New iPod Details

[MacBytes]

Category: Apple Hardware
Link: Newsweek describes features of new iPod. (http://www.macbytes.com/link.php?sid=20040718121405)
Posted on MacBytes.com (http://www.macbytes.com)

Approved by Mudbug

[MacRumors]

MSNBC has posted (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5457434/site/newsweek) the Newsweek article providing details, more photos and pricing for the new iPods.

New features include:

- Click wheel (like the iPod Mini)
- A millimeter thinner
- More efficient Menus
- Multiple on-the-go playlists
- Listen to audiobooks slower or 25 percent faster without affecting pitch
- Longer play - 12 hours of battery life due to more power conservation
- Lower price: 40GB - $399, 20GB $299 (no 15 gig model now)
- Still white

[jimsowden]

I bet the 60gig will come out in Paris, seeing as how Toshiba leaked that apple wants 350,000 a month.

[Brian Haworth]

Oh, snap. 12 hours.
I haven't been able to justify the cost till now, but this rules. I also like that they're making the clickwheel standard, as it's much more intuitive than the Gen3 way.

[bathysphere]

so no low end model? i hope they can get the mini production sorted out.

edit: whoops, misread the prices.

[musicpyrite]

Whoo-hoo....

If the only new thing is the click wheel (I don't really care about battery life) I'm not very impressed.

[Allon]

- Longer play - 12 hours of battery life due to more power conservation


That's better, but sadly enough still incomparable to e.g. MiniDisc portables.

[runxc]

That sounds so cool, to bad i have my mini or else i would get one. when are they coming out? they sound so cool :D

[the_mole1314]

I'm NOT WORTHY APPLE! I'M NOT WORTHY! I'll **** in my pants if the new iMac is this cool.

[quagmire]

so no low end model? i hope they can get the mini production sorted out.

The 20 GB is now the low end. The 40 GB is mid range(well high end for now) and the 60 GB is coming soon.

[AppleMatt]

I wonder how many, if any, will be made available in a firmware update to G3 owners? I can see the menu changes, playlist changes and audiobook stuff being possible, it's just whether Apple decide to or not.

I presume there could be better power management in there aswell, but not providing all the gains of the new 4G's, which presumably use more power efficient parts also.

Although Apple didn't update the G1 & G2 with G3 features, there seemed to be a bigger difference between those. As someone else said this is more evolutionary than revolutionary. Here's hoping!
*crosses fingers*

AppleMatt

[eyePod]

What's up with no storage bump? I would bet my house on a 60 gig announced at SF MacWorld in Jan 2005. Also, larger storage Minis at the same time. The Newsweek article is great publicity for Apple though.

[quagmire]

That sounds so cool, to bad i have my mini or else i would get one. when are they coming out? they sound so cool :D

Tomorrow tomorrow, the ipods come out tomorrow. It is a day away. :D

[Freg3000]

Seems to me that the firmware updates should be available to 3G owners, as they are not adding anything spectacular on the software side. Also, if you remember the outcry when Apple didn't offer the new firmware to 1G and 2G owners when the news iPods came out in April '03, I can only imagine what would happen if they did the same thing now....only to a lot more people.

[mich73]

Longer battery life, listening to audiobooks 25% faster & lower price...I'll be ordering the new 20gig.

[macridah]

It would be msn ( a microsoft company ) to ruin apple's announcement. Oh well.

[Stike]

I'm NOT WORTHY APPLE! I'M NOT WORTHY! I'll **** in my pants if the new iMac is this cool.
You want an iMac with scroll wheel and 12 hours battery life? :p :D

[mattl]

anybody have experience with upgrades after an order is placed? i just spent $469 (edu) for the 3G 40GB on thursday, and it's supposed to be shipped by friday 7/23. i'm trying to figure out if they'll send me the old model at the same price, or the old model cheaper, or the new model cheaper. i guess i'll be calling customer service tomorrow ...

- matt

[Duff-Man]

What's up with no storage bump? I would bet my house on a 60 gig announced at SF MacWorld in Jan 2005. Also, larger storage Minis at the same time. The Newsweek article is great publicity for Apple though.Duff-Man says....because the bigger drives are not yet available. But I think we will see those 60GB sooner than January as there are now only 2 iPods in the line....perhaps another item for the Paris show at the end of August as those 60 GB drives are supposed to start shipping that month....oh yeah!

[CubaTBird]

hey man, if apple releases new firmware tomorrow, im a happy man with my 3g 15 gb. plus the way i see it, my ipod is considered a novelty item considering its the last of the 3g. plus the 3g look more advanced? the new ones have a click wheel, thus MOVING PARTS, thus old tech... the 3g have no moving parts... :rolleyes:

[blueBomber]

Another product release announced before it's time. Apple isn't being very Apple-like these days. Last night's discovery was an accident, but today the article has been posted and Apple makes no mention of the new iPods on their site.

[Redline13]

No radio? Oh well. I guess I will just keep waiting until I fill my 15 giger. They should be up to the 5th or 6th generation by then.

[Pipian]

I'm slightly disappointed that there isn't a 60 Gig yet.. That's what I really need, size wise, so it looks like I'll have to wait until MWSF :(

[C-Mezak]

anybody have experience with upgrades after an order is placed? i just spent $469 (edu) for the 3G 40GB on thursday, and it's supposed to be shipped by friday 7/23. i'm trying to figure out if they'll send me the old model at the same price, or the old model cheaper, or the new model cheaper. i guess i'll be calling customer service tomorrow ...

- matt

May of us are int he same situation! If you get any answers, share them!! :)

[SFNE Freak]

This is making me feel kind of weird.

Its almost like some magazine up and took Steve's thunder by publishing an article discussing the new features before its even posted on Apple's site.

[Ambrose Chapel]

the increased battery life is making me think about upgrading my original 5gig...the only question is whether the 40 is overkill...

[mojohanna]

What are mini's going for on Ebay these days?
5x the storage for $50 more. Unless your into the size of the mini, it seems like a no brainer.

[Ambrose Chapel]

This is making me feel kind of weird.

Its almost like some magazine up and took Steve's thunder by publishing an article discussing the new features before its even posted on Apple's site.

the same thing happened the night before the iMac G4 was announced. Time's Canadian site posted their story...oops.

[Trekkie]

That's better, but sadly enough still incomparable to e.g. MiniDisc portables.

Let's see, decent battery life and a DRM ladened encoding method with crappy encoding rates (128kbps max) or reasonable battery life, the worlds best online music store, and oh yeah, it's Apple.

How long a battery life do you want? I've found the 10 hrs I get out of my Gen 2 iPod to be plenty for a cross country flight

[coolfactor]

hey man, if apple releases new firmware tomorrow, im a happy man with my 3g 15 gb. plus the way i see it, my ipod is considered a novelty item considering its the last of the 3g. plus the 3g look more advanced? the new ones have a click wheel, thus MOVING PARTS, thus old tech... the 3g have no moving parts... :rolleyes:

Click-wheel is non-moving.

[MarkW19]

I agree, very un-Apple-like and very strange (that the article is now officially up).

Also, I wish they'd let you choose the font in the menus, or at least get rid of the ancient Chicago as used in <System 7!!

[jimsowden]

What are mini's going for on Ebay these days?

ABout 310

[musicpyrite]

the same thing happened the night before the iMac G4 was announced. Time's Canadian site posted their story...oops.

Yea, Apple really needs to get this under control.

First Time with with the iMac.
Next the iPod with NewsWeek.

I bet this will happen again with the G5 iMac.

Apple needs to open up a can of whoop-ass on NewsWeeks butt.

[Dahl]

I agree, very un-Apple-like and very strange (that the article is now officially up).

Also, I wish they'd let you choose the font in the menus, or at least get rid of the ancient Chicago as used in <System 7!!
Agree, a better font would be nice (and elegant)

[azdude]

I could not be happier with this release.

My greatest fear was that Apple would fall into the trap of feature-bloating... color, video, etc.

Doing so would lose touch with that which has made the iPod popular: A device tailored toward one primary purpose, that accomplishes it with the easiest possible interface.

Hooray to Apple for evolution-ing, not revolution-ing. Hooray to Apple for taking the safe road, since they were doing *phenomenal.* I'll be in line for a 40GB. (My 15gb is getting *very* full, but I don't feel the need to wait for the $499 60GB).

[outerspaceapple]

Man, these ipods are gettin sooo cheap. I think i'll finally take the plunge and go out & buy my first one :-D


I love you Apple

[iChan]

Click-wheel is non-moving.

no it isn't, it actually physically moves... thus how can it be non moving?

[bennetsaysargh]

that's it. im selling my 15GB for 200, and putting out another 200 for a 40GB. i don't need it, but it would be nice to have double the storage for 100 bucks more.
is the 15GB 3G worth 200, or more?

[iChan]

how many time does this need to be said? apple have stated recently that they want to get away from releasing new products exclusively at Keynote addresses...

you better get used to the new style apple have adopted.

[big_boldge]

I dont like the new ipod click-wheel as i think it should have a different look to the ipod mini, if they want it to look the same why dont they just put all of the ipod goods inside a mini's case? I'd prefere the ipod to have its own characteristics and its own soul! Otherwise i think everything else on it is an improving may not a vast improvement(something like a 3.5G ipod)

[jimsowden]

no it isn't, it actually physically moves... thus how can it be non moving?
It gets pushed. I wouldn't consider this moving, because it is really staying in place. The first generation ipod's wheel was moving, I think we can all agree on that.

[iChan]

Man, these ipods are gettin sooo cheap. I think i'll finally take the plunge and go out & buy my first one :-D


I love you Apple

agree with you... sold my 40GB iPod for €400 today. gonna get a 20GB 4g and a mini with the proceeds... hehe. sweet. can't wait.

[Mike D]

This is making me feel kind of weird.

Its almost like some magazine up and took Steve's thunder by publishing an article discussing the new features before its even posted on Apple's site.

The downside to announcing a new product in a weekly news magazine like this is that you lose control of the exact moment of release. They had to know it would be out early this morning if not last night, as all the major weeklies make their content available in time for the Sunday morning talk shows, so this can't have been a surprise.

The upside is that they'll get mass market publicity in a way that a normal announcement never would have. Definitely worth the trade-off, especially for this product.

[kirk26]

That's better, but sadly enough still incomparable to e.g. MiniDisc portables.


But still way more than satifactory for the average user.

[kirk26]

how many time does this need to be said? apple have stated recently that they want to get away from releasing new products exclusively at Keynote addresses...

you better get used to the new style apple have adopted.

Thanks for sharing for the first time.

[CubaTBird]

i posted the newsweek article on apples forums and guess what, 2 min later it was taken down... well some people saw it. :p

[mattl]

The upside is that they'll get mass market publicity in a way that a normal announcement never would have. Definitely worth the trade-off, especially for this product.

and especially since, on both of the magazine covers, the Apple solution was rightly touted as far and away the best solution available.

steve's not an idiot. he knows these magazines get released on the web early. but he also realizes that the huge publicity and mind-share exposure from national newsmagazine covers overwhelms the loss of the surprise.

[jeffbax]

the increased battery life is making me think about upgrading my original 5gig...the only question is whether the 40 is overkill...
I look forward to using my 40 Gig for holding more than just music!

[achmafooma]

Click-wheel is non-moving.
Well ... it doesn't SPIN around (like the 1G iPod) ... but it has mechanical buttons (pressing down on the click-wheel to do next-track, prev-track, etc.).

The 3G iPod (which I got about 2 months ago) has NO moving mechanical parts except the hard drive itself and the hold switch. All the buttons are touch-sensitive (like the click-wheels).

You could argue that, by reintroducing mechanical buttons, this is a step backwards. After all, we've all run across computer mice that have their button(s) all gummed up. I personally love how that can't happen to my 3G iPod.

That said, I do like the arrangement on the iPod mini and 4G iPod better than how the buttons are located on the 3G ... I just wish it could have been done somehow without reintroducing the mechanical buttons.

[mms]

Still hard to believe that a big story like this could leak, considering how secretive Apple usually is about product releases. But Newsweek sounds really sure of itself and I'm hoping it's true. If it is, the added battery life will be great feature.

[nmk]

I'm a bit underwhelmed by this annoncement. The only change, really, is the clickwheel and longer battery time. I really thought it was about time the iPod got a few new features. Apart from a few cosmetic changes, its remained largly unchanged since the first iPod. It would have made sence to introduce some sort of Airport Express support. Perhaps even the capability to stream video or pictures to your TV. I think that would have fit in well with the rest of Apples iApps.

I hope Apple isn't beginning to loose the plot a bit here. The iPod could become a has been as fast as it became a cultural icon (even faster).

[dmbfan]

The next question is whether or not the new model will remain compatible with the current remote and dock. If the size has changed, a new dock will probably be required. However, I see no reason why the current remote shouldn't still work.

[MonsterZero]

Click Wheel !?

Ewe.

The greatest thing about the G3 iPods are the touch sensitive scrool wheel and buttons. They are so easy and not to mention inovative.... The click wheel is like playing with a Snapple cap....

Nice to see Apple dominating, but I like my g3 way better.

[mms]

I hope it's true. I've been looking forward to an update and the months of waiting will hopefully pay off. I'll definitely be getting one. Disappointed that there's no mention of "Home on the iPod" though. Carrying my home folder around would be nice for when I work at the school computers.

[themacrobaye]

Yea, Apple really needs to get this under control.

First Time with with the iMac.
Next the iPod with NewsWeek.

I bet this will happen again with the G5 iMac.

Apple needs to open up a can of whoop-ass on NewsWeeks butt.

First of all, Apple planned this! They wanted a different means of introducing the new iPod, and this is what they got... Which is much better than the old "website intro", because it gets the whole WORLD (or at least Newsweek readers) into the swing of things, rather than having it trickle down by word of mouth from Apple's and C|Net's sites.

Also: I would have to say... new scroll wheel, DOUBLE battery life, more minimalistic style, CHEAPER... I'm gonna get one. Probably the 20G.... but then again, 2G and 3G models on eBay are going for almost nothing compared to the new models... Hmm.... :rolleyes:

[dmbfan]

I have never liked the touch buttons. I always have to keep my lock on so that they don't get hit in my pocket. It was also difficult to use without looking at it. With my first gen, I could always navigate by feel. I'm looking forward to the click wheel for this reason.

Also, I wonder if, since they eliminated the lowest model, will the 20gig come with a remote and dock?

I guess we will know on Monday.

[Dahl]

I hope Apple isn't beginning to loose the plot a bit here. The iPod could become a has been as fast as it became a cultural icon (even faster).
As long as Apple makes the best digital player, they won't end up a has been. But let's face it, with more sales, the elite status will disappear. In the end that's not a bad thing, I'm sure Apple's masterplan is to give everybody a chance to own an iPod one day. It's better business.

Don't worry about the icon status, iPod have already secured it's place in history.

[Duff-Man]

Still hard to believe that a big story like this could leak, considering how secretive Apple usually is about product releases. But Newsweek sounds really sure of itself and I'm hoping it's true. If it is, the added battery life will be great feature.Duff-Man says....I believe Apple knew that the story would appear on sunday as the magazine will be in some stores later today as is usual for Newsweek. They would not have expected to see it out last night though and Newsweek will get some "feedback" (to be polite) from Apple about that. I think Apple could live with the sunday story and then their own official launch monday morning but saturday's leak no doubt peeved them a bit....oh yeah!

[sorryiwasdreami]

Also, I wish they'd let you choose the font in the menus, or at least get rid of the ancient Chicago as used in <System 7!!

Although customizing fonts would be a nice touch, Chicago is the defining Mac font. It has really been for a long time. When someone sees that font, it makes them think "Apple," not Micro$haft, Rio, dell, or any other company.

So, immediately they recognize the font and it becomes synonymous with Apple, iPod, and sleek, hot design quality.

In fact, on Creative’s new iPod clone, they have stolen the OS look along with a similar (but not Chicago) font. The competitors are copying the look because that's what people recognize as a digital music player.

[stuepfnick]

anybody have experience with upgrades after an order is placed? i just spent $469 (edu) for the 3G 40GB on thursday, and it's supposed to be shipped by friday 7/23. i'm trying to figure out if they'll send me the old model at the same price, or the old model cheaper, or the new model cheaper. i guess i'll be calling customer service tomorrow ...

- matt

Haha, fooled! You have to pay full price! huhu haha! ROFL...

[shecky]

looks good to me - the click wheel + improved battery life is all i needed to hear personally. Unlike all the dreamers, i want my iPod to...ya know...store and play music, not show color album covers, remote start my car, wash my dishes, be the perfect color to match my fleshtone (i'm an autum,) download newsfeeds, watch 120 x 120 pixel DVD movies in 9.1 digital surround, and slice, dice, and liquify.

so.......... anyone wanna buy a like-new 3G 20GB? I even have the original packaging and everything.

[dvdh]

Is it just me, or this unusual for Apple. My guess, they planned to launch the new I-pod in Paris, but Newsweek contacted Jobs saying we want to do a cover on how the iPod has reshaped the music scene. Apple added the twist of using it to launch the new iPod. Only catch: the 60g wasn't ready to go, so we get that in Paris still.

If this wasn't the case, the cover story wouldn't have included the new iPod, it would just have looked at the old iPod. It is after all bad journalism for a news mag to be 'used' to promote a product in its cover story. Its got to be somewhat coincidental that Apple was able to use the story as the launch. In other words, the magazine article was going to be published regardless of which (the old or new) ipod it was going to feature.

Just my opinion . . .

[stuepfnick]

I heard they dropped the 60 GB because of the indiscrecy of Toshiba. They can sit on their mass productioned drives and apple won't bring a 60 GB iPod with these drives... they'll wait for another manufacturer or just stay with the 40 GB as high-end... hehe

And for the 15 GB: They could get sell it cheaper... If Apple wants a 99$ iPod that would be the way to go for. A 199$ 10 GB Version...

But that would cannibalize iPod mini sales... so the 20 GB is the entry now... A mini with 10 gig would be interesting too (4 gig is too small for me! -> whole music collection + a lot of data storage)

I had the 15 GB iPod, but it was stolen, maybe I'll get the new 20 gig version instead...

[khairulnz]

Sure the new iPods are cool... but I wouldnt call it a new generation of iPods. Its more like an enhanced iPod.

I actually thought we'd get :-

1. Colored screens - Though it may not be as popular as music just yet, I'm pretty sure a lot of people out there would love to watch their latest trailers or TV shows while commuting to work. This would surely appeal to those who are more inclined to Sony's new 20GB video players. Imagine your iPods playing your favourite selection of pictures as a screen saver. Thats just one example. Personalising my iPod would make the experience, well... more PERSONAL :)

iPod already HAS the capacity, why not take advantage and use it as a added value feature on the iPod? Trust me, this will certainly sell more iPods.


2. wi-fi enabled iPods for the new Airport Express - though i'm sure someone is gonna start producing wi-fi cards for the iPods, its just too bad Apple isnt already doing this.


And whats with the different color scroll wheel? The previous all white looks better. But this is subjective I guess. Apple products tend to look better after I've seen them first hand anyway.

Lets all pray that the items I've listed as my above is in the upcoming 60GB models. Hope you're reading this, Mr Jobs.

Cheers,
Khairul

[CubaTBird]

no one brought this up, the back of the ipod still that shiny stuff? or is it made out of the same material as the mini? er, sideques, have ne of u scracted ur ipod? i hab a few on the shiny side of mine, ne one know how to get em out? :rolleyes:

[stuepfnick]

Click Wheel !?
The click wheel is like playing with a Snapple cap.... .

WOW! This sounds great! I love Snapple and their caps! If this is true I MUST HAVE A NEW IPOD!!! WOOHOO!!!

Does anyone know if this picture is true??

http://www.mactechnews.de/images/content_images/iPodGenerations.jpg

If yes, the new iPod is a lot smaller, that the 3G!!! It's between a 3G iPod and the iPod mini.

That combined with 12 hours battery and a snapple cap like clickwheel sounds absolutely gorgeus to me!!! A MUST HAVE!!!
I WANT THE NEW IPOD!! WHHOOOHOO!!! Snapple like Click wheel is BEST!! and the new size!! Great Apple! Thank you so much!

[ArticulatedArm]

Does anyone else think it might be possible the changes to the face and the changes in control features are simply a way of differentiating different "generations" of iPods?

Kind of a gimmick so that you can look at an Ipod and tell very easily which genration/model it is?

I am guessing they want different models to have a unique feel and look and features... and yet still retain the same overall "iPod" design impact.

I feel the different color scroll wheel was done for just this reason. Not because it looks better. But just to make it look different.

[vpalvarez]

Oh, snap. 12 hours.
I haven't been able to justify the cost till now, but this rules. I also like that they're making the clickwheel standard, as it's much more intuitive than the Gen3 way.

posted this on another thread, but if the improved battery life is due to conservation methods, than the same level of bettery life can be achieve in the 3G with a simple firmware update. How ever Apple could disable that to increase sales.

[BornAgainMac]

Hopefully after this update, the mini iPod will not be in so much demand. The 20 GB iPod is a much better deal.

I am glad I sold my 40 GB iPod for well over $400 dollars recently. Now I can get a new one.

[Ambrose Chapel]

Doe sanyone else think it might be possible the changes to the face and the changes in control features are simply a way of differentiating different "generations" of iPods?

Kind of a gimmick so that you can look at an Ipod and tell very easily which genration/model it is?

I am guessing they want different models to have a unique feel and look and features... and yet still retain the same overall "iPod" design impact.

is there any visible difference between the 1G and 2G iPods? i don't think so but i'm not sure.

[ArticulatedArm]

is there any visible difference between the 1G and 2G iPods? i don't think so but i'm not sure.

Wasn't that model slightly more rounded than the original?

Or did they change the wheel slightly?

Or thinner maybe?

[IIvan]

this is ok i guess... same old price points.. a little better storage, a few new software tweaks... the only exciting thing is battery life, and maybe a new case design that will at least appear to be a little less glass like and fragile... why dont they just maske it like the mini- brushed aluminum is way better imo

[abhishekit]

Wow I said exactly that few days back http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=80202&page=1&pp=25 , I should have wished for something more too :D :rolleyes:

[stuepfnick]

posted this on another thread, but if the improved battery life is due to conservation methods, than the same level of bettery life can be achieve in the 3G with a simple firmware update. How ever Apple could disable that to increase sales.

Pah! Apple used, smaller, less power consuming parts! That can't be done with a firmware upgrade! firmware is just software, remember? You can't make parts shrink and consume less power just via software.... LOL

[sworthy]

I just hope for once that the 60GB model is the same size as the others.

[mcarvin]

You know, as I was going through this thread (and most but not all of last night's when the image first got posted), I can't help but to try and make a connection between the "unusual" PR scheme mentioned by Think Secret et al and the first image being found on MSNBC. MS still equals Microsoft, right? Apple uses their nemesis' news outlet to generate the mainstream buzz about the flagship product. To me, that's ballsy.

[Tempest024]

I'm glad they decided to redesign it, never liked the buttons above the wheel. Its definitely time I upgraded my 5 gig which has proven to be so durable to a 20 GB. I've been watching the ones on sale on ebay this weekend and I can wait till apple makes this official.

I'm glad apple didn't make this a color screen because I believe apple should keep the ipod strictly as a mp3 player. I want every single k and every last drop of power for playing music.

Apple should release a barebones OS for running the ipod and make all the other little features add-ons.

[g4cubed]

longer battery life :D

[Tequila Grandma]

This "12 hours of battery life" thing concerns me. Hopefully, Apple is not going with a lower-power, crappier-sounding headphone jack or whatever.

[jeffgarden]

to whoever said that the new ipods would need new docks because they are smaller...the mini's can use the same docks as the 3rd gen iPods so all the docks and dock-like accessories (like those speakers the ipod docks into) should work on these

[musicpyrite]

First of all, Apple planned this! They wanted a different means of introducing the new iPod, and this is what they got... Which is much better than the old "website intro", because it gets the whole WORLD (or at least Newsweek readers) into the swing of things, rather than having it trickle down by word of mouth from Apple's and C|Net's sites.

No, I think it's wonderful that the iPod will be shone on the cover of NewsWeek, but what I don't like is that NewsWeek has the new iPod on their cover, yet when people go to Apple.com, they see butt-squat about it.

I want Apple to show the iPod simaltaneously with NewsWeek.

[Lancetx]

No, I think it's wonderful that the iPod will be shone on the cover of NewsWeek, but what I don't like is that NewsWeek has the new iPod on their cover, yet when people go to Apple.com, they see butt-squat about it.

I want Apple to show the iPod simaltaneously with NewsWeek.

No biggie because by the time this Newsweek issue actually hits newsstands it will be...

[vpalvarez]

Pah! Apple used, smaller, less power consuming parts! That can't be done with a firmware upgrade! firmware is just software, remember? You can't make parts shrink and consume less power just via software.... LOL

Most power conservation comes in the form of a change in the way a computer handles tasks (software) For instance if apple loaded the entire menu in to RAM instead of keeping it on the HD. That would save a a good deal of power. there a a ton of other things that can be done as well. However I don't know if Apple made hardware upgrades to improved the battery life or just said.."If we use what we already to be more efficent then we could save money by not having to have new suppliers or change the already great economies of scale that we experience w/ our current parts. The money that we save could then go to ....i don't know.... a $100 price cut."

Besides if they changed the hardware to improve the battery life, then the most obvious choice for replacement or upgrade would be the current battery, which they already said they didn't replace. I find it hard to believe that a bunch of Apple engineers could sit around a table and discuss how they could increase the battery life by changing pieces of hardware, except the battery itself. Just not too logical.

[voodoofish]

No radio? Oh well. I guess I will just keep waiting until I fill my 15 giger. They should be up to the 5th or 6th generation by then.

They won't add radio transmission as it is illegal in Europe (or at least it is in the UK... it's because it interfers with commercial radio signals)

[iJordan2004]

i know i always bitch about how apple never leaks anything until the moment it is released. but now that they are doing what i wanted. i kind of miss the anticipation.

[musicpyrite]

No biggie because by the time this Newsweek issue actually hits newsstands it will be...

Yea, but internet junkies like me and you already know about it.

[vpalvarez]

You know, as I was going through this thread (and most but not all of last night's when the image first got posted), I can't help but to try and make a connection between the "unusual" PR scheme mentioned by Think Secret et al and the first image being found on MSNBC. MS still equals Microsoft, right? Apple uses their nemesis' news outlet to generate the mainstream buzz about the flagship product. To me, that's ballsy.

Apple is the perverbial "little guy" and that wasn't only ballsy, it is hilariously Ironic.

<dramatization>
Steve Jobs: Lets see we, the little guy, are beating MS head over toe with our flagship product. How can we rub it in...oh I know, this is great...We'll use their news magazine to launch the fourth generation. The generation that will secure our spot in music and culural history, and there's nothing that they can do about it. (gleefully laughs)
</dramatization>

This is like advertising chevy on the side of a ford, except funnier.

Go Little Guy Go

[Awimoway]

Another immportant new feature is one-click shuffle. That has been long overdue and almost makes ditching my iPod worth it.

i wonder if going back to a moving wheel helped reduce battery drain?

At any rate, I miss the silky tactile feedback of the moving scrollwheel of my old 1st generation iPod. But I like the fact that my newer, 3rd-generation 30-gigger doesn't get lint inside it, and since I'm nowhere close to filling up the drive, I'll probably stick with it for quite a while, since it mostly gets used in the car where battery drain is not a concern.

[g4cubed]

Apple is the perverbial "little guy" and that wasn't only ballsy, it is hilariously Ironic.

<dramatization>
Steve Jobs: Lets see we, the little guy, are beating MS head over toe with our flagship product. How can we rub it in...oh I know, this is great...We'll use their news magazine to launch the fourth generation. The generation that will secure our spot in music and culural history, and there's nothing that they can do about it. (gleefully laughs)
</dramatization>

This is like advertising chevy on the side of a ford, except funnier.

Go Little Guy Go

Yea I believe that too. Steve was shoving it up sideways and now it's finally our turn to dance alittle :D

[g4cubed]

[t^3]

Everyone says that these new iPods are cheaper. True, in a way, but the fact is, if you wanted to get a new iPod, it is still going to be at least $299. The pricing structure has not changed at all. But, with that out of the way, I wonder if the 4G iPods are shorter since the buttons above the wheel are gone. Also, there is going to have to be yet another category of cases for your iPod with the slightly new form factor.

[damson34]

is there any visible difference between the 1G and 2G iPods? i don't think so but i'm not sure.

The 2G iPods added the touch sensitive scroll wheel and I believe the 20 gig model.

[vpalvarez]

Have you seen the poll results on Newsweek's article. over 7200 respondents. And I read that less then half of visitors complete web based surveys. So then about 15,000 people have read this article. AND IT HASN'T EVEN BEEN 24 HOURS. Those 15k will tell another 45- 60k and the word of mouth will be tremendous. This leak was the best thing that could have happend. This article is already the most read article on the Newsweeks website. I could see the Headlinees: IPOD BEATS WAR ON TERROR. FORGET THE IRAN CONNECTION GIVE US AN IPOD. etc etc etc.

[mattl]

Haha, fooled! You have to pay full price! huhu haha! ROFL...

yeah, i really hope that's not the response i get over the phone ...

:D

[jackc]

Everyone says that these new iPods are cheaper. True, in a way, but the fact is, if you wanted to get a new iPod, it is still going to be at least $299.

I think you're right. At minimum you'd expect the same price for more storage, so it's not like a big surprise. Still, I was waiting for the update, so I'll be buying...

[Jalexster]

They won't add radio transmission as it is illegal in Europe (or at least it is in the UK... it's because it interfers with commercial radio signals)

Um, he meant an FM/AM Tuner, not transmitter. As weird as it seems, some of us like to listen to the radio, because it provides news, and songs we don't own/can't afford/can;t buy (because here is australia we don't have the iTMS. You bastards Apple. GIVE ME MY MUSIC STORE).

There are plenty of players better than the iPod that have Radios. I think the Nomad Zen Touch has a radio. It looks like an iPod, has twice the battery life (24 hours, and I belive Creative's claims, because they don't often lie), and because it's a Creative, has the best audio quality on the market. By the way, the iPod has some of the worst audio quality on the market.

However, the iPod's audio quality is ok for most (not me though), it's battery life is ok for most (not me though), and it's feature set is ok for most (not me though).

I'm gonna go buy an iRiver, everyone else just buy an iPod. Now.

[notmenotyou]

after reading all these posts, it pretty bothers me that there is still nothing come out from official apple website.... :(

[Freg3000]

no one brought this up, the back of the ipod still that shiny stuff? or is it made out of the same material as the mini? er, sideques, have ne of u scracted ur ipod? i hab a few on the shiny side of mine, ne one know how to get em out? :rolleyes:

I'm wondering about that too...

[jburrw]

Click-wheel is non-moving.

So pushing the wheel in (the click) isn't a movement?

[må¥å]

Anyone figure that they might introduce the 20 - 40 - 60 gig 4th Gen iPod models and just state on the site that the 20 and 40 gig versions are shipping now. Like what they did with the displays.

That way the high end is also covered however not shipping as of yet due to production. No need to introduce a 60 gig one at MW Paris.

There are different things to like about the 3rd and 4th gen models however I think the battery life depended on the 3rd gen touch sensitive buttons. I you compare you get 10h with the 1st and 2nd gen iPod with the 3rd which introduced the touch buttons it decresed the battery life to 8h now with this 4th gen it increases it to 12h.

I like my 3rd gen I dislike the off-tone colour with this 4th gen model however I think a 5th gen will have an all white with glow menu cut-out buttons like the 3rd gen.

The only 2 things I want a firmware update for my 3G ipod is a touch sentive to be little less sensitive and for battery I am happy with everything else the buttons are a nice touch. Better than the competition. I also like the 4th gen however loose the gray colour.

[notmenotyou]

Um, he meant an FM/AM Tuner, not transmitter. As weird as it seems, some of us like to listen to the radio, because it provides news, and songs we don't own/can't afford/can;t buy (because here is australia we don't have the iTMS. You bastards Apple. GIVE ME MY MUSIC STORE).

There are plenty of players better than the iPod that have Radios. I think the Nomad Zen Touch has a radio. It looks like an iPod, has twice the battery life (24 hours, and I belive Creative's claims, because they don't often lie), and because it's a Creative, has the best audio quality on the market. By the way, the iPod has some of the worst audio quality on the market.

However, the iPod's audio quality is ok for most (not me though), it's battery life is ok for most (not me though), and it's feature set is ok for most (not me though).

I'm gonna go buy an iRiver, everyone else just buy an iPod. Now.

it's pretty interesting that if you like the iRiver so much, why are you still here? i think you should go to iRiver Forums... or you just want to tell the world that you think you are better than rest of us, cos only you know iRiver is better(if this is even true!).

[LethalWolfe]

"If we use what we already to be more efficent then we could save money by not having to have new suppliers or change the already great economies of scale that we experience w/ our current parts. The money that we save could then go to ....i don't know.... a $100 price cut."


I wouldn't consider this a price cut really. It's still Apple's usual "get a new top-end product and push everything down one notch." Right now the 40gig seems like the "top end" but in reality it's the middle (and priced accordingly). When Apple gets enough 60gig drives a 60gig iPod will appear and will be $499. So the $499, $399, $299 price stucture is still being used, except the "#1 slot" is temporarily empty.


Lethal

[afields]

Pretty cool. Doesn't make me go "WOW" but I'll definitely be getting one. I was expecting some other feature though, radio, line in for recording, wifi. Any one of those features would've been cool. Ah well, at least there better battery life.

[sebisworld]

is there any visible difference between the 1G and 2G iPods? i don't think so but i'm not sure.

The 1G iPod still had the normal mechanical wheel.

[SilentPanda]

Hmmm... wonder what's going to happen to my order... I put an order for a 40 gig on the 15th and it said 3-5 day estimate but now it shows July 26th as the estimated ship date... they havent' "charged" me for it... but I am getting it laser engraved... so that could be why it's taking longer... although I'm hoping it's because I'm getting a newer iPod... I guess I'll find out here in the next few days via e-mail... hmmmm...

[notmenotyou]

The 2G iPods added the touch sensitive scroll wheel and I believe the 20 gig model.

i am a 2Gen 10Gig ower and i can tell you that my iPod also has the touch sensitive scroll wheel, not just the 20Gig.

[må¥å]

Hmmm... wonder what's going to happen to my order... I put an order for a 40 gig on the 15th and it said 3-5 day estimate but now it shows July 26th as the estimated ship date... they havent' "charged" me for it... but I am getting it laser engraved... so that could be why it's taking longer... although I'm hoping it's because I'm getting a newer iPod... I guess I'll find out here in the next few days via e-mail... hmmmm...

I don't think they will upgrade you model since you are getting it lazer engraved and its not a matter of taking the back off and putting it on a new gen since they size is smaller and thinner.

[barnett25]

Another immportant new feature is one-click shuffle. That has been long overdue and almost makes ditching my iPod worth it.

i wonder if going back to a moving wheel helped reduce battery drain?

At any rate, I miss the silky tactile feedback of the moving scrollwheel of my old 1st generation iPod. But I like the fact that my newer, 3rd-generation 30-gigger doesn't get lint inside it, and since I'm nowhere close to filling up the drive, I'll probably stick with it for quite a while, since it mostly gets used in the car where battery drain is not a concern.

Umm, I'm pretty sure that the wheel doesn't actually turn. It works just like the one in the 3rd Gen iPod, it just adds the action of four buttons under it.

[SeaFox]

Let's see, decent battery life and a DRM ladened encoding method with crappy encoding rates (128kbps max) or reasonable battery life, the worlds best online music store, and oh yeah, it's Apple.

How long a battery life do you want? I've found the 10 hrs I get out of my Gen 2 iPod to be plenty for a cross country flight

Uh, yeah. You should like not post about technology you know nothing about. You just embarrass yourself. Not only is 128 not the maximum bitrate for Minidisc, there is no 128 bitrate.

The bitrates are
ATRAC (original): 292kbs
ATRAC3: 132kbs (LP2), 66 kbs (LP4)
ATRAC3+: 256kbs (Hi-SP) 64kbs (Hi-LP), 48kbs

LP2 (132kbs) is used for Sony's connect music store.

As for battery life, I average 24 hrs with good sound quality and frequent track changes. But the original poster was using last years NetMD's for his comparison, which really shouldn't be used. Using figures for Hi-MD makes the battery life comparison much more even. Another 6 hrs or so of battery life and I may be looking at a new iPod.

[ping0000]

when would these new ipods be in stores?

[FosterKanig]

Hmmm... wonder what's going to happen to my order... I put an order for a 40 gig on the 15th and it said 3-5 day estimate but now it shows July 26th as the estimated ship date... they havent' "charged" me for it... but I am getting it laser engraved... so that could be why it's taking longer... although I'm hoping it's because I'm getting a newer iPod... I guess I'll find out here in the next few days via e-mail... hmmmm...

I would call them IMMEDIATELY. Maybe they can cancel your order, and you can then re-place your order. Of course they may not admit to anything until tomorrow, but it can't hurt to try. 100 bucks is worth a phone call.

[må¥å]

What I find odd is that the mini now has 8h of battery life and the iPod 12h. I guess even thouge the touch click wheel draws less power the mini has a smaller batter makes it an easy choice get the click wheel larger size more battery life for 50 more dollars.

And for those expecting a price reduction I say Apple is selling these by the truck loads why would anyone sell it for less it would also clash with the mini price what do people expect 249 mini and a 275 20 gig iPod. Lets see you produce a product for that price.

Abote the Creative and other products sounds quality depends on the user if you feel that is that its a better package and deal go get one and stop complaining here. :D

[CrackedButter]

Everyone says that these new iPods are cheaper. True, in a way, but the fact is, if you wanted to get a new iPod, it is still going to be at least $299. The pricing structure has not changed at all. But, with that out of the way, I wonder if the 4G iPods are shorter since the buttons above the wheel are gone. Also, there is going to have to be yet another category of cases for your iPod with the slightly new form factor.

It will be cheaper over here outside the US, the dollar has risen against the Sterling considerably, they have to drop the price for us. But you are half right.

[Savage Henry]

when would these new ipods be in stores?

The article did say 'next week'.

[mhouse]

I wouldn't consider this a price cut really. It's still Apple's usual "get a new top-end product and push everything down one notch." Right now the 40gig seems like the "top end" but in reality it's the middle (and priced accordingly). When Apple gets enough 60gig drives a 60gig iPod will appear and will be $499. So the $499, $399, $299 price stucture is still being used, except the "#1 slot" is temporarily empty.


Lethal

I've seen several posts like this and I am really confused.

When an item that was previously sold for *499* dollars now sells for *399* and, incidentally, has a few new features, how are any of you saying "it isn't really a price cut"? What on earth do you possibly mean by this?

499-100=399
399-100=299
399>299
499>399.

How is this *not* a price cut?

Are you trying to say that Apple has not lowered the minimum price for owning an iPod? If so, then *that* is true. But that is much, much different from saying there has been no price cut. The 20gb and 40gb models of iPod have clearly and irrefutably had their prices cut by 100 dollars.

And, for those of you hoping for a still cheaper iPod...just hang on for a few days and see what happens when HP officially introduces their "hPod." I'm betting its a rebranded 15gb for 199 or so.

[Jalexster]

it's pretty interesting that if you like the iRiver so much, why are you still here? i think you should go to iRiver Forums... or you just want to tell the world that you think you are better than rest of us, cos only you know iRiver is better(if this is even true!).

I'm here, because I want to support Apple, and the iPod (because it's earning money for Apple). I do like the iRivers, howevery I can't afford one, and I'm convinced that everyone else should buy an iPod. If this seems weird to you, then I'm sorry that you don't understand it. I do not mean this in a offensive way, however, I did take offense to your comment.

Get an iPod. Enough people are buying iRivers, so they won't be going under anytime soon.

[jimsowden]

to whoever said that the new ipods would need new docks because they are smaller...the mini's can use the same docks as the 3rd gen iPods so all the docks and dock-like accessories (like those speakers the ipod docks into) should work on these
No they can't. It charges, but I won't mount or play through the line out. The inMotion made different, and that does work fine with both.

[CubaTBird]

this is a thread about ipod and yet at the bottom it says buy a nomad zen :p

[andybouchard]

So my new 15GB iPod is due to arrive tomorrow, does anyone think that apple may surprise me with the brand new 20GB!? Or should I keep dreaming and just send my 15 back when I get it?

[bennetsaysargh]

i am guessing that it will have the same dock connecter, meaning it will still work with the inMotion speakers. i am hoping that my iTalk still woks though, the recording doesn't seem like something that they would cut.

[må¥å]

So my new 15GB iPod is due to arrive tomorrow, does anyone think that apple may surprise me with the brand new 20GB!? Or should I keep dreaming and just send my 15 back when I get it?

Send it back...the order was already processed so you are getting the 3rd gen, unless you like the grd gen then stick with the order. :)

[Jalexster]

Abote the Creative and other products sounds quality depends on the user if you feel that is that its a better package and deal go get one and stop complaining here. :D

I'll keep complaining as long as I like! I still think that everyone should buy an iPod, but nothing can stop me going on and on and on about other brands! I'm trying to pass a subtle message here. "Buy an iPod, Don't buy an iRiver, because I'm buying one. You should buy an iPod." It's a hidden message! Don't you get it? If you don't get an iPod.

Also, about Battery Life. I remeber hearing that in order to reduce the size of the 3G iPod, they decreased the quality of the battery to one thats alot lower quality. Thats why the battery life isn't good.

Finally, about the 4G iPod having better battery life, Apple probably made the headphone amp/sound processing even lower quality, to save battery life. If this is the case, it's an incredible achivement for Apple, because it is a breakthrough to make an amp, that is that crap. I didn't even know it was possible to make something that crap. Maybe the haven't, maybe they have. We'll have to wait and see.

Ok, thats my rant finished.

[Freg3000]

I've seen several posts like this and I am really confused.

When an item that was previously sold for *499* dollars now sells for *399* and, incidentally, has a few new features, how are any of you saying "it isn't really a price cut"? What on earth do you possibly mean by this?

499-100=399
399-100=299
399>299
499>399.

How is this *not* a price cut?

Are you trying to say that Apple has not lowered the minimum price for owning an iPod? If so, then *that* is true. But that is much, much different from saying there has been no price cut. The 20gb and 40gb models of iPod have clearly and irrefutably had their prices cut by 100 dollars.

And, for those of you hoping for a still cheaper iPod...just hang on for a few days and see what happens when HP officially introduces their "hPod." I'm betting its a rebranded 15gb for 199 or so.

I think many of us are making the distinction between a price cut and lowering the prices. While I admit they probably can be used to mean the same thing, people were thinking that lowering prices would mean the numbers themselves would change, not just more space for the same prices.

It was just a different way of thinking I guess.

[SiliconAddict]

OK. So if this is true I'm somewhat disappointed by the lack of a color screen. Sorry but I think displaying cover art on the LCD display would have been cool as hell. That being said I can be content with better battery life and a larger hard drive. If they really do come out with the new iPod this week I'm going to be over at the Apple store in 20 minutes since its right up the road from my workplace. This is so freaking cool its not even funny. :D

[nubero]

hey man, if apple releases new firmware tomorrow, im a happy man with my 3g 15 gb. plus the way i see it, my ipod is considered a novelty item considering its the last of the 3g. plus the 3g look more advanced? the new ones have a click wheel, thus MOVING PARTS, thus old tech... the 3g have no moving parts... :rolleyes:

finally someone who takes notice... i hate the fact of having moving parts again; wonder how the color of that thing looks as well in real life.
three pictures are now online and the color of that wheel looks like s h i t on everyone... i hope that'll be better in reality like the MDD on the MDD G4...

--- --- --- --- ---
Free Desktop Pictures!
http://homepage.mac.com/nuber

[CubaTBird]

patience my young padawan learner.......... :o

[CubaTBird]

the thing is most people don't see it as oo its moving parts or o its smaller, they just follow the crowd... but actually i think there are few people out their wanting to get their hands on a 3g before the 4 g's come out. and no im not just sayin that so i can make myself feel better, i serioulsy think thats the case :o not everyone though....

[jettredmont]

the increased battery life is making me think about upgrading my original 5gig...the only question is whether the 40 is overkill...

Personally, my music collection is just under 18GB now, and I still haven't ripped all my CDs ... But still, even if I wasn't brushing up against the 20GB marker already, I'd get the 40 just because that then leaves me with 20GB of space to haul files back and forth from work (much better than the little USB key I've got to do that now ... which tends to fill up way to quickly ... plus it's having reliability problems now as well ...).

Remember that the iPod will hold more than just music ... although I'll need to buy an extra cable I think (or can the "Windows cable" also work for my Mac at work?)

Finally, the 40GB model is in a somewhat reasonable range to get spousal permission for such an endeavor! And I've got a birthday coming up to boot ...

[BeanTownBrawler]

Man I used to think the mini was enough because I'd never have 4 gb of music, but now I already have more and still a lot of cds to burn. Eh...I'll probably just get the 20.

[Pipian]

I'm at.. 57 Some- odd Gigs..

60 Gig will I need

[Phobophobia]

Sure the new iPods are cool... but I wouldnt call it a new generation of iPods. Its more like an enhanced iPod.

I actually thought we'd get :-

1. Colored screens - Though it may not be as popular as music just yet, I'm pretty sure a lot of people out there would love to watch their latest trailers or TV shows while commuting to work. This would surely appeal to those who are more inclined to Sony's new 20GB video players. Imagine your iPods playing your favourite selection of pictures as a screen saver. Thats just one example. Personalising my iPod would make the experience, well... more PERSONAL :)

iPod already HAS the capacity, why not take advantage and use it as a added value feature on the iPod? Trust me, this will certainly sell more iPods.


2. wi-fi enabled iPods for the new Airport Express - though i'm sure someone is gonna start producing wi-fi cards for the iPods, its just too bad Apple isnt already doing this.


And whats with the different color scroll wheel? The previous all white looks better. But this is subjective I guess. Apple products tend to look better after I've seen them first hand anyway.

Lets all pray that the items I've listed as my above is in the upcoming 60GB models. Hope you're reading this, Mr Jobs.

Cheers,
Khairul

Thank god Steve doesn't listen to mortals.

[mojohanna]

no it isn't, it actually physically moves... thus how can it be non moving?
If the click wheel is the same as the mini. It does move. Only up and down as if pressing buttons. The scrolling action is like a touch pad on a laptop and although I have never used a regular iPod, I would assume that wheel works the same as the mini.

[burnaby]

OMG, if apple release 60 Gig ipod, I donot know what to put in it... 15,0000 songs? When will ipod play videos ?

[unsigned]

I bet the 60gig will come out in Paris, seeing as how Toshiba leaked that apple wants 350,000 a month.

Isn't Apple trying to squish a G5 computer to fit in the space behind a flat screen monitor? A tiny 60gb hard drive might help.

Could account for numbers so high (they don't sell that many of their top-end ipods, do they?

[2A Batterie]

I honestly don't see the big deal. There are a few updates and adjustments, but IMHO nothing ground-breaking. Am I missing something? I thought the big thing for the next gen was going to be 60gb. If I want 40gb, I could've just gone out and purchased a 3g iPod. The biggest difference is the price drop, so I think maybe Apple should've just cut prices until ye olde 60gb iPod is released.

[Arnel]

the 3g have no moving parts... :rolleyes:

Apart from that big, spinny hard drive that's inside it, of course :-)

Neil.
a.k.a. Arnel

[tsaxer]

I was hoping they would release the 60 too. I'm at 37+Gigs, and it's just too close to buy a 40 Gigger. I got a 3 gen 30G, but I get frustrated periodically going through and trying to figure out how to fit as much music on it as possible.

As far as the wheel goes, I'm still udecided on whether I like it or not.

Nevertheless, I needs da space, so I'll probably take the plunge whenever they get the 60's out.

The question about the headphone power is something I'm now wondering about as well, hmm :cool:

[ArticulatedArm]

Isn't Apple trying to squish a G5 computer to fit in the space behind a flat screen monitor? A tiny 60gb hard drive might help.

Could account for numbers so high (they don't sell that many of their top-end ipods, do they?

Good thinking! I like to think the new Imac is actually a wearable computer, just because I don't really see how you can out-do a current iMac. The only way i can see out-doing a current Imac, other than a wearable computer, is a tablet. And supposedly Jobs is anti-tablet.

Hmm.. or maybe the "60 GB Ipod" we are assuming is going to come out isn't really an Ipod. Maybe it is something totally different.

It all depends on how many songs people really want. I could easily see how there wouldn't be much of a market at all for 60 GB music players.

If someone is that into music they can always buy 2 Ipods.

So again... maybe what we assume is a high end music player is actually a first generation video player. vPod. Or mPod -- MultimediaPod.

[snahabed]

People, get over the LAME video iPod idea. GET OVER IT, NOW! Not only is it absolutely retarded, Steve Jobs has said it is a stupid idea.

Why don't you people go buy an Archos brick that can play your sad little movie files on a sad little screen? Man, those things sold so well, there must be a huge market for video on a teeny screen... NOT.

I mean, really.

[greenstork]

...And for the 15 GB: They could get sell it cheaper... If Apple wants a 99$ iPod that would be the way to go for. A 199$ 10 GB Version...

But that would cannibalize iPod mini sales... so the 20 GB is the entry now... A mini with 10 gig would be interesting too (4 gig is too small for me! -> whole music collection + a lot of data storage)


Contrary to popular belief, Apple is a for profit company. Economics 101 - if demand outstrips supply or is balanced, the price is right (or too low). It's not like Apple is having a problem capturing market share of digital music players which might be cited as a reason for lowering prices to saturate their market share. Until demand plummets, Apple has no reason to either lower prices or significantly change the feature set of the iPod, quite the contrary. That said, I do believe that there is some benefit to staying ahead of the game in terms of innovation but Apple has really never had a problem in that department.

[greenstork]

Wasn't that model slightly more rounded than the original?

Or did they change the wheel slightly?

Or thinner maybe?

Not between 1G and 2G but the thinner rounder was evident between 2G and 3G.

[carbonmotion]

I'll keep complaining as long as I like! I still think that everyone should buy an iPod, but nothing can stop me going on and on and on about other brands! I'm trying to pass a subtle message here. "Buy an iPod, Don't buy an iRiver, because I'm buying one. You should buy an iPod." It's a hidden message! Don't you get it? If you don't get an iPod.

Also, about Battery Life. I remeber hearing that in order to reduce the size of the 3G iPod, they decreased the quality of the battery to one thats alot lower quality. Thats why the battery life isn't good.

Finally, about the 4G iPod having better battery life, Apple probably made the headphone amp/sound processing even lower quality, to save battery life. If this is the case, it's an incredible achivement for Apple, because it is a breakthrough to make an amp, that is that crap. I didn't even know it was possible to make something that crap. Maybe the haven't, maybe they have. We'll have to wait and see.

Ok, thats my rant finished. Sorry to burst your bubble, but you have no idea what you're talking about. The audio output from the ipod is extremely good, many recording artists use it for work. The Zen from creative has a better audio output not in quality, but in effects. It can emulate different levels of echo. However, the headphones that come with the Zen are junk deserve to be stuffed in to a garbage can. From my personal experience most of the audio output from the different Harddrive MP3 players are more or less born equal. It is the headphones that make the bulk of the difference. I have a pair of bose quiet comfort II, which basically makes my ipod feel like aural cocaine.

[greenstork]

You know, as I was going through this thread (and most but not all of last night's when the image first got posted), I can't help but to try and make a connection between the "unusual" PR scheme mentioned by Think Secret et al and the first image being found on MSNBC. MS still equals Microsoft, right? Apple uses their nemesis' news outlet to generate the mainstream buzz about the flagship product. To me, that's ballsy.

Now, I consider myself a pretty cynical guy but any news agency worth it's salt has to have some sense of objectivity, let's be realistic here. MSNBC is in business to break stories ahead of everyone else. If they strictly limited that to companies that they are owned by then they would lose their audience fairly fast and in turn, lose money.

[greenstork]

They won't add radio transmission as it is illegal in Europe (or at least it is in the UK... it's because it interfers with commercial radio signals)

I would assume that the original poster is talking about radio RECEPTION and not transmission.

[Mechcozmo]

I have one of the original 5GB iPods. I swear, it is like a tank. It has been dropped, swung, and even been sprinklen with water. Still works. No trouble, and amazingly enough, I still get about 7 to 8 hours of life out of it. I think that Apple made these oldies bigger, so that they could be stronger. Heck, a hard drive inside that thing, little wonder if Apple made it stronger. Just in case.

I only have 3.18GB of stuff on there, so it does pretty well. Unless those Minis grow to about 10 gigs, I'm not looking. My music collection has this habit of growing.

So, bets on colors, anyone?
I say blue, silver, red, and something else. When the voices in my head tell me, I'll let you all know.

[centauratlas]

I wonder which older iPods will get the software update mentioned in the MSNBC article (e.g. more flexible on-the-go etc).

I need a 60 (or bigger) eventually. (13155 songs, 128.2 GB).

[debo]

Looks like those posts by The Exile about him being sure that the new ipod would be wireless were wrong. He claimed that his friend had the job of writing the manual for this wireless ipod. Makes me mad, I would love to walk around my house with a music remote.

[bennok]

I still think this whole thing is completely fake...

;) :p

[millypede]

Well looking on all the Developers/Sales/Training sections on Apples sites there is nothing in there at all about these iPods. usualy we get some info before thier release, so that any new firmware/software for the iPods can be tested with software that we create.

[iostream.h]

Well looking on all the Developers/Sales/Training sections on Apples sites there is nothing in there at all about these iPods. usualy we get some info before thier release, so that any new firmware/software for the iPods can be tested with software that we create.

No, actually we don't get any pre-release info.

[bennok]

Hmmm... wonder what's going to happen to my order... I put an order for a 40 gig on the 15th and it said 3-5 day estimate but now it shows July 26th as the estimated ship date... they havent' "charged" me for it... but I am getting it laser engraved... so that could be why it's taking longer... although I'm hoping it's because I'm getting a newer iPod... I guess I'll find out here in the next few days via e-mail... hmmmm...

To those with similar concerns, this is what happened to me last time iPods were updated.
I ordered a 30GB on Tuesday and payed for overnight shipping so that it would be in for my trip on Friday. However, it never came, even though it said it had shipped!
Friday I left on my trip, without an iPod. Monday, new iPods were released, including a 40GB at 30GB price. I called apple, but since my purchase was through employee purchase program, they could not price match or exchange it for the 40GB. Since it had already "shipped" (but not left Taiwan), they couldn't change the order.
However, since you probably just ordered normally, Apple tomorrow will offer to upgrade your order or lower the price (probably the latter). If not, you have 15(?) days to call them and they will refund $100.
I wish I'd had that opportunity, but oh well.

[Doctor Q]

I still think this whole thing is completely fake...

;) :pMaybe the hoax will continue even as we're holding the issues in our hands tomorrow. Somebody stole all the real Newsweeks, with the cover story about Nomad, and replaced them with clever duplicates with the fake iPod story inserted. If Newsweek denies this, that of course just proves they were in on the scheme! :wink: :wink:

[bennok]

You know, part of me is thinking that 3G will indeed be left out in the cold with new firmware. Honestly there isn't a big change with this iPod, and so perhaps apple is just CALLING it 4G so that they won't have to support the 3G with the new firmware. There's the clickwheel, longer battery life (but not a different battery, it seems), and new menu options (I'm not including slimmer 'cause 1mm isn't much). The better battery life is from conservation methods, not a "heavier" battery, so if that's not an increase in cache size or something else hardware related, it has to do with firmware. Putting the 4G firmware in the 3G and the only significant difference is the clickwheel.
But, here's to hoping that they will support the new firmware on 3G!

[swingerofbirch]

If I recall correctly, didn't Time magazine jump the gun on the flat-panel iMacs the night before they were released? I remember at the conference Steve Jobs didn't even seem upset about it, saying something like you may have seen this next product in Time magazine already.....

[bennok]

If I recall correctly, didn't Time magazine jump the gun on the flat-panel iMacs the night before they were released? I remember at the conference Steve Jobs didn't even seem upset about it, saying something like you may have seen this next product in Time magazine already.....

No, that definitely didn't happen then.

[JW Pepper]

Obviously, Apple will have three models 20, 40 & 60gb. But right now I think there is a hole in the bottom end price point. I assume that we ill see a drop in price when the 60gb is released and presumable there will be a larger capacity iPod mini.

[g.money]

I hate when companies use percentages to explain bumps in performance. ooooooh a 50% jump in performance. I know lots of people will look at that and say wow, must be 16 hours of battery (and then, of course, they'll read it again, like I did, and realize they're idiots) :( ... some of us in the world just hate math. I'm on the list, anyone else?

[jimsowden]

I hate when companies use percentages to explain bumps in performance. ooooooh a 50% jump in performance. I know lots of people will look at that and say wow, must be 16 hours of battery (and then, of course, they'll read it again, like I did, and realize their idiots) :( ... some of us in the world just hate math. I'm on the list, anyone else?
i for one enjoy doing that type of math in my head. Though I have always liked math and been good at it. :cool:

[carbonmotion]

I hate when companies use percentages to explain bumps in performance. ooooooh a 50% jump in performance. I know lots of people will look at that and say wow, must be 16 hours of battery (and then, of course, they'll read it again, like I did, and realize they're idiots) :( ... some of us in the world just hate math. I'm on the list, anyone else? ...looks like the canadian education system failed you, you should sue them. common man, this stuff is basic math.

[LaMerVipere]

if these iPods will be available as soon as they are announced or if we will have to wait for a month? I hope not!

[carbonmotion]

if these iPods will be available as soon as they are announced or if we will have to wait for a month? I hope not!i bet itll be quite a while since following the trend of apple's product releases this year this seems likely.

[carbonmotion]

i bet itll be quite a while since following the trend of apple's product releases this year this seems likely. yes, i am buying one.

[vitaboy]

Yea, Apple really needs to get this under control.

First Time with with the iMac.
Next the iPod with NewsWeek.

I bet this will happen again with the G5 iMac.

Apple needs to open up a can of whoop-ass on NewsWeeks butt.

Newsweek is a weekly publication, with a predetermined schedule as to when stories get released and magazines shipped. Since Jobs agreed to do a story which could end up being the cover (usually, magazines do not guarantee a cover, just that it will be considered for a cover and the final decision is made by the editors just before the thing has to go to press), he knew that there was a real possibility word would be out over the weekend.

Thus, Apple is having the iPod launch on a Monday instead of a traditional Tuesday.

If the same thing happens with the iMac G5, then it is intentional, not a slip-up.

And let's remember the flat-panel iMac WAS also leaked early by Newsweek for the same reason, and Jobs gave no reference to the Newsweek story at all during the keynote, which he would have surely done if he was an accidental leak.

[LaMerVipere]

I agree, very un-Apple-like and very strange (that the article is now officially up).

Also, I wish they'd let you choose the font in the menus, or at least get rid of the ancient Chicago as used in <System 7!!

I love the Chicago font! It's classic apple, i hope they never ditch it :)

[Blue Velvet]

This news is great... now prob. going to get my first iPod but I have a dumb question.

Can you put selected playlists onto it?

I don't want to carry my entire library around with me.
Some music sounds good at home and some seems better on the move...

Also want to use it to carry work around on it as well.

I don't know anyone who's got one so I can't get a straight answer from the horse's mouth (as it were)...

[rogo]

This is from the Cnet article dated June 2, aka >>recently<<.

"New Toshiba minidrive to pump up Apple's iPod?
Last modified: June 2, 2004, 1:10 PM PDT
By Ina Fried and Ed Frauenheim
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Toshiba said Wednesday that it plans to release a 60GB version of its 1.8-inch hard drive, potentially paving the way for higher capacity iPods.

The 60GB drive, which was discussed at Taiwan's Computex trade show, is due out in late summer or early fall, according to a U.S. representative for Toshiba."

Sounds like late in the year there could be a new model based on this drive.

[zyuzin4]

is there any visible difference between the 1G and 2G iPods? i don't think so but i'm not sure.

No one mentioned this but the 2G ipods added a different hold switch and a firewire port cover.

[sockeatingdryer]

It's about freaking-a time!

I have been waiting for so long, too. Now, I just wish I had some money. :)
I'm going to get my paws on one of them....

I wish someone would buy my iMac...

[C-Mezak]

However, since you probably just ordered normally, Apple tomorrow will offer to upgrade your order or lower the price (probably the latter). If not, you have 15(?) days to call them and they will refund $100.
I wish I'd had that opportunity, but oh well.

Where did you get this info? I do have a 15gb 3rd gen on order. Do you know anything more? I've been hoping against hope that somethign like that will take place.

thanks
charlie

[edit]

And another interesting point:

If apple offers to refund me $100, then along with my $200 cram and jam rebate I will be making $30 in the deal. I choose to believe that this means they're more likely to offer me an upgrade. Oh I hope I hope. If I werent relying on the cram and jam to make a new ipod affordable,. Id go ahead and cancel my current order and just order a new one when it's released.

[carbonmotion]

This news is great... now prob. going to get my first iPod but I have a dumb question.

Can you put selected playlists onto it?

I don't want to carry my entire library around with me.
Some music sounds good at home and some seems better on the move...

Also want to use it to carry work around on it as well.

I don't know anyone who's got one so I can't get a straight answer from the horse's mouth (as it were)...yes

[LaMerVipere]

It would have been cool if they were able to somehow (i have no idea how) add backlighting to the letters on the clickwheel for the iPod, the way they did with the 3G iPod buttons. It would differentiate between the iPod clickwheel and the mini clickwheel, and would just look damn cool, i think. :)

Oh, and I am hoping that they might have found a way to reduce the weight. Not that the iPod is heavy, but it can feel that way sometimes. I'd rather have a lighter iPod than one that's 1mm thinner! I doubt I'll notice the slight change in thickness.

[bennok]

Where did you get this info? I do have a 15gb 3rd gen on order. Do you know anything more? I've been hoping against hope that somethign like that will take place.


Yes:

Should Apple reduce its price on any shipped product within 10 calendar days of shipment, you may contact Apple Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775 to request a refund or credit of the difference between the price you were charged and the current selling price.* To receive the refund or credit you must contact Apple within 14 business days of shipment.
Apple Sale Info (http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/salespolicies.html)

Hope that helps.

[bennok]

It would have been cool if they were able to somehow (i have no idea how) add backlighting to the letters on the clickwheel for the iPod, the way they did with the 3G iPod buttons. It would differentiate between the iPod clickwheel and the mini clickwheel, and would just look damn cool, i think. :)

What like this?
http://www.weblogsinc.com/common/images/3227903812491981.JPG?0.8529683389085431

[bennok]

What like this?

BTW, that's a fake image ;)

[svenas1]

People, get over the LAME video iPod idea. GET OVER IT, NOW! Not only is it absolutely retarded, Steve Jobs has said it is a stupid idea.

Why don't you people go buy an Archos brick that can play your sad little movie files on a sad little screen? Man, those things sold so well, there must be a huge market for video on a teeny screen... NOT.

I mean, really.

Absolutely! The iPod is such a success because you can use it while doing other stuff, even if it's just walking around the streets.

I can already see the ads for the viPod: Cool kid strolls out of the house, hits 'play' on slanky new color-screen viPod - cue 'Charlies Angels 3' with Keira Knightley, Scarlett Johansson and Charlize Theron. Kids face lights up, as he watches the diminuitive screen intently - Theron looks soo hot in 25 pixels! - and doesn't notice the squishy dog sh*t under his right foot. No matter ! He walks on, jiggling his shoulders to the funky soundtrack. Cut. He crosses the road - while the green light is on ! he's not stupid, after all. But just as he reaches the middle of the busy street - and the light has turned to red long ago - the Evil Maniac (played by Owen Wilson) has Keira in his lurvy den... and is ready to get all jiggy with her. Holy Cr&p ! Our guy halts in his steps, can't take his gaze off his shiny little companion... Owen is already pouting his surly lips, his right arm slides gently around her hips, when >wa-blam< where did that come from ?? Crashing noises, glass shatters, total mayhem!! That must have hurt, getting it in your face like that ! Gosh, Scarlett sure knows how to put her handbag to good use! After diving through the french windows like that! Relieved, kid walks on, chuckling, and falls down the entrance to the subway.

[Jalexster]

I'm still convinced that the iPod's audio quality sucks. You need some good headphones to tell the difference though. Sony Nudes are a good choice.

And anyone looking for Wireless on their iPod, try Pocketster Pro (You need a compatible PocketPC running Windows Mobile 2003, and it must have either a USB adaptor, of a Compact Flash Card Slot, that a USB Adaptor can be plugged into), but it allows you to download and stream music from other's iPods. It isn't free, but if you can afford both a PocketPC and an iPod, you think you could afford a little program. Pocketster can also share music that is in your PocketPC's memory/card. The Basic (PocketPC music only) and Pro (PocketPC and iPod music) version can be got at http://www.simeda.com/pocketster.html
You can get some info about what you need to do tom get Pocketster Pro working at http://www.simeda.com/pocketster-ipod.html

Get an iPod.

[oingoboingo]

Let's see, decent battery life and a DRM ladened encoding method with crappy encoding rates (128kbps max) or reasonable battery life, the worlds best online music store, and oh yeah, it's Apple.

How long a battery life do you want? I've found the 10 hrs I get out of my Gen 2 iPod to be plenty for a cross country flight

Try flying Sydney to San Francisco. Or Sydney to London. Or Sydney to almost anywhere, actually. Or driving from Sydney to any other east-coast capital city. The iPod isn't "designed for Australian conditions" :)

The new battery will help though.

[LaMerVipere]

What like this?
http://www.weblogsinc.com/common/images/3227903812491981.JPG?0.8529683389085431

YES! JUST LIKE THAT! Sweeeeeeeet :p

[vitaboy]

YES! JUST LIKE THAT! Sweeeeeeeet :p

Waaaaaaaaay sweet!

[ministerd]

Newsweek is a major coup

Most times you get a little brief here and there about a new product, but apple is about to roll out their new ipods with HUGE fanfare, namely being on the cover of Newsweek, you can't measure what a big deal it is to have that in every newstand across America.

2nd
Sony is STILL the defacto standard when it comes to "cool" toys. they have lost their shine in the recent years. I just played with their coolest 5 megapixal camera, it's awesome, it was about a quarter inch thin and 3inches square. But apple has taken the lead in mp3 players, and Sony ain't happy. Last months push of their new HD-MD got lots of pub, BUT Apple is gonna run Sony over with this new wave of news. It's important for companies to keep their product on the minds of people, and letting Sony get all the pub is no good. Believe me, Sony is still a FORCE. But what apple has pulled off with Newsweek is gonna remove most thoughts of the new Sony player and put the attention squarely back on Apple, where it belongs! :)

So yeah to the NEW ipod,
Yeah to all the free pub
Yeah to the buzz anew, Apple needs to keep the ipod always in the news!
yeah to apple stock, too bad i sold it too early :(
and yeah to me... a happy mini-ipod user.. thanx apple..

[blorp]

That's it. I'm selling my 15GB iPod.

Anyone interested? :p

(By the way.. do you think that I could sell my 15GB with the dock, in-ear headphones, carrying case, and iSkin evo for $325 CDN?)

[themacrobaye]

'Charlies Angels 3' with Keira Knightley, Scarlett Johansson and Charlize Theron

oh man, talk about bombshells. Theron at the Oscars looked like Monroe or Kelly... a classic beauty, and Scarlett! Holy Hell, she's the hottest thing to hit Hollywood in a long time... but she's got a thing for 'older men' (she banged Benicio Del Toro in a hotel elevator....talk about beauty and the beast). :mad:

[Mr Scruff]

Let's see, decent battery life and a DRM ladened encoding method with crappy encoding rates (128kbps max) or reasonable battery life, the worlds best online music store, and oh yeah, it's Apple.

How long a battery life do you want? I've found the 10 hrs I get out of my Gen 2 iPod to be plenty for a cross country flight

Hmm, not sure where you get the idea about crappy encoding rates on minidisc players. Standard encoding rate has always been 320kb/s. At which rate ATRAC3 sounds as good as or better than anything else I've heard.

Not that I wouldn't still prefer an iPod for convenience sake.

[carbonmotion]

I'm still convinced that the iPod's audio quality sucks. You need some good headphones to tell the difference though. Sony Nudes are a good choice.

And anyone looking for Wireless on their iPod, try Pocketster Pro (You need a compatible PocketPC running Windows Mobile 2003, and it must have either a USB adaptor, of a Compact Flash Card Slot, that a USB Adaptor can be plugged into), but it allows you to download and stream music from other's iPods. It isn't free, but if you can afford both a PocketPC and an iPod, you think you could afford a little program. Pocketster can also share music that is in your PocketPC's memory/card. The Basic (PocketPC music only) and Pro (PocketPC and iPod music) version can be got at http://www.simeda.com/pocketster.html
You can get some info about what you need to do tom get Pocketster Pro working at http://www.simeda.com/pocketster-ipod.html

Get an iPod. after trying dell , iriver (flash memory
), and samsung from my friends, I conclude that ipod sounds the same... as far as electronica is concerned. Note I used my Bose Quiet Comfort II with noise cancellation... and those are the best in the industry for prosumers...

[Jalexster]

I can already see the ads for the viPod: Cool kid strolls out of the house, hits 'play' on slanky new color-screen viPod - cue 'Charlies Angels 3' with Keira Knightley, Scarlett Johansson and Charlize Theron. Kids face lights up, as he watches the diminuitive screen intently - Theron looks soo hot in 25 pixels! - and doesn't notice the squishy dog sh*t under his right foot. No matter ! He walks on, jiggling his shoulders to the funky soundtrack. Cut. He crosses the road - while the green light is on ! he's not stupid, after all. But just as he reaches the middle of the busy street - and the light has turned to red long ago - the Evil Maniac (played by Owen Wilson) has Keira in his lurvy den... and is ready to get all jiggy with her. Holy Cr&p ! Our guy halts in his steps, can't take his gaze off his shiny little companion... Owen is already pouting his surly lips, his right arm slides gently around her hips, when >wa-blam< where did that come from ?? Crashing noises, glass shatters, total mayhem!! That must have hurt, getting it in your face like that ! Gosh, Scarlett sure knows how to put her handbag to good use! After diving through the french windows like that! Relieved, kid walks on, chuckling, and falls down the entrance to the subway.

That is one of the funniest things I have read. Made me laugh out loud.

Also, Keira Knightley is really attractive. "Hot" Dosen't describe her properly. She is beyond that.

Get an iPod. Whatever you do, don't buy a vastly superior iRiver, that I myself am buying. Definenetly buy the inferior iPod. Yessir. Buy an iPod.

Edit: I just thought of something, wouldn't it be a ViPod, like a TiBook (with a upper-case V, not a lower-case v)?

[KevRC4130]

I skimmed through the thread, sorry if this has already been asked....

Will the new iPods qualify for the Cram and Jam deal? Or is the Cram and Jam deal a way for them to clean out the 3G iPods?

[virividox]

its so not apple to let products be known before their release, but i guess with the imac statement and toshibas leak it was to be expected

[carbonmotion]

That is one of the funniest things I have read. Made me laugh out loud.

Also, Keira Knightley is really attractive. "Hot" Dosen't describe her properly. She is beyond that.

Get an iPod. Whatever you do, don't buy a vastly superior iRiver, that I myself am buying. Definenetly buy the inferior iPod. Yessir. Buy an iPod.

Edit: I just thought of something, wouldn't it be a ViPod, like a TiBook (with a upper-case V, not a lower-case v)?too bad its heavy as a brick and decidedly unstylish.

[MacViolinist]

I don't think that this has been mentioned yet, but if it has, please pardon me.

I think that Home on iPod would be useful, but only a beginning. What would be really awesome is if you could boot from the thing. Think about how sweet that would be for all of us techsupport guys. Boot problems? Plug it in and boot from your iPod with TechTool Pro, Norton Utilities, DiskWarrior, plus Apple's Internal Diags all ready to go. No switching boot disks and waiting. If it's time for a format/reinstall, you are ready to back-up. You could even have a drive image of several different versions of the OS (depending on what the machine shipped with) and just copy it over instead of going through the cd install process. It would be sweet. I think that everyone who does a lot of Mac support would have to have one. In most cases, the employer would probably pay for it after the he/she understood the time savings involved.

Just my 2 cents.

[joejg]

Apple tomorrow will offer to upgrade your order or lower the price (probably the latter). If not, you have 15(?) days to call them and they will refund $100.[/B]
I wish I'd had that opportunity, but oh well.

I am not holding my breath, but I would love for this to happen to me. I am in the same position as C-Mezak and would assume instead of cash they would offer me the upgrade. Again I will reiterate I'm not going to be upset if this doesn't happen, I got a 3G ipod for $70 for goodness sakes, but it would certainly be nice.

[croooow]

I hate when companies use percentages to explain bumps in performance. ooooooh a 50% jump in performance. I know lots of people will look at that and say wow, must be 16 hours of battery (and then, of course, they'll read it again, like I did, and realize they're idiots) :( ... some of us in the world just hate math. I'm on the list, anyone else?

You must be joking. 50% is about as basic as you can get.

you must know what 50% is. 50% of 100 = 50 therefore a 50% jump in a 100 hour battery would be 100 plus that 50 (the 50%jump) equals 150. So a 50% jump in an 8 hour battery would be 8+(50% of 8, or 4)=12

50% is easy, and it's an even whole number your working with, 8. How pathetic is Canada looking, Ay?

[LaMerVipere]

I hate when companies use percentages to explain bumps in performance. ooooooh a 50% jump in performance. I know lots of people will look at that and say wow, must be 16 hours of battery (and then, of course, they'll read it again, like I did, and realize they're idiots) :( ... some of us in the world just hate math. I'm on the list, anyone else?

I agree, math is the devil. But this '50%' stuff is very simple. :) And I'm a math idiot.

On an unrelated note though, does anyone actually get the advertised 8 hours of battery life with their iPod? I sure don't. If the trend holds, I'd expect to get 8 or 10 REAL WORLD hours of play out of the 4G iPod. But that's just my 2¢ :cool:

[carbonmotion]

I agree, math is the devil. But this '50%' stuff is very simple. :) And I'm a math idiot.

On an unrelated note though, does anyone actually get the advertised 8 hours of battery life with their iPod? I sure don't. If the trend holds, I'd expect to get 8 or 10 REAL WORLD hours of play out of the 4G iPod. But that's just my 2¢ :cool: i never play ir none stop for 8 hours on battery !? 5 max

[Abstract]

Another product release announced before it's time. Apple isn't being very Apple-like these days. Last night's discovery was an accident, but today the article has been posted and Apple makes no mention of the new iPods on their site.

This update doesn't seem very revolutionary when compared to the other updates because it was probably done to coincide with the Newsweek article, right? If they wanted to, they could have waited until Paris in 1.5-2 months, which is also when they'll probably announce the new capacity drives. But no, this update was done for the article, and Apple legal doesn't mind the leak because it corresponds to the publicity they want from the article anyway. They want more publicity, and now they're going to get it. "The iPod just got better" --- nice ring to it.

[vpalvarez]

Good thinking! I like to think the new Imac is actually a wearable computer, just because I don't really see how you can out-do a current iMac. The only way i can see out-doing a current Imac, other than a wearable computer, is a tablet. And supposedly Jobs is anti-tablet.

Hmm.. or maybe the "60 GB Ipod" we are assuming is going to come out isn't really an Ipod. Maybe it is something totally different.

It all depends on how many songs people really want. I could easily see how there wouldn't be much of a market at all for 60 GB music players.

If someone is that into music they can always buy 2 Ipods.

So again... maybe what we assume is a high end music player is actually a first generation video player. vPod. Or mPod -- MultimediaPod.

I thought this for a while. Still do sort of. My thinking was't wearable, just toteable. I thought "dang 350K 60 GB HD a month, what are they gonna use them for. Because in the first six months that is 2.1 Million way way to many for just a top end iPod. There has got to be another use for them.

[jettredmont]

I'm still convinced that the iPod's audio quality sucks. You need some good headphones to tell the difference though. Sony Nudes are a good choice.


While you are certainly entitled to your opinion, I have to say I agree with the other poster: generally sound quality on the iPod sounds clearer (and less likely to have the occasional decoding glitch) than any of its competitors I've tried. Granted, I haven't tried the iRiver models, so maybe they sound better. It is, however, wholly disingenuous to say things like:


Finally, about the 4G iPod having better battery life, Apple probably made the headphone amp/sound processing even lower quality, to save battery life. If this is the case, it's an incredible achivement for Apple, because it is a breakthrough to make an amp, that is that crap. I didn't even know it was possible to make something that crap. Maybe the haven't, maybe they have. We'll have to wait and see.


Considering that the iPod generally uses higher-powered amps than its competitors (which tends to gel more with the majority viewpoint that they output higher quality sound than with your oddball idea that it puts out "crap"), Apple would have a considerable amount of power-cutting here to do before they got to the level of the vast majority of the competition.

Again, there may well be better sounding players out there. I'm not disputing that; as with any product Apple must make some compromises to achieve their size, price, and quality metrics. However, amongst the "popular" players on the market it is just plain incorrect to assert that the iPod puts out low-end sound. It's not even within the realm of potential subjective opinion here.

[xsnightclub]

Does anyone else find it humorous that this is still on the Apple Store Website, espcially the "NEW" symbol, how long has that been "NEW"?

[iMeowbot]

Does anyone else find it humorous that this is still on the Apple Store Website, espcially the "NEW" symbol, how long has that been "NEW"?
Since January. (It's really a resurrected model, a 15GB was offered for a few months last year too.)

[jettredmont]

I thought this for a while. Still do sort of. My thinking was't wearable, just toteable. I thought "dang 350K 60 GB HD a month, what are they gonna use them for. Because in the first six months that is 2.1 Million way way to many for just a top end iPod. There has got to be another use for them.

Pop quiz:

Does Apple sell more iMacs or iPods in a given month?

Second question (since, like the iPod, not all iMacs would carry the same size hard drive):

Does Apple sell more top-model iMacs or top-model iPods in a month?

Given current trends, and allowing for a surge in iMac sales come September, which do you think is more likely to reach a sustained rate of 350k per month?

I don't know. It's actually a pretty close call. However, why declare it must be one or the other? Apple is not shy about using the same part in multiple products to get a better margin on it (LCD screens come to mind ...) Note also that more likely contenders for 1.8" drives than iMacs are the current users of 2.5" drives: iBooks and PowerBooks ...

[xsnightclub]

Anyone see this article http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/19/business/19itunes.html , dated July 19,2004. Seems that Newsweek answered the question before it was asked.

"The question is: 'How does Apple keep people coming back?'

[dynamiterave23]

So do you think these things are going to be ready to ship soon or are we going to see them sometime in August?

[iGary]

My guess is they will ship immediately.

[ArticulatedArm]

I thought this for a while. Still do sort of. My thinking was't wearable, just toteable. I thought "dang 350K 60 GB HD a month, what are they gonna use them for. Because in the first six months that is 2.1 Million way way to many for just a top end iPod. There has got to be another use for them.

I was thinking totable too.. but the problem is... either you have a laptop or a tablet. But I was under the impression that this new Imac is supposed to be revolutionary in some way.

Neither a laptop or tablet is revolutionary, though.

So what does this leave? IMO the only form factor yet to be developed and refined is the wearable computer.


If the new Imac is just an all-in-one desktop... and it doesn't have the "articulating arm" of the current Imac.. that is a step back in my opinion.

[jettredmont]

You must be joking. 50% is about as basic as you can get.

you must know what 50% is. 50% of 100 = 50 therefore a 50% jump in a 100 hour battery would be 100 plus that 50 (the 50%jump) equals 150. So a 50% jump in an 8 hour battery would be 8+(50% of 8, or 4)=12

50% is easy, and it's an even whole number your working with, 8. How pathetic is Canada looking, Ay?

Lighten up, guys.

When someone says something like "50% increase", it's actually an ambiguous statement (50% of the original or 50% of the final?) As such, it tends to be used both ways, and you have to look for more context to get a concrete answer. Moreover, it's not always a simple multiplication to get from the original value to the final value based on a reported % change. Take performance numbers: if something used to take 2 minutes performance increased by 50%, how long does it take now? No, it's not 1 minute; it's 1:20 [1 minute would be a 100% performance increase; as performance is work per time, 100% increase in performance means you get twice as much work done in the same amount of time...].

Granted, in context, this "50%" was pretty obviously talking about an increase based on the original value. But being a bit gun-shy about cited percentages is actually pretty understandable, as they're used "incorrectly" at least as often as they're used "correctly", especially in mass-market weekly publications such as NewsWeek.

Or maybe, beyond belief, the Canadian education system really is worse than that of the US :)

[shidoshi]

First, Jalexster has been very mature and intelligent in his iPod criticism. Why is he not allowed to say what he doesn't like about the iPod, or why? Some of you are so pathetic in the way you're jumping on his for what he's saying, like he's making fun of your child or something. The only way products improve is by criticizing their faults. Every product - including the iPod - has faults. If somebody respects the iPod as a product, but doesn't like certain aspects of it, they should have every right to speak out about their concerns. I love my iPod, but there are absolutely things that need to be improved about it. It isn't perfect, and you people who are so scared about others saying bad things about it really need to get a life.

Now, for the people who call ideas like video on the iPod "stupid" - if you don't want it, or like the idea, great, but stop talking like you speak for everybody. You don't. Some of us would be interested in the idea. Some of us would be perfectly happy to watch video on the iPod's screen. Obviously it isn't as nice as watching something on TV, in a movie theater, whatever. Still, it would be a nice addition option of time-wasting material for those times that you need to waste some time. If YOU don't like it, YOU don't have to ask for it. If it was a case of ONLY having a full-colored screen video iPod, and people wouldn't have a choice, then you'd have the right to bitch. Until that day, shut up.

And please, God, stop with the pathetic "you'll be watching the screen and walk into something haha!" crap. So are you saying that we shouldn't have things like the GameBoy for the same reasons? People who bring up that example are the people who would be stupid enough to try to watch video while walking around. The rest of us, however, have enough of a brain not to do that. Not everybody lives in America where you ride around in your car all day long. Some people ride mass-transit to work. Some people fly on airplanes a lot. Some people spend a lot of time out of their house away from their computers, and end up finding themselves in situations where they have time that could be spent enjoying video or whatnot. If you want to argue against video on the iPod, think of REAL reasons it would be a bad idea, not moronic excuses.

[ArticulatedArm]

Lighten up, guys.

When someone says something like "50% increase", it's actually an ambiguous statement (50% of the original or 50% of the final?) As such, it tends to be used both ways, and you have to look for more context to get a concrete answer. Moreover, it's not always a simple multiplication to get from the original value to the final value based on a reported % change. Take performance numbers: if something used to take 2 minutes performance increased by 50%, how long does it take now? No, it's not 1 minute; it's 1:20 [1 minute would be a 100% performance increase; as performance is work per time, 100% increase in performance means you get twice as much work done in the same amount of time...].

Granted, in context, this "50%" was pretty obviously talking about an increase based on the original value. But being a bit gun-shy about cited percentages is actually pretty understandable, as they're used "incorrectly" at least as often as they're used "correctly", especially in mass-market weekly publications such as NewsWeek.

Or maybe, beyond belief, the Canadian education system really is worse than that of the US :)


Or maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part and/or "50% increase" is a kind of dumb way of saying "twice the current amount"

[Doctor Q]

... Apple is gonna run Sony over with this new wave of news.I happened to drive by the Sony offices in Culver City (California) today. I didn't seen any executives through the window pulling their hair out, but then again it's Sunday today.

Sony is into so many markets that they don't depend on any particular one as much as Apple depends on Macs and iPods. I'm glad to see Apple retaining its dominating market share in at least one of those two.

[kirk26]

too bad its heavy as a brick and decidedly unstylish.

Keira Knightley? :D

[Abstract]

I'll keep complaining as long as I like! I still think that everyone should buy an iPod, but nothing can stop me going on and on and on about other brands! I'm trying to pass a subtle message here. "Buy an iPod, Don't buy an iRiver, because I'm buying one. You should buy an iPod." It's a hidden message! Don't you get it? If you don't get an iPod.


Its getting annoying.

"I don't like the iPod at all because its not good, but please get the iPod because it supports Apple.....blah blah...."

We get it.

[ArticulatedArm]

First, Jalexster has been very mature and intelligent in his iPod criticism. Why is he not allowed to say what he doesn't like about the iPod, or why? Some of you are so pathetic in the way you're jumping on his for what he's saying, like he's making fun of your child or something. The only way products improve is by criticizing their faults. Every product - including the iPod - has faults. If somebody respects the iPod as a product, but doesn't like certain aspects of it, they should have every right to speak out about their concerns. I love my iPod, but there are absolutely things that need to be improved about it. It isn't perfect, and you people who are so scared about others saying bad things about it really need to get a life.

Now, for the people who call ideas like video on the iPod "stupid" - if you don't want it, or like the idea, great, but stop talking like you speak for everybody. You don't. Some of us would be interested in the idea. Some of us would be perfectly happy to watch video on the iPod's screen. Obviously it isn't as nice as watching something on TV, in a movie theater, whatever. Still, it would be a nice addition option of time-wasting material for those times that you need to waste some time. If YOU don't like it, YOU don't have to ask for it. If it was a case of ONLY having a full-colored screen video iPod, and people wouldn't have a choice, then you'd have the right to bitch. Until that day, shut up.

And please, God, stop with the pathetic "you'll be watching the screen and walk into something haha!" crap. So are you saying that we shouldn't have things like the GameBoy for the same reasons? People who bring up that example are the people who would be stupid enough to try to watch video while walking around. The rest of us, however, have enough of a brain not to do that. Not everybody lives in America where you ride around in your car all day long. Some people ride mass-transit to work. Some people fly on airplanes a lot. Some people spend a lot of time out of their house away from their computers, and end up finding themselves in situations where they have time that could be spent enjoying video or whatnot. If you want to argue against video on the iPod, think of REAL reasons it would be a bad idea, not moronic excuses.


Nice job! I was too lazy to argue. :D

[gunnmjk]

Leave it to MicroSoft News to create hype for Apples next product...

[Jalexster]

too bad its heavy as a brick and decidedly unstylish.

Are you talking about the iPod, the iRiver, the ViPod, or the TiBook? (Too many "i"s!)

[Yvan256]

Also, about Battery Life. I remeber hearing that in order to reduce the size of the 3G iPod, they decreased the quality of the battery to one thats alot lower quality. Thats why the battery life isn't good.

Is the battery life better on 1G/2G iPods?

Finally, about the 4G iPod having better battery life, Apple probably made the headphone amp/sound processing even lower quality, to save battery life.

Just a little tip, in case you made the same mistake as some people: don't go and plug an iPod from the headphone jack to a stereo system. This is an *amplified headphones jack*, not a line-out jack. Of course, if you go from an amplified headphones output to a stereo line-in, the output will sound like crap (whatever your source/player).

If you want to connect a iPod to your stereo system, you need to use the line-out via a dock connector cable of some sort (does the iPod dock have a line-out jack?).

[johnpaul191]

the same thing happened the night before the iMac G4 was announced. Time's Canadian site posted their story...oops.

this is not like the iMac, and nobody is stealing Apple or Steve's thunder..... there was not even a press event scheduled for this update. Newsweek IS the way Apple was going to get the word to the masses, and i am sure official press releases will follow. it will reach a lot more people this way than stories of iPod upgrades on a bunch of Mac news sites. Newsweek didn't ruin any surprise.... if anything the rumor sites scooped Newsweek and that's about it.

[xsnightclub]

Just in time for your new iPod, Apple is providing this as a courtesy:

[iChan]

Sure the new iPods are cool... but I wouldnt call it a new generation of iPods. Its more like an enhanced iPod.


i've always had a problem with the way apple defines a new generation... however, when you look at the change from gen 1 to gen 2... there is little to no discernable difference... other than the mechanicle and non-moving wheel of course...

yes, this most certainly qualifies as a new generation. the device features you stated would signify a whole new product i would think...

[SilentPanda]

Hmmm... Apple store is down due to scheduled system upgrade... maybe the new iPods will be there when the system comes back?

Edit 1:Hmm... nm... store is back up now.

Edit 2: Looks like just the order status page is down. Maybe they're upgrading orders? I can hope... :)

[Koodauw]

Well, I am rather dissapointed. Some new functionality would be nice. I mean the 3G iPods at least gave us the dock. I will reserve final judgement untill I actually see one though. Who knows, there may be an "iPod Mini you-just-have-to-see-it-up-close to appreciate it" thing going on here.


I think Airtunes is cooler than the iPod Updates.

[Jalexster]

I don't think that this has been mentioned yet, but if it has, please pardon me.

I think that Home on iPod would be useful, but only a beginning. What would be really awesome is if you could boot from the thing. Think about how sweet that would be for all of us techsupport guys. Boot problems? Plug it in and boot from your iPod with TechTool Pro, Norton Utilities, DiskWarrior, plus Apple's Internal Diags all ready to go. No switching boot disks and waiting. If it's time for a format/reinstall, you are ready to back-up. You could even have a drive image of several different versions of the OS (depending on what the machine shipped with) and just copy it over instead of going through the cd install process. It would be sweet. I think that everyone who does a lot of Mac support would have to have one. In most cases, the employer would probably pay for it after the he/she understood the time savings involved.

Just my 2 cents.

You can already install as OS on the iPod. I'm pretty sure that some people installed thier Tiger Beta onto thier iPods, so they wouldn't over write Panther.

And thank you shidoshi, for what you said. And I'm sorry if I annoyed anyone.

Also, I haven't bought an iRiver yet. And I know the iPod has a Line-out. I'm still sticking with my belife that the iPod's headphone amp isn't very good.

Finally, you think Aplle could at least include an FM Radio? The Nomad MuVo TX (by Creative), even has a radio. And it's the size of your thumb (The black part is just the battery, the coloured part is the actual TX).

[Panther]

I'm sorry, but I find it hard to think that Newsweek (or MSNBC for that matter) accidentally leaked this story a day ahead of time... Not after the trouble that Time got into (which may explain how Newsweek got the scoop this time).

That would lead you to think that Steve wanted them to leak the story a day early. Why? Perhaps some clue lies in the original ThinkSecret article (http://www.thinksecret.com/news/newipods.html)...the announcement will be delivered through an out-of-the-ordinary publicity medium
I see nothing out of the ordinary hinted at by the specs we know about. All of which makes me wonder if Steve and Newsweek have deliberately not told the whole story. After the iMac incident, and the G5 prematurely showing up on the Apple site, he must know how this community would be all over it like a rash the moment it went up on the Newsweek site.

How cool would it be if he was actually using us as part a huge viral marketing stunt so he could pull something really surprising out of the hat!

While I think AirTunes support would be great, or even Bluetooth support, neither would lend themselves doing a riveting product announcement. Which makes me wonder if we are actually going to see video-out support (at least through the dock). I know folks with huge CD collections, but for most folks their entire collection would fit on a 20GB iPod, and even 10GB is ample... But storing video (or whole DVDs) would be a great way to justify the investment in a 60GB iPod (what else are you going to use it all for?)

Because frankly if this all there is, its not worth my upgrading from my 3G. The battery life would be nice, but I have a dock at work where I do most of my listening so the 50% increase is largely moot. And while I'm not a fan of the buttons on the 3G, they don't even come close to justify spending another $299.

[DonkeyKong]

I see so many threads talking about adding new functions to the iPod....i mean isn't the sole purpose of the ipod to play music and music only. I say the best thing to do is keep it as simple as possible.
like right now with the 4G ipods instead of adding some useless feature, apple's cosiderably improved the battery life of the iPod...thats terrfic!!
peace :)

[Abstract]

Pop quiz:

Does Apple sell more iMacs or iPods in a given month?

Second question (since, like the iPod, not all iMacs would carry the same size hard drive):

Does Apple sell more top-model iMacs or top-model iPods in a month?

Given current trends, and allowing for a surge in iMac sales come September, which do you think is more likely to reach a sustained rate of 350k per month?

I don't know. It's actually a pretty close call. However, why declare it must be one or the other? Apple is not shy about using the same part in multiple products to get a better margin on it (LCD screens come to mind ...) Note also that more likely contenders for 1.8" drives than iMacs are the current users of 2.5" drives: iBooks and PowerBooks ...

Well, Apple sure bought a lot of these 60GB drives, and I doubt they're going to sell that many 60GB iPods. The large large majority of people don't even need more than 15GB or 20GB, let alone 40GB.
And the iPod drives are slow as grandma. They don't even spin at 4800rpm, so they'd be useless in an iBook/Powerbook as they are unless they were sped up dramatically.
This is why the person who posted that Apple is probably coming up with a whole new device (video iPod, or something else entirely) makes a bit of sense to me. There's no way 350000 60GB drives are going to be made into iPods when sales of the high-end 40GB iPods isn't that high to begin with.

[BeanTownBrawler]

Im going to the apple store at 11 tomorrow to see if they have the new ipods. Possibly waiting till Best Buy gets them so I can get the beast warranty

[hob]

I think it's important (as the guy at the top of this page said) to keep the ipod simple - pure you might say. We didn't see CD-walkmans suddenly playing video when CD-Rom usage became widespread...?

I don't think I'll be buying a 4G iPod in any great hurry (although christmas becons...) My 20GB is just starting to creak with capacity I may need a 40GB soon enough, but then and only then will I buy a new one... I didn't even like the new scroll wheel that much when i tried one... infact - I got to New York went straight to SoHo, made a bee-line for the iPod MINI and it ELECTRICUTED me!!! :O

Ah well,

Hob

[bar italia]

Im going to the apple store at 11 tomorrow to see if they have the new ipods. Possibly waiting till Best Buy gets them so I can get the beast warranty

Why not just camp out overnight? That way you can be sure to be the first of your friends to have the latest and greatest.

[BeanTownBrawler]

I dont have any nutty friends like you guys :p

Im pretty sure I'll be the only person in the store

[broken_keyboard]

A millimeter thinner?
But, but... what if it has dust on?

[xsnightclub]

I see so many threads talking about adding new functions to the iPod....i mean isn't the sole purpose of the ipod to play music and music only. :)

With the exception of using it as a portable disk drive, calender, notes, picture storage, games, alarm clock, addressbook, audio recording.

With having this much space available in the drive, it makes sense to make it more versatile for the needs of others. While music should remain the main purpose, adding features for those who want to use them only increases the demand for the iPod and increases profit for Apple, which means more money for R&D!

[Jalexster]

About the iPod. I'm actully thinking of getting one, instead of an iRiver. Almost everyone here is convinced that the iPods sound good, so maybe I will take thier opinions onboard, and forget the opinions of everyone with good hearing, and just get a vastly inferior iPod.

I'm not kidding here, I might actully get an iPod. Seeing as iRivers probably aren't avalible in Australia. They might be avalible though. Could someone tell me if they are avalible (if they know)?

[appleface]

Well, Apple sure bought a lot of these 60GB drives, and I doubt they're going to sell that many 60GB iPods. [...]
This is why the person who posted that Apple is probably coming up with a whole new device makes a bit of sense to me. There's no way 350000 60GB drives are going to be made into iPods when sales of the high-end 40GB iPods isn't that high to begin with.

"Newton!"

there. i said it. that feels better.

[Clive At Five]

Unfortunately, consumers are idiots. If they read that Sony has an MP3 player with a ton of features and find out that the iPod has almost nothing new, bad things will happen. The simplistic stratedgy that Apple likes to use is hard to justify in a market as volitile and ferocious as this one.

THOUGH. I've heard some word circulating about voice-activation on the new iPods. "play mr roboto" and voila... I don't know if this is true or not and it would mean there's a built-in microphone... which seems... iffy.

Regardless, tomorrow, I will own my very first iPod.

-Clive at Five

[joeboy_45101]

Another product release announced before it's time. Apple isn't being very Apple-like these days. Last night's discovery was an accident, but today the article has been posted and Apple makes no mention of the new iPods on their site.

Apple moved our cheese.

[mainstreetmark]

THOUGH. I've heard some word circulating about voice-activation on the new iPods. "play mr roboto" and voila... I don't know if this is true or not and it would mean there's a built-in microphone... which seems... iffy.

Regardless, tomorrow, I will own my very first iPod.

-Clive at Five

Even the modest "Next", "Prev" voice commands would be way too complex for the iPod, i would expect, which takes it's time sometimes figuring what's out in some of my smart playlists. One of my cellphones could do it, but it just patterned matched against a pre-recorded soundbyte (the person's name, spoken by you) and even that was craptacular, and I never used it successfully.

[ZildjianKX]

I'm a little dissapointed... I was hoping for better battery life (like 16+ hrs). I planned on keeping my iPod for awhile anyways, but still I was hoping for a little bit more after having the 3G design for over a year.

[MOSOXFAN]

Other than a Apple store, where can one pick up a 4G tomorrow? Does it have to be bought through an e-tailer site or the Apple web store to get one right away?

[dynamiterave23]

Other than a Apple store, where can one pick up a 4G tomorrow? Does it have to be bought through an e-tailer site or the Apple web store to get one right away?

I don't know. I'd imagine they would be available on apple.com tomorrow and in Apple retail stores sometime this week. Then mass retailers like Best Buy some time in the next week.

[jimsowden]

Other than a Apple store, where can one pick up a 4G tomorrow? Does it have to be bought through an e-tailer site or the Apple web store to get one right away?
Apple Stores won't have them tomorrow. They get them after the first of the online orders have been filled.

[mstecker]

Click Wheel !?

Ewe.

The greatest thing about the G3 iPods are the touch sensitive scrool wheel and buttons. They are so easy and not to mention inovative.... The click wheel is like playing with a Snapple cap....

Nice to see Apple dominating, but I like my g3 way better.

That's funny. The one thing I really dislike about my g3 (and I've had a g1 and a g2) is the "touch" buttons. There's not enough tactile feedback. I can't tell if the buttons are really pressed or not.

[gensor]

[MOSOXFAN]

Apple Stores won't have them tomorrow. They get them after the first of the online orders have been filled.

Available to order or to ship!? Just trying to figure out the quickest way to get my first iPod! Now I'll get to one-up my wife and her 3G! :D

[dynamiterave23]

Available to order or to ship!?

I'm wondering that as well. If I order tomorrow morning, will it ship tomorrow afternoon or will it be a pre-order deal?

[SoGood]

Just bear in mind that Japanese electronic companies are masters at adding features and control knobs that's just about useless, but leaving consumers with the impression that they are gaining more control of their equipment.

I like iPod for its simplicity that no one will freak out over its interface, yet still maintains top quality sound. Afterall, a wheel is still round after a few thousand years...

[mpw]

...some people in this forum are saying 'my music collections up to 20,30,40GB I can't wait for the 60GB to be released'.
Am I missing the point or something? I thought a big part of the iPod's sucess was it's partnership with iTunes & iTMS. I organise all my music in iTunes and then plan, once my iPod mini in (blue or silver please Santa), arrives to transfer 4 GB at a time the idea of wandering around with 15,000 songs to organise on a tiny screen seems a chore.
How do present owners use theirs? Are that many of you transporting your pitures files etc. aswell?

[MOSOXFAN]

I'm wondering that as well. If I order tomorrow morning, will it ship tomorrow afternoon or will it be a pre-order deal?

I ordered my wife's 3G through Ecost.com and it was sent overnite, but they were obviously in stock. The question is who will actually be stocking 4G's tomorrow--if they don't have them already!?

[nuclearwinter]

I have a 3G iPod. If Apple has instituted new and more efficient menus for the 4G iPod, will these new and improved menus be available via update for the 3G or will Apple just ditch the rest of us that won't upgrade to a 4G? What was the transition like between 1G and 2G, and also 2G and 3G iPods? I'm relatively new to Apple and don't know that much about how they treat their iPod customers.

EDIT: Oops! I didn't read the whole thread carefully enough. Someone already brought this up. Oh well, if anyone has any further thoughts on this topic than what was already mentioned, I'd like to read them!

[jbembe]

40gig, 3rd generation. Warrantied within 4 months, brand new unit. Excellent condition, very few marks. Comes with a belt clip carrier. 350 o.b.o.

I didn't think I'd be swayed to go for this new iPod. BUT 12HRS BATTERY!?!?!?!?!

[Dr. Pookey]

I think I saw in an article somewhere (ThinkSecret?) that Apple would be "gradually" moving these in. That might mean the 3G will still be for sale. I do hope that there will be an upgrade for the 3Gs, though. Do you think that we'll be able to double our battery life if we're using the same system as the 4Gs? Well, I'm just wondering exactly what time this will be released on the Apple website...

[MOSOXFAN]

40gig, 3rd generation. Warrantied within 4 months, brand new unit. Excellent condition, very few marks. Comes with a belt clip carrier. 350 o.b.o.

I didn't think I'd be swayed to go for this new iPod. BUT 12HRS BATTERY!?!?!?!?!

Hmmm let's see--a brand new 40GB 4G for $50 more tomorrow or your used 3G? That's a no-brainer--post yours on E-bay where used iPods belong. This is a thread to discuss new iPod details.

[Mac Boy-Canada]

You must be joking. 50% is about as basic as you can get.

you must know what 50% is. 50% of 100 = 50 therefore a 50% jump in a 100 hour battery would be 100 plus that 50 (the 50%jump) equals 150. So a 50% jump in an 8 hour battery would be 8+(50% of 8, or 4)=12

50% is easy, and it's an even whole number your working with, 8. How pathetic is Canada looking, Ay?

Oh...Don't make me mad now. First of all, most Canadians are quite gifted at math. Almost half have completed Math 10 in Grade 9. Don't take a small sample, and blow it out of proportion.

And second of all, it's "eh", not "ay". Get it right the first time!!

[mpw]

Oh...Don't make me mad now. First of all, most Canadians are quite gifted at math. Almost half have completed Math 10 in Grade 9. Don't take a small sample, and blow it out of proportion.

And second of all, it's "eh", not "ay". Get it right the first time!!

Isn't it 'ais. As in the ending to alot of French words?