mvc said:
Bingo, we have a winner - this is the sort of thing that I and most other travelling photographers will be after - its the most solid device I've seen so far from any manufacturer, and EPSON is a quality outfit unlike some of these no name device makers, it supports viewing RAW files as well as JPEG, has a CompactFlash slot built in and has a fantastic quality screen plus TV out. The only downer is that the battery life is low at 3 hours.
*sighs and rubs his temple in frustration*
Why don't people, not singling you out Mvc but people in general, get that this device is a consumer product. It was and in all likelihood, never will be designed for the pro. The photo feature is designed to upload pictures to your iPod from your PC. Let me ask. Does the iPod allow you to upload music on the go? Does it natively support capturing audio? No. These are features outside the scope of the iPod. The iPod's primary goal it to playback your media on the go. Not capture it.
Then you have the whole "Lets put a storage card slot in it" crowd. The device in question is already .75 in size. Do you know what adding a CF and SD (And only both would be fair since CF cards are the more common of the card types on the market.) slot would do to its size? Just look at any Pocket PC that has a dual storage solution vs. a single SD slot and you have your answer. In all likelihood prob .8" or .9". Getting precariously close to one inch thick.
Then you have line in. Built in microphones. Built in WIFI. Etc.
Could apple add all these capabilities? Sure. It then becomes a 1 pound, 1" thick brick that no one likes and consequently they lose to the competition because they end up doing exactly what their competition is doing: Jack of all trades master of none.
Apple is treating the iPod as a national treasure. They aren't going to make any major changes overnight. While the Photo iPod looks like a massive departure from the traditional iPod in reality it's nothing more then a baby step in progress. The form is nearly identical. No features were lost from the B&W iPod. This is an incremental advance people. Apple isn't going to possibly alienate the people that purchase their products. And making a "me too" product that has everything and the kitchen sink would quite possibly do just that. The photo iPod is simply another line of iPod with additional features that are built in that the user can ignore without impacting the performance of the device. You add all the above features and you get some heavy brick that would impact the device in size and weight.
The bigger question I have is what is the NEXT big thing after Photos. I really do think Jobs was talking out of his *** yesterday. Yes. Right now video in its current form it isn't optimal. Eps on a 2" screen. But I can easily imagine within the next two years Apple releasing the iPod video alongside the iPod photo. With the iPod B&W going bye bye by then. The iPod video would have a larger form factor but much smaller then current Windows Media Center devices that are the epitome of the word brick.
So maybe something like this:
-iPod video (Larger Form Factor with 4.5" OLED screen, photo, and audio capabilities.)
-iPod photo (Current form Factor or maybe even a tad smaller. Who knows. We might have fuel cells in 2 years.)
-iPod Mini Photo (With just a color screen and on device viewing capabilities. No video out.)
Or maybe not. Who knows. Its fun to speculate though.
