What will the next iPods be like?
There has been tons of rumors lately about what the new iPhone is going to look like and and what features it will have. Sure, the iPhone is bound to be updated (or announced to be updated) in June at WWDC, but what about that little thing we call the iPod? Can’t we give them a little loving? What is the next iPod going to be like? Unfortunately, it seems like this device has gotten lost in all the iPhone shuffle. Well, let’s bring it back into the limelight, even if only for a little bit! Keep in mind, I have no idea when they will be updated, but it’s always interesting to speculate on what they may look like and contain.
So, what do you think? Is that old scroll wheel out of fashion? Will they eventually all have wifi and Safari? Are they all going to contain some sort of touch screen? These are all good questions to ask, and with the way Apple keeps its secrets, any of those could be just as possible as the next. I strongly believe they will all have some sort of advanced touch system, whether it be the actual screen or just adding multi-touch to the scroll wheel. Apple has learned a lot from both the iPhone and iPod Touch about multi-touch displays, and the consumers seem to love them. Furthermore, I think they will all be capable of wireless connectivity. Even if it’s not Safari, Apple could possibly even add a more simplified iTunes Store to normal iPods. This would be a great way for Apple to sell more songs and users to find even more music.
Now let’s talk more hardware. With flash memory get cheaper everyday, will the new iPods move to flash? I hope not. Well, at least not now. The Classic and its 160GB are great for people who have a ton of music as well as some movies, and I don’t believe hard drives are dead just yet. Going along with my multi-touch theory, I also believe the new iPods will get larger screens to make them more able to support that feature.
What are your thoughts? Let them fly in the comments!
Graphic via [Gadget Reviews]
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I believe there will always be a harddrive-based iPod. Harddisk and Flash memory sizes are growing at the same rate, so there will probably never be a chance for Apple to replace the classic’s HD with Flash memory of the same size.
As for the music store, I think it’ll stay on the multi-touch side of the iPod line. The scroll wheel iPods are great because of their simplicity. You do all the management in iTunes, so the iPod’s interface can be amazingly easy-to-use.
on May 8, 2008 at 08:42 AM - LINKWhen RaceTrack memory is released by IBM, flash-type memory will have much more capacity (to the tune of 60 gigs in something the size of a compact flash card). Until this becomes mainstream, the iPods will most definitely keep their harddrives.
on May 8, 2008 at 11:20 AM - LINK