do a task, and you may begin to see what I mean.
I hope that is clearer.
Vern Seward
I was at the apple store the other day looking at the various mobile speaker systems and thinking just how expensive they all were. Also how cheaply they were made. I guess they would work fine in an office environment but not outside.
I can't see paying that kind of money for something so limited. Saying that, wouldn't it be nice to have a boom box with a cradle and dock for the iPod with a title display to match! I could get at least six decent boom boxes for what bose wants for their mini speaker system.
There is a plethora of acessories for the iPod and many are way overpriced, I think a lot of them are going to sit on the shelves. Yes, we as a group will fork over money for quality products that make sense, not products that are trying to get a free ride off of the name.
OK enough ranting, yes I would like to see some of the aforementioned features on the next gen. iPod.
Quotepodman wrote:
I can't see paying that kind of money for something so limited. Saying that, wouldn't it be nice to have a boom box with a cradle and dock for the iPod with a title display to match! I could get at least six decent boom boxes for what bose wants for their mini speaker system.
This very thing just came out (or should be shortly). It's called the iboom. It's basically a boom box with an iPod cradle. I saw it on Engadget a few weeks back.
Sorry, no link, but I'm sure you can google it.
Mon Sep 27, 2004 3:12 pm Subject: I think it's long overdue
That freakin car stereos have ports on the front for RCA jacks in. I mean, people have been spending tons of money on car stereo upgrades and adapters for years. How about simple rca plugs on the front of a car stereo's face, or something down at the base of the console. Wherever.
That's not an ipod thing, but carmakers should have that be a mandatory.
It is a dog. It should be shot.
http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid7_gci999501,00.html
Handspring PDAs had a similar functionality, the Springboard, which was used for GPS, additional memory, specialized data/program storage (e.g. medical encyclopedia, dictionaries, translation modules), digital cameras, a powerpoint presentation device (which stored the files, and had a connection to a projector), programmable universal remote control, and even a smart phone module...
But once Handspring merged the phone into the PDA with the Treo line and refocused into the smartphone business the Springboard was dead together with the Visor PDAs, and the Springboard module businesses.
Maybe Apple can make the idea work, nice idea, I just don't think it will happen... but then, it was just a though, wasn't it Mr Seward?
The only thing I'd like more than an iPod is a REAL iBook.
A device with
- paper-like resolution,
- the same KISS approach as the iPod, meaning even simpler than a book
- a really big hard-drive in a very book-like formfactor
- oh and of course at least Amazon-like functionality and collection of the super easy iBookBookStore (maybe let Apple's marketing do the naming...) which lets you buy books, not rent them. That's one thing Stevie got, I like to OWN my stuff, it's pathetic, I know, but there you have it. Maybe a nice bookbinding printer, who knows, or a print-shop thing like in iPhoto? Or hell, just send the real book along after paying the extra premium, for stuff you really want to put on a shelf in the real world.
Apple has all the technology and designers to do this really well, the retail experience to convince others to work with them (maybe Amazon, maybe publishers) and the charismatic brand name to make it an overnight success while others (like Sony) are still dabbling with renting formulas on their way overpriced gadget of theirs.
Kind of reminds me of the iPod and iTMS, actually...
Let things be very good at one thing, at least, that's how I like it. There are already enough "1000 tricks magic boxes" around (like say, computers)
Tue Sep 28, 2004 3:53 pm Subject: Battery life would suffer greatly
Much of the stuff Vern suggests adding (e.g., the color screen) would eat up battery energy even faster than the iPod does now. Frequent and/or long accesses to the HD (e.g., storing movies) would be the worst. Turn on a Palm One PDA and keep using it, rather than letting it shut itself off and it will go dead remarkably quickly. (People who play games on a Palm PDA already know this.) The PDA doesn't have a HD, which would consume even more energy. Given that battery life is one of the major subjects of complaints about the iPod, these would make it worse.
gslusher, you're right about the battery life, of course; but I don't think Vern's piece was meant so much as a list of things that would be nice for an iPod; but a reimagining of the concept - or even fortune-telling.
Kinda like how in 1982, with our Sony Walkmen, we never saw the iPod coming. True advances are often never even imagined until they become inevitable. I mean, really - in 1982 I would've never believed a 40 gig hard drive could be the size of a quarter. They were bread-box sized back then and cost a fortune for 20 megs. Megs!
But you bring up a good point about battery life - one that Vern missed. Battery life (in all personal electronics) will continue to be a problem. Perhaps Vern could've addressed this in his iPod clairvoyance.
For example - might we someday see a fuel-cell iPod? You bet.
Wed Sep 29, 2004 3:53 pm Subject: Batteries not included
QuoteGuest wrote:
gslusher, you're right about the battery life, of course; but I don't think Vern's piece was meant so much as a list of things that would be nice for an iPod; but a reimagining of the concept - or even fortune-telling.
Kinda like how in 1982, with our Sony Walkmen, we never saw the iPod coming. True advances are often never even imagined until they become inevitable. I mean, really - in 1982 I would've never believed a 40 gig hard drive could be the size of a quarter. They were bread-box sized back then and cost a fortune for 20 megs. Megs!
But you bring up a good point about battery life - one that Vern missed. Battery life (in all personal electronics) will continue to be a problem. Perhaps Vern could've addressed this in his iPod clairvoyance.
For example - might we someday see a fuel-cell iPod? You bet.
Yeah, I wasn't thinking about batteries at the time. However, there are several promising technologies that may make the current NiMH batteries look like two electrodes stuck in a lemon.
One deals with using polymers as both the electrolyte and the electrodes. Another is a mini fuel cell; put alcohol in, get electricity and water out, and runs for weeks between recharges. So there is technology coming that could profoundly change the way portable devices are powered.
Vern Seward
QuoteAFCdtLoeb wrote:
Another technology getting some attention are microscopic turbine generators.
Not sure if you are joking or not, but there was interest in making tiny turbine powered generators for mobile devices a while back. Not sure where that is now, or if anyone is still working on it. The turbines were cut into silicon using the same process they use to make computer memory and processors. I'll admit that I never looked at it seriously, but someone must have thought it was a good idea.
Vern Seward
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