iPod takes one small step for PMPs, one giant leap for consumer electronics

Oh sure, iPods have found their way outside of our atmosphere before, but there's just something magical about spotting one front and (off) center on the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Dollars to donuts it's perpetually repeating the discography of Air.

[Bassir @ Mar 15th 2008 12:52PM]

OH MY GOD HOLY SHIT SPACE

[Mike @ Mar 15th 2008 1:04PM]

Astronauts have ipod's you think that NASA would be able to come up with something better...

[BrettB @ Mar 15th 2008 3:08PM]

I'm personally kind of glad NASA didn't waste ANOTHER billion $ developing something better. The iPod is good enough.

[RoboDan @ Mar 17th 2008 5:01AM]

So what?

They use IBM Thinkpads on the Space Shuttle all the time - an average of 3 Thinkpads per mission.

For those of you who don't know, Thinkpads are NOT made by Apple. Ooo, scary... good technology that doesn't come from Apple (though calling Apple technology "good" is somewhat of a dramatic overstatement)

[Jeremy K. @ Mar 15th 2008 12:59PM]

zomg it's a fourth gen iPod

[kbnguy @ Mar 15th 2008 1:01PM]

Nope. That's a knock-off iPoop.
What? prove me wrong then...

[Graham @ Mar 16th 2008 6:55AM]

Exactly! With the type of salary astronauts make youd think they could afford to upgrade to atleast the latest ipod classic. Wait, "latest ipod classic" thats like an oxymoron.

[Motoken @ Mar 15th 2008 1:00PM]

this is news?

[kbnguy @ Mar 15th 2008 1:03PM]

Shh....
It's really help Apple stock holder.

[Barricade_x @ Mar 15th 2008 4:10PM]

Since when is Engadget restricted to news-only posts? Sheesh.

[tf @ Mar 15th 2008 1:01PM]

what i wouldn't do to be an ipod right now

[Carbonize @ Mar 15th 2008 1:11PM]

Wonder how much Apple paid the astronaut to place it there. You'd think astronauts would have the intelligence to buy something better. Maybe it's a hint to NASA to fix the damn stereo.

[MacBandit @ Mar 15th 2008 1:16PM]

Name a hard drive MP3 player that's better at just playing music and at accessing that music through an easy interface.

[Derek B @ Mar 15th 2008 1:37PM]

Ya, it plays music; but its sound quality is far from satisfactory, and its format support sucks balls.

[Bryan Thornsberry @ Mar 15th 2008 1:49PM]

@ Derek: Your dumb. If you can tell (and i mean REAAALLLYYY tell the difference) between your obscure 320kb .ogg file or whatever the fuck "awesome better format" you may think you have, then my hats off to you. for the other 99.9% of all people out there, iPod just works. It's good, its fast, its simple, and for the money, the quality is just unbeatable. Not to mention the design is good. Fill us in when your oggPlayer5000 takes a trip to space. Douche.

[Mark @ Mar 15th 2008 1:57PM]

@MacBandit

Microsoft Zune 80GB. Not only is it just as easy to listen to music, but the zune software runs EXPONENTIALLY better than iTunes on Windows. Having tried both the Zune 80GB and the latest iPod generation, I liked both players, but in the end the larger screen of the Zune coupled with the fact that not a SINGLE day went by when my iTunes didn't lock up and force me to kill it via task manager on 3 different computers (1 vista and 2 XP's) at some point made me choose the Zune hands down. Just for comparison, my Zune software hasn't locked up or made my computer unresponsive for minutes at a time while accessing something a single time. It's been like heaven, especially now that I have Zune Pass.

Of course if you have a Mac then the iPod is def for you. iTunes runs very well on macs I hear, and its the shitty implementation of iTunes on Windows that drove me to the Zune in the first place.

[andrew @ Mar 15th 2008 1:57PM]

@brian: haha well put

[Tiptup300 @ Mar 15th 2008 2:02PM]

Zune

[Carbonize @ Mar 15th 2008 2:17PM]

@Macbandit - Personally I prefer a DAP that you can just plug in to any PC without needing to install some crappy software that you don't actually want.

[iPriest @ Mar 15th 2008 2:20PM]

@ Mark: Any astronaut so stupid to buy a zune doesn't even deserve to go into space. Astronauts deserve the best and that's the iPod. You can wiggle all you want but people want iPods not Zunes. And contrary to Microsoft Apple didn't force people in buying their products.

[The Angry Intern @ Mar 15th 2008 2:24PM]

@Carbonize: you can with the iPod....it's called Winamp. has a built in iPod plugin that allows you to transfer files to AND from the iPod (something iTunes can't do). I don't use iTunes at all with my iPod.

@DerekB: not sure what you are talking about, but 99% of the songs on my iPod are all in 192 VBR .mp3 format, which sounds pretty damn good to me. I use EAC and the LAME encoder to rip all my CD's

[atomicthumbs @ Mar 15th 2008 2:38PM]

Let me know if you see a Flash-based MP3 player that's highly resistant to cosmic rays and other outer space radiation hazards.

[thethirdmoose @ Mar 15th 2008 2:52PM]

Oh I like my DivX movies, yes I does. That's why I don't have an ipod.

[Carbonize @ Mar 15th 2008 2:54PM]

@The Angry Intern - Yes you can also use MediaMonkey but the thing is, unless I am mistaken, both these companies had to reverse engineer how the iPod communicates with the PC to make their programs work with it because Apple has never published documentation on how to do this.

[Carbonize @ Mar 15th 2008 1:14PM]

On a different note am I the only one who thinks it's weird that you can make out features on the ground? Surely the bay doors only get opened in orbit and I'm damn sure you can't make out individual fields from up there.

[tf @ Mar 15th 2008 1:23PM]

so what exactly did you see the last time you were in earth orbit?

[MacBandit @ Mar 15th 2008 1:24PM]

You sure can make out individual fields. Your not talking about small fields your looking at fields and lakes that are probably at a minimum of approximately 36 square miles. It also depends on the contrast with the surrounding area. Lakes are easy to pick up because the contrast of the blue on the surrounding green or brown. In eastern Oregon and in the great plains states there are farms that are 1000's of square miles that are very easy to locate from space.

[Carbonize @ Mar 15th 2008 2:15PM]

@tf - Lots of bright colours and swirling clouds. Man that was some good shit.

[ammi @ Mar 15th 2008 2:48PM]

@Carbonize
Hahahaha, I concur.

[Nathaniel @ Mar 17th 2008 9:54AM]

Open the pod bay door, Steve.

[Sean @ Mar 18th 2008 1:07PM]

Those are tiles, moron.

[Sean @ Mar 18th 2008 1:10PM]

Uh...course if I had followed the link, I would have seen what you were actually talking about. Guess for today I'm the moron. :S

[Carl @ Mar 15th 2008 1:24PM]

7th generation IPOD SHUTTLE!
Hahaha!.. Haha. ha..ha..

:P

[Zeus.:God @ Mar 15th 2008 5:51PM]

I like to call it the iShuttle.

[z3r0D @ Mar 15th 2008 6:25PM]

Let's hope it never crashes.

[smilgy @ Mar 15th 2008 1:21PM]

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-123/hires/s123e005105.jpg
OMG ANOTHER IPOD! (just above the dude's on the left arm )

[albi @ Mar 16th 2008 3:17AM]

i will not follow our nasa buddy and put a labal sticker on my ipod

[Truthjerk @ Mar 15th 2008 1:23PM]

Suck it Zune !

[pquistgard @ Mar 15th 2008 1:24PM]

Dang it even an iPod makes it to space before I do.

[David Vogt @ Mar 15th 2008 1:26PM]

Hope it doesn't blow up in flight.

Anyway, my Zune survived a 55mph car crash after hitting and shattering the windshield. Needless to say it doesn't have a scratch and works perfectly. I can hardly an iPod would be more durable in space.

[Kizorblade @ Mar 15th 2008 1:37PM]

Does it matter? If whatever thingy inside the Shuttle gets hit by something going at 55mph, I'd imagine the whole shuttle would be in danger.

And it looks like it's handling pretty well in space.

[ipodrulz @ Mar 15th 2008 1:47PM]

Thats cause the zunes a frggin brick.

[Noah @ Mar 15th 2008 1:47PM]

Are all your purchasing decisions for expensive electronics based on how well an they surviving hitting a hard surface at high speed? I mean, might make more sense than if it blends or plays Doom, but still, I don't really see it as the deciding factor in my purchasing decisions.

Also, the internet poorly conveys sarcasm.

[iPriest @ Mar 15th 2008 2:26PM]

How can a zune be more durable than an iPod as a zune is very poorly designed product. Tests with iPods have shown that they would survive your crash even when when it would have been catapulted out of your car. You really think NASA would allow astronauts to take zune's on a shuttle? Nasa made some mistakes but such obvious one you can't expect from Nasa.

[Barricade_x @ Mar 15th 2008 4:15PM]

Were you the cause of the accident? Because that comment makes me think you were.

[Lediur @ Mar 17th 2008 11:07PM]

Do hard drives work reliably in space? I mean, the loss of gravity and everything.

[FThorn @ Mar 15th 2008 1:27PM]

Ahem. My HP-41 C was in the shuttle AND COULD LAND IT, way before your puny entertainment device.

[iofthestorm @ Mar 15th 2008 3:26PM]

You forgot the "Now get off my lawn!" so I'll add it for you.
FThorn: "Now get off my lawn!"

[FThorn @ Mar 15th 2008 5:34PM]

Thanks. Must have been a senior moment.

Now, get off my post! ;)

[kastonie @ Mar 15th 2008 1:32PM]

Of course, what the article didnt say was the astronaut threw his ipod into space after purchasing a zune and finding out how much better it was.....

for realz