Flash-based iPod sneak preview

Like John Gruber,
we were skeptical. But TheMacMind has a
highly detailed description (they had generated a CG image of the device that they've since taken down as a result of being slashdotted and unable to keep bandwidth afloat) of just such a device, as described by an anonymous tipster:

The Meat: Milano cookie. That's the basic principle. I like Tim-Tams, but that's just me. Rounded edges, flat, and
tiny. We're looking at something that is about 2.5" long, 1.5" wide, and just .5" thick.

 Get this: NO SCREEN. Got a cellphone with one of those flat joysticks? This is apparently how you'll get around
on the screenless iPod. Left and right move between songs, up and down change the volume, and pressing straight down
will play/pause your music. With any other company, I'd be incredibly doubtful that their techs would be able to pull
off anything useable. Scroll through 250 songs in one big list? We're betting Apple has something better up their
sleeve, and we'll hopefully be able to tell you about the interface in the next few days. Evenything goes in and out
through a full-size FireWire port. Apparently, they are also virtually indestructible.

Now that I read the description, it's starting to make more sense. The iPod is portable, yes, but as yet I haven't seen anyone sporting theirs on a lanyard around their neck. This flash-based device would make it a cinch to literally carry tunes on your person at all times.

I can even see how the relatively small 256M – 1G size could be to the unit's advantage: it would lend itself to 'quick and dirty' playlists of your current 'listening pool.' My music library is huge, but I often go in cycles of listening to a set of artists or albums repeatedly over a period of several weeks or months. The selection becomes an ad hoc
'soundtrack' of that time in my life. The flash-based iPod would really lend itself to capturing that practice by making the contents of the player far more dynamic. The goal is not to store my entire collection (which my 40G iPod does quite nicely already), but to store a subset of 'current listening' that is easily and frequently changeable. It's yet another way of 'remixing' the music library I already own.

And at a $99 price tag? I would be seriously tempted. Would you buy one?