Everything rolled into one...
This device may or may not be an 'iPod', but the word 'iPod' has definitely been registered within the last week or two. A look at the trademark details revealed at ATMOSS (Australian Trade Mark Online Search System) might shed some light on what this 'iThing' is.
A few key words from the trademark list: "electronic handheld devices for the wireless receipt and/or transmission of data, particularly messages, and devices that enable the user to keep track of or manage personal information; character recognition software; apparatus for recording, transmission and reproduction of sounds; telephones..."
The list goes on and on (and on) and some of the elements in the list make for interesting reading/thinking. Yes, perhaps we've seen all these things before, but AS SEPARATE DEVICES. Apple's strength lies in revisiting previously bungled concepts and wrapping them up in a package that not only works, but is easy to use.
Imagine a PDA that connects wirelessly to your lap/desktop and is always synch'ing between the two so that both machines remain synchronised, it does all of this wirelessly and intelligently.
It is essentially an easy-to-carry extension of your main hub/computer, i.e. the computer is the hub, not this new device. This device is an extension of your data-hub that allows you to be un-tethered from a sill-fairly-heavy-to-carry-around laptop.
It is a phone, a PDA, an .mp3 player, a data-hub all rolled into one. It's the 'rolling into one' bit that is the breakthrough/groundbreaking bit.
Consider this scenario: Every morning I pack my bag to go to work, into it I put: a G3 laptop, a Palm, a CD player, a mobile phone and a few magazines, etc. It is HEAVY and everything RUNS OUT OF BATTERIES all the time because I can never remember what needs re-charged. I get on the bus and I can't decide: do I want to work on my laptop, read the news on my Palm or just listen to my stereo?
Now consider this alternative scenario: Every morning I pack my bag to go to work, into it I put: one iPod. It has everything on it, it is LIGHT and it DOESN'T RUN OUT OF BATTERIES all the time because I can manage to get my brain to remember to recharge it (and only it) every night.
I'd buy this, no question. If only to save my poor brain from the nightmare of packing my bag every morning.
Trademark details follow to save you looking at the above link...
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ATMOSS - Australian Trade Mark Online Search System
Word: IPOD
Lodgement Date: 02-OCT-2001
Class/es: 9, 28, 38 <- This bit gives you context for what 'it' is... (see below).
Status: Indexing Approved
Owner/s:
Apple Computer, Inc
1 Infinite Loop,
MS : 3TM, Cupertino,
California 95014
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Goods & Services
Class: 09
Computers, computer hardware, computer peripherals, hand held computers, personal digital assistants, electronic organisers, electronic notepads, apparatus for recording, transmission and reproduction of sounds, images, or other data; magnetic data carriers; mobile digital electronic devices, telephones, computer gaming machines, microprocessors, memories boards, monitors, displays, keyboards, cables, modems, printers, videophones, disk drives, cameras; computer software, prerecorded computer programs for personal information management, database management software, character recognition software, telephony management software, electronic mail and messaging software, paging software, database synchronization software, computer programs for accessing, browsing and searching online databases, computer software and firmware, namely operating system programs, data synchronization programs, and application development tool programs for personal and handheld computers; electronic handheld devices for the wireless receipt and/or transmission of data, particularly messages, and devices that enable the user to keep track of or manage personal information; software for the redirection of messages, Internet e-mail, and/or other data to one or more electronic handheld devices from a data store on or associated with a personal computer or a server; and software for the synchronization of data between a remote station or device and a fixed or remote station or device; computer hardware and peripherals
Class: 28
Games and playthings, namely, electronic games, hand-held electronic games and apparatus
Class: 38
Communication and telecommunication services, providing access to web sites on the Internet: delivery of digital music by telecommunications, providing wireless telecommunications via electronic communications networks, wireless digital messaging, paging services, and electronic mail services, including services that enable a user to send and/or receive messages through a wireless data network; one-way and two-way paging services...
