Comments on: The future of the iPod

The device most responsible for Apple's 21st century renaissance gets short shrift these days next to the Mac and the iPhone. What lies in store for the iPod?

[bringer666]

My next iPod

I currently own an iPod touch and I only purchased it because I live in Canada and the iPhone is not available here (unless you hack it). As soon as the iPhone is available here and my current cell phone contract expires, I will be purchasing the iPhone as my phone/pda/iPod. Especially since I will be able to add apps to the phone by then.

[MCOjerry]

Poll Closed?

Says it would be open until Friday, but it's not.

[Tom Krazit]

The response was overwhelming

I didn't think we'd get this many responses in this short an amount of time, we exceeded the limit for the account we signed onto. We're going to upgrade it, and will reopen the poll tomorrow morning.

[Bridging the GAP]

Evolution of the iPod

Things that would be great:

1. IM client for nano, touch and iPhone.
2. More storage space all around. The future is portable music
and video.
3. AM tuner.
4. Enterprise email.
5. GPS and GMS.
6. Wi-Fi iTunes sync capability for all iPod flavors.
7. Keep the shuffle for working out and keep reducing the price.
8. Subscription iTunes program.
9. Keep them intuitive, I hate manuals.

[Macanada]

My next iPod

will definitely be a touch. Bought one for my wife (who is NOT tech
savvy at all) and she hardly puts the damn thing down. I have the
80 gig classic now and am very pleased with its dependability.
Would like an AM tuner for reasons already mentioned, bluetooth,
wifi, and a big plus would be email retrieval on POP accounts. Mail
program for the iPod Touch. I will buy an iPhone when Apple sets
up their own telecom service via satellite. The data plans the other
guys charge are not worth what you get.

[Maclover1]

Crazy!!!!

Was it December? January? That that IT reporters were complaining about the Mac/OS X not getting enough attention because the iPod and iPhone was getting all of the press....you know that iPhone/iTouch, new Nano...all less than a year old.

Make up your mind. I think Apple is doing fine. The numbers pretty much back that up.

[GrandpaN1947]

Make it work!

My iTouch refuses to connect to my WEP'd network. Thus, 80% of the functionality is lost. Otherwise it's ok.

[carltesta]

Wireless Podcast Syncing/Downloading

What I am most wanting at the moment from my ipod touch is
wireless downloading/syncing of podcasts. I want to be able to
browse audio and video podcasts through the mobile store and
add podcast subscriptions as well as sync podcasts I am
currently subscribed to. Wireless sync with the music library on
my mac would be good as well. But I definitely want to be able
to grab podcasts away from my computer.

Also, the third party apps are very important for me. My ipod is
currently running 3rd party apps and I love having extra
features. But the new games that will be released in July are very
exciting.

I will probably get an iPhone when it is 3G.

Carl

[Llib Setag]

NEW SHUFFLE

New Apple Digital Watch with a iPod Shuffle built into the watch.

Shuffle as jewelry.

Extra long ear bud cords OR Wireless Headset.

Have SWATCH design it.

[bommai]

Why not use Apple Lossless

I have 80GB of music in Apple Lossless. I use my AppleTV and
Squeezebox 3 to listen to them. iTunes is perfectly happy with it
and I get bit perfect stream to my receiver. So, why do I need FLAC
again!

[Tom Krazit]

Poll should be back open

Let me know if it's not, and please vote if you didn't have a chance to yesterday.

[rpbert4]

Zune

I have a 30GB Zune and am happy with it. I would like more accessories for it, like the Ipod has. Even if Microsoft produces them. Also I don't like to always have to go through the Zune software to add songs or videos. Or data.

[voo.doo]

Connectivity

I bought an iPod for one reason only: The connector that allows it to inteface with other devices, like my car audio system, hotel clock radios, etc.

If competing players had similar connectors, I would probably buy one.

It also worth saying that high capacity is very important to me (I have the 160 GB iPod) - which is whay the iPhone is usless to me as a media player

[BigGuns149]

Connectivity is important, but capacity is declining importance

I will agree with you that if someone designed a portable media player that was interoperable with the Dock connector that Apple's marketshare would fall, but the capacity argument I find pretty petty.

For audio I think larger capacities became irrelevant years ago. The ancient 30GB iPod could hold ~500 hours worth of 128 Kbps encoded music. Even if you bump it up to 320 Kbps you would still be able to hold over 150 hours, which is high enough quality that a lot of people start to have trouble distinguishing it from CD-audio on $100 headphones never mind the cheap stock headphones.

Even for video I question how many people would need a 160GB iPod. Flash based players have hit 32GB, which can almost hold 50 hours worth of video. A 64GB flash player will probably be out in the next 9-12 months, which will be thinner than any HDD player could ever be. How many people will need to carry two entire seasons of their favorite television show in their pocket? Not many. At some point there isn't enough market to justify selling yet a larger player. The 160GB isn't a heavy seller. The 80GB is only popular because flash is still too expensive to release a reasonable priced 64GB flash player.

There is a reason that the iPod classic is rumored to be phased out in the next year or so and that is because for a lot of people a 64GB flash player would have enough capacity.

[toddinpal]

Never again

My family has owned several iPods and pretty much all of them have given us a lot of grief. From not being recognized when connected to any of several computers in the house to getting exclamation point folders, etc. Our experience is that they rarely last a year, even with little use and great care. Even within that year they often need to get hard reset or otherwise messed with. The support under Windows with iTunes is horrible besides being interminably slow. I would think with a music library of under 50GB and under 10,000 tracks on a modern desktop shouldn't be too taxing. The next time any of them dies, they're not getting replaced with another iPod. I'd buy almost any other MP3 player at this point.

[MadLyb]

Still not there

Add Stereo Bluetooth and greater capacity to the Touch and I would probably buy one.

Actually, take an iPhone, add Stereo Bluetooth, 64GB in Storage, 3G, and open Application support like Windows Mobile and I will gladly buy one.

Till then, I will wait.

[DrBenway]

The food's lousy, but at least the portions are big!

The single thing that most amazes me about iPod mania is the complete lack of interest in sound quality.

There is not one mention of sound quality in the entire poll. Not even in relation to motives for a future player purchase. I buy music equipment because of what it sounds like. How unhip is that? Silly me.

Are we not CONSUMERS? We are DEVO. D - E - V - O !!! (You younger folks might have to look up that reference.)

[812]

Thank you!

I thought I was a lone voice in the wilderness. Thanks for bringing this up.

The biggest concern about the lousy sound quality is the fear that the recordings will begin to be mastered half-hassed, since that's what people will be used to. Why create a Maserati if everybody drives Yugos?

[iparadisebeach]

The real upgrade

I have had an iPod since day one; owning 5+ in it's lifetime (including the iPhone.) The advancements in connectivity and convergence are amazing, but I feel a step has been greatly over looked: BATTERY! Every iPod I have owned has been victim to the depleating battery life. We forget what this great lifestyle product roots are and that's to be a companion to our lives. A product that starts fresh out at 5 hours of battery life to die to 5 mins over the constant charges doesn't 'run with my life' the best. IMPROVE BATTERY! Apple your are the starter! You set the world with what's next! Give me a product that lasts like you use to with previous products. I use to buy new Apple products for the excitement of the new, but with the iPod I buy because the previous died. You have given me my whole music library and video on the go. You have given mne the world wide web at my fingertips, now give me the ability to use it for more than a few hours and have it for more than a few months!

[queerlib]

iPods Better Left Alone

I commend Apple for their line of iMacs and for the iPhone. These
products have truly changed the way I live and work in NYC. I only
wish that Apple would revisit the look, feel and sturdiness of the
original iPod with the scroll wheel and consider bringing this
feature (the scroll wheel) back to an iPod. What made the iPod a
smash hit was it's looks, ease of use, and most notable the ability
to navigate one's music collection with minimal fuss.

[boyoboyo]

convergence!

i've had a few ipods along the way, and in their day, they were definitely the best.

however, now that my blackberry can play music, i don't need it anymore. I'm all about convergence. a PC for computer tasks and a blackberry for when i'm not at my desk. it's all i need.

...and with a bluetooth audio gateway (one at home, one in the car), i've got everything i need.

I get:

real time email
web browsing
mobile phone
handheld gps (with online and offline maps)
mp3 player
video player
RSS reader
remote ssh access
and a few time wasting games.

what more do i need?

[blnked]

IRiver 899 - The best mp3 player - SJ laughs at you

WHY doesn't anyone recognize that the ipod is hard to use? You can't hang it around your neck, beneath your shirt and operate it blindly, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T HAVE BUTTONS!!!!! Therefore you are stuck with some jangly cord catching on every door handle, shift knob and hooked edge in your life. You're also forced to go through life with basically one hand behind your back because one has to hold your precious music player. SJ is laughing at you all the way to the bank. Iriver 899 user

[ccrackley]

Future iPod Purchases

I don't have any current plans to purchase another iPod because I
am content with it's capacity (30 Gig) and capability (Video).
However, who knows in the future what I might need or Apple
might put out (a 60 gig touch or a 30 gig iPhone would put me in
the mood).