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U2 iPod, Photo iPod and Additional iTMS Localizations Released

CalfCanuck said:
I don't disagree with you on the nice storage aspect of the Photo iPod, and of course the computer is the center of one's digital photos for editing. But I feel you fundamentally miss the MAJOR reason people would need this device - between the time they take the pictures, and when they first upload them to their computer.

In your example you neglect several key steps:

Olden days:
Camera-->Film--> (Goes into one's suitcase or purse for 2 weeks until one gets back from Maui, the drive to the Grand Canyon, or Aunt's Sue's house 500 miles away) THEN Photo Processing-->Organize-->Place in Photo Albums or Slide Trays-->View-->Stash away until next time

Modern Times:
Camera-->( What the heck do I do with a full compact Flash card and no extra capacity for new shots until I get finish my European vacation 10 days from now and finally have a chance to upload theses photos to my computer 5000 miles away) THEN Computer-->Organize-->iPod-->View-->View Again!!
Click to expand...

LOL

I don't think anyone besides Apple's marketing & research folks knows the "MAJOR reason" most people would want this for. It's not the major reason I bought mine for (and it shipped today!! WOOHOO!!).

In my life we take way more pictures around the house, neighborhood, and school (hundreds each month) on a daily basis than the couple times a year we go on vacation. And the last few years we've brought along an iBook for the express purpose of downloading pictures on the road. It is a rare occasion that we are more than a memory stick away from a computer (does that make sense??):rolleyes:

So for those without a laptop, I can see where the option of downloading directly to the iPod would be a dream on a long vacation...stuff the iPod in your camera bag and offload whenever the memory card is full. But this option is already available for those who want it via Belkin. I think the casual user is more likely to take a few extra memory cards (film!) with them and tote them back in their suitcase if they're going on a really long trip, or stop into the ubiquitous WalMart and have CDs burned from their memory cards.

Fully agree and expect that someday having the option of downloading directly into the iPod with no Belkin dongle would be ideal, with automatic 2-way syncing when the iPod connects, just like the on-the-go playlists for music. Ultimately convenient and dummy-proof (could even disallow/warn when deleting from the iPod if the pic hasn't yet been synced to computer!). I'm anxious to hear reports on how the Belkin unit interfaces with the iPod Photo...it may well do just what we are thinking of. My wife is a professional photographer and would probably like this setup rather than lugging her camera bag and computer bag to each scene shoot.

I haven't ever seen what the USB2 cable for the iPod looks like, I assume it has the usual dock connector on one end and a regular usb plug on the other...or is there some sort of adapter dongle thingy? Either way, seems like there should be an easy enough way to create a similar cable (and software since PortalPlayer supports this) that goes from the USB of the camera to the dock connector of the iPod to directly transfer photos. Wonder why it takes that big Belkin box to do the job?? :confused:
 
new

I saw on the google news page this article:
New York Times Article

It lends a little more insight into the various slide show functions etc. that are offered by the new photo ipod.

The most interesting thing to note, I think, is quote:
"A kind of slide-sorter view displays 25 tiny pictures per screen; it's one way to pluck a certain photo from among the hundreds. Another is to spin the click wheel, which can page through full-screen photos astonishingly quickly and smoothly. They flicker past almost as though they're frames of film."

Veeeeery interesting.
 
Although I won't be getting rid of my 3G iPod, I do definitely like these new iPod photos. Just like the iPods themselves, and the minis, I'm sure Apple has hit another home run with this new addition and sales will be enormous, especially with it being Christmas shopping season!

I really don't understand why some people are being so hard on the iPod photo either - I think it's a great idea, very useful and a logical progression for the iPod. (Next stop, video!) Of course not everyone would make use of its functionality, but that's no reason to knock it - this is the case with every product to some extent - it's simply not meant to address every single person's concern.

Plus, it could be worse - would you want this iPod instead? :cool:
 
iTunes 4.7 "New Feature" & the iPod iPhoto

stoid said:
What's new about iTunes 4.7? Just increased support for new stores or is there some new functionality?
Click to expand...

One feature I noticed that was new in iTunes 4.7 was the ability to show me duplicate songs. It displays songs that have the same name & artist (and same length) but are on different albums. I have 20,300 songs and always knew I had a boat load of duplicates but never had an idea how many. I have three thousand plus thanks to that new little feature. I can now deselect them and not load them on the iPod!

I ordered my new iPod iPhoto and should get it next week (according to the Apple Store Web Site). I did play with one at the local Apple Retail Store and they're neat. Here's a few comments..

Color screen is a little darker than a color Palm but is crisp and clear. There is no way to adjust the brightness or contrast (that I could find).

Despite adding color, Apple has not added any new games. I was most disappointed in this. I would have thought a new game utilizing color would have been present. A card match game would have been nice!!

I have said this on other message boards but will say it again. Apple had the new iPod iPhoto sitting next too an iBook with an iSight attached. I still would have liked the ability to attach the iSight to the iPod iPhoto and take pictures (or even video??).

Christopher
 
cgmpowers said:
One feature I noticed that was new in iTunes 4.7 was the ability to show me duplicate songs. It displays songs that have the same name & artist (and same length) but are on different albums. I have 20,300 songs and always knew I had a boat load of duplicates but never had an idea how many. I have three thousand plus thanks to that new little feature. I can now deselect them and not load them on the iPod!

Christopher
Click to expand...

I have found that I get a lot of false positives, the iTune selecting tracks that are clearly different lengths, on different albumns etc. I wish this was more tailorable so I could sift more carefully to eliminate duplicates.
 
Giantred said:
Philsy what You were describing seems to be an iPod with a touch screen interface. All those things you want (music, calander, contacts, and games in one place,) your iPod can do right now! So what you are saying is that you want the Ipod to become like that Epson 2000 with a big screen, thats touch....... Hmm


Corey
Click to expand...

Blimey, a response ;)

Yes, the iPod does all that but you can't use it for inputting data such as calender appointments. That would be useful to me - a sort of iPod version of a Palm. I'm knocking the current iPod - far from it - merely suggesting an expansion of what has become a very successful brand.
 
Sorry if this has been mentioned already but is HP going to release an HP iPod Photo? Just interested in the nature of the deal HP and Apple have going on. HP aren't not going to try to bastardise iPhoto and implement it into Windows Media Player are they?!! :eek: :p
 
Jovian9 said:
What all formats of music do these play?
They are dedicated cameras that do one thing.

Do all of you really expect a $500-$600 iPod that plays music, stores contacts notes calendars & games, can be used as an external 40 or 60GB hard drive, and can play slideshows of pictures on it or to a TV.......to have an equal quality screen as such cameras mentioned above?
The iPod is a music player that now allows you to have fun and view photos on it as well.
Click to expand...

You're missing my point.

<POINT>The screen - for a 2" color screen - is not very good.</POINT>

The information posted above proves that. The drive isn't under discussion (though many cameras can play slideshows onto a TV and many sub $1000 videocameras can do it wirelessly).

I've bought one of the damn things - it's cool. let's just not pretend that it's the best technology that $600 can buy when anyone with a brain (that's you) can see that we're getting reamed. We're enjoying it, but it's a reaming just the same.

"Please Steve, may I buy another?"
 
aswitcher said:
I have found that I get a lot of false positives, the iTune selecting tracks that are clearly different lengths, on different albumns etc. I wish this was more tailorable so I could sift more carefully to eliminate duplicates.
Click to expand...

I agree. But I love the feature. I new I had a ton of duplicates, and really was dreading looking for them :)

Now it is a little bit easier, but will still take some time.

Kimo
 
kbonnel said:
I agree. But I love the feature. I new I had a ton of duplicates, and really was dreading looking for them :)

Now it is a little bit easier, but will still take some time.

Kimo
Click to expand...

It would be nice to have configurable settings to set what criteria needs to match in order for songs to be considered duplicates. I don't think the defaults are awful, but I would like to be able to make the criteria more or less strict for various purposes.
 
feakbeak said:
It would be nice to have configurable settings to set what criteria needs to match in order for songs to be considered duplicates. I don't think the defaults are awful, but I would like to be able to make the criteria more or less strict for various purposes.
Click to expand...

I must agree. After losing my iTunes preferences once I ended up with about 500 or more duplicates when rebuilding the songs library. It would be nice to have settings to weed out all of the "same song, different version or CD" songs.
 
Have to get a 60!

wow, the 60 gb looks awesome. the only difference i see is that its a little heavier and the skip protection is less. i still want one though... and does this count as *hidden* features of the 4g? i accualy hope not, so we can get games and stuff like apps on it. \nate
 
iPod IS getting panned by photographers

blybug said:
LOL

I don't think anyone besides Apple's marketing & research folks knows the "MAJOR reason" most people would want this for. It's not the major reason I bought mine for (and it shipped today!! WOOHOO!!).
Click to expand...

Whether you're LOL or not, it's not my arrogance, but Apple's, that doesn't seem to understand photographers needs. If the goal of a Photo iPod is to carry around a few pictures you took last year, then don't try to pretend it's for photographers. And don't expect people who photograph to use it very much.

Here a link to a perfect example - dpreview.com - probably the most authoritative, impartial, review driven website dedicated to digital photgraphy (note their 320 million site visitors since 1999!).

They post a front page story with the title "iPod Photo - doesn't Rock" and with the summarizing text:

"iPod Photo will be available in 40 and 60 GB capacities ($500 or $600 respectively), the biggest nonsense? No built-in Card slot! "

This hardly sounds like Apple's hit a homerun with the photo market ...

Now, as I've posted earlier, if Apple pulls a rabbit from thier hat by allowing direct camera to iPod transfers, then this thing WILL ROCK!

Time for those iPod software engineers to earn their stock options.
 
CalfCanuck said:
Whether you're LOL or not, it's not my arrogance, but Apple's, that doesn't seem to understand photographers needs. If the goal of a Photo iPod is to carry around a few pictures you took last year, then don't try to pretend it's for photographers. And don't expect people who photograph to use it very much.

Here a link to a perfect example - dpreview.com - probably the most authoritative, impartial, review driven website dedicated to digital photgraphy (note their 320 million site visitors since 1999!).

They post a front page story with the title "iPod Photo - doesn't Rock" and with the summarizing text:

"iPod Photo will be available in 40 and 60 GB capacities ($500 or $600 respectively), the biggest nonsense? No built-in Card slot! "

This hardly sounds like Apple's hit a homerun with the photo market ...

Now, as I've posted earlier, if Apple pulls a rabbit from thier hat by allowing direct camera to iPod transfers, then this thing WILL ROCK!

Time for those iPod software engineers to earn their stock options.
Click to expand...

I’m apologizing in advance for the lengthy post.

I agree, for photographers there are probably better devices out there that are more dedicated to the purpose of storing and viewing mass quantities of pictures for less money. (And probably with better displays too… since that seems to be another major issue photographers have issues with on the iPod Photo)

I do not believe this is a problem for the product’s intended market. In watching the launch event for iPod Photo, I didn't get the impression Apple was pitching this product to photographers. My impression was that it’s a mass consumer product. An average consumer buys an iPod to have an awesome digital music player and now you can also carry around pictures to show your friends and family and even run slideshows on a TV if you want. I never heard Steve say this would be a photographer’s new "must have" device.

With that said, I also agree that being able to transfer pictures directly from your digital camera and/or media card into the iPod's photo library would be a great enhancement. Right now, there are the Belkin accessories that let you copy your photos onto the iPod. Although I haven't used it, I'm assuming it would only copy them over to the HDD as normal file storage and not actually import them into the photo library database on the iPod. They couldn’t have known about iPod Photo when those accessories were released and so they probably won’t magically work like that now that iPod Photo is released.

So... I wonder what Belkin will do next with their photo import accessories??? Hmmm, can anyone guess??? I'm stumped. Oh wait, here’s an idea!

I would be willing to bet that Belkin offers updated accessories within three months that import directly into the library. While you might complain this should come standard on the iPod Photo, I disagree. It's a mass consumer product and many buyers will just want the 60 GB storage, the nicer color screen for album art and a few of their favorite photos to carry around. Not everyone buying iPod Photo needs or wants a card reader built into the iPod. I wouldn’t. First of all, you have the additional size and weight and a clunky slot, even if it were covered it takes away from the minimalist aesthetics. Then, what cards should be supported, CF, SD, MS, etc? Should they offer different models and fragment their stock and piss off resellers who have trouble anticipating demand for which formats? It causes more problems than it solves.

I think accessories are the best way to handle these desired features and those typically come several months after the main product launch, so just wait and see. Pehraps, Apple will produce some accessories themselves, that's been rumored for a while.

Updating the current Belkin photo accessories with new firmware/software or producing new accessories that handle transferring pictures directly into the iPod photo library either from storage cards or direction connection to the digital camera will be on the way. There's obviously a market for it and if people will pay, then businesses will make the product.

That's my 2 cents… I never understood why posts in these forums are often so reactionary. It’s as if those posters believe everything is set in stone at launch. Products and their accessories develop and become more robust over time. iPod Photo has been available for two days now, I don’t think it is fair to judge if Apple hit the mark or not yet.
 
How did the Canadian verion of the 60gig iPod Photo end up being $799 CND? After the currency conversion and $25 fee for blank media, it shouldn't be that expensive.

meanmusic
 
meanmusic said:
How did the Canadian verion of the 60gig iPod Photo end up being $799 CND? After the currency conversion and $25 fee for blank media, it shouldn't be that expensive.

meanmusic
Click to expand...

Yes, it definitely should be cheaper. But, I've seen this before, where Apple doesn't keep their prices in line with the exchange rates. Of course, I'm not saying Apple should update their prices on a daily basis to reflect the current exchange rates, as they would have to modify prices on a daily basis, but with the Canadian dollar strengthening against the weakening US dollar, you think they would have picked a more approrpiate, accurate price point. Ah well, if I want one I guess I'm ordering through the States.... ;)
 
For my birthday Apple sold me the U2 iPod for $299!

Awesome! I'm a student, and just this afternoon I got an email coupon offering me $30 off a purchase over $300. Coincidentally, today is also my birthday :) And yes, I already wanted the music set, even though I have maybe 1/2 the CDs already, so this was perfect timing.

Anyway, my total before tax and (free) shipping was $299. :p I'm telling you guys, Apple is after my soul.

If they give me a $250 coupon while I'm still taking classes, I'll buy a laptop, next, and finally switch :) Which one? Something ending in "book," probably - feel free to tell me which model's best for a college kid who might sometimes want DVD playback, won't need to burn anything on the go, but will want at least 802.11g and possibly bluetooth if it's easy...
 
I would like tyo interject...if apple put a card reader on the ipod phot right now, i would not even CONSIDER buying it


because i would be buying the 60 for capacity...not photo...or eve color


which leads me to this..when the capacity for the photo and regular ipod are equal, then a card reader would make sense.

think about it, apple cant match the capacity yet, they want to force buyrs hands and get the ipod phot out, once the photo is established, then they should emphasize the photo application of the ipod photo.


(i want Line in recording)
 
My two cents...

Well, I ordered the iPod Photo 40 GB today for a christmas gift (the motherly figure told me to order it to be sure I got the right one). Why did I go with the iPod photo? Well, I have 22 GB of music thus far, so that threw the new U2 ipod out -- and I was really hoping to get that black ipod, oh well. So that left the 40 GB iPod and the new iPod Photo. Taking into account my student discount, the extra hours of music playback time, the color display, the included dock ... it just seems really worth it to me. Will I use it for photos? It isn't my primary intention. This coming from someone who upgraded their PDA merely to get one of the first color screens for the ooh-la-la factor. Sure I'll let it sync up my photos, and we'll see how usable it truly is soon...but I always dreamed of having an iPod...and to get one with a color screen -- oooh! Should be coming in 2 weeks or so, I opted for the engraving... "Eric's iPod Photo" with my email addy under it. I'm excited!
 
Why I am not buying an Ipod Photo

Although at first extremely excited about the Ipod photo, after a little research I have decided not to purchase one. Here is why:

FROM APPLE:
"Copy full-resolution photos to iPod Photo as a backup or to transfer originals to another system." Notice they don't say "view".

"A Fine Array of Formats
iPod Photo supports syncing photos from the most popular formats (JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF and PNG) and even lets you carry around full-resolution copies of your photos." Why are you carrying a full-resolution copy of?

"Syncs iPod-viewable photos in JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF and PNG formats." So what is an iPod viewable photo?

FROM CNET:
"Also, while you can transfer photos to the new iPod using a device such as Belkin's Media Reader, you won't be able to view them on the iPod--you need to sync with iTunes for that." Hmmm...

MY TWO CENTS:
When ipod photo syncs with your computer a thumbnail is created of the image which you can carry around. That is why they boast on the website that you can hold 25,000 pictures- they are only thumbnails of high enough quality that they look okay on the two-inch screen and projected on a TV. You can choose to carry around a full-resolution copy of the image as well. Apple is careful in the way they word this as you can see from their website. When downloading from the Belkin card reader you will NOT be able to view your images until itunes creates a thumbnail for the ipod to read.

Check out the Archos Gmini400 or AV400. The Gmini is not any bigger than the ipod photo, has a BUILT IN card reader and does video too. Not to mention its only $400.
 
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