“What happens when every other guy on the train has an iPod? Where’s the cool factor when everyone is equally cool? Let me tell you the secret to separating yourself from the masses – get an even more expensive iPod. How about this season’s most expensive portable music player – the $1,088 [Singabucks] 60GB iPod Photo? To cut the long story short, the iPod Photo has all the winning qualities of the iPod and more,” The Electric New Paper writes.
“The Click Wheel is still the champion of interfaces, the sound quality is still astounding and the white porcelain-like surface still scratches too easily, which means you need to buy a protective cover. The iPod Photo is just 4mm thicker than the 20GB iPod but possesses the same sexy curves that have yet to be challenged by other manufacturers,” The Electric New Paper writes. “The battery life is also very good – I clocked in 14 hours 51 min during a long day at work, just a little shy of the rated 15-hour music playback battery life. The major difference from the iPod is that the iPod Photo comes with a 65,000 colour screen, rather than a monochrome one. Apple added that to let you show off colour photos and despite my initial scepticism, it really works great.”
“Now the question you will ask me is – is it really necessary to have a photo-viewing iPod? Personally, I love showing off photos of my kid on my Palm PDA, so the iPod Photo is even better because of the huge storage space. My current 10GB library of digital images will not even push the player’s storage capacity to its limit, especially after compression,” The Electric New Paper writes. “To Apple’s credit, no other portable ‘show-off-your-pics’ device works as fast or as intuitively as the iPod Photo. And of course, the minute people see your iPod’s colour screen, they will know you are not just carrying ANY iPod. If you think one grand is too much to pay, you can also pop for the 40GB iPod Photo at $888 [Singabucks]. Any downsides? Apart from the perennial issue of having to buy expensive accessories for features like FM tuner and voice recording as well as the lack of a Singapore iTunes music store, I think the iPod Photo rocks,” The Electric New Paper writes.
Full article here.
I’ll be interested to see how these sell…. hmmm.
anyone here own one?
2 first posts…. i must be in heaven…. what a depressing place heaven is….
When I saw that this came out, I instantly ordered a 40GB pPod (as I call it), even though I had a perfectly good, 10 GB 3G. I wanted it because it was so cool, and to backup my Linux box. The color screen makes the experiance worth the extra $100. I cann’t bear to use an older one now. It has more informaton on the screen, the GUI is so much prettyer and Aqua-fied, with the time bar under the song titles very Aquaey. And the Albumn Art in the Now Playing screen is so cool. I love it teices, and I can’t wait until somebody makes some cool pPod-only accessories.
And then I stuff it in my pocket while listening to music and I can�t see the screen at all….
…so the natural conclusion from Mr. Thighs is, why bother to have a screen at all? Brilliant, Mr. Thighs, just brilliant!
I would like the option to turn off the screen, many times when I’ve had too little sleep I’ve turned it off thinking I would only shut off the screen.
Well, here’s how I see it working. Wankers will load 15,000 scans and a few of their favorite songs on it; then, at bedtime, hold it up with your left hand (unless you’re left-handed), and with your right hand….
I’ve seen one or two and the screens are great. I’m not in the market for one (already have a 3rd Gen 40Gb), but if I was I’d consider it – prob. the 60gb for the space. However, I’d also prefer if they had a CF slot as well.
I’d also like to see an all over polished shiny gold (gold plate for example) iPod or mini. That would help differentiate the “rich” from the “poor”.
“……How about this season’s most expensive portable music player – the $1,088 [Singabucks] 60GB iPod Photo? ….”
Uhhhh
guess I dont know who “Singabuck” is…. but if that name adds $400 to the price of the 60 gigger iPod Photo… I wouldnt want it !!
Someone should tell this guy that Apple sells this (60 gig) iPod Photo on their website for $599 ….
A Grand ?? ….. whats he smokin ??
Uhhhh
guess I dont know who “Singabuck” is…. but if that name adds $400 to the price of the 60 gigger iPod Photo… I wouldnt want it !!
Someone should tell this guy that Apple sells this (60 gig) iPod Photo on their website for $599 ….
A Grand ?? ….. whats he smokin ??
Just a guess. Singa = Singapore. Buck = dollar. Singabuck= Singapore dollar? The conversion rate is US $1 = Singapore $1.6531.
US $599 = Singapore $990.21. It’s possible that it’s a bit more expensive in Singapore because of import duty etc..
If you read at the end where he says, “as well as the lack of a Singapore iTunes music store” he is probably from Singapore and ‘Singabuck’ supposedly is Singapore dollars.
The new owner of a 60 gig (my first), I�ve given my ColorPod a fair amount of thought. I bought it for the HD capacity, a general love of color screens, and most important to me, the experience of full screen album art (push select twice). Within this little music pusher, there are a series of design compromises, and its fascinating to �play Apple� and decide if they were right.
Arguably, the oddest thing about this implementation is the tiny screen. Have a big enough screen to really show things off or be true to the heritage of the iPod line? Apple took #2. Reminds me of the Mac Color Classic, more about looking the part than acting it. But there�s an important difference. With computers, a desktop is a desktop, whatever the screen size. With this, is all about being small enough to take with you. If you�re going to do a presentation and wonder what the best technology is, it won�t be the iPod. The real value here is that EVERYWHERE you go, there it is. Be that your vacation shots from 2 years ago, baby pictures of your teen ager, or your latest powerpoint slide show (http://www.zapptek.com/ipresent-it/). Not for when you need it, but for when you thought you didn�t.
Looking at the battery estimates and listening to the hard drive during music playback, the screen and displaying of images is the single largest drain. Apple took one look at the slide show #s and new they had to add battery to keep up. The extra 4mm allowed them to not only meet the monochromatic playtime despite the extra draw, but exceed it by a large margin. Considering the number of external battery packs now shipping, I�m pleased to have it built in. Under normal playback cycles, charge events are measured in days, not hours.
Where the iPod photo comes up short on imagination is the lack of a camera. A tiny low res CCD unit would have HUGE value with minimal design impact, either on looks or bulk. I would LOVE to have �camera� sitting on the main menu, pressing Select to shoot off photos whenever the mood or situation strikes. No direct way to input camera data also sucks, but a slot would add part time value (as opposed to battery space) bulk. A cable draw from camera USB ports would be slick, if it can be pulled off. If it can, Apple will hopefully add it with a simple software update later.
Where it comes up short on delivery is software. Specifically, that a device only slightly less expensive than an iBook and branded as �Photo� does not include a free copy of iPhoto. Apple makes the iPod dependant on a base computer with special software, then doesn�t include the software. The music part depends on and comes with ITunes, the photo part depends on and should comes with iPhoto. iTunes can transfer and/or sync specific folders that are preprapared, but this is hardly the way to go with an entire library. I wouldn�t mind paying extra where it not for the premium I paid to step in in the first place. They should port iPhoto to Windows, with both versions shipping on the iPod Photo CD.
Ultimately, I think the real value of the color screen will be more than just what�s on the benfits list. When the Mac first when color (Mac II), color software was not only difficult to find (exotic), the b/w stuff often crashed. The color Pod has a different operating system. There will be a point where the non color software will not be upgraded and the best software will only ship in color.
thanx nobody and anon for pointing that out… makes sense, now..
But then the guy shoulda mentioned he was in Singapore.. doncha think ?
Dear mac dood,
There are other countries in the world besides the USA. One look at his domain and you should have had a clue, asia1.com.sg. I certainly don’t think he should have to mention he was in Singapore. His audience certainly wasn’t you. The internet is world wide. You are going to read articles from and about other countries.
Here’s a list: http://www.iana.org/cctld/cctld-whois.htm
From your remarks don’t be surprised if you’re thought ignorant and naive.
To refer to Singapore currency as Singabucks is disingenuous. MDN should be more courteous. No wonder we have problems in foreign relations. Singapore is a nice place.
Dan – you’re a clever guy. Good points all round. I didn’t realise that iPhoto was not included.
The thing with Apple lately is they are run too much by marketing people. Look at the iSight – did it include iChat AV when it came out? No. I couldn’t imagine an engineering team sitting down, building a camera, writing the software to use it, and then releasing only the camera, thus requiring you to buy either the iChat software, or an OS upgrade to get it to work properly. No, it’s marketing people that thinks of that. These are also shades of the old” screw you hippie” Apple from the ’80s.
They probably figure that if you can afford the photo version, you can afford iLife. So, really, it’s kinda like at least $100 more isn’t it?
Or, let me be a dick and do a stupid car analogy – finding out your great new stereo only works in next years model, or requires custom fitting part xxy-c for $99.
I think they are wrong in doing these things. There is too much bowing to the glorious Apple and not enough “Hey, we’re getting screwed here”.
Hey mac dood, the internet is an international thing. Do you expect someone from the USA to mention that they are from the USA everytime they write an article where they mention the price of something?
I don’t know what you’re smoking because I thought it was clear as day from the article that the guy was talking about Singapore.
Asher
To refer to Singapore currency as Singabucks is disingenuous. MDN should be more courteous. No wonder we have problems in foreign relations. Singapore is a nice place.
No offense intended directly at you, Asher, but this attitude that we need to walk on egg shells when we talk to people for fear of “offending” them is really getting old and is itself offensive. There’s no way to keep everyone happy, and some people spend all day looking for ways to be offended and upset. Unless you believe that MDN meant insult to Singapore by using that term, then lay off.
The American Dollar, is called by many, many, many names, including US dollar, greenback, benjamins, dead presidents, to name a few…
I don’t doubt that Singapore is a nice place, I would love to visit sometime. I would not assume that someone calling the currency of Singapore as “Singabucks” is evidence that we necessarily have poor relations with that country. Don’t over react.
Long time Apple Guy, but the Epson P-2000 is da bomb for displaying photos. Nearly 4″ screen is glorious with CF/SD reader and 40G’s
Just a thought�if you are going to the expense of buying an iPod photo, aren’t the odds pretty good that you’ve got a recent Mac that came with iPhoto ( or already own iLife ); or are a windows user and it makes a good incentive to get a Mac?
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