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A Flash Based 4GB iPod mini?

just an idea...

...and someone will have to point out how wrong i am

but maybe we are all missing the point. Why not use this as some sort of bootable drive in the new intel macs so build a system that no pc could replicate and therefore no hacks can work around. The cost is negligible because of teh negotiated price and it would also bring about very rapid start up in the computers which some would appreciate.

Sure iPods are more likely but new mac systems are so much more exciting that yet another music box - doesn't everyone in the known world now own at least one ipod?
 
...interesting perspective

jimN said:
...and someone will have to point out how wrong i am

but maybe we are all missing the point. Why not use this as some sort of bootable drive in the new intel macs so build a system that no pc could replicate and therefore no hacks can work around. The cost is negligible because of teh negotiated price and it would also bring about very rapid start up in the computers which some would appreciate.

Sure iPods are more likely but new mac systems are so much more exciting that yet another music box - doesn't everyone in the known world now own at least one ipod?
Click to expand...
Well I'm not going to prove you wrong, I'll leave that to those smart alecs who will know all the details!

As far as I'm concerned you've raised a very interesting point here. As far as I am aware there is no reason why it can't be a totally plausible point as well!
A chip like this may be linked "somehow" to new desktops, if not when the new Mac Intel machines come out first, maybe later. It's at least a tiny weeny bit possible, right? In some sort of shape or form!

It reminds me of a discussion I had with my old technician collegue at college, he saw it totally feasable that you could put a ROM chip or some sort of flash-type chip inside a computer to hold the basic OS, or some aspect of it, or something, (I guess like a much more complex version of a BIOS, I'm not sure), he saw this as a great opportunity to reduce or stop the threat of viruses etc. The basic OS could not be changed etc, or could easily be booted up and replaced from this chip, resolving any damage that a virus could cause. It was very long winded and very interesting at the time. Sorry if it doesn't make any sense to you, I'm trying to remember as much detail as I can about it! Much of it went over my head! He knew what he was going on about anyway!

Anyhoo, very interesting point!
 
Gil_Grissom said:
Anyhoo, very interesting point!
Click to expand...

woo hoo, nice to know i'm not completely in cloud cuckoo land. I know that it is going to end up in the ipods but for low power usage you could fire up a laptop and run a basic suite of core apple utilities without having to trouble the hard disk. In fact if you turned your browser cache off (which isn't unfeasible when connection speed is high) you'd never need use the disk at all. Plus your chip wouldn't be pulling much juice if you were just browsing the forums, typing a document in pages.

So much potential, i'm wasted here!
 
I will be after an ipod later this year.... however at the moment i wouldnt buy one because the current machines dont have enough battery life, hence im mostly interested in the next gen!

The flash news sounds good however I would point out a couple of links.....here and here. Both are from late last year and are fairly sure of an imminent flash mini..... clearly they were both very wrong!

Adam
 
talksalot81 said:
The flash news sounds good however I would point out a couple of links.....here and here. Both are from late last year and are fairly sure of an imminent flash mini..... clearly they were both very wrong!
Click to expand...

Rumors of a "mini" flash-based MP3 player from Apple late last year?!? Just before the release of the iPod shuffle?!? Yeah, those were way off! :p :cool:
 
~Shard~ said:
Rumors of a "mini" flash-based MP3 player from Apple late last year?!? Just before the release of the iPod shuffle?!? Yeah, those were way off! :p :cool:
Click to expand...

Doh..... how right you are! That said, the articles arent actually written that way! I think these guys need english lessons not new ipods :D

So ignore me and i'll continue to read posts from those who know better and i'll shut up!
 
talksalot81 said:
Doh..... how right you are! That said, the articles arent actually written that way! I think these guys need english lessons not new ipods :D

So ignore me and i'll continue to read posts from those who know better and i'll shut up!
Click to expand...

No worries, just having some fun - it's all good. :) :cool:
 
Would a flash based iPod eventually die just like flash drives? I know my Sony Flash Drive has a max of 1,000,000 read/writes, I guess after that it is just fried. Would the same idea apply to an iPod...if so, I would want a HardDrive one instead/
 
EricNau said:
Would a flash based iPod eventually die just like flash drives? I know my Sony Flash Drive has a max of 1,000,000 read/writes, I guess after that it is just fried. Would the same idea apply to an iPod...if so, I would want a HardDrive one instead/
Click to expand...
At the same time, wouldn't hard drives also eventually fail?
The read/writes of flash memory and hard drives, and the swings and roundabouts have been mentioned.
 
I guess podfuture has some points here according to the rumor of
new ipod mini. I'm a little frustrated of the thougth that the new ipod
mini won't have an overall aloy case anymore :-(

podfuture said:
It's like a little brother to the iPod. Stainless steel back, polished white front. About 9mm thick. About 40x80mm overall. Someone who has actually held one said it is pure elegance. He speaks of certain castration by Apple if any sketches or photos leak.

I think Apple is betting the farm on this Flash Mini. Street says 10M units are scheduled to deliver for Christmas.

One closely held secret is whether or not it has a photo-quality display. If so, this tells me the existing Mini formfactor may be on the way out.

I hear the price has to be north of $199, which might also support the theory that Mini is end-of-life. Absolutely no guidance available on this point.

Sorry, no quotable sources. you expect this kind of thing from newbies!

(am in Southern China)
Click to expand...
 
I personally have the feeling that podfuture is legit. Obviously he could be anyone, but my feeling from his posts is that he is not making stuff up.

Just to go along with this speculation, putting the headphone jack on the bottom would probably indicate Apple is going for a similar configuration as the Shuffle- maybe it comes with a lanyard for example. This new flash Mini would be light enough, and I personally find the lanyard really handy, one of the better 'features' of the Shuffle. Having a screen and click wheel right there for instant access (instead of in your pocket) would make it even better. I prefer the aluminum shell of the current Mini's, but will go with either.

I think the announcement would come in Paris, well in time for holiday sales. I will buy a 8 GB'er if this turns out to be true.
 
EricNau said:
Would a flash based iPod eventually die just like flash drives? I know my Sony Flash Drive has a max of 1,000,000 read/writes, I guess after that it is just fried. Would the same idea apply to an iPod...if so, I would want a HardDrive one instead/
Click to expand...

Yeah, but you don't realise how much 1 million writes is. If you write your disk, let's say a ridiculous number like 50 times a day, EVERY day, it'd still take you 55 years to 'fry' that bugger.

And let's say you were just reasonably busy and used it 20 times every weekday, it'd take you 200 years. I'm pretty sure you're not going to care if your flash drive is fried by that stage.

Realistically? You're probably not going to write more than 10 times every other day (especially if it's just your music player), then it could last as long as 500 years.
 
Here's what I'd like to see:

1GB iPod shuffle - $69
6GB iPod Mini (flash based, color screen) - $149
8GB iPod Mini (flash based, color screen) - $199
10GB iPod Mini (flash based? color screen) - $249
60GB iPod - $349
80GB iPod - $399

There we go... nice and simple. For only $100 more, you get 20 more GBs. :cool:
 
talksalot81 said:
I thought the killer capacity was 20gb.... if so wont they keep that?

Adam
Click to expand...
20Gb is the current killer capacity because of several factors. Some include the fact that it gives a slim profile (compared to higher like 60Gb) and its the cheapest. If a 60Gb etc met the same requirements, such as dropping in price to the current 20Gb pice point it should probably sell just as well if the 20Gb was not there. Natural technological advances and price falls.
 
Plymouthbreezer said:
Here's what I'd like to see:

1GB iPod shuffle - $69
6GB iPod Mini (flash based, color screen) - $149
8GB iPod Mini (flash based, color screen) - $199
10GB iPod Mini (flash based? color screen) - $249
Click to expand...


That would be a mazing price wise, but I think we are a few years away from such pricing.
 
512MB iPS - $69
1GB iPS - $99
2GB iPS- $129
4GB iPod Mini - $149
6GB iPod Mini - $199
8GB iPod Mini - $249

Look on ThinkSecret or Original Dwelling and read the article about it. Those seem like fair prices. All iPod Minis would be flash and get that much memory from dual flash chips.
 
Caitlyn said:
512MB iPS - $69
1GB iPS - $99
2GB iPS- $129
4GB iPod Mini - $149
6GB iPod Mini - $199
8GB iPod Mini - $249

Look on ThinkSecret or Original Dwelling and read the article about it. Those seem like fair prices. All iPod Minis would be flash and get that much memory from dual flash chips.
Click to expand...
Yeah - they look pretty fair to me. Also, they would be flash based.
 
If the iPod mini does move over to Flash memory, would we see an improvement on the already impressive 18 hour battery life?
 
Gil_Grissom said:
It reminds me of a discussion I had with my old technician collegue at college, he saw it totally feasable that you could put a ROM chip or some sort of flash-type chip inside a computer to hold the basic OS, or some aspect of it, or something, (I guess like a much more complex version of a BIOS, I'm not sure), he saw this as a great opportunity to reduce or stop the threat of viruses etc. The basic OS could not be changed etc, or could easily be booted up and replaced from this chip, resolving any damage that a virus could cause. It was very long winded and very interesting at the time.
Click to expand...

This is actually a very old idea and has been done. I think at one point in the early PC days they had something called (and I may have the name wrong) ROM-DOS where the OS was indeed booted right from a ROM chip. This was back in the days when hard drives were unheard of on the consumer market and adding a second floppy disk drive could cost hundreds of dollars.

But doing this would negate the ability, for instance, to run Windows or Linux on a MacTel -- the system would just boot right into MacOS X and never look back. That could be Apple's plan, but I hope not. Then again, if VirtualPC for MacTel were able to run with the kind of speed seen in the Windows host version of VPC, then running Windows under MacOS X would be pretty sweet.
 
MacSA said:
If the iPod mini does move over to Flash memory, would we see an improvement on the already impressive 18 hour battery life?
Click to expand...

I think they will put in a smaller battery to make the overall package nice and thin. So the battery life may or may not increase, just depends on the overall final design-
 
qubex said:
I'm a financial analyst. You don't fully understand the dynamics of SAMSUNG's business. Read my previous post: SAMSUNG doesn't have the production capacity to meet the increased demand and have no guarantees that they will retain the customer (Apple) in the medium- to long-term. Thus they have incurred sales costs (which I'm sure they'll account for in Goodwill terms) and investment obligations with no certainty of ROI.

Anyway the market has voted already: shares were down on after-close trading on 22 Aug and throughout 23 Aug. Chart
Click to expand...
You remind me of a financial analyst friend of mine.

He predicted that the iPod would fail. Said that Apple was stupid. Said no one would purchase the iPod.

...I think he is still eating crow. You might want to start on your plate.

Apple's iPod nano will be popular and create and infussion of funds for Samsung. They can expand their production for the future.

Sushi
 
Well, this iPod nano sure makes the shuffle seem a lot less attractive now. Perhaps this is what the shuffle should have been in the first place. :cool:

I'm still holding out for a video iPod - until then, my 3G will do me just fine.
 
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