Apple watchers spot 'iPod Nano' pix, iTunes hints
Update 11:57 a.m. PDT: Added a paragraph on iTunes 8 and iPhone 2.1.
Tuesday's Apple event can't come soon enough for the gazillions of people eager to find out what the company has in store.
Could this be the iPod Nano that everyone's been expecting?
(Credit: MacNN)Hence, the latest rumor/hint/supposition: The Web site MacNN says it has confirmed that there is indeed such a thing as the fourth-generation iPod Nano, which has long been suspected as one of the highlights of Tuesday's "Let's Rock" event. It also has what is says is a "verified authentic photo" of the device.
The supposedly imminent new iPod Nano, MacNN says and shows, sports the previously reported long, lean, tapered look, along with an aluminum skin. The photo on the site shows a copper-hued music player encased in a protective plastic display housing.
Engadget, meanwhile, is offering up a picture of an unboxed alleged iPod Nano, in lime.
And a bit later on Saturday, we spotted an item on Ars Technica's Infinite Loop, wherein it is reported, according to a source close to the situation, that iTunes 8 has been confirmed for the Tuesday event, and, according to another source, that iPhone 2.1 will be released that day.
CNET News will be live-blogging from Tuesday's shindig, so check back starting at 10 a.m. PDT that day for up-to-the-minute reporting on Apple's actual unveilings.
Jonathan Skillings is managing editor of CNET News, based in the Boston bureau. He's been with CNET since 2000, after a decade in tech journalism at the IDG News Service, PC Week, and an AS/400 magazine. He's also been a soldier and a schoolteacher. E-mail Jon. 
Maybe I'm just too used to these September rumors turning out to be crap?
the ipod product line, spreading rumors every September, to help you forget that there are about 10 better MP3 players on the market.
Apple's iPod line is far superior to other MP3 lines mainly because of the usability of the software. The iPod features a universal UI, which any person would have an easy time navigating had they used iTunes in the past. This takes all of the complication out of the problem, especially for people who do not consider themselves to be good with computers.
You must also factor in that the system used to transfer music is very advanced for the MP3 World. iTunes allows for quick and easy transfer of music, which is almost impossible to mess up. The same could be said about the iPhone, which is the iPhone's major selling point as well.
While there may be MP3 players out there with better hardware, or a larger capacity for music, the ease and functionality of the iPod line is far superior.
One thing I have not seen brought up is a fact I believe most PC users will agree with. Apple's iTunes software, while great on the Mac, is horrible on the PC. I run Windows 99% of the time on a MacBook. I used to be a big Mac user. Owned tons of Macs, but in the last few years I have come to appreciate the PC a lot more. I'm no new PC user either. The first PC I have owned was a 286 I built myself. I have always built my PCs, and have owned quite a few of them over the years. I could go either way as I know both platforms very well. Even wrote a book on DVD Studio Pro published by CMP. So believe me, I understand the platforms.
The PC is full of options. As I say to Mac friends. Where is the 2.6 lb HP 2133 from Apple? What I mean by that is on the PC, if you want a tablet, there are several to choose from. Want a Mini-note. Take your pick, over 5 different manufactures to choose from. Want something better than iTunes? Again, several choices. Want something other than iPhone or iPod? Several choices again. iPod users, you discount this and I honestly don't understand why. Choice is always better than no choice. The fact that Apple supports Mac users, the minority of iPhone and iPod customers, is a testament to Apple's lack of focus to the customers that count.
Think about it. Apple has sold north of 150 million iPods. And tehre are 25 million Mac users. That suggests, no strike that, that demands that the vast majority of iPod and iPhone users are PC users using Windows. And yet Apple provides iTunes without giving it a UI consistent with Windows. Instead Apple attempts to give us part of the Mac UI on the PC. It's not only fugly, it's slow, clunky, and pretty lame.
Anyone who has used Windows Media Player 11 or Zune Marketplace will tell you the software is so much faster and better than iTunes. It's fluid rather than flawed as the iTunes interface is. I'm not saying that iTunes is a bad idea. Having music, movies, audiobooks, etc all under that roof is great. I use it, and I spend a lot f money on all that media. But ask me if I like the software itself. The answer is no. I can't stand iTunes. It's sloppy, slow, clunk, cr-ap software. I keep wishing Mr. Jobs would get it through his head that PC users would rather a native UI based PC app that takes advantages of our platform of choice than that clunk mess he is so proud of. I mean I get it. On the Mac iTunes is a good experience. It just doesn't translate to the PC. We have a different UI. Ask yourself why virtually no one uses Safari on the PC. You can't just port things over. You need to make them native to the OS there on. Look at Chrome from Google. Same Webkit as Safari, but about a million times better than Safari on the PC. It can be done, but Apple isn't the company to do it.
Honestly, I don't care about yet another iPod from Apple. Fix the iPhone 3G. I love the software on it, but I'm ready to jump to the Android if the software is as good as that on the iPhone and it gives me the choices Apple does not. Again, it's a choice issue. Steve Jobs believes in a closed box solution. PC users are users who want choice. And we would rather have native software.
I have 3 Zune players in a drawer collecting dust. But come support for audio books, I may just blow that dust off and become a member of the marketplace again and start enjoying unlimited music. I explored so much music with the Zune. I expanded like crazy. Now with the iTunes I have limited music, poor quality, and it's much more expensive to explore. Microsoft is on the right path. I hope they stick with it. I think people are just waiting for the features to catch up. It's all those little features that add up and make the iPod the better product. Clock, Sleep Timer, Calendar's, contact sync, and on and on. It adds up. I don't want to listen to my whole audio book and fall asleep doing it. I want a sleep timer so when I wake up, I can back track 1 hour and be where I left off.
Alex
What's the point of all the hardware choices when you still end up booting Windows?
OSX is the gem.
Microsoft makes "Plays for Sure" DRM which makes a resonating thud heard worldwide. Then in a fit of frustration, "eats it's own" by creating another player which doesn't use it, proving that they can't write a decent DRM, thus creating Zune Marketplace. The reason the zune is dead is like Apple in the 90's people don't want something that's not popular and doesn't sell as well and therefore has less of a market.
Now why does iTunes suck these days? Simple, it's been patched too many times. On both platforms. It is doing things it was never intended to do (sync contacts, pictures, download apps). Add the fact that in the industry there are a lot of engineers retiring and Apple is hiring young talent might explain why it takes two hours to back up your iPhone, crappy coding is why. Same can be said for Leopard and Vista.
"I keep wishing Mr. Jobs would get it through his head that PC users would rather a native UI based PC app that takes advantages of our platform of choice than that clunk mess he is so proud of. I mean I get it. On the Mac iTunes is a good experience. It just doesn't translate to the PC. We have a different UI. Ask yourself why virtually no one uses Safari on the PC. You can't just port things over. You need to make them native to the OS there on."
This is something we Mac users have been going thru for a decade. Sucks, huh?
There are four variations of the ipod.
There are three variations of the macbook.
There are several choices of desktops.
Safari is available on windows and mac os.
Macs can run windows and mac os.
ipods work on windows and mac os.
itunes works on windows and mac os.
itunes offers DRM and DRM-free music.... in addition to audio books AND movies AND tv shows AND podcasts AND music videos.
there are already over 2700 choices in the app store.
apple also offers things that you simply cannot get anywhere... magsafe power cord, multitouch, 3d accelerometers, dual os ability, etc...
if anything, i would say that there is MORE choice with apple than with others...
you also claim that the zune is great for subscription music.... but you don't use it for that... you said they are in a drawer collecting dust. (by the way there are several free music/radio apps for the ipod touch/iphone.)
you make it seem like apple owes it to you to make all of there stuff compatible with your stuff. that is not how the world works. at least itunes and safari are AVAILABLE for windows... because internet explorer and zune martketplace are NOT AVAILABLE for the mac os.
i do appreciate the time and detail put in your comment... i just happen to disagree.... cheers.
I like it was pointed out that the Mac can run Windows. As I already said, I use a MacBook and Run Windows from a Boot Camp volume. So I think I have already established that I know you can run Windows on a Mac. That doesn?t change the argument that I can buy an HP or a Dell and run my OS. You can?t. You have to buy an Apple to run OSX.
I also don?t feel OS X is better than Windows. It?s an alternative, but better is an opinion. Last time I checked, Apple didn?t have a lot of enterprise software. Oh yeah, they don?t want that market. They want to do fun stuff. Okay, last time I checked, you didn?t have a lot of games. Oh wait, you don?t do that either. You do what exactly that the PC doesn?t? Edit video? We have Avid, used in virtually all film production. You can count the number of real films edited with FCP on two hands.
You have Office. So do we, and more of it. Entourage is no match for Outlook. And I?ll take the PC versions of Word and Excel over the Mac versions any day.
Apple represents a closed experience. Always has. Choice isn?t one of the strong suits of the Mac. If you think it is, you?re wearing blinders.
The problem was none of my friends had a Mac and I've been brainwashed by marketing and advertisement.
It's true you cannot buy a MAC for $600. Equally Chevrolet doesn't drive like BMW M5. There are in a completely deferent league. Whichever one can afford and live with.
Have fun!
Go to any retailer that sells laptops. You'd be surprised how far your money goes in the PC world. Much much further, for much better hardware.
But back on topic, I do agree that iTunes was perhaps meant to be a Music Manager more than a Media Player. It is a lousy media player. QuickTime on the PC in general is a lousy piece of kit. Windows Media Player so much more fluid. The UI on iTunes, QuickTime Player, and Safari on the PC are just out of place. They are fine on the Mac. They fit right in there. But on the PC, I think I can speak for all of when I say we'd all be happier with the standard UI and a native app that felt as smooth as Windows Media Player. Perhaps Mac users just don't know how bad the player is on the PC. It's not good guys.
Adobe in my opinion does a good job at making software for both the Mac and the PC. Their apps as smooth and fast on both platforms. If Apple could do that, it would be so much better. Macromedia did a great job at making apps for both platforms as well, though Flash is vastly better on the PC in terms of player performance.
I've had Blu-ray for going on 2 years now too. I guess Apple is waiting for the 22nd century.
But seriously, I own an iPhone. Looking forward to 2.1 and I hope the phone gets better. Love the apps, but Apple's policy of no battery access, and a closed system will cause me to at least consider Android. To me it's about the software. If Android has software as good as what I see on the iPhone, then I'd likely switch. I owned 4 BlackBerries in the past, and though they are great phones, the software is legacy at this point. Apple really nailed the software. But they also left out some of the simple things that matter. Even the Treo has sync for outlook Notes and Tasks. Not the iPhone. It's such a basic thing and they left it out. Copy & paste, which I actually expect to see the day after tomorrow as part of 2.1. I'm sure it will get better. It's still a new product. But right now, it needs some work.
No subscription for iTunes, which is a big bummer. I love the subscription model. I will never understand while Apple won't give their customers that choice. You don't want a subscription, hey don't subscribe. Just buy the songs. But for those of us that do want a subscription, why not have that option?
Alex
I have never had a problem with the quality of build of apple products and the extra battery argument loses a little weight when considering their portable devices can be charged from a usb/wall/car outlet.
What Apple does offer is seamless integration of digital media not only through itunes but their whole iLife suite. They have always excelled at GUI and providing users with not only a usable product but one that is enjoyable to use as well.
Apples closed system policy is easily understandable, they want to seamless integration of software and hardware. If the software is left on it's own sepeate from the hardware you will have the problems with compatibility issues. Apples own award winning OS X is evidence of how well this works, with it Unix underpinnings it is not only robust but the software is optimized for the hardware that runs it.
One thing you can count on is the continual support and improvement of apples products through design inovation that is industry leading and not just copied from in a poorly implemented scheme (Vista/Zune).
- by Placebo1985 September 9, 2008 4:13 AM PDT
- I own an Ipod classic and honestly it's an OK mp3 player, I get a lot of use out of it, but all the rabid Apple fanboism (like "All MS products are crap, Apple can do no wrong") make me kind of embarrassed to be seen with the IPod because I can't help but feel that people think I'm one of those fanboys. I cannot help but wonder who exactly outside of industry insiders needs up to the minute updates from the Apple events. It is just an mp3 player/phone upgrade announcement, not the second coming of Christ.
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