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bdkennedy1 said:
Just because you use a car CD changer as an example doesn't mean the technology doesn't suck any less. Car CD changers are almost 20 years old and they're frustrating. There's just no reason not to have some sort of tiny screen.

I have to go with my gut on this one, this story was fabricated to throw us off.



I don't think the photo of the banner was fabricated. But I do believe the banner relates to iTunes, and that the story about how they got photos of the new iPod, etc....is bullcrap. Why on earth would Apple leave a new, unannounced iPod lying around close enough to an area where someone could get a photo of it? Not likely.
 
Peyote said:
I don't think the photo of the banner was fabricated. But I do believe the banner relates to iTunes, and that the story about how they got photos of the new iPod, etc....is bullcrap.

Yes, I like the idea of that, Apple use the silhouettes for iTunes too. There could be another sort of NEW feature in iTunes, but I thought that Party Shuffle covered this.

Peyote said:
Why on earth would Apple leave a new, unannounced iPod lying around close enough to an area where someone could get a photo of it? Not likely.

Maybe they picture was of some iPod artwork, other banners for later in the show.
 
Hang on a sec...

Peyote said:
Yeah I can see that now...it's hard to see how it could be anything else...however I think it's jumping to conclusions based on the banner alone, that it relates to an iPod.....a new version of iTunes is expected, isn't it?

Lets have a look at this a sec folks...

The banner probably isn't fake - but it does look as though that is an arrow on the poster - not a person - so what is there to say this is an iPod banner?

As for the site saying it had photos of the iPod but had to delete them - well this sounds like a load of rubbish - why would the people putting up the huge banner be walking around with one of these iPods?

To be honest it looks as though they have just got a photo of this banner, which appears to say "life is random" and has an arrow on it - well this could be for anything!!!

Only one way to find out and that is to wait..

PS Here's hoping for a headless mac (and that it costs less than £400 in the UK!!)

Marko
 
Yvan256 said:
That's a good explanation, however without a screen ~240 songs would be near impossible to navigate. That's why we all think this random thing is shuffle.

maybe they will have a voice that tells you the artist, ect. that is most likely the secret to this. and itunes 5.0 will have a new kind of playlist specially designed for these ipods. it will be divided into diff. sections. that voice is damn annoying, you know the one i'm talking about, remember Blank Check? mono tone is old tech. but then again it would be looked at as retro maybe? couldn't a voice play through the headphones tho, with up to 6 playlists it isn't that bad. it speaks the playlist then you say yes or just wait for it to cycle through. but the random thing sounds like they might just put it out there and hope people get the hang of it. i can't believe $150 is cheap to teenagers though. i guess its not that bad. but i think it is mostly mcdonalds working teens that will be going for this. i can't imagine having it hooked up to an fm modulator, it would be about the same size.
:p
 
kettle said:
Maybe they picture was of some iPod artwork, other banners for later in the show.


I suppose that's possible...I just think it's unlikely. To my recollection, Apple has never accidentally shown one of their banners showing a new product before it was announced. And the fact that they erased the images at the request of Apple employees just makes the story that much more unbelievable. Why erase them? Apple had the display hanging there showing the iPod for anyone to see (if this is true)...anyone taking a photo has every right to keep and publish the photos on their website. If they were concerned enough about Apple coming after them for photos, why were they allowed to post photos of the banner and describe in great detail the new iPod?


It just doesn't add up for me.
 
io_burn said:
My guess is, that there will be a button which you press and it would... play music. What does elegance have to do with anything?

You people amaze me.
I understand the basic concept... I'm just saying that if this is just some sort of playlist player set on random like many speculate, then it is definatly not for me, or anyone I know. This sounds like it is designed as an iPod accessory rather than a seperate iPod. It would not compete with other flash mp3 players very much at all. Most of the people I know that want an mp3 player want to be able to see what song their playing, or at least have that option available. I'm sure people will buy it anyway, I am just dissapointed that it's not for me. :(
 
From the site: (that's maybe because the slogan is "Life is random!")

Sounds as if they're trying to guess the product from the painting, as basing the screenlessness of the product on the painting.....unless this is just a bad translation of italian, i dont know??!?!? :confused:

Oh really? How about this Virgin flash-based player, just announced today.

http://www.virginelectronics.com/is...O0AAAD_vzp6F4jB

Well, with all due respect, its much easier to navigate 128mb/256mb worth of music without a screen than 1gb(8/4 times as much music) of music.
 
riverfreak said:
Oh really? How about this Virgin flash-based player, just announced today.

http://www.virginelectronics.com/is...D_81.ChXlP&ProductID=UkGsHgcawO0AAAD_vzp6F4jB

Yah. Your point? It holds 128MB. So you can store what? Maybe a 12 songs? Maybe 24 if you really compress the crap out of it. We are talking a much larger selection here. Tooling through 24 tracks is one thing. 50-100 tracks is a different matter.
Sorry. I should have been clearer. Devices with any large capacity (relative term of course.) have LCDs on them.
 
Well, if this has no screen I would still buy one if it was $100 (with edu discount even). I'd buy two, actaully, one for me and the wife. At $150 and no screen, it looks a little sketchy. Even a small rudimentary screen would make $150 reasonable ($140 after edu pricing)?

Also, the idea that the player has some sort of random 10 song from ITMS is brilliant. If they put an option in that synced up 10 'random' (or more likely random but based on your other music ratings by artist, genre, etc) and then it deleted itself after, say 1 or 2 plays, and songs were NOT repeated as freebies, they would sell 100,000s of songs (more than they already do).

I am imagining, if it has no screen, that it would allow for some special playlist programming from iTunes, perhaps a number system, where you can have 10 numbered lists (and as many non numbered as you like) that can be accessed with a scroll wheel or something like that. You would know what order they were in because you number them, and it would remove at least some of the mystery where a song might be.

On that idea of numbered lists, voice prompting isn't out of the question either, I spose... a tiny mic could be build into the player fairly easily, and the machine could recognize numbers up to 10, play, stop, pause, shuffle, etc. without much proccessing being done... unlikely, but possible.

The folding iPod idea isn't a bad one either. Something that is about half the hieght and the same thickness as a mini that folds open to be the same size as a mini but half as thick would be a brilliant formfactor. Protecting the screen for active users would also be a big marketing plus. Put a click wheel on one half and a small, 3 line display on the other. On the outside maybe have just one biggish button, a Play/Pause, so you could quickly stop and start it without taking it out of your pocket/wherever it's stashed. I'd pay $150 for that in a heartbeat. Not likely gonna happen, but would be my dream iPod.

Oh, the Life is Random thing strikes me as more of a marketing slogan, not a descriptor of the product. Life is Random, be prepared with your music or something like that. The Think Different campaign didn't mean that the computer thought different, it didn't do away with basic computer operation rules or anything like that. It was an advertising theme that was asking users to think different. Same thing here... Apple knows that your life can seem a little random, so "_________" fill in some use of the flash iPod to help with that... I could easily be wrong, but that's just my opinion.

Rob
 
MacMyDay said:
I would find it quite funny if there actually was no new iPod being released what-so-ever. Gotta admit, it has caused quite a stir in the rumour world.

So the random is a reference to the fact that if something is going to be a digital hub for a digital lifestyle, it has to be able to integrate with potentially random surroundings.

Any old monitor, (even a tv?) plug it into the hifi, record tv at a set time, plug in your iPod or your Video camera or digi camera. :confused:
 
life is random

jvaska said:
I'll believe it when I see it. A slogan like "Life is random" just doesn't fly in my book. This is another fake story.

Could this new slogan be for the probable release of ilife 05 vs the new ipod, i know there are gonna be some changes in ilife, maybe it could be a discripoto for some of those changes. all we have to wait is one more day beofre all of our rumors become either reality or trash.
 
Indeed

brap said:
What a pathetic slogan. Seriously.
I was going to say the same thing. If it turns out to be true, it's about the dummest thing I've ever read for a slogan (and by Jove, there are many stupid ones) because basically, life is soooooooooo not random... and certainly not when it comes to buying something for enjoyment.
And please... don't come up with chaotic weather-patterns now, I don't need that with my Flash Player.

Anyway, even if this slogan should refer to something special, it's hard to see what. Random crashes etc. come to mind, but those are best left where they are, on the M$ side. I really don't see how this slogan will be a hit.
The best thing I can think of is the reference to Random Access Memory... or maybe you can enter to win a Random song ? Whatever...

Addendum: Ok, seeing there is no real connection between an alleged iPod and the banner it might, just might refer to the new headless Mac, which you can complete with a 'random monitor'... uh, or not. Maybe it adjusts its colour randomly ??? Wasn't there a thing about a shining iMac once upon a time ? Oh well, I'll stop now. Sorry :eek:
 
How about no screen, no volume control, no next / prev, no on/off switch. It just plays at full blast and you can't turn it off. ha ha

No thanks, I'll buy the Mini.
 
you guys are 'screen' dramaqueens

I'm willing to bet that the lack of a screen lowers the price by at least $50 --- which is enough to bring a lot more people to buying it

plus - if you want a screen, then buy an iPod Mini
 
corywoolf said:
maybe they will have a voice that tells you the artist, ect. that is most likely the secret to this. and itunes 5.0 will have a new kind of playlist specially designed for these ipods.

I've been thinking about this though. How would you navigate in a timely manner? Seriously. Unless they use the voice of the guy who did the Micromachines ads back in the 80's it would take too long to scroll through a list. I mean when you can see a list you know you went too far and simply backtrack on the wheel. When you have to wait and listen to who the artist is you currently have selected to find out where you are on your list?
Seems too kludge of an interface. Maybe if Apple narrowed it down to A, B, C, D, etc. Then read off the artists, titles from there it might be a bit easier to navigate. A bit. :confused:
 
the complete banner?

well?
 

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corywoolf said:
maybe they will have a voice that tells you the artist, ect. that is most likely the secret to this. and itunes 5.0 will have a new kind of playlist specially designed for these ipods.

I've been thinking about this though. How would you navigate in a timely manner? Seriously. Unless they use the voice of the guy who did the Micromachines ads back in the 80's it would take too long to scroll through a list. I mean when you can see a list you know you went too far and simply backtrack on the wheel. When you have to wait and listen to who the artist is you currently have selected to find out where you are on your list?
Seems too kludge of an interface. Maybe if Apple narrowed it down to A, B, C, D, etc. Then read off the artists, titles from there it might be a bit easier to navigate. A bit. :confused:

PS- Wow. Macrumors is really getting the crap kicked out of it. :eek:
 
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