What's Next for Apple?

[aafuss1]

Scottgfx-your post was great-especially considering the mockups/ideas posted at Business 2.0 were from a former Apple design director.

Video iPod-no, because of legal concerns (didn't SJ say something about this when the iPod photo was announced), because unlike photos, with movies, you don't often have the copyright to it and piracy as well.

 

[eXan]

I dont think that iPod's CPU can handle video decoding, especially H.264 🙁

 

[joe90]

ipod in the car

Apple needs to hook up with Kenwood or Alpine and make an in-dash head unit with a flip down face that has a slot to insert ipods into. Higher level models could have a touch-face 7' screen and the full version of itunes to access your library with, plus some kind of bluetooth internet connectivity via a phone to access the iTunes music store while on the road. How cool would that be to be driving down the road and hear a song you like on the radio, and buy it right there on the spot from the music store. Other cool things they could do would be in-car navigation where the road atlases would be stored on your iPod, and could be bought through the music store. You could use your iPhoto library as a screensaver, or watch your iMovie content when in park. Probably wouldn't be cheap... but I'm sure many of you out there would buy one if it was available.

I have been yearning for something like this ever since iPods first came out. The face could flip down, and you insert the iPod like a cassette. The iPod gets pulled in, face flips back up, and you are ready to go. If I had any knowledge of electrical/electronics engineering, I would have made one of these already.

this would be a better idea than the bt/wireless streaming to the car hi-fi as you wouldn't have to worry about the battery life as it could be made to charge from the car's battery. believe me, there are few things more annoying than ur ipod running out of battery half way through a big road trip... 😡

with a totally integrated system like this, you also wouldn't have to fool around with positioning the ipod on the dash and making sure the charging cable avoids wrapping itself around the gearstick on its way to the cigarette lighter. again, v annoying.

if apple made something like this, with or without the likes of Kenwood or Alpine, i think it could potentially be a v nice earner...

 

[inkswamp]

The article was cute, but so gadget-oriented as to elicit a complete "who cares" from me. I don't think Apple will do anything like any of these items. In a curious way, the article is sort of a microcosm of the electronics world and encapsulates exactly what's wrong with most consumer electronics companies: gadget first, need second.

It seems to me that a lot of companies are fixated on creating a snazzy gadget first and foremost... and who cares if it does a good job filling a real-world need. If it looks great and does a modicum of cool stuff, people will buy 'em up. That may be true for a while, but it peters out. Think PDAs. Think non-Apple mp3 players. Think cell phones with cameras. This stuff seems neat at first, but goes away because it doesn't fill an actual need or it only fills it partly.

Apple always talks and thinks (it seems to me) in terms of filling a need first and foremost. Then, they find the best, most thorough, most convenient and intuitive way to fill that need, and then design software and hardware to accommodate it all.

All of these items in the article strikes me as having that old neat-at-first-but-what-real-need-does-it-fill problem.

 

[Chappers]

The article was cute, but so gadget-oriented as to elicit a complete "who cares" from me. I don't think Apple will do anything like any of these items. In a curious way, the article is sort of a microcosm of the electronics world and encapsulates exactly what's wrong with most consumer electronics companies: gadget first, need second.

It seems to me that a lot of companies are fixated on creating a snazzy gadget first and foremost... and who cares if it does a good job filling a real-world need. If it looks great and does a modicum of cool stuff, people will buy 'em up. That may be true for a while, but it peters out. Think PDAs. Think non-Apple mp3 players. Think cell phones with cameras. This stuff seems neat at first, but goes away because it doesn't fill an actual need or it only fills it partly.

Apple always talks and thinks (it seems to me) in terms of filling a need first and foremost. Then, they find the best, most thorough, most convenient and intuitive way to fill that need, and then design software and hardware to accommodate it all.

All of these items in the article strikes me as having that old neat-at-first-but-what-real-need-does-it-fill problem.

Well said. Now if Apple where just to advertise then we would be in business.

 

[0098386]

The article was cute, but so gadget-oriented as to elicit a complete "who cares" from me. I don't think Apple will do anything like any of these items. In a curious way, the article is sort of a microcosm of the electronics world and encapsulates exactly what's wrong with most consumer electronics companies: gadget first, need second.

It seems to me that a lot of companies are fixated on creating a snazzy gadget first and foremost... and who cares if it does a good job filling a real-world need. If it looks great and does a modicum of cool stuff, people will buy 'em up. That may be true for a while, but it peters out. Think PDAs. Think non-Apple mp3 players. Think cell phones with cameras. This stuff seems neat at first, but goes away because it doesn't fill an actual need or it only fills it partly.

Apple always talks and thinks (it seems to me) in terms of filling a need first and foremost. Then, they find the best, most thorough, most convenient and intuitive way to fill that need, and then design software and hardware to accommodate it all.

All of these items in the article strikes me as having that old neat-at-first-but-what-real-need-does-it-fill problem.

amen.

I bought a Siemens M55 when there were clearly better phones out there because i didnt want a massive 16million colour screen, or a little 640x480 camera, or MP3 playing abilities. its like the PSP, shove all the features we can find into a device but have them weaker than thier seperate counterparts.

when a 5MP camera phone is released and it costs the same as a regular phone then ill probably buy one, just for the occasional snap and all 😉.

but yea to echo your point; people are too caught up with gadget first, needs second.

 

[bl0nde_uk]

I would love to see Apple make an iHome media center device, and these are the features that would convince me to buy:
Built in hard drive: ~200 gb? Size doesn't matter that much, so long as its big enough to record a reasonable amount of TV programming
Optical Drive/recorder: maybe Apple would go with a Blu-Ray drive as they recently signed joined the Blu-Ray board; I would settle for a simple DVD player/recorder to archive those TV programs stored on the hard disk
Wireless streaming facilities: Ability to stream music (inc. iTMS files) from iTunes, slideshows from iPhoto and video from your Movies directory/iMovie. Would maybe require some sort of software component installed on the Mac(s) you intend on streaming from to manage this. Maybe the streaming could work two ways, and you could stream recorded content from the iHome to your Macs around the house.
Basic internet browsing/email facilities? Not essential, some people would find it useful, but as Steve said, you don't want to be doing too much while at the TV.

Any other suggestions?

 

[mikeymo]

iSync on an iPod?

I have a hunch/conspiracy theory/whatever that in the long term, we will see the iPod become much more useful than just an MP3 player/general storage device...this is all just wild fantasy, but imagine if you could store your entire desktop on your iPod; i.e., you dock your iPod at a Mac, log in, and your desktop appears - same apps, settings, documents, music, etc. Whenever you log back into your "home" Mac, it syncs any changes made, and backs up to it via iSync.

Obviously, differing hardware between different Macs will be a problem, but the idea of having your entire system essentially in your pocket, is for me, kinda tasty 🙂

 

[GregA]

Seriously, where is Apple going with things like this. Soon we will have a special iPod for everything. Imagine having an iPod on your watch, one to take photo's on and then another one to access all of your stuff at home? Come on - that's getting ridiculous!!

Hey, Sony sells computers, and walkmen, and home stereos, and video cameras, and mobile phones, and VCRs, and TVs, and so on.... is that ridiculous?

Similarly, there's plenty of scope for an Apple that makes computers and "other stuff". It's not 5 (or more) versions of an iPod, but 5 Apple devices to enhance our lives, centrally managed and synced to a computer. At the moment, since they wouldn't be Macs, nobody knows what to call them except "iPods"....

That's how I read it anyway.

 

[tny]

I always thought the idea of watching a movie on an ipod-sized device would be great - that's until I got my PSP. The PSP's screen is both large and beautiful for such a small device, but watching Spiderman 2 was quite uncomfortble. I either had to hold the PSP in my hand or lean it against something. If you watch the movie more than half-an-arm's length away, your eyes start to hurt as they try to focus on small details and action. If you hold the PSP while you watch, your neck and your arms (if they are not laying against something) get sore. I imagine Jobs has gone through several vPod prototypes and has come to the same conclusion.

Watching a movie on your TV via the video-out capabilities of the iPod Photo, however, would be a nice addition to the iPod's skimpy list of features.

A very good point. The other possibility would be a video iPod with a clamshell form-factor. The micro-laptop there have been rumors about might do it: a small computer with a cool G3 processor (say around 400-500 MHz), a 7 in. 720x480 LCD touchscreen, a 100 GB iPod-sized drive, a stylus, a keyboard and touch pad, Tiger, Inkwell, and the iPod port, one FW400, one USB, and an audio/video out, 256 MB RAM, Airport Extreme, 5 hours of battery life, selling for say $699-$799 (basically, we're talking about combining an iPod photo, an Airport Express, and an old iBook). No optical drive: you hook it up to your Mac mini or PowerMac or iBook with the iPod cable and install from that optical drive.

Edit: come to think of it, the FW400 isn't necessary, thanks to the iPod port.

Second Edit: Now I've got it. No keyboard. There's a USB port! Bluetooth might be nice, but now we're getting above the $799 price limit I've set. Make the front lid just strong enough to serve as a stand, folded back under the screen - the feet on the stand could serve to space the screen a little from the lid. A click-wheel to the left of the screen - might need to reduce the screen a little. Put back the FW400, but with an iLink-style interface (for use with your video camera - make the iBook mini relate to your video camera the way iPod photo does to your still camera). Simplify the finder a bit - base it on the simplified finder in OS X, but make it more modal (but allow power users to access the normal finder and the terminal). No need for the mini-VGA plug of the iBook, or the power supply plug.

 

[Urban67]

Video ipod

I think a video ipod would be great when sitting on the buss. Plus if there will come a video ipod Apple would have to put a bigger screen on the ipod wich would be great for playimg games on.

 

[ziwi]

It is all pure conjecture - some of the ideas are good - I doubt the products mentioned would look like the renderings either. Only time will really tell what apple has up their sleeve. It is quite interesting that there was no future of a Mac - foreseen...will Apple move out of that space???

 

[jwhitnah]

Exactly

These analysts just show why they're analysts and not CEOs - they have no imagination.

You can just smell their stale thoughts. vPod? Come onnnn. With that reasoning the iPod Photo should have been named pPod! iHome; iDoubt it. Didn't they get the memo about it being a styrofoam (sp?) mockup in an elevator? "News" and "Industry Analysts" organizations have a spectacular record of getting it wrong. When I want to see what Apple has up its sleeve, only 3-5 rumor sites get it right--macrumors being one of the top. The best Apple analysts are the people reading my post right now. End of rant. Hey Arn, is there a spell check on this thing?

 

[Philsy]

Why so much negativity to an Apple mobile phone? Seems a great idea to me - I'd have one. The market is huge too - everyone has a phone but not everyone has an MP3 player.

 

[jwhitnah]

iBlop

I think a video ipod would be great when sitting on the buss. Plus if there will come a video ipod Apple would have to put a bigger screen on the ipod wich would be great for playimg games on.

But using it would be a chore. The initial iPod setup takes a while to fill the iPod. Thereafter syncing takes minimal time. Can you imagine adding a couple of movies? Glacial. Then watching it. I'd need a loop. The only good I see in adding this feature would be to "add more features." It may disuade people from buying the competition but in reality, I think it is silly. Like voice recording. Maybe the engineers can figure out a way for it to toast bread. FM seems reasonable though. Just my 2 cents.

 

[jwhitnah]

Why bother?

Why so much negativity to an Apple mobile phone? Seems a great idea to me - I'd have one. The market is huge too - everyone has a phone but not everyone has an MP3 player.

I'm sure it would be cool. Making iTMS available would be enough for me. If they did, I think many companies would line up to get iTunes on thir phones. Another way to crush the competition. If you have a proprietary (sp?) phone, I worry Apple would be tempted to make iTune exclusive to an Apple phone. I don't see them taking over the cell market so that would keep other competitors alive. Seems like software would be more effective.

 

[jwhitnah]

Loss of focus

Hey, Sony sells computers, and walkmen, and home stereos, and video cameras, and mobile phones, and VCRs, and TVs, and so on.... is that ridiculous?

Similarly, there's plenty of scope for an Apple that makes computers and "other stuff". It's not 5 (or more) versions of an iPod, but 5 Apple devices to enhance our lives, centrally managed and synced to a computer. At the moment, since they wouldn't be Macs, nobody knows what to call them except "iPods"....

That's how I read it anyway.

Well Sony does it all, but many would argue, they don't do it well anymore.

 

[Philsy]

Well Sony does it all, but many would argue, they don't do it well anymore.

An excellent opportunity, then, for Apple to do a better job 😉

 

[SiliconAddict]

wow.

Those number are really starting to make Mac sales look sad. Here's hoping that the mini fixes that problem.

 

[finchna]

vPod--YES!

There's much more to video than theater movies. Think about your 20 oe 30 minute bus/train commute, last nights sitcom or drama or this morning's news (or whatever you want from the listings) automatically downloaded to your vPod, take the vPod off the FW connector, hop on the bus/train and your choice of watching the program or listening to music. This isn't a replacement for a home theater system as an iPod isn't a replacement for a home stereo (or live music/theater)--merely a way to take some of that experience with you.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

vPod--YES!

There's much more to video than theater movies. Think about your 20 oe 30 minute bus/train commute, last nights sitcom or drama or this morning's news (or whatever you want from the listings) automatically downloaded to your vPod, take the vPod off the FW connector, hop on the bus/train and your choice of watching the program or listening to music. This isn't a replacement for a home theater system as an iPod isn't a replacement for a home stereo (or live music/theater)--merely a way to take some of that experience with you.

I'd only get one if it supported FireWire 1600 or faster to overcome the large file size/slow synchronization issue.

 

[kirk26]

iPod Brain-integrated iPod in your head with usb port (firewire extra $)

 

[bl0nde_uk]

vPod--YES!

There's much more to video than theater movies. Think about your 20 oe 30 minute bus/train commute, last nights sitcom or drama or this morning's news (or whatever you want from the listings) automatically downloaded to your vPod, take the vPod off the FW connector, hop on the bus/train and your choice of watching the program or listening to music. This isn't a replacement for a home theater system as an iPod isn't a replacement for a home stereo (or live music/theater)--merely a way to take some of that experience with you.

I don't buy it. I think that having a video playback feature on an iPod would only be as a kind of novelty. Two of my friends have Gminis, and when I ask them how often they use the video feature, they say they only really use it on planes when they've gone on holiday, and they don't use it on bus/train journeys for fear of having it stolen - listening to music with an iPod safely in your pocket is very different to having a $500 gadget out in front of you in full view of everyone. 🙄

 

[hulugu]

I would like iPod intergration in Land Rovers. Hopefully if they did that it would be by the time I buy a new Rangey. All though there are so few people who buy them there is no good way of connecting an iPod. I wonder if Apple could do something with a BT iPod where you can listen to music through your BT phone system in your car.

Hey Basile,

What about the head units Alpine makes? Just plug in and go like BMW, etc.

 

[hulugu]

A very good point. The other possibility would be a video iPod with a clamshell form-factor. The micro-laptop there have been rumors about might do it: a small computer with a cool G3 processor (say around 400-500 MHz), a 7 in. 720x480 LCD touchscreen, a 100 GB iPod-sized drive, a stylus, a keyboard and touch pad, Tiger, Inkwell, and the iPod port, one FW400, one USB, and an audio/video out, 256 MB RAM, Airport Extreme, 5 hours of battery life, selling for say $699-$799 (basically, we're talking about combining an iPod photo, an Airport Express, and an old iBook). No optical drive: you hook it up to your Mac mini or PowerMac or iBook with the iPod cable and install from that optical drive.

Edit: come to think of it, the FW400 isn't necessary, thanks to the iPod port.

Second Edit: Now I've got it. No keyboard. There's a USB port! Bluetooth might be nice, but now we're getting above the $799 price limit I've set. Make the front lid just strong enough to serve as a stand, folded back under the screen - the feet on the stand could serve to space the screen a little from the lid. A click-wheel to the left of the screen - might need to reduce the screen a little. Put back the FW400, but with an iLink-style interface (for use with your video camera - make the iBook mini relate to your video camera the way iPod photo does to your still camera). Simplify the finder a bit - base it on the simplified finder in OS X, but make it more modal (but allow power users to access the normal finder and the terminal). No need for the mini-VGA plug of the iBook, or the power supply plug.

::Ooohh pretty::
I think the iPod has to evolve, and I'm wondering how long it will be before we see a resurrection of the Newton. People are allowing computers to become a larger part of their lives and having a device that is the jack-of-all-trades like a laptop but without the extra bulk and heft of optical drives, etc. I think you've got something. I'm thinking of something about the length/width of a 12" iBook, but thinner with just a G3 proc and a 80+ HD, using Inkwell, but with the iPod connector (solves lots of problems at once), BT and wireless. It could truly be for the video/photographer on the go, but also for graphic designers and students. Not a tablet, but a Powerbook Mini. I really, really like this idea.

I have a hunch/conspiracy theory/whatever that in the long term, we will see the iPod become much more useful than just an MP3 player/general storage device...this is all just wild fantasy, but imagine if you could store your entire desktop on your iPod; i.e., you dock your iPod at a Mac, log in, and your desktop appears - same apps, settings, documents, music, etc. Whenever you log back into your "home" Mac, it syncs any changes made, and backs up to it via iSync.

Obviously, differing hardware between different Macs will be a problem, but the idea of having your entire system essentially in your pocket, is for me, kinda tasty 🙂

This idea has been talked about before and if given the right application could be very cool, but maybe would allow more 'sneaker-netting' than Jobs is comfortable with.