“We picked the iPod mini as one of our favorite music players when it debuted, thanks to its superior ergonomics, great in-hand feel, easily readable screen, jazzy colors, and generally good music performance. Apple’s recent refreshing of the player has made it even better. The Apple iPod mini 6GB holds 50 percent more music, has more than twice the battery life, sounds better, and costs the same ($249 direct) as the original 4GB mini (which now costs $199),” Bill Machrone writes for PC Magazine.
“The new mini’s other features are mostly unchanged, except for one cute addition: The player automatically pauses when you pull out the earphone plug. It’s a nice counterpoint to the feature that automatically starts the player when you insert the earphone plug,” Machrone writes. “The newest mini is a worthy upgrade to a wildly popular player. With the addition of an FM receiver and perhaps a recording function (features found on other players in this size and price range, such as the Creative Zen Micro), it would be perfect.”
Full article here.
I don’t understand; if you have the ability to cart around 1500 songs, why would you need FM radio? Because you miss the three minutes of ads for every seven minutes of programming? Has your live lost all meaning because you can’t listen to the “Morning Zoo” jocks interview strippers and midgets, or midget strippers (which really works well on radio)? Most FM stations that fit music in their schedules only play the same 30 songs all week, every week; with a 6GB iPod mini, that is 1/500th of the variety available!
If I need radio, I’ll go find a radio…
I still want a Radio added to iPod.
There’s times I want to listen to morning Talk Show or Newstalk.
Actually, there would be many people, including myself, who enjoy listening to the radio for news (BBC reports, NPR, etc.). Instead of licking the arse of Apple all the time, a little complaining might go a long way to getting the features we want (or atleast becoming even more competitive).
Nah….radio listening generally sucks, and it’s mostly because of the ads. The only radio station worth listening to is the CBC, eh! It’s great for those frosty mornings defrosting the caribou tea outside of the igloo, and sharpening the hockey sticks to prepare for the days battles of warding off ice beavers and disgruntled americans.
stantheman,
why are we licking Apple’s arse, if we do not voice wishes we do not have?
i recently got a fm radio from some local radio station for free while i was standing in a traffic jam. it takes my ipod plugs and would allow me to listen to the senseless drivel of radio hosts, if i really wanted that.
not on my ipod, no!!!
Screw the FM tuner, but yes, an iTalk for the iPod mini would be a nice accessory for those that need that functionality anyway.
LOL Johnny Canuck!
FM will start to cough up blood here in the UK around 2008, as the country moves to DAB.
Anyone who thinks I’m going to pay a premium for functionality that I don’t use now and won’t be able to use in three years has got rocks in their head.
The future is digital.
Ah, the whole radio thing. People like stantheman don’t need iPods. They could save themselves a lot of money and buy a little transistor radio.
I have a large collection of music and I like hearing just that… music…not talk or ads. That was the whole reason I got an iPod.
The only thing that a radio is good for is to keep you in touch during the next terrorist attack, or natural disaster… which hopefully won’t be any sort of a daily occurence.
Besides, isn’t there some sort of add-on for FM radio yet. If there isn’t, that would be the solution to stantheman’s problems…not adding features others don’t want (and being rude about it to boot)
Being able to record in stereo and at a high bit rate is being worked on by the folks at Forge. It goes contrary to Apple’s financial model to put any other source of music gathering other than the iTunes store. Apple would loved to serve us NPR or BBC for a fee, they just have not figure out how to podcast it and charge us.
Right on, PeterJ! Anyone that wants to carry around a portable radio device can buy (inexpensively) a small radio! I’m with you — I want to listen to my own music without the interruption of ads, talk shows, etc. This would be functionality that I wouldn’t want to pay for in an iPod.
Why does putting something as simple as an FM tuner in an iPod bother some so much? If it adds functionality for some users then it’s a good thing. If it helps sell more iPods then it’s a good thing. If you don’t want to use the FM tuner then don’t. I don’t play games but it doesn’t bother me that the option is there. And you won’t pay a “premium” for a freakin’ FM tuner just as you don’t pay a premium for the extra 10 hours of battery life on the 2nd generation mini. It’s nothing more than an added feature.
Gredo
Very good point about the game issue. i have never once looked at them and yet I am not loosing any sleep that they are there. I think that we have become intolerant children and can’t accept other’s views. How did we get here?
I just want a an Ipod that is blocked like they do phones and only plays country music. The rest of the music is crap.
Maybe one FM station for NPR would be nice and wouldn’t clutter the UI too much…
If they can add the FM tuner without adding to the price and without reducing the simplicity of the iPod, then I’m all for it. I probably wouldn’t ever use it myself, but I can understand how some might want it. There will always be those that don’t agree with everything that is included in the iPod, so just because some don’t need a tuner, it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be included.
Games is a good example that was mentioned earlier. I don’t use them, have no intention of using them, but will never complain about their existence on my iPod. There are many more examples. I don’t use the contacts, clock, calendar, don’t really need color, don’t usually use all the battery life available, don’t use the hold switch, alarm, sleep timer, the entire space on the hard drive, etc. These are all features that could reduce the cost of the iPod.
If the next version has a tuner, or some other feature that you don’t plan on using, but costs the same amount, how many people do you think will say, “Hey, it could be $2.50 less if they didn’t include the tuner! Forget that, I’m not buying this piece of garbage!”
As long as the music listening experience is not diminished, adding features will never harm the iPod, the user, or sales.
FM ? That’s like, last century. I’d hate to buy something as cool as an iPod and have it spoiled by having and FM radio.
DAB maybe, but I already have a separate portable DAB, and it’s about the same size as an iPod. So would I want a huge iPod with extra DAB powers ?
Not really.
Another problem is that it would have to work worldwide. FM uses different frequencies in different countries. It would be much harder to manufacture. Same thing goes for having a TV tuner built in. It would have to work with global standards, which is more expensive than the kind of generic card in PCs. Terrestrial analogue is also dead or dying in many countries, so it makes no sense to add it to Macs. Leave that functionality to Elgato, who sell many different boxes for different technologies.
Who needs really needs radio when you can pick and choose from a growing selection of podcasts?
If you are interested in listening to talk shows and other types of radio programs, more and more podcasts are being made available which you can easily add to your iPod for listening at anytime.
Plus, in my case, I can’t access any radio stations when I’m stuck in a subway tunnel getting to and from work.
I think the iPod gives us more control and customization over what and when we listen to things. Gotta love it!
FM is just simply bad technology… static-y, goes out when you’re in the subway or a tunnel, or travelling… Why would Apple want that terrible user experience foisted upon its customers?
Let the iPod competitors keep adding the kitchen sink to their feature sets. See how much good it does them.
The iPod is doing just fine.
If you guys want FM so much, go buy an iRiver. Really. The 99% that like the seamless iTunes/iPod experience will stay happy, and Apple won’t miss you as customers one bit.
GCN
I hate to break it to you bubba but radio is instant, wireless and mostly live. Podcasts on the other hand are prerecorded, dated, subject to the whims of the podcaster’s schedule and you must downloaded regularly; add to that they clutter your hard disk and iPod space. radio doesn’t.
Marcie88,
Good points.. podcasting is still in it’s infancy and I can only imagine will improve and become a much better medium.
Now the problem is that most “commercial” radio is nothing but ads, jingles, repetitive news breaks and other useless crap that I really don’t want to listen to. There is not much control there, being at the mercy of the program manager. So I don’t see much of an advantage to radio… I end up spending more time cycling through the stations looking for something good to listen to.
So, if podcasts clutter my desktop or iPod, radio sure does clutter the ears!
Now, if podcasts are not your thing, you can always schedule recordings of your favorite radio shows when you can’t be listening to the radio. It’s scheduled and you have an idea of what will be covered. Plus, you can cut out any commercials, news breaks etc quickly and easily.
Again… it’s a control thing! It might require a little more work for the user, but it’s worth it in the end. I’ve got an archive of some great talk shows I’ve recorded over the past few months catalogued in iTunes which I can quickly throw on to my iPod at anytime. It’s no different to listening to music.
Now, the question is why wouldn’t Apple just throw in the FM tuner functionality. If I choose not to use, it’s no big deal but at least the choice is there.
I can’t believe that it would cost much at all to include it given that the functionality must already be built into the onboard chips.
The iPod for me serves one purpose… and that is to pick and choose what I want to listen to. I haven’t missed
Hywel,
good point about DAB. I’m not too familiar with it, but I do agree that FM is an outdated technology and digital seems to be the future. Unfortunately we in the US many times like to cling to outdated models instead of changing to drastically new systems (ie. metric). Maybe when technology is ready and in place for a marriage between iPod and DAB, this problem can finally be solved. In the meantime, a third-party attachment customized for location would be nice to see.
For everyone who cannot live without FM radio:
COBY CX-9 Mini Digital AM / FM Stereo Pocket Radio with Neck Strap
And for all of you that want an FM built-in to your iPod, chances are, you’ve been waiting for this, too:
LG Electronics LTM9000ST Microwave/Toaster Combo, Stainless Steel
GCN
I agree podcasting is in its infancy What software do you use to download them?
rogozhin:
You missed the point. I want the iPod, blender, vacuum cleaner and microwave in one unit. I never listen to music in my iPod I just like the little clock in it. If they only sold it without headphones I could save a couple dollars.
Hey, there are about 50 different iPod models, now. Even an iPod Photo! I don’t hear any of you complaining about that. Why not make one model with a few extras, like FM and recording.