“The iPod Photo is living proof that a device can’t serve two masters. The color screen is great, but the iPod can’t really offer a great photo experience with its small screen, recycled music interface, lack of a camera and poor photo-management features. Our advice? Stay focused on music. Keep the color screen–and keep enhancing digital music with iTunes Music Store franchises, podcasts and music subscriptions,” Ted Schadler and Josh Bernoff, Forrester Research Analysts, write for CNET News.
We’ve been living with iPod Photo for three months now. At first, we loved the addition of photos to the music player–the wow factor alone was reason enough to upload photos. But the more we carried the device around, the more we realized two things:
1. The color screen does make the iPod music experience better. Let’s face it: Everything looks better in color. And so does the iPod. Text, navigation and album cover art look great and extremely familiar to those used to working on a PC or Mac. The color screen makes menus more readable, photos displayable and the music experience more delightful.
2. Alas, a color screen by itself does not a great photo experience make. Though the iPod Photo is a fine way to drag a bunch of pictures around to show friends, it’s clear Apple Computer kept the focus on music–not photos. There’s no camera, the screen is tiny, the iTunes synchronization is clunky, the lack of on-the-go photo album creation is annoying, and (for power users) the file structure is tedious. Of course, you can plug the iPod Photo into a television and click through a slide show, but you’re limited to the slide shows already on the device–and you can’t edit them without going back to your computer.
Schadler and Bernoff write, “Instead of adding myriad photo features to the iPod Photo to try to overcome its multifunction challenges, Apple should keep the color screen and basic photo functions; revamp the iPod Photo advertising to emphasize how photos enhance the music experience; and get on with the business of improving the digital music experience.”
Schadler and Bernoff present five ideas to kick-start things in Cupertino in their full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Apple updates iPod photo packaging, de-emphasizes ‘photo’ – February 24, 2005
We ordered 5 new iPod Photos. I already have one and don´t agree with the anal´s
iPod photo is doomed because it plays music and displays photo? No device can serve two masters? What about all these wannabe ipod’s that are being heralded by these same analysts as “the iPod Killer”? Dont iPod contenders stuff their garbage gizmos with garbage features like Radio, Ability to record radio, built in microphone, TV remote functionality, so on and so forth? These garbage are stuffed with unnecesarry features up the wazoo. Why are they heralded by these anal-ists as ipod killers?
oh…i forgot to mention those crap devices that allow you to ripoff, i mean, import video into them to be viewed in 2 inch monitors. these devices are supposed to kill the ipod and the ipod photo will die because it can display photo?
The iPod photo is great got my 40gig the day it came out! THe real greatness of it is when you attach it to a TV and do the slideshow from there!
Not “everything looks great in colour”.
I can think of two things off the top of my head…. NeXT computers and old movies.
Then there’s the mother in law…
oops, it’s not “everything looks *better* in colour”.
While coming up with a sane response to Apple regarding the recent iPod decision, I poked out this. Read it thru’ – you may actually approve
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It’s been suggested that 80% of iPod owners are throwing out their FireWire cables. That would mean that 20% of iPod owners are throwing out their USB-2 cables.
The public are being told that Apple is reducing costs and passing on the savings to it’s iPod customers by not including the less ‘popular’ FireWire cable.
Some folks have suggested, that Apple reduce the ‘cost’ a further $20. They think that this massive waste could be ended if customers could choose which is appropriate at the point of purchase. (Thinking, an outfit like BestBuy or FutureShop will acknowledge that most of their customers will need the USB-2 cable and correctly manage to have supplies that cover those customers. Conversely thinking, a Mac retailer will acknowledge that most of their customers will need the FireWire cable and correctly manage to have supplies that cover those customers.)
Many feel that as a consumer product – leaving out a connectivity cable would inconvenience ALL iPod customers.
I think that the difficulty that some of your Apple iPod customers (20%?) are having reconciling this decision, is that they are ALSO your Apple Mac customers. The delemma they see – is this is a decision that negatively effects their (Apple) computer product, not positively effects a consumer product – even an Apple one.
Leaving out the (superior, Apple) FireWire cable now – in favor of the USB-2 cable might be prudent IF most Mac users had USB-2. Currently, most don’t. This probably would have been a non-issue if Apple had chosen to do this particular change 12-18 months from now.
As for today, do you think that a ‘FireWire-for-USB2-Cable-Walk-in-and-Trade-in’ program would work for your Mac customers that are also your iPod customers?.
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Blah, blah, blah! Buy the damn cable if you want it.
Btw, just bought a 30GB iPod Photo cause I wanted the longer battery life and the über-cool color screen — not to display photos. It’s about the same thickness as my 3G 20BG iPod so I can use the dock from the 20GB model. Sweet!
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I have to agree with these guys – I don’t have much use for the photo features and I am an avid digital photog. And I don’t really care to see album cover art the size of a penny – what I miss in the new line-up is a 40 gb plain vanilla iPod with an extended battery life and a cheaper price – THAT was the model to replace my completely full 30 gb 3rd Gen model. I suppose I shouldn’t complain about a 60gb color model for only a few bucks more than the old 40gb but will the 60gb fit my old 30gb dock or will the price of the 60gb keep getting higher as I replace my accessories which would have fit the 40gb model. I still don’t like the color of the gray click-wheel.
AND I’m a little pissed about a box in an APPLE store that says PC + Mac – if Apple is so damned enamored with their PC customers why don’t they make PC’s.
Magic word “interest” – as in I’m losing interest in Apple’s new line-up.
The iPod photo is one of the cheapest and most useful devices in medicine today.