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U2 iPod, Photo iPod and Additional iTMS Localizations Released

dejo said:
Yeah, instead of the album art being static, it could also be dynamic! Imagine the possibilities!

Heck, with a touch-screen, you could even have band members appear in an 84 Volvo when pressed.
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Dynamic album art? Wouldn't this just be video? I know, not quite, but still... ;)
 
MacNut said:
I guarantee the size will get a little bigger if they put a color screen into the mini. Plus they would need to put a bigger slim HD in it. as in more than 4gb.
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Very true. I do hope everyone's new iPod ships before the appoclypse comes.

Boston up 3-0.

What are we to do MacNut?
 
Nspace said:
The whole pay for music downloading in general I am against. I like to buy my music when I can in CD format, mainly because I love to get the package. I like having something physical and as a designer I appretiate great package design, especially when its really innovative with some awesome printing. The package and the content/booklet inside is great incentive for me.

Since less people are buying cds and either stealing music or downloading it, either way a large number of people have stopped buying the actual cd's and it is really a shame because record companies are not willing to spend the extra on cool packaging and stuff.

This is just one view of course...

A good example: I saw a lecture from an amazing designer whom you may be familiar with (hes done lots of cd packaging for musicians, pink floyd, rolling stones, aerosmith), Stefan Sagmeister. He was designing an album cover for a band, cant remember the name, but its all multi coloured and theres an 84 volvo on the front. The concept was to print it on a special material that enabled the user to draw on the front or apply pressure to the front or something and the band members would appear doing crazy things inside the car on the cover. I think stuff like that is really cool and what ended up happening is that it never ended up being printed that way cause it would have costed an additional 2 cents per cd...

Obsiouly there are some benefits to buying online but it just seems like there is less room for creative cd packging, less work for designers in that feild (Sagmeister even said you could never survive doing that now, you need other type of design for a stable income), and less incentive to buy a disc.

Ahh well.
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i know what you mean about the cool packaging and everything but online music purchasing is great for the average consumer as a legal way to buy music. if you think about it most of us have been getting ripped off for years when it comes to music so it is no surprise that illegal downloading became such a hit.

if you only like a few songs by an artist then paying AU$20-35 for an album is a rip off, especially when a lot of the songs are just put on the album to bulk up the 'value'. singles are not much better either, $5 for two or three songs which are usually just remixes or maybe an extra song that was not good enough to be put on the actual album but you end up paying more for in the end? the packaging of singles isn't very impressive either...

record companies had us roped it so that we could only buy everything at once or just the singles that they picked out for a price way more than reasonable. when napster first started out people were sharing songs more than they were entire albums, then once broadband really took off we all got a bit greedy.

i'd like to think that cds will still be around into the future and i don't doubt that they will, just look at the number of artists that still release vinyl. if i really enjoy a band then i'll be happy to shell out my AU$20-35 for an album, cover art and all but if i just want to get a catchy song out of my head by listening to it for a few days then i'd rather pay 99c or whatever.
 
michaelb said:
I remember similar things said when the CD replaced the LP, and the artwork became those tinsy little CD inserts instead of the glorious large vinyl covers.

(Come to think of it, most web pages have more space than a CD cover!)

But you do know that album art is supported by iTunes don't you? I don't think video is killing the radio star.
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Artwork online though is not the same. Printed piece can be embosed/debossed, different papers, different coatings, foil stamping etc. Online there is no tactile qualities, I dunno thats just me but I am sure some other people would agree.

To actually have it and be able to hold it is nice for me, especially when its something really cool like the newest duran duran singles box (cd sized and designed to look like a steel record case and the lid opens in the top and the cds slide out of little sleeves and its all made to look like little vinyl records, it was pretty cool).

Edit: yeah i agree with the above, like I said i understand there are many benefits, but for me its just a shame to see it hurt the industry as a whole, and even when you do decide to buy the overpriced cds, you are not getting as much for your money when there is some standard design with a puney medicore booklet inside.
 
~Shard~ said:
Dynamic album art? Wouldn't this just be video? I know, not quite, but still... ;)
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Could be video. Perhaps. Or it could be something like interactive animation. Perhaps. I think there is plenty of potential in this area. Does anybody have Stefan Sagmeister's email?
 
Is the iPod Photo compatible with Windows?
We might see an iPhoto for Windows, or something like that soon, to fill in that gap. Or maybe Google's picture thingy...ooh
 
Jovian9 said:
The great thing about this is that they are seperating the iPod lineup. This is not the 5G....it's the iPod Photo. They are keeping an iPod that is dedicated to music....those are the 4G's. There are 4 in the lineup now:
iPod (4G)
iPod Mini
iPod Photo (hopefully they will enable video output after Tiger and it's better video encoding abilities are released)
iPod Special Edition (hopefully these will continue with other bands/artists)
-hopefully they will add a 5th to this lineup with a flash iPod for under $150
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Sorry but there's no "special edition". It's still a regular 4th generation iPod.

The outer casing has nothing to do with the internals (in this case).
 
dejo said:
Could be video. Perhaps. Or it could be something like interactive animation. Perhaps. I think there is plenty of potential in this area. Does anybody have Stefan Sagmeister's email?
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You can email him from the website http://www.sagmeister.com/contactus.html It is a pretty small firm, just him his partner and an intern and I am sure he gets a ton of email so I would not be suprised if he did not reply. When I talked to him he seemed really approachable and willing to help.
 
dejo said:
Could be video. Perhaps. Or it could be something like interactive animation. Perhaps. I think there is plenty of potential in this area. Does anybody have Stefan Sagmeister's email?
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Yah, there would definitely be potential there for some interesting effects, things which couldn't be accomplished on normal static CD covers - I'm sure some creative people will take advantage of something like this in the near future...
 
Stella said:
But the 'hidden functionality' doesn't do anything for the 4G owners.. Apple gave this impression that in the future their 4G iPods would offer more functionality. really it doesn't, its for iPod Photo.
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Didn't I read somewhere that the hidden functionality was something like 5.1 output? (don't ask me how though).
 
Half Baked

I have to say that the iPod Photo is a halfbaked solution. One of the key potential uses for it is to download and store actual images from digital cameras, while out an about or on holiday - it is after all a portable device.

Instead, they miss the opportunity altogether, and require you to return to home base and sync to your mac to view those images. And make you buy a fapping great ugly expensive slow third party card reader to get them on board in the first place.

Which might be acceptable if there were not so many altenative all-in-one media devices emerging which CAN do this on-the-go transfer and view trick, usually with built in card readers, sometimes acting a USB host directly connected to the camera, although admittedly usually in a less user friendly way overall.

Half baked gesture really.
 
Yvan256 said:
Didn't I read somewhere that the hidden functionality was something like 5.1 output? (don't ask me how though).
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Why are you asking? How am I supposed to know what you did and didn't read?! (Ever since my surveillance cameras cut out, that is...) :p ;)
 
MaCaDDiCT21 said:
Have the games on the photo iPod been revised with color graphics?
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Yes :D Apple.com has a picture of Solitaire (and Calendar in color). Personally, I think Breakout needed the biggest improvement ;)


Mechcozmo said:
Is the iPod Photo compatible with Windows?
We might see an iPhoto for Windows, or something like that soon, to fill in that gap. Or maybe Google's picture thingy...ooh
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Yes, iPod Photo is for Windows too. Apple dodged the iPhoto Windows question neatly AND made things one-stop easy for iPod owners: photo synching is handled by iTunes--which now connects with Photoshop Elements, iPhoto, etc.--or simply to a folder of images on your HD if you prefer.


Nspace said:
Artwork online though is not the same. Printed piece can be embosed/debossed, different papers, different coatings, foil stamping etc. Online there is no tactile qualities, I dunno thats just me but I am sure some other people would agree.
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I agree, physical albums are nice and I'll keep buying them for some things, like my favorite artists. They won't be going away, that market is much bigger for the foreseeable future than downloads. But I'm SO glad to have the downloadable single as an option, and buy a lot of that too.


mvc said:
I have to say that the iPod Photo is a halfbaked solution. One of the key potential uses for it is to download and store actual images from digital cameras, while out an about or on holiday - it is after all a portable device.
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iPods already do that--just get the optional card reader, which would add size and cost if it were built-in.

We're talking TWO DIFFERENT functions, though. The iPod Photo is NOT meant for managing the space on your camera. It is for displaying your photo library. If you want both you can have both, but only one is the purpose of the iPod Photo.

And it's a purpose with much broader appeal than managing your camera's flash card contents. I don't know anyone who ever fills up a camera anyway! But I know lots of people who SHOW photos. And with an iPod, you can do so with music and clickwheel ease-of-use!
 
HiRez said:
Yep, and not only that, but you have to do a custom import setup and operation beforehand (and you have to know exactly which tracks need to be joined, you can't just pop in a CD and walk away). It really is an ugly "solution", very un-Applelike. Aren't they supposed to be the ones concerned about the little things, the details, the fit-and-finish? I'm half-tempted to create a little gapless playback proof-of-concept app using QuickTime just to prove it can be done, even by a terrible programmer like me.
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Worst thing is, even in the current state, it *should* be automated. Can't iTunes detect the zero-second gap between the tracks and join them automatically?
 
Now that Apple has launched an iPod that can store and view photos from a computer, wouldn't it be great to have them take the next step and remove the computer from the process? Imagine an iPod that plugs directly in to your digital still or video camera, giving you 40-60 GB of storage. You could kiss the need for multiple compact flash cards goodbye.
 
age234 said:
That's one hot iPod!

Someone said it already, but remember when Steve was bragging up h.264, how it could scale from HDTV to cell phone (read: iPod) size? Yeah, baby. Movie Store, here we come.

Think about it: why download a crappy quality DIVX rip off LimeWire when you could get a great quality video from Apple, one that will scale great from your iPod screen, to your TV, to your 30" Cinema display?

Where do I sign up?
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It would also allow for a new device, kind of an iPod-for-your-TV. Have your movie collection all at once, no need to swap DVDs anymore.
 
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