What do you want in a 5G iPod?

[wrldwzrd89]

• more scratch resistant housing, like the mini
• 2.5" color touch screen display
• 100GB storage
• AAC+ support
• 3.2 megapixel digital camera with 3x optical/4x digital zoom and a flash
• voice recorder
• FM
• video out
• PDA functionality/stylus
• cell phone functionality
• 24 hour battery life
• BT
• WiFi
• AE remote functionality
• wireless FW transfers
• fold my sons laundry (any idea how many pieces of kids clothing can fit in one load of wash?)
• $199 price point
• size/thickness of three stacked credit cards
• headphones with a retractable cord that won't tangle
• caloric burn count
• heart rate monitor
• 7-in-1 card reader built-in

that's all for now
😛 😀

Whoa, that'd be one heck of an iPod, and a major engineering feat by Apple, if they could cram all that stuff in there. Also, this thread has become more popular than I could have ever imagined - and it wasn't up to 2 pages yet when I posted this.

 

[joepunk]

When I first saw the header for this thread I thought it was about a 5 gig iPod 😱

But now that I realized my mistake here is what I would like to see on a 5G iPod:
1. colour screens all around
2. a built in camera
3. scratch resistant plastic/metal
4. a brightness dimmer for the backlight function
5. a clip remote like the one that used to come with it but with a lcd screen telling me what song and battery life so I wouldn't have to dig it out of my pocket/book bag.
6. someway to help keep those black earbud cushions from falling off (like what just happened now, wait I just found it on the floor 😛
7. coloured earbuds for the mini
8. iPod stickers (similar to the ones that come with a mac purchase)

 

[ocellnuri]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet... it's one of the most critical updates that should be made to any iPod in my opinion... Gapless playback.

 

[Mechcozmo]

The reason why there is no iPod SDK is because otherwise the very first program out would be a "select a song to transfer over to another iPod" style thing. It might even dump it into the FW hard disk space, thus making it even easier to copy music.

Also, Ogg Vorbis files take quite a bit more CPU time. for my screenshots on it. The iPods would need a speed boost. Also, WMA files are MS-owed codecs and therefore are a PITA to have play on the iPod. However, iTunes can convert those files if need be... so long as they are unprotected.

 

[Rogier]

remove songs & bluetooth

I would like to be able to remove songs from my iPod. I think it is pretty annoying that you have to hear an uncool song over and over again, because you can't remember at home anymore which song(s) you wanted to remove...

And I think a bluetooth option would not make any sense, particularly since bluetooth is still ludicrously slow (updating 20 gigs via bluetooth is a definite no-no) and drains your battery in no time.

 

[earthtoandy]

ability to adjust the crossfade. all i need is the same exact control as itunes. seems simple enough

 

[wrldwzrd89]

The reason why there is no iPod SDK is because otherwise the very first program out would be a "select a song to transfer over to another iPod" style thing. It might even dump it into the FW hard disk space, thus making it even easier to copy music.

Also, Ogg Vorbis files take quite a bit more CPU time. for my screenshots on it. The iPods would need a speed boost. Also, WMA files are MS-owed codecs and therefore are a PITA to have play on the iPod. However, iTunes can convert those files if need be... so long as they are unprotected.

I've read somewhere on these forums that WMA playback abilities are present in the chips iPods use; it's just disabled. Also, even if iTunes can convert unprotected WMA files, it'll only work on Windows because the hooks into the Windows Media SDK that iTunes uses to do the conversion are only present in the Windows version of Windows Media Player.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

They could make the iPod Mac+PC compatible simaltaneously by having it formatted in FAT32 format, rather than HFS+. But I only use mine with my Mac and don't need it for transferring data so it doesn't bother me.

I like my new 4G iPod and think it's better than the 3G ones (I prefer the button arrangement). Gapless or even crossfaded playback would be super, but it does most of what I want it to.

I think one of the iPod's biggest assets is its size and simplicity - add too many features, like editing iCal events and the typing essays on it and it suddenly becomes clumsy and hard to use. I mean, do we really need it to be twice the size so that we can have a 7-in-1 card reader available at any time? If you need that, buy the extras that add this functionality as and when you need it.

My only gripe is that the accessories cost so much just because it's an iPod. £89 for the Belkin card reader accessory is absolutely absurd. £29 for the official case???! Also, who would ever buy the 6 worldwide plug adaptor kit? Why not just get a standard travel plug adaptor so that you can use it with other appliances, not just your iPod?

Oh, and not including a case any more with the actual product is a criminal offence, considering the price of iPods.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

They could make the iPod Mac+PC compatible simaltaneously by having it formatted in FAT32 format, rather than HFS+. But I only use mine with my Mac and don't need it for transferring data so it doesn't bother me.

The reason Apple doesn't ship all iPods formatted as FAT32 is because some Mac users like to install Mac OS X on their iPod(s) and boot their Mac(s) off the iPod hard drive - this only works if the iPod is HFS+ formatted.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

The reason Apple doesn't ship all iPods formatted as FAT32 is because some Mac users like to install Mac OS X on their iPod(s) and boot their Mac(s) off the iPod hard drive - this only works if the iPod is HFS+ formatted.

Sure, that's a good point, but there's no harm in Apple giving an option to format the iPod into whichever format the user would prefer is there?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Sure, that's a good point, but there's no harm in Apple giving an option to format the iPod into whichever format the user would prefer is there?

Nope - however, remember that Apple's aiming for the simplest approach. Keep in mind that the vast majority of computer users (Mac and PC users alike that haven't found these forums mostly 😀 ) don't know what the different hard drive formats are, so giving them a choice would just confuse them. Far better to hide the formatting options inside of the disk formatting utility, like Apple does now (on both Mac and Windows); people brave enough to enter a disk formatting utility had better know what they're doing.

 

[AmigoMac]

The reason Apple doesn't ship all iPods formatted as FAT32 is because some Mac users like to install Mac OS X on their iPod(s) and boot their Mac(s) off the iPod hard drive - this only works if the iPod is HFS+ formatted.

I personally think that the reason is hope. they hope everyone will choose a mac as the main syncing center for the iPod, I don't believe they think about people installing Mac OS X in iPods, it's because it's the format they use in their system and that's it. IMO

What I want to see, SDK, do firmware update to avoid piracy (I have no clue about this) and give SDK to developers. (Risky but would be great), again, IMO.

 

[Jovian9]

8. iPod stickers (similar to the ones that come with a mac purchase)

I actually got mini-Apple stickers (2) with my iPod Photo.......just to let you know 🙂

 

[stevehaslip]

I actually got mini-Apple stickers (2) with my iPod Photo.......just to let you know 🙂

awesome! nice touch there! does that mean that they are including them with all new macs again? can anyone say who just bought an imag g5 or something?

i think i read somewhere that the reason apple doesn't use fat32 on its iPods is because its not as stable as the mac formatted ones? it was either that or that its faster than fat32? is that true or just crap someone made up?

if you want a fat32 formatted drive then you can now buy an hp iPod. 😛 "yeah right, and monky's might fly out of my butt!" 😛

 

[stephenli]

PowerPC
OSX custom
Airport
GSM / W-CDMA
Colour Screen (a large one, please) or even touch screen
Quicktime

o wait...should it still call iPod, may be it is an iNewton then...

 

[mashinhead]

• more scratch resistant housing, like the mini
• 2.5" color touch screen display
• 100GB storage
• AAC+ support
• 3.2 megapixel digital camera with 3x optical/4x digital zoom and a flash
• voice recorder
• FM
• video out
• PDA functionality/stylus
• cell phone functionality
• 24 hour battery life
• BT
• WiFi
• AE remote functionality
• wireless FW transfers
• fold my sons laundry (any idea how many pieces of kids clothing can fit in one load of wash?)
• $199 price point
• size/thickness of three stacked credit cards
• headphones with a retractable cord that won't tangle
• caloric burn count
• heart rate monitor
• 7-in-1 card reader built-in

that's all for now
😛 😀

wow, that would end up looking like the car homer built on the simpsons.

i go for:

cheaper, lighter, thinner, hold more
longer battery
better headphones (or no headphones at all and make it cheaper) a must
color screen(no photo)
wi-fi
better pda, as some have said,
oh, and i'm down with ogg


i personally think the ipod will evlove into a pda. i think it will look like the current ipod minus the click wheel, with the screen extending to cover the whole space.

quick someone mock one up in photoshop!

 

[cubist]

Really like that laundry-folding idea. Even if it doesn't have PDA features or an SDK, that alone'd make it worth the money!

 

[joepunk]

Now I may be crazy thinking of this but how about having solar panels on the iPod. that way it could be recharged/not use much battery life if you are out in the sun. Of course the iPod could melt under the sun. I only thought of this because I saw on CTV morning news a jacket that had removable solar panels on the back for recharging electronic devices such as an iPod.

The jacket is at www.scottevest.com

 

[rueyeet]

Solar panels aren't yet efficient enough at power generated per square inch for an iPod-sized panel to power the iPod; and also, if the panel needed to be exposed to the sun, how would you carry the iPod or put it in a case? Either way you'd cover the solar panel.

For a 5th gen iPod, you can't go wrong with bigger capacity and better battery life. Color screens across the board would be good too. I don't see Apple lowering prices while iPods are still selling like hotcakes, though.

Updating the enclosure to either mini-like aluminum or new iBook-like matte white is largely useless but might be a fun aesthetic change. Less size is tricky, because the iPod is such a nice size in the hand....the mini is pushing the size-in-hand factor. You want things to be large enough that they don't get lost easily, and have a big enough screen to present sufficient information.

I'd love gapless playback....The Wall, The Downward Spiral, and The Fragile would all be playable on the iPod if that were a feature.

I don't agree with putting camera, phone, or more PDA functionality in the iPod, unless Apple can be the very first company to make a convergence device that's actually good at EVERYTHING.

 

[Mechcozmo]

Solar Panels that operate at 12% efficiency cost about 10 bucks/square inch. They are brown, too. Factoid of the day for you...

 

[johnbro23]

awesome! nice touch there! does that mean that they are including them with all new macs again? can anyone say who just bought an imag g5 or something?

My eMac came with 2 stickers. Any suggestions on what to do with them?

 

[crazzyeddie]

My eMac came with 2 stickers. Any suggestions on what to do with them?

Car window, display your love for Apple.

 

[wide]

1. wireless firewire connection (fw800, of course)
2. can drive my car with the scroll wheel
3. hold button functions are cruise control
4. backlight on = headlights on
5. color screen (OLED) on all models
6. thinner (but only slightly)
7. smaller (again, only slightly)
8. can add/remove laser engravings
9. wifi (and safari)
10. headphones that retract into the ipod itself, and then disappear until you hold down the select button
11. never needs to be recharged
12. downloadable games
13. movie-viewing capabilities (i know, jobs won't let it happen)
14. built in speakers
15. automatic ipod-cleansing setting (like an automatic car wash)
16. medicine cabinet
17. superdrive
18. free dual powermac g5
19. ipod version of itunes software (the same thing, preferably)
20. as a feature for the ipod version of itunes (see number 19), i would greatly like the big, white ipod to be able to morph into the mini iPod, and the other way around (this is like the "mini player" in iTunes
21. the ability to show those cool wavelengths that iTunes shows when one plays a song
22. visualizer like in iTunes, with custom animations available
23. plays all formats
24. unprotects protected AAC files
25. high-voltage taser-thing, like the phone in james bond (that, like the 5G ipod, is able to drive cars)

 

[wrldwzrd89]

1. wireless firewire connection (fw800, of course)
2. can drive my car with the scroll wheel
3. hold button functions are cruise control
4. backlight on = headlights on
5. color screen (OLED) on all models
6. thinner (but only slightly)
7. smaller (again, only slightly)
8. can add/remove laser engravings
9. wifi (and safari)
10. headphones that retract into the ipod itself, and then disappear until you hold down the select button
11. never needs to be recharged
12. downloadable games
13. movie-viewing capabilities (i know, jobs won't let it happen)
14. built in speakers
15. automatic ipod-cleansing setting (like an automatic car wash)
16. medicine cabinet
17. superdrive
18. free dual powermac g5
19. ipod version of itunes software (the same thing, preferably)
20. as a feature for the ipod version of itunes (see number 19), i would greatly like the big, white ipod to be able to morph into the mini iPod, and the other way around (this is like the "mini player" in iTunes
21. the ability to show those cool wavelengths that iTunes shows when one plays a song
22. visualizer like in iTunes, with custom animations available
23. plays all formats
24. unprotects protected AAC files
25. high-voltage taser-thing, like the phone in james bond (that, like the 5G ipod, is able to drive cars)

Quite frankly, most of these aren't going to happen in reality - but we can dream can't we 😎

 

[TBR]

My iPod has always been cross platform!

Nope - however, remember that Apple's aiming for the simplest approach. Keep in mind that the vast majority of computer users (Mac and PC users alike that haven't found these forums mostly 😀 ) don't know what the different hard drive formats are, so giving them a choice would just confuse them. Far better to hide the formatting options inside of the disk formatting utility, like Apple does now (on both Mac and Windows); people brave enough to enter a disk formatting utility had better know what they're doing.

I'm a mac user at home and the only machine I keep music on is a mac but I used the iPod software on the work PC to make my iPod a FAT 32 iPod. It's simply a case of plugging you iPod into a PC with iTunes installed and in about 1 min you have a FAT 32 iPod (empty)
This can then be used on both the Mac and PC as the mac can read fat 32 no problem.
So I have a PC iPod that is used almost exclusivly on mac's except for those emergencies that crop up where you need to transport huge files from pc -> pc or pc -> mac. Then I'm thankful I have a FAT 32 iPod.

There is nothing scary in the slightest about making your iPod FAT 32 except for the fact you will be wiping it clean, until you plug it back into your main music library