let's hope the "phoneless iphone" *doesn't* materialise
Question: As there is speculation that the iPods will have WiFi and thus a possibility to connect wirelessly to the iTunes store to purchase music (and some speculation that there might be wireless syncing via bluetooth in the works), will this capability be added via iTunes and a new iTunes mobile store for the iPhone as well? ...
What you are pointing out here is a large part of the reason why there is so much speculation about WiFi features and what will be included etc.
At this point no one knows, but personally I hope that the iPod doesn't try to be a "phoneless iPhone" as it would confuse the whole issue of what the heck it is you are buying anyway. It seems to me that if the "phone-less iphone" becomes reality, then all you will have is two broken products each of which containing a flaw that the other addresses.
- the sexy
iPhone will have a cousin that does
almost everything it does, be about the same price, but store at least
ten times the amount of data.
- the new
widescreen iPod will be like an improved iPhone except for that one naggling detail (that it won't be able to do anything at all if your not in a wi-fi hotspot.)
You will have two products, that are almost identical, and each will be that perfect portable device (except for the giant glitch in each). The consumer is then forced to chose between two almost identical yet hobbled devices, neither one being exactly what is needed.
Here's hoping that this doesn't happen, and that the iPod focuses on music functions.
I am surprised to see that the round up of coverage above doesn't even mention the rumours of a different kind of radio from standard WiFi or bluetooth and the rumours of kiosks in Starbucks and other places. These, or other solutions, could give users the ability to share, stream, and purchase media without necessarily hooking them up to the internet. It would also account for the large media presence if Apple was about to bring out some partners in music distribution.
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