How would you change the iPod?
posted April 15th 2005 3:15PM
Lovers, haters, all are welcome here in this thread on retooling Apple's flagship player (but if you must hate, you must hate constructively!). We'll keep this open broadly to all of the iPod models because a whole series of these for each model would be a bit much — so in your comment, please be sure to first specify which iPod model(s) you're talking about, or whether you're speaking for all iPods in general. Feel free to go off on multiple versions, if that's your thing. We'll start it off:
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iPod shuffle: ability to not have it tethered/paired with any particular machine, and have its contents blown away when wanting to connect it to a different machine.
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iPod photo: video playback, with support for S-video out.
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iPod mini: something to prevent that white scroll wheel from getting so dirty. And 10GB wouldn't hurt, no how.
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iPods, general: voice recording, line in, native FM broadcasting.
How would you change the iPod?
For the hard drive-based iPods:
1) AM and FM tuner,
2) Bluetooth2 for headphones (though Apple wireless headphones would scream "ROB ME" louder than white earbuds),
3) Option to have backlight turn on when the song changes, maybe only when docked/charging,
4) Less scratchable surface.
Things NOT to expect soon:
1) Video playback. (A) There is no legal way (except TiVo To Go) to get content on any portable device. (B) It takes serious processing (read: power consumption) to decode video.
2) Removable batteries. Get over it-- you can replace it yourself with a not-too-expensive kit.
3) Ogg Vorbis support. This format is dead. Too bad you and those other /.ers ripped your friends' music in ogg when it seemed cool.
stay with the NO FM RADIO. who listens to that garbage anyway? if you do, you don't deserve an ipod.
color screen - who cares? i'm listening to MUSIC, color no matter.
editable playlists once you have loaded them, YES.
gapless playback, YES.
surface (particularly the screen) that's far MORE SCRATCH-RESISTANT.
include a case that is NOT the black nylon clippy one i have with my 3G 20GB - i just have to slide the player out every time to see what song is playing or to change a track. but i have to keep it in there because i refuse to spend another $40 on a fucking case for an already extremely expensive piece of equipment.
some kind of search feature or more collapsable listing of artists - takes forever to scroll from A to S.
I recently bought an iPod mini and was a bit disappointed not to find a power adapter included. (Except for the USB 2.0 cable.) It would be nice if Apple could include their USB Power Adapter in the package.
Other than that I see no real reason to change much about the iPod at all. Perhaps a 10 GB mini would be a nice thing, though. The display could be a bit better but in the whole I love my iPod and would hate to be without it. Go Apple! :-)
TWO Changes.
1) Add a phone. This would be huge.
2) Colors for the big iPod. It's so simple it is really flabbergasting that they haven't done it yet.
Am I the only one who DOESN'T want an AM/FM radio on the iPod? I never listen to radio, that's why I have a large music collection of my own. I don't need someone else to tell me what to listen to. Radio is the opposite of having your own music collection.
My feature requests:
-a real on/off switch. I hate having to hold the button for several seconds to turn it off, then bumping a button and turning it back on. Make the Hold switch be Off/Hold/On.
-a built in FM transmitter. No need for iTrip frequency 'tracks' - that would be in the setup.
-double-click on the menu button (or hold it down) to return all the way back out to the main menu. My cell phone does this, why not my iPod?
-cross fading, or course
-Bookmarks! Automatically remember the last spot played in every album. The first choice in the list for each album or playlist (before track #1) would be 'Resume where left off' - I really need that for audio books!
-dual alarms: one for weekdays, one for weekends. Yes, I really do use the alarm.
-the ability in iTunes to mark each playlist as random or sequential play, or better yet, a physical switch for random/sequential play.
-This one really irks me. They only give you one cable for power and PC connection, then charge $20 for another cable. I keep the charger where I listen to the iPod, so I have to move the cable every time I want to add more songs at my PC.
-I like the idea I saw here of an intermediate level in the menus for A,B,C,D... it would make navigation much simpler.
-I also like the idea of playing music on my PC via the iPod. iTunes or a virtual iPod program could do this.
Posted Apr 15, 2005, 4:28 PM ET by Josh
EASY:
1. Gapless playback.
2. Ability to show albums chronologically OR alphabetically.
3. Playing a song automatically starts a new on the go playlist so one doesn't have to place the song in the OTG playlist then find the playlist and play it and then go back to library to add more songs to the playlist.
4. Allow smartplaylists to use Grouping on iPod as it does on iTunes.
5. More or open-source games and the ability to pause game to adjust song, volume, etc. One shouldn't have to quit one's game of solitare to turn the volume up!
TOUGH:
1. Use del.icio.us-like tags to add info to songs instead of Grouping, Comments, etc.
2. Instead of MENU taking you back one menu, pressing it brings a contextual drop-down-ish menu with options. For example, press MENU on a song and see the following options: add to OTG, to to playlists, go to artists, etc. etc.
3. More forgiving exterior (less scratching).
4. Party Shuffle-like playlist that weights by rating on the fly.
5. Easy way to download RSS and news feeds so one can read her news, email, etc.
WISHLIST:
1. iPod to iPod transfers.
2. Replaceable batteries.
3. A dock that hooks up to one's home stereo so the iPod can be used like a remote at home. Basically an FM tuner with higher fidelity.
4. Something so that people sitting next to me on the train won't be able to see that I'm looking at naughty pictures on my way to work.
Video
And an FM Tuner
Blue Tooth
Drag and Drop Songs to iPod
Let us bloody save a Solitaire game!
It sucks to have 20GB+ of music on an iPod AND my computer. I'd like to be able to use it as a removable drive and have the option not to keep a mirrored copy of my music on my harddrive. I like the idea that #75 is getting at... plug in my iPod and be able to play directly from it without using iTunes or needing to sync... maybe include a lightweight driver/app built into the iPod that launches when it is plugged into a pc. But ideally, being able to use it as a removable harddrive without having to sync to iTunes everywhere and no mirrored copies of my music.
Search songs: starts at the first song alphabetically--would like to be able to search in reverse right from the beginning
This is great guys, thanks. We're always looking for ways to improve the iPod, available at many price points at store.apple.com.
I'm going over my notes here, and tell me if I have this correct -- basically, you want the existing iPod, but with alkalaine battery support, FM Bluetooth WiFi and computer-remote-control transmitters, AM FM XM Sirius line in and microphone receivers, video and video game capability, color screen that does not scratch, no gaps between the songs, lossless syncing with an unlimited number of computers, telephone capabilities, lock and shuffle switches, radio and voice recording (with a scheduler), a password (brilliant), multiple headphone and input jacks, direct camera and filesharing and iTunes Music Store and iPod-to-iPod connects, OGG and WMA support, seasonal colors, earbud and headphone and hearing aid varities, lyric sheets, menu reordering (totally brilliant), multi-track recording studio capability and it costs $150 or less.
Did I miss anything? Anything at all? I'm surprised no one brought up CB radio capability for truckers. That's an important one. Or shortwave radio support. For those living under dictatorial regimes. Oh! Oh! I know! Baby monitor integration! Video and audio!
Seriously, though, you guys are GENIUSES. We need to bring you down to Cupertino. I have no idea how I was able to run this company without your BRILLIANT product ideas.
Oh, just one more thing:
Sometimes you shouldn't add one more thing.
SPJ
better playlist options...for example, when i use 'shuffle all songs' (which is 90% of the time) and its playing an artist or an album that I decide that I want to hear more of after that song, I'd like to be able to hold down the center button or something and have it automatically change my playlist from 'shuffle all' to 'artist x; album y'. So if shuffle gives me Radiohead's Paranoid Android which reminds me that I like to hear Subterranean Homesick Alien, then I could just hold down the center button and BOOM...I'm now smack in the middle of OK Computer.
Dear god, PLEASE hire design engineers that know how to make a product LOOK GOOD. The whole iXXXX line is the most butt ugly stuff I've ever seen!
Add GSM phone capability to the iPod mini!
Then you'd have an iPod that pretends to be a phone instead of a phone that pretends to be an iPod.
If they made a GSM tri-band iPod phone, they could sell it anywhere, worldwide. Carriers might sell it, they might not. But it wouldn't matter. With GSM, you don't care which carrier you're on - as long as your phone isn't SIM-locked.
Screw the carrier subsidy. People would pay retail for this, at least for a while.
I'd like to see an optional 'soft-hold' function, in which a chord combination on the click wheel (center button + another button) would hold/unhold the device. This could allow for easier one-handed locking, as well as eliminate the loss of functionality iTrip users experience.
To #112: I don't think you get it. The idea is to collect everyone's ideas and hopefully implement the best of it: what is requested the most, what makes sense, what is practical, what improves the product. No one expects every idea to be implemented.
Isn't someone supposed to say make it edible?
I would make it timestamp the last played field if the song was playing for at least a minute. That way your not-recently played smart playlist would be more more accurate.
Why can't they put an alphabetical index on that thing? I hate scrolling forever.
Throw all the letters up there at once, on a chart. Scroll and click to select all the artists that start with that letter, then the chart changes to a 2-letter index of the possible artists, and so on until the list is pretty short.
Call it Expert Mode, or does that run against Apple's philosophy: everyone must operate in Idiot-proof Mode.
Mac and PC interoperability. I have a mac at home and a PC for work - wish i could seamlessly use both without Xplay.
Removal battery & a finish that won't scratch as easily.