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Flash iPod Details?

It's not feasibly possible for any human to have read all the posts over all forums regarding this 'iPod Shuffle Randomatron' device, so my apologies if this has already been said.

We're missing a large chunk of the puzzle. This device will be cool. Ultra thin (credit card thin) have a radio or a unique way of browsing music without a screen that we'd not thought of or never thought possible. Apple have done it once or twice before ;) Have faith.
 
All I'm going to say is that I don't like the idea the way it sounds right now, maybe after tomorrow I will change my mind.

Even the other companies who make the flash drives are better then that.
 
I'm still waiting for someone to say "Speech recognition"

user (in this case me, Andy) - "iPod... Play Song Too Much by Dave Matthews Band"

iPod - "Now shuffling to Too Much by Dave Matthews Band"

the word shuffle had to be in there somewhere
 
ok, brace for another monster thread with the same arguments for/against the lack of display.
 
MSLonghorny said:
I'm still waiting for someone to say "Speech recognition"

user (in this case me, Andy) - "iPod... Play Song Too Much by Dave Matthews Band"

iPod - "Now shuffling to Too Much by Dave Matthews Band"

the word shuffle had to be in there somewhere
Click to expand...

I don't think this will happen. Speech recognition isn't booming because, for one, speaking at *random* (pun alert!) into an electronic device embarrasses people and gets you funny looks.
 
If It doesn't do playlist, it won't sell.

Like WTF? Random? I hate it. Maybe the engineers like it but not me. OK? :confused: :confused:
 
ruud said:
ok, brace for another monster thread with the same arguments for/against the lack of display.
Click to expand...

I was wondering myself why this wasn't added as an update to the other article... Here we go again :rolleyes:
Anyway, guess I'll get some sleep and leave you guys here chatting. I'm going to be in classes tomorrow at 5PM GMT, so good MWSF-live-feed-reading to you all!! (I think I'll just watch the delayed keynote stream, thanks ;))
 
hogwash. This little bastard is going to have a beautiful huge screen. It will be available in every Pantone color and will have the word shuffle laser engraved on the entire back side in Papyrus bold.
 
TMA said:
I don't think this will happen. Speech recognition isn't booming because, for one, speaking at *random* (pun alert!) into an electronic device embarrasses people and gets you funny looks.
Click to expand...

In the days of people talking to their car radios! I think speech recognition is just begging to be let into public! I mean come on, what better way to chance songs during exams then yelling out "iPod next song please"

:p just a creative screen alternative.
 
ruud said:
ok, brace for another monster thread with the same arguments for/against the lack of display.
Click to expand...

Welcome to last month! ;) (when the Milano cookie renderings were shown)

Here's the thing. Apple either does something different with the flash player, or they don't do one at all. They were not going to come out with a 1GB flash iPod in a Mini shell for $199, people will choose the $249 iPod Mini instead.

So they went back to the drawing board, and tried to come up with not only a cheaper player, but one that won't get tossed in a drawer (as Steve Jobs describes other flash players.) What they came up with was the idea of leveraging iTunes as much as possible, and minimizing the actual player interface. The player will be able to completely swap out its songs automatically when you dock, either based on your playlists, smartlists, or completely at random.

If you don't want this, then you probably were better off with a regular iPod or iPod Mini anyways. There are going to be a lot of people however who have an iPod already, that will end up buying one of these. Many other posters have already described how they either use the display-less remote most of the time, or use playlists and don't spend too much time scrolling through their collection anyways. Obviously this player is geared to that type of usage.

Design is not just making something cool, or using cool features from different products, it's about having a specific user experience or goal in mind, and then trying to meet it. Not everyone is going to like it, but the design actually makes complete sense.
 
MSLonghorny said:
In the days of people talking to their car radios!
Click to expand...

I have NEVER seen anyone talking to a car radio. If I do I will point and laugh. Hard. Voice recognition in small electronic devices is pretty pitiful though from previous experiences.
 
DavidLeblond said:
What buttons? Volume up/down, next track/prev track... thats 4, so how do you switch it from shuffle to normal mode? Doesn't quite make sense.
Click to expand...
Life is random. Maybe there is no normal mode.
 
whoa wait i just had an idea. What if it's designed like iTunes?

Only 3 buttons main buttons. Play, Back, and Forward.

then on the left of the device, half a dozen small buttons. Each one a playlist. You click the button for the playlist you want to play. No screen needed. Or maybe on the left two small up and down arrow buttons, and a tiny lcd screen that displays a number, for the playlist. Except their isn't suppose to be any screen at all. So, all you need to do is remember half a dozen playlists and their corresponding number. Oh and a button that lets you pick if it should play that playlist in order, or shuffle it!

Ha i'm a genius. If i'm right will someone buy me a car?
 
iPod Shuffle...Shuffle iPod? I don't think so. Just plain Shuffle, which may exclude it as a member of the iPod family?

Just thinking aloud.
 
Well, if apple wanted to be TOTALLY accurate, rather than "240 songs a million ways," the slogan would be "240 songs 240! ways," which is well over a million.
 
you know Apple really taught out what they were doing, it gas to better than the other stuff out there :D
 
madmaxmedia said:
Welcome to last month! ;) (when the Milano cookie renderings were shown)

Here's the thing. Apple either does something different with the flash player, or they don't do one at all. They were not going to come out with a 1GB flash iPod in a Mini shell for $199, people will choose the $249 iPod Mini instead.

So they went back to the drawing board, and tried to come up with not only a cheaper player, but one that won't get tossed in a drawer (as Steve Jobs describes other flash players.) What they came up with was the idea of leveraging iTunes as much as possible, and minimizing the actual player interface. The player will be able to completely swap out its songs automatically when you dock, either based on your playlists, smartlists, or completely at random.

If you don't want this, then you probably were better off with a regular iPod or iPod Mini anyways. There are going to be a lot of people however who have an iPod already, that will end up buying one of these. Many other posters have already described how they either use the display-less remote most of the time, or use playlists and don't spend too much time scrolling through their collection anyways. Obviously this player is geared to that type of usage.

Design is not just making something cool, or using cool features from different products, it's about having a specific user experience or goal in mind, and then trying to meet it. Not everyone is going to like it, but the design actually makes complete sense.
Click to expand...

I beg to differ. Even hardcore shuffle fans sometimes want to listen to a particular song. Lets pretend you just bought U2's Vertigo on the iTMS and you've been dying to listen to it like 9238732987 times in a row.... so your new Flash iPod won't let you do that? You'll have to fanatically hit the forward buttons and wait for it to play? Come on... there HAS to be a minimal playlist support.... I can't believe Apple will sell a 100% random music player (even tho everything leads me it IS going to happen.... The Life Is Random (wtf, btw, worst slogan ever...) post and the Shuffle trademark)....

Please tell me I will have MINIMAL control over what I want to hear... (AT LEAST ONE playlist....)
 
iDave said:
Life is random. Maybe there is no normal mode.
Click to expand...

Just as long as its an intelligent shuffle. My Creative Nomad IIc has a tendency to repeat the same song up to 5 times on so-called "shuffle mode."
 
Wait a second here. This thing is going to have the ability to SHUFFLE songs? How in the world did they figure out how to do that? Amazing.
 
madmaxmedia said:
Not everyone is going to like it, but the design actually makes complete sense.
Click to expand...

I totally agree, and this is why I will laugh in a year from now at all of the folks who said "it'll never sell," when Apple went on to sell tens of millions of them (assuming it comes out at all).

Come on -- how many playlists are you really going to be managing on an iPod that holds 1GB or so? One? Two?

Totally different market than the iPod and iPod mini. Used very differently. Apple is not trying to make it something it's not (again, assuming it comes out in the fashion described). It's more like a flash drive, that happens to hold enough music for a lot of folks, a lot of the time. I will probably get one and just throw my dub reggae and ambient dub on it, and it will be my "taking a hike in the woods chilling out" set. If it's $149, yeah, I will probably get one. And I already have a mini.
 
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