iPod Sighting and Easter Egg!

[MacRumors]

Joel Jimenez (mailto:jjimenez1984@yahoo.com) wrote in to tell us, "An Italian Mac site has a story about the iPod\'s first public appearance in Italy. Along with the review, they demonstrate an easter egg. You can play Breakout on the iPod! (with photos)

http://www.macitynet.it/macity/archivio/ipodpresentation.shtml"

[SPG]

Hidden games? Firmware upgradeable? Can't wait to see what new uses people come up with for this gadget!

[xgamerx]

This is a nice added feature. I wonder if you can have other games put on iP.O.D like Graphing calculators have.

[kainjow]

If Apple can put Breakout on the iPod, then why can't they put other apps? Or make it into a PDA? I wish they would, but I doubt it.

[Simon Liquid]

If it can be done, it will be done. If Apple doesn't take the initiative, I'm sure the public will find other ways to use the capabilities of the iPod.

Simon

[Techne]

If Ipod got its software in firmware, and (as you may think about the breakout game easter-egg) it can do more than play different types of sound files.. you can expect to see the first box who fix in your pocket, got 5 delicious Gigas, use lithium batteries and got an amazing firewire port for super-fast comm.. only for 400$

Take to beat that talking about better mp3 players and pdas with not more of 64Mb of RAM, 128Mb may be.. if you spend your bucks in a flash card..

Techné
*Still im in love with my Pismo 500Mhz* :O

[blakespot]

Seems adding a larger drive would be the easiest hack. The real hack would be getting to the point where code can be executed by the iPod, loaded in from the HD. I wish we had specs on the embeded CPU in that thing, and the resources at its disposal.

Anyone?



blakespot

[ThlayliTheFierce]

You see? This is exactly what I've been saying. That device has so many applications and so many things it can do. This is why I think it's really just a prototype to see how people react. Within a year or so we'll what Apple really had in mind!

[mymemory]

If the "iPot" has an open architecture (or what ever) it can be programed a run any kind of aplication. The limitations are that usually if you run some kind of special application for the iPot, usually you need a output to get the product in fisical. I mean, you need at list a modem or a usb port to make it for the iPot it self.

I have a sampler (Kurzweil K2500) and the architecture allows you to play breakout in the LCD using the volume weel. They just create an aplication that looks like a sound and when is loaded pum! there you have the game. That was 4 years ago with the K2000.

The iPot is gonna be big in the audio industry (finally!!!), is the perfect apliance for a recording studio. You can take a session made in ProTools togather with the mix from your house to the studio and play it for your band any where. The iPot would be a different product if were made by Roland or Korg or MOTU, because that is the primary target in a low run. The iPod won't be a big hit for the graphical industry unless some one wants to hear music at the office.

Let see what people are going to program for it.

And I forgot.... Pismo 500 RULES!!!!!! AND NOW WITH UP TO 1G OF RAM!!!! FOR ONLY $130!!! I'm THE BEST BUYER EVER (I got mine for $1300 with 250 of ram, hehehe).

[Edited by mymemory on 10-26-2001 at 06:51 PM]

[Classic]

Apple would have called this device the iMP3 if there wasn't room for expansion. But since it's the iPod, I'm guessing that it will have many uses in the future ranging from file translator between PCs and Macs, to PDA-like features.

Future iPods will have color screens, wireless networking, and a stylus. It's just a matter of time.

I just hope the market at large won't be so shortsided as to see this only as an MP3 player. I say Bravo to Apple for this.

[blakespot]

It seems that as people evalutate the iPod and it's potential further, the opinions of the unit are raising a bit. That's good to see.



blakespot

[oldMac]

Adding another drive won't be an easy hack unless Toshiba can make a bigger drive for it! I guess that will probably happen within 4-6 months.

But, right now, I believe 5GB is as much as they can fit into a 1.8" drive.

[blakespot]

Certainly the ariel density will increase and a larger 1.8" drive will be forthcoming.


blakespot

[evands]

I loved brickout. I have the full BASIC source code printed from an Apple ][ dot matrix printer in a closet at home... my friends and I 'hacked' it (unprotected the file and edited the basic code!) to cheat or spice things up... memories of third grade... =)

Thanks for the good times, Apple.

[mymemory]

Originally posted by evands
I ... Thanks for the good times, Apple.
Oh man, you are so incredible corny!!!

I think the 5G hard drive is more than enough. I have toon in music in the iTunes folder (some of them in AIFF and WAV and is taking 1.3G only.

Remember that you are not loading a heavy sistem folder or things like that. 5G is good I think.

But I can't tell is the iPot has an analog audio imput to record in it. In the spec appear something but there are not pictures of the ports. Does any body know about this?

[Edited by mymemory on 10-27-2001 at 03:48 PM]

[ThlayliTheFierce]

I read a review saying the only ports were the firewire and the headphone jack. That is to say, there's no analog input. But I'm sure there could be. Now THAT would be cool...students could use it for recording lectures, businesspeople for meetings. Especially if it did some compression as well, but I'm not sure if it could handle that, mp3 compression takes some power to do at any kind of speed. This device has ENDLESS uses. This is only the beginning.

Could it be you're coming around mymemory?

[evands]

Corny? yeah, well. it was supposed to be funny for those of you who'd been around since the day... it seriously is quite cool to me to play an oldschool game on new equipment.. then again, the first thing I ran in OS X that wasn't packaged with the OS was Zork, so go figure.

I have about 8 gb of music i listen to regularly.. i could cut that down to 5 gb, but a 10 gb harddrive would be _so_ much nicer... all we can do is wait and see....

[xgamerx]

Why wait and see? Apple won't be coming out with newer versions of this iPOD unless its successful. If you keep waiting you become the person who waits until they don't need one...

[blakespot]

Originally posted by ThlayliTheFierce
I read a review saying the only ports were the firewire and the headphone jack. That is to say, there's no analog input. But I'm sure there could be. Now THAT would be cool...students could use it for recording lectures, businesspeople for meetings. Especially if it did some compression as well, but I'm not sure if it could handle that, mp3 compression takes some power to do at any kind of speed. This device has ENDLESS uses. This is only the beginning.

Could it be you're coming around mymemory?


I would not hold my breath for MP3 encoding on a unit designed to (only) play MP3's and which lacks any form of analog audio input.

The iPod is a great device--but let's keep our feet on the ground while hoping and dreaming of what this device may be capable of...


blakespot

[Reverend Filthy]

I work in a recording studio in Massachusetts where a device like the iPod would be quite welcome! The ablility to move protools files with such ease is nuthin to scoff at.

[Ensign Paris]

I have just got my iPod, its a great piece of design and i LOVE it!

Guy