60GB, Color LCD, IPhoto sync, Video out???
Well, after closely observing Apple's product launches for the past 18 months, the 60GB, Color LCD, IPhoto, Video-Out Ipod has got to be a rumor. Here's my thoughts about it.
1. 60 GB Harddrive. Yes, it would be a feasable option, also logical to do for apple to increase storage space to the best music player ever released. However, does anybody really need 60 GB of space? 90% of all people have actually less then 10GB of music on their harddrives. When I saw the introduction of the 4G iPod, I was pleasantly surprised that there was no 60 GB version, and it really made sense to me, because there is only a small percentage of people that really use the additional space that the 40GB model doesn't provide.
2. Color LCD. When I read color LCD, I thought, and the battery life? When I read 2" color LCD, I knew it had to be a rumor. Here's why. If apple integrates a color LCD to view pictures, it wouldn't be as small as the existing 2" lcd screen. Apple always has focused on superior quality in their display products. a 2" lcd would simply not be up to their standards. Well, if they would implement a larger screen, possibly covering the entire face of the ipod, it became more credible, however, in contrast, how much would that take burden to the battery life.
3. iPhoto sync. Great idea. But it would require to come up with a windows version of iPhoto. That's actually doable and would be quite an enlightenment for the windows world. It sounds feasable and would greatly make sense to add the additional disk space. However, it couldn't convince me all the way, because of the color lcd screen issue.
4. Video Out port. This is a joke. If apple seriously comes out with a video out port on the ipod, it would just not make sense at all. Here's why. You would have to have a cable at hand in order to use the photo feature. This means you would have to possibly carry it with you. A company that has a strategy in place to mobilize peoples music and possibly photos in such an excellent way, cannot make an addition to their product line that requires you to carry a cable or anything like that. Apple has shown with the airport express that they are going away from cables. I'm confident enough that Apple would not come out with a portable device that sports a port that requires you to have any kind of cable with you. If at all, it had to be wireless. We all know that technology is not yet advanced and standardized enough to send video/picture data wirelessly to a tv set.
Conclusion:
This new device got to be a rumor, because it has too many specs that would violate the strategy that apple has shown in their recent product releases. The screen would have been too small, as well as the video-out port that requires to use a cable is not convincing to me to believe it is part of the new leading edge portable music (media) player. I could imagine iphoto for windows and the larger hdd for additional space that photos may take up.
My proposal:
A new future iPod in my opinion would sport a WiFi interface for wireless synchronization (no dock required/or optional) and compatibility with Airport Express in order to stream music from the ipod to your stereo, wirelessly. That is in my opinion the only logical extension that apple could make to the market's leading music player as the ipod is now. No picture support, no color lcd, no video out. it all doesn't make sense to apple's strategy right now. Video and picture support had to be implemented into a completely new product.