The Beat Goes On - Apple Event 9/5/07

[Fash]

http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/05/stev ... ial-event/

Recap:

iPhone Ringtones from the ITMS. (Con: paying another 99cents for a song you already bought, for just a 30 second piece of it.)



New shuffle, same thing with new colors, including a (RED) model. $79.



New NANO, 2 inch screen (highest pixel density of any apple product), video, Cover Flow, and games. $149 (4gb) $199 (8gb)





iPod renamed to iPod Classic. more battery life, now full metal casing, new ui with coverflow. $249 (80gb) $349 (160gb!)



iPod TOUCH ! the phone-less iphone. 8mm thick. 802.11b/g wifi, safari, youtube. $299 (8gb) $399 (16gb)



Wireless ITMS from the Touch (and the iPhone, after new update comes out)... same songs and selection... instant download and syncs back to desktops itunes.


Extraneous feature: when in range of a Starbucks coffee house, a starbucks button will appear in the music store... You can preview and buy whatever song is playing or has recently played.



looks like the 4gb iPhone is disappearing... but the 8gb just got a $200 price cut! (so its just $100 more than the ipod touch 8gb for the phone functionality)



finally I'll be buying an ipod bigger than my 512mb original shuffle. the touch, 8gb.

[Animalor]

What the hell were they thinking gimping the iTouch with an 8 and 16GB flash instead of the massive HDD's we're seeing with the iPod Classics.

People are already complaining about the size on Engadget. Then they go and price the thing HIGHER than the new classics that have 80 and 160gb drives respectively?

It's a good thing Apple has that legion of value-blind fanboy-upgraders at their disposal.

This weekend might be a good time to scour ebay for cheap 5G 30GB video ipods.

[Winnow]

The fatty looks the most interesting. I like the nano and wouldn't mind being able to see some of the video podcasts as well.

I'll probably buy the 8GB Nano Fatty thing. The price seems good. $199 for 8GB. Still small and light enough to keep in a shirt pocket all day. I'd rather have a 16GB version though. 16GB thumb drives are getting pretty cheap.

Having wifi and browser in the iTouch might be useful if you happen to be in an area that has wifi access. Watching Youtube videos through your greasy fingerprints might pass some time.

I'm kind of partial to small players so the Nano with the video capability looks tempting unless I can find an alternative to iTunes and Apple that handles Pod/Netcasts well. Most other players will have better sound quality and video codec support than Apple's. The iPod Touch would be more appealing if it supported divx and xvid so you could actually make use of it watching recorded TV series etc.

AAPL 136.76 -7.40

People didn't sound too thrilled about paying $399 for the 16GB iPod Touch

[Leonaerd]

The best part of all of it is that you have to pay for the song and then buy the ringtone if you want one.

But seriously I am getting the $400 touch as soon as i have $400.

[Sueven]

Holy crap, that starbucks thing sounds like the worst feature I've ever heard of. They should pay their consumers for putting that bullshit on their products.

[Winnow]

The best part of all of it is that you have to pay for the song and then buy the ringtone if you want one.

But seriously I am getting the $400 touch as soon as i have $400.

I'll agree there. Charging for ringtones is the biggest scam ever for songs you already own. Why shouldn't you be able to use any song you own as a ringtone for free? Apple is way greedy on that part.
It would be very easy to program:

-select song
-select starting point in song to begin ringtone

hate Apple! Maybe the 2nd gen Zunes will be much better than last generations offerings.

[Zaelath]

No, no, you don't own music, you licence it!

I'm still curious where all the outrage was when everyone was taping songs off the radio.

[Winnow]

There's a crapload of pictures and some videos on gizmodo's front page currently: (go to next page if you read this tomorrow!)

http://www.gizmodo.com/

[Animalor]

I'll wait to see Gen2 Zunes. I might pick between one of the new Nano's or whatever MS offers.

[Animalor]

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/openiphoneletter/

Apple is giving a 100$ discount on any purchase at Apple's online or Brick and Mortar stores to all early iPhone adopters.

4GB owners rejoice, 8GB owners mash your teeth in frustration.. The announcement doesn't mention iTunes but I don't believe it'll apply towards that. My guess is they're hoping that people will use the discounts towards OSX 10.5 or a new Apple computer. Either way, Apple comes out the winner..

[Chidoro]

great post Fash thanks for the info. The ipod touch looks pretty damn cool. I don't really use my mp3 player much (it's the little shuffle I got as a gift) since I really don't have much music on my computer but the touch looks like a pretty cool toy. And releasing these when school is starting is probably the smartest decision they could make.

160 gigs on the classic, sheesh, my pc only has 80

[Winnow]

160 gigs on the classic, sheesh, my pc only has 80

Man, my PC (internally) has 2100GB with another 1 TB+ more external storage.

Has anyone spotted the new iPods in non Apple stores yet? I'm going to Fry's at lunch but doubt I'll see them there.

[Aardor]

160 gigs on the classic, sheesh, my pc only has 80

Man, my PC (internally) has 2100GB with another 1 TB+ more external storage.

Has anyone spotted the new iPods in non Apple stores yet? I'm going to Fry's at lunch but doubt I'll see them there.

is that on some sort of raid array?

[Sueven]

Man, my PC (internally) has 2100GB with another 1 TB+ more external storage.

Has anybody ever called you a nerd?

[Winnow]

Man, my PC (internally) has 2100GB with another 1 TB+ more external storage.

Has anybody ever called you a nerd?

That's a compliment in this day and age!

[Fash]

What the hell were they thinking gimping the iTouch with an 8 and 16GB flash instead of the massive HDD's we're seeing with the iPod Classics.

Surely you can understand the difference between a tiny flash based disk, and a ~2 inch hard drive with moving parts... The hard drive requires more power, generates more heat, and offers less reliability.

The touch has a brighter (and multi-touch) screen more than double the size of the classic, is topped with optical quality glass, and just plain targets a different audience.

You might be more productive in asking why someone would buy the 8gb nano for $200 when they could have an 80gb classic for $250, since the nano and the classic are feature-identical and differ only in physical size and storage size.

I'll go out on a limb and venture that most people have no need for more than 8gb storage on a music player. There are the exceptions to the rule who want to have every song they've ever heard with them at all times, but they aren't the market.
(My previous 2 music players are a 512mb shuffle, and a 4gb Sansa.)

[Winnow]

I'll go out on a limb and venture that most people have no need for more than 8gb storage on a music player. There are the exceptions to the rule who want to have every song they've ever heard with them at all times, but they aren't the market.
(My previous 2 music players are a 512mb shuffle, and a 4gb Sansa.)

I'll never buy another hard drive based portable media player. I've owned two. The original Creative Nomad which was the size of a portable CD player, and the Creative Zen. The Zen's actually ok but for some reason poscasts are treated as video files which sucks the life out of the battery. It's a horrible flaw for anyone that enjoys podcasts as your battery life becomes 4-6 hours instead of 24 hours.

On the whole though, no moving parts is always better. And 4GB is not enough as I run out of space constantly on my Nano while updating all the podcasts I listen to. I only have a few albums worth of songs on it because I'm constantly fighting to keep enough space for the podcasts. 8GB would be much better but I wish the Nano Fatty had a 16GB version seeing as video podcasts are going to take up a lot of space again and I might actually want to keep a few movies/TV episodes on it if I can find an efficient way to convert xvid/divx movies into the gay apple format. I fucking hate Apple. I'm sure they'll come out with a 16GB Nano Fatty early next year.

[Chidoro]

i'm pretty sure it's the video crap that sucks up a ton of space moreso than music any longer. But I agree w/ your point, different form factors are for different audiences even if they seem like they provide more/less value. I would have no reason to get a classic as i don't need that much space. i have a one gig shuffle and my wife has a 6 gig mini. we don't even have 4 gigs of music on our pc.

Winnow, I still have 12 gigs free on my pc and it's going to be five years old in october. and i haven't even deleted the old mmo's i no longer play either

[Aslanna]

Having a lot of storage these days isn't a big deal. 500GB+ drives are cheap. Whether or not everyone needs that amount is another story.

[Xatrei]

I'll never buy another hard drive based portable media player. I've owned two. The original Creative Nomad which was the size of a portable CD player, and the Creative Zen. The Zen's actually ok but for some reason poscasts are treated as video files which sucks the life out of the battery. It's a horrible flaw for anyone that enjoys podcasts as your battery life becomes 4-6 hours instead of 24 hours.

On the whole though, no moving parts is always better. And 4GB is not enough as I run out of space constantly on my Nano while updating all the podcasts I listen to. I only have a few albums worth of songs on it because I'm constantly fighting to keep enough space for the podcasts. 8GB would be much better but I wish the Nano Fatty had a 16GB version seeing as video podcasts are going to take up a lot of space again and I might actually want to keep a few movies/TV episodes on it if I can find an efficient way to convert xvid/divx movies into the gay apple format. I fucking hate Apple. I'm sure they'll come out with a 16GB Nano Fatty early next year.

I saw this a couple days ago on /. and thought of a conversation we had a few months ago regarding solid state storage alternatives for future media players, etc. This company has basically sandwiched 24 flash chips into a package 1.4mm thick. Their proof of concept model uses lower capacity flash chips, but could go on to offer 24 or 28 layer products with 16gb per layer. The problem that flash memory has with degradation caused by repeated writes (100k+ writes) is still an issue, but I'd never write 100k times in a media player before it was time to replace the device anyway.

Slashdot article and the actual article

[Winnow]

Having a lot of storage these days isn't a big deal. 500GB+ drives are cheap. Whether or not everyone needs that amount is another story.

ISOs for apps and games take a lot of space but generally don't require long time storage. I'm starting to put together a nice collection of art though that required me to do a bit of work gathering it together which I would not want to do again if I lost my hard drive. While most things are easily obtainable by using the internet as your backup, I can't see myself taking the time to find all the scanned comics, and more importantly, artwork, that I have now. That doesn't take 3TB though!

[Siji]

I'd like an actual "Off" button or menu option on the iPods.. I mean really, I love my iPod and I'll never need more than the 60 gigs it has (even though it's full), but sometimes I have a problem getting it to turn off and it annoys the hell out of me. Why couldn't they just add an "Off" menu option?

[Winnow]

Fry's didn't have the new iPods yet. The sales person said they were expecting the shipment later today. I asked him how many they were getting and he thought around 100. (mixed Nano Fattys/Classics) The iTouch won't be around for a few weeks.

[Winnow]

I gave those rat bastards 200 more dollars! (Fameen should be happy!)

I stopped by the Apple Store in the Chandler Fashion Mall to check out the new iPods after work. It looked like they had plenty of Fatty Nanos as I asked what colors they had left and the sale guy's response was "all of them" without having to check.

After playing around with one in the store for a bit, I asked to buy a green 8GB Fatty Nano. I had tears of sadness in my eyes at the cash register and told the sale rep that I hated him, Apple, and that I hoped AAPL stock drops like a rock and he loses his job. (jk)

I went home. The first thing I did was scrub my hands, cleaning off all the Apple Fanboi germs that I must have been in contact with while testing out the nano in the store. (not jk)

I had to download iTunes 7.4 in order for the new Fatty to sync up. After making a new profile for the Fatty, I synced up my music, one freebie TV episode I had, and my podcasts, both video and audio. That all seemed to work fine.

The new interface is better than the old nano's and takes advantage of the extra screen real estate.

Here's some pictures, kinda fuzzy as I took the quick without trying to adjust for lighting ,etc.




Some comparison shots with the old form nano.

Depending on what's selected, a screen saver type thingy kicks in and randomly selects images to display on the right side of the screen (pictures, cover art, podcast title art, etc) which slowly move around and change. It's a nice effect and starts quickly.

The podcasts, both video and audio, are handled very well. (has a more Zen-like appearance!) I like the new selection screen with icons, number of episodes, etc. (you get the same kind of info under music albums (displays artist) artist (displays how many songs), etc. Very nice



The "cover flip" seems to work well although I only have a handful of albums on it so there's not too many album covers loaded to see if it slows down with 100's of them.



Click on a cover and it takes you to this screen to select a song


You'll have to take my word for it that the screen is nice and bright and very clear. I criticized the original iPod Video screen because it was dull in comparison to the Creative Zen's but that has been rectified with these new nano screens. The photos are blurry and should only be used for size comparison and layout purposes. It comes defaulted to 50% screen brightness (prob to save battery) which looks fine but I upped it to 75% and it's very bright at that level. I don't anticipate using it longer than 8 hours or so before recharging so worrying about screen brightness isn't an issue. I also switched the default dimmer to 30 seconds instead of 10.

Overall, seems like a winner. I'll be able to watch video podcasts while keeping the small "fatty" in my shirt pocket still without noticing it unless I want to use it. I would have liked 16gb but If I'm prudent with my podcasts (meaning I only keep the last one or two episodes of each podcast on my nano, I should be fine and it will leave me with 4GB of space for videos or more music.

I put 100 or so pictures on the nano but the screen is pretty small to be viewing images so it's not worth it really unless you plan on using the accessory that lets you display the videos/pictures on a regular TV...then it would be worthwhile if going on a trip and wanting to show peeps pics or watch a movie on a bigger screen.

Oh, one last thing. The rounded edges of the fatty make it look thicker than the old nano but it's not. It's the same thickness or thiner. It fits better in your hand than the old, longer but thiner nano.



Billy may have lame videos but his music's good!

With the extra space, you have the album art along with the song info on the right. Kinda nice.

The extras are OK. There are three games. Vortex actually looks fun...a sort of pong/Star Castles type game. There's an Alarm/Sleeper stuff as well so I suppose you could use it as an alarm if hooked up to speakers.

The thing is really tiny which doesn't come across in the pictures. While it looks rounded on the edges, it actually has a hard edge which makes gripping it easier. The back of it is reflective (mirror) silver metal.

The sound is good. I had it hooked up to my speakers and decided to set the equalizer to "rock" but there are quite a few settings (or can turn off)

[Fairweather Pure]

My co-worker just bought one. We played the same song and swapped our headphones between her new nano and my 1+ old Zen. It wasn't even close. You'd think Apple would make the actual playback quality a bigger prioriety, but you'd be wrong.

It's nice looking, but it's definately still inferior to what I consider the most important aspect of an mp3 player: Sound. All the other stuff is just window dressing.

[Winnow]

My co-worker just bought one. We played the same song and swapped our headphones between her new nano and my 1+ old Zen. It wasn't even close. You'd think Apple would make the actual playback quality a bigger prioriety, but you'd be wrong.

It's nice looking, but it's definately still inferior to what I consider the most important aspect of an mp3 player: Sound. All the other stuff is just window dressing.

You know I won't argue that! All of the shortcomings that make Creative Zen's better than iPods are still there (except the screen quality).

As most have figured out though, I use the Nano for podcasts which I listen to to and from work, and while at work. Audio quality isn't a top priority in these settings. If any other player was remotely close, I'd smash the nano with a sledgehammer to save a trash digger from finding it.

I'd encourage anyone that actually wants to listen to quality music to buy anything but an Apple product and you'll get superior sound, with the Zens being the best in that category.

Here's a lengthy review of the new Nano Fattys:

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/ipod/r ... 4gb-8gb/P0

It has a bunch of pictures and info if you vew every page of the article.

Unlike the iPod classic, which saw a noticeable change or two in audio performance from its predecessor fifth-generation iPods, the new iPod nano hasn’t changed much from the second-generation nano in sound quality. When used with premium earphones, there’s a more instantly apparent base level of noise than in the iPod classic—basically equivalent to the second-generation nano’s—and as a consequence, careful listeners with top-quality earphones will still be able to hear a little hiss overlapping the silent parts of audio tracks. But this sound is relatively slight, and not only hard to hear without using great earphones, but also less likely to be heard by users of the less expensive, lower-capacity nano. In other words, unless you’re an audio snob, you’re unlikely to notice this, or even care.

So yeah, this product is primarily for podcast listeners only : ) There are enough video podcasts now (as well as enhanced podcasts with still images integrated into the podcast...Heroes Podcast does a lot of that) that this player makes sense for me.

I think audio quality is more affected by kbps. anything recorded at 128kbps sounds like crap to me (the iTunes Store encodes at this level and it's a crime). 190kbps and above are what I shoot for. 256kbps and above is preferred.

Perhaps the creative codecs can handle shittier encodings better...because the difference is very noticeable on the the Nano...128...yuck, 190+, not bad...which is funny because of the 128 peeps with Nano's have to endure if they buy their songs online legit.

Also note: Creative Zen's search features blow Apple's out of the water...except for anything related to pod/netcasting : (

[Animalor]

So counting this and the PS3, you've spent 600$ on technology you claim to hate this year...
You really need to get that impluse buy thing in check dude.

[Winnow]

So counting this and the PS3, you've spent 600$ on technology you claim to hate this year...
You really need to get that impluse buy thing in check dude.

I spent plenty more on technology I like!

How is buying an upgrade to a Nano I use a couple hours a day, five days a week, an impulse buy?

The PS3, yes. Buying that was about the same as throwing cash in a fire, although I was aware of that before buying it and it will eventually bring a tiny amount of usefulness when FFXIII is release in the next few years. I had to confirm for myself how bad it actually was though. It's worse than even I thought it would be. For value, it's worth maybe 50.00 as a game machine, 200.00 if you like Blu Ray movies. It might sell in 2008 if they lower the price to 299.00 and throw in 5 games and 20 Blu Ray movies. It's a useless hunk of shit as it stands right now. I don't even have it hooked up. It's in a closet.

Back to the Nano Fatty, I'm happy with it so far. I'll know more after using it for a week to see how the battery lasts, and if the video podcasts are worthwhile and watchable, etc.

[archeiron]

...it will eventually bring a tiny amount of usefulness when FFXIII is release in the next few years...

Isn't the White Engine supposed to be cross-platform?

[Winnow]

...it will eventually bring a tiny amount of usefulness when FFXIII is release in the next few years...

Isn't the White Engine supposed to be cross-platform?

Not sure but I think Square will be using the Unreal 3 engine for upcoming games (after FXIII).

I spent some time tracking down a few video podcasts to try out this week. Here's the breakdown so far for the 8GB on the Fatty Nano:



I'm not big on songs so only have 131 songs which take up 857 MB (9 hours worth of music). The rest of the 1.78 GB portion of the audio is taken up by audio podcasts which I bet is over 24 hours in length. The 1.23 GB is all Video Podcasts except for one TV show on the Nano which is 262 MB so roughly 1GB of the Nano's capacity is taken by a week's worth of Video Podcasts. The photos aren't important and can be deleted.

The Video Podcasts I have are:

AOTS, Fresh Ink: About 3 minute video covering something to do with current events in Comics, TPBs, Cons, etc.

Around the Net: 4-5 min show covering websites and popular videos circulating around the net. (hence the name!)

Ask a Ninja: 5 minute comedy of some sort. Watched one back episode and it seemed ok.

Channel Frederator: 10 minute video highlighting an adult (swim not porn) cartoon each week. Watched a back episode and it was entertaining.

CommandN: Tech Show, Canadian. Watched a back show. Female host seems OK and I cracked up at all the dudes saying "aboot" while talking about tech.

Cranky Geeks: 40 minute show covering the latest Tech news but from a mature (40's) more business type viewpoint. Dvorak and cohosts are usually entertaining. Dvorak can be a little too old school sometimes. I like the audio feed on this. I'm not sure this one needs to be in video format if I'm going to just see three or four guys talking around a table. The other news/shows do well with integrating videos/reference stuff into the cast so we'll see!

Daily Feed Show: Another tech show, 3.5 mins, chick from G4 hosts it, more up to date news being a daily show. She talks fast, cramming a lot of info into the 3.5 mins.

Diggnation: 40 minute tech/culture show. Been listening to the audio version for awhile now. The two hosts are funny (one PC, One Mac), they refer toa lot of visual stuff (videos and pictures on the net) on their shows so I think the video version will help.

dl.tv: another 40 minute tech show but doesn't cover current topics. It's more of a show that answers all sorts of tech questions and reviews things as well. Hosts seemed ok in back episode test viewing.

Pulp Secret: 5 minute Comic News/Culture show that releases shows a couple times a week. (very high nerd level)

Rocketboom: 3-10 minute daily tech show. Liked the old host better but the new one is passable.

Tiki Bar TV: 5 minute episodic show about bartending and corny jokes (takes pace in someone's apartment with the kitchen counter being the bar as far as I can tell). No idea on this one but wanted to try out some episodic content.

Webalert: another daily 5 minute web round up show.

10th Wonder Podcast: 5 minutes but think it's not normally a video podcast. This one has tem at the Dragon*Con.

-------

I'm still looking for some science/history podcasts in video format but those tend to work well in audio form anyway. History According to Bob sometimes puts out a video podcast. He had one on nuclear fallout shelters and shelter survival kits which was interesting. He only puts out video if he thinks it will help a lot in explaining things. I have a bunch of science/history audio podcasts audio podcasts that I'm happy with. I won't be watching video podcasts except sometimes at lunch and while at work, still need audio for the drive time!

I haven't looked hard for video podcasts yet so hopefully there are some good ones out there. I already have more than I can listen to or watch in a week's time before refreshign everything again that I consider entertaining or informative so it can be tweaked but I'm definately not lacking content.

I never have enough time to Listen to all of "History According to Bob"'s podcasts. I highly recommend that one for history buffs! He covers several themes at once, but spread them out so you aren't stuck with a particular time in history. he'll cover all the presidents, giving an episode to each, while at the same time covering the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, various famous pirates, and the Civil war, for example. He'll mix in something less dry during the week, like the concubines of history, or something like that. Here's a chunk of his topics for a particular stretch and the length of the podcasts for each:



Great stuff, I just don't have ~15-20 mins to devote each day to it so have to pick and choose!

---
So anyway, I use the Nano (and now the new Nano) for podcasts. Sucks that I'm stuck with Apple/iTunes but it's the best atm for non music audio stuff.

[Animalor]

Not knocking your choices dude. Just seeing you buying stuff you've been highly critical of is kinda humorous to me.

On a side note, I've been messing around with iTunes 7.4 last night and I really like what I've been seeing. I was kinda irked that I had to signup to the iTunes service AND provide a credit card to download album art for the stuff I have however I don't plan on buying anything through there.

I have ~ 3.5 GB of music so getting the phatty Nano would hold everything I have these and then have a ton of room left over to videos and podcasts.

Funny thing, Best Buy and Futureshop are selling the new Nano for ~ 220 CDN up here but the Gen2 Nano's are being sold at 249$

I'll still wait to see what MS comes up with with the G2 Zunes/Flash Zunes before committing the money though. If they don't sell in Canada off the bat this time around, Apple may just get my money.

[Boogahz]

iTunes 10.4? I thought it was only at something like 7.04.01 when I downloaded an update this morning. Is there some kind of beta going on out there I was not aware of?

[Animalor]

Err.. that's 7.4 sorry

I'll edit the post

[Boogahz]

Winnow, since you have both versions of the Nano, how much smaller is the wheel on the new one? I hadn't heard anything about it being a smaller wheel until a review I found a few minutes ago, and my hands are so big that scrolling through the old-model nano is difficult enough.

[Winnow]

Winnow, since you have both versions of the Nano, how much smaller is the wheel on the new one? I hadn't heard anything about it being a smaller wheel until a review I found a few minutes ago, and my hands are so big that scrolling through the old-model nano is difficult enough.

The pictures I posted above show the size difference pretty well. It's slightly smaller and thinner, giving you a larger middle button.

I haven't noticed any more difficulty in navigating menus with the new Nano over the old one. if you've got an Apple Store near you, they'll have them on display to play around with.

I wish they would have chosen something other than shiney silver metal for the back as it really gets fingerprinted up. I wonder who decided on that...quality control people wearing gloves? I assume they wanted to save money by making only one version of the back plate while making the various colored fronts. Not a big deal but a brushed metal type back would have been preferred.

After two days of watching video at lunch and a little while at my desk, and playing around with the player, I've still got half the battery left so that's not too bad. You'll easily be able to watch a few movies on it without running out of juice.

This nano video stuff adds a whole new dimension to entertainment at work. I have the nano placed under my monitor and when I'm focusing on the little screen, it looks like I'm really concentrating hard on my actual monitor. Anyone walking by my office must think I'm really focused on my work.

[Winnow]

A note to Animalor: I stopped by but didn't buy the iPod Touch this weekend. So there! I don't buy everything! The next larger sized Media Player device I buy (Zen/Zune/iTouch) is going to have to support stereo Bluetooth and the Touch doesn't do that.

A quick update on the Nano Fatty.

I'm really liking this thing. The addition of video to the Nano, along with the UI enhancements have both added a lot to the usefulness to the original the Nano for me.

I didn't know what to expect for video out of the Nano but it's been outstanding. I watched Video Podcasts all week at lunch and a few in my office. Video Podcasts are outstanding for particular interests that are visually oriented. The comic podcasts in video form benefit greatly from being able to show pages and art from the comics they're reviewing. Tech shows let you see what's being reviewed, etc. Very nice.

The key to all of it,unfortunately, is iTunes as it does an excellent job of sync'ing all the audio and video podcasts and iTunes is the main place to go to find the well organized selection of podcasts.

Another nice thing about the Nano/iPod is the Audiobook format which allows for bookmarking (like the podcasts do). I found a quick and easy mp3 to m4b (normal songs are m4a) conversion app. : http://www.freeipodsoftware.com/



Pretty straight forward.

Using that, I can download audiobooks in the standard mp3 format posted on the newsgroup audiobook groups and then combine the multiple files into a few big files in m4b formate, import them into iTunes and load them onto the Nano so I can take advantage of the bookmarking and slow/fast audio speed controls that iPods have. iTunes is handy for finding what the latest good books are and then I go download them off the newsgroups. Converting to Audiobook format also places the files in the correct Audiobook folder on your Nano and iTunes. Besides easily finding an audio book that way, it also makes sure that the file doesn't get deleted due to sync'ing.

Another nice thing about the Audiobook format is that it syncs your bookmarks back and forth from iTunes so you can listen to your book on the road, come home and plug in your Nano, sync, and continue listening on your PC right where you left off (works great as long as you remember to sync!)

I'm hearing some negative comments about the iPod Touch but most people (that have actually used one) agree that the Nano fatty rocks.

I'm still baffled why more people here don't listen to podcasts. Along the same lines as many here have started downloading their TV shows from the newsgroups or torrents, podcasts are replacing radio. It's a beautiful thing being able to listen to exactly what you want without commercials. And it's not just for talk shows. I listen to a 90 minute new age music weekly podcast and a 30 minutes weekly electronica something or another podcast which gives me two hours of music each week to listen of the type of music I want to hear and find new artists. There's a bazillion people that put together weekly music podcasts with mainstream music as well.

Everyone knows how much I hate Apple as a company and that I don't hesitate to thrash things I buy that I'm not happy with (PS3), so when I say that the Nano Fatty is a good product, it means something! On the other hand, it doesn't seem like peeps listen to podcasts yet, which I've been enjoying since I bought the Zen Vision quite some time ago now, so it may be another year before it catches on here. That the new Nano fits into my pocket, so light and thin that it goes unnoticed until I need it, and now has video, makes me happy. This should last me until the PicoP projectors are integrated into my next phone or portable media player next year.

In my case, I listen to it either plugged in to speakers at work, plugged into the Aux of my car stereo, plugged into my PC, or on the rare occasion I use my blue tooth headphones to listen to it. Wireless stereo Bluetooth!

Last note: the new iPod has has been cracked so peeps can use them with Linux and non iTunes apps again:

http://digg.com/linux_unix/New_Ipod_Has ... Once_Again

[Fash]

I ordered the 8gb touch this weekend... at the latest, it'll be here the first week in october.

I'm a dork... It came with free engraving... I didn't want to put my name on it, but I did want something on there that would allow me to tell which one was mine... So, I rot13'd my name.

SBFPB

[Zaelath]

:: that's the geekiest thing I've ever heard.

[Chidoro]

I'm still baffled why more people here don't listen to podcasts. Along the same lines as many here have started downloading their TV shows from the newsgroups or torrents, podcasts are replacing radio. It's a beautiful thing being able to listen to exactly what you want without commercials. And it's not just for talk shows. I listen to a 90 minute new age music weekly podcast and a 30 minutes weekly electronica something or another podcast which gives me two hours of music each week to listen of the type of music I want to hear and find new artists. There's a bazillion people that put together weekly music podcasts with mainstream music as well.

Podcasts may become an alternative to some radio listening such as the music example you gave (although satellite radio is pretty damn good at that kind of stuff already) but I can tell you that it will not replace regular talk radio. Just because some schmuck has a mike doesn't mean they are worth, not only seeking out, but listening to. Comedic talk radio cannot be done regularly by any person w/ a mike. And you can sure as hell tell when a pod guy is talking about sports. So the quality is largely lacking. I can only think that quality talent isn't exactly seeking out AZ as their destination so maybe the quality of your "pros" is lacking. But even if that is the case, podcasts are one way conversations. While hosts steer the ship, the listeners can bring good points to the table. I think those are the large reasons why people choose to listen to regular radio over podcasts

[Aardor]

I get the 8gb iTouch on friday before 10:30 AM, or so fedex claims. It's in Shanghai right now, so we'll see. When i do get it, I'll post what I think (thank god someone cracked the checksum so i might not have to use iTunes)

[Winnow]

Podcasts may become an alternative to some radio listening such as the music example you gave (although satellite radio is pretty damn good at that kind of stuff already) but I can tell you that it will not replace regular talk radio. Just because some schmuck has a mike doesn't mean they are worth, not only seeking out, but listening to. Comedic talk radio cannot be done regularly by any person w/ a mike. And you can sure as hell tell when a pod guy is talking about sports. So the quality is largely lacking. I can only think that quality talent isn't exactly seeking out AZ as their destination so maybe the quality of your "pros" is lacking. But even if that is the case, podcasts are one way conversations. While hosts steer the ship, the listeners can bring good points to the table. I think those are the large reasons why people choose to listen to regular radio over podcasts

I listen to local AM radio for my sports talk. Podcasts don't work well for sports IMO. "Ask a Ninja" video Podcast is pretty funny stuff for comedy and episodes come out a few times a week.

There are bunch of podcasts and a lot are crap. Same with lots of other things in life. You need to find the good ones...which really isn't that hard. Podcasts work well for weekly type info shows or daily shows that aren't current affairs. Anything that isn't a current affair (like news that happen a few hours ago) is fair game for quality podcasts. Even current tech news is pretty good now on Podcasts. It's a day old but you get it all in one nice 5-10 minute chunk in either video or audio format, delivered to you at lunch or whenever. I'm enjoying the net shows that cover new sites, etc. I don't have time to explore the net as much as I used to and have plenty to keep my busy when Im on my PC at home so watching a daily video at lunch about what's new is outstanding. Same for new comic series (my personal interest), etc. History according to Bob is nice to keep adding to my knowledge without cracking open a history book or having time to read through entire books about various people and times.

It goes on and on...I'm just curious why so few seem to listen to them. I listened to the 10th Wonder HEROES podcasts at lunch which got me up to speed on things that have happened between seasons with the cast, etc before the first show hits next Monday. I find myself playing podcasts while playing games as well.

[Chidoro]

i would think that most people listen to something while they are in the car going to and from work. It's a daily thing. A daily radio show fills that, requiring one search every so often. I know I'm listening to O&A to and from work since i usually get their fm side in the morning and the xm side while driving home. Otherwise, I'll be listening to mike & the maddog for anything but hockey and xm 204 for my hockey. And that's pretty much it for me. Ever since i got xm two years ago, that's all i've listened to. I may listen to a song on my shuffle, but that's it. Until all three of those options are gone, it's all i listen to. I think most people driving to and from work do something similar. It's a no brainer, and people like no braining it while driving.

[Winnow]

iIt's a no brainer, and people like no braining it while driving.

Not for me. I want as much info as I can get. O&A is a waste of time IMO.

The drive goes by faster when I'm focused on something I'm interested in and want to know at the time.

I know satellite radio doesn't have commercials but I can't stand listening to commercials for five minutes on AM/FM even though I do need my sports fix.

I check traffic while I'm in the shower. There's a local "every 30 minutes" local news (sort of like headline news format) with traffic reports every 10 minutes. I check the traffic map website before I leave work to plan my route home so I don't need to waste time waiting for traffic reports while driving. The morning news show also gives me all the local/national/sports/weather/entertainment news I need to be semi up to date on the basics each day (will surf that info out again in a few minutes at work anyway so even that's not a big deal)

The only time I'll listen to the radio at lunch is if there's a hot sports topic and then I'll listen to Rome talk about it or whoever is on the ESPN radio channel. I also always listen to Ron Jaworski (Jaws) talk about the Cardinals and NFL in general every Friday at 5pm when he's on a local sports talk radio show for 30 minutes. He usually has great insight.

Other than that, it's all about the podcasts.

I was looking around the podcasts on iTunes last night and found a bunch of music ones. It's great that people take the time to put together 30-90 minute sets of songs in a certain genre...almost anything and especially the stranger areas like japanese music, etc where you won't find elsewhere easily and definitely not the best choices which the podcaster peeps try to grab for their shows.

I know peeps don't like to think. They like to turn a knob or push a button and be done with it, but for those that take the time to seek out a nice selection of podcasts, it's very low maintenance afterwards (at least using iTunes) to sync that stuff and listen more to what you want, when you want.

iTunes (Apple sucks it hard) is free on Windows so even without an iPod, people can go on there and listen to all of the free podcasts (monster selection of them), both audio and video.

[Boogahz]

I generally listen to podcasts when commuting, but not on "pleasure" drives. Most of the time I am listening to NPR: World Story of the Day which has a playtime that averages 5-10 minutes. This is perfect for my drive to work.

[Winnow]

I generally listen to podcasts when commuting, but not on "pleasure" drives. Most of the time I am listening to NPR: World Story of the Day which has a playtime that averages 5-10 minutes. This is perfect for my drive to work.

Approved.

I listened to podcasts on my drive from Phoenix to Las Vegas. It was great. Made the trip fly by. I might try out an audio book for a long trip like that next time.

[Chidoro]

iIt's a no brainer, and people like no braining it while driving.

Not for me. I want as much info as I can get. O&A is a waste of time IMO.

The drive goes by faster when I'm focused on something I'm interested in and want to know at the time.

I know satellite radio doesn't have commercials but I can't stand listening to commercials for five minutes on AM/FM even though I do need my sports fix.

I check traffic while I'm in the shower. There's a local "every 30 minutes" local news (sort of like headline news format) with traffic reports every 10 minutes. I check the traffic map website before I leave work to plan my route home so I don't need to waste time waiting for traffic reports while driving. The morning news show also gives me all the local/national/sports/weather/entertainment news I need to be semi up to date on the basics each day (will surf that info out again in a few minutes at work anyway so even that's not a big deal)

The only time I'll listen to the radio at lunch is if there's a hot sports topic and then I'll listen to Rome talk about it or whoever is on the ESPN radio channel. I also always listen to Ron Jaworski (Jaws) talk about the Cardinals and NFL in general every Friday at 5pm when he's on a local sports talk radio show for 30 minutes. He usually has great insight.

Other than that, it's all about the podcasts.

I was looking around the podcasts on iTunes last night and found a bunch of music ones. It's great that people take the time to put together 30-90 minute sets of songs in a certain genre...almost anything and especially the stranger areas like japanese music, etc where you won't find elsewhere easily and definitely not the best choices which the podcaster peeps try to grab for their shows.

I know peeps don't like to think. They like to turn a knob or push a button and be done with it, but for those that take the time to seek out a nice selection of podcasts, it's very low maintenance afterwards (at least using iTunes) to sync that stuff and listen more to what you want, when you want.

iTunes (Apple sucks it hard) is free on Windows so even without an iPod, people can go on there and listen to all of the free podcasts (monster selection of them), both audio and video.

If you're a news hound then listening to a daily show revolving around humor isn't going to do it for you. I've had more entertainment listening to O&A since '99 then any other source. Pure unadulterated laughter. As far as "thinking" is concerned, it's more, "i've found something I like, i go to work daily, they are on daily, i'll stick w/ what i like". I'd think podcasts are constant maintenance since they seem to be weekly-ish based off of what you said. i'll pass on reiterating the lack of professionalism thing for most podcasts again since it should be understood.

I will say that if i was working in the city still, I'd be all over the podcast stuff since regular and sat radio are weak on the commuter trains/subways. I was willing to download shitty avantgo pages every morning on my palm, i'd definitely watch/listen to podcast stuff on that type of commute

[Boogahz]

Podcasts require no follow up once you've subscribed to those you like. They automatically download whenever you open iTunes, and then they sync onto your iPod (if that's what you're using). The podcasts I listen to generally update daily, and some are multiple times per day. When I plug my iPod in to charge, they get updated. I don't know where you get the "lack of professionalism" unless you're listening to the wrong podcasts. Those I listen to are recorded segments from "professional" shows/stations like NPR, Air America, Discovery, etc.. Sure, there are crappy basement productions available, but most of those have been overshadowed by the "pros" in recent years.

[Fash]

Yay, my ipod touch shipped from china yesterday (time zone fun... it shipped from the future! it was 9/25 and fedex showed it already left china at 1am on 9/26) and now it's on a slow boat to alaska.

I reformatted my machine and I'm going to completely re-organize my itunes setup so things are nice... I also picked up lots of discographies (pink floyd, led zeppelin, white stripes, ac/dc, queen, silverchair, SoaD, beatles, phil collins, and more) off the newsgroups.

[Tyek]

The PS3, yes. Buying that was about the same as throwing cash in a fire, although I was aware of that before buying it and it will eventually bring a tiny amount of usefulness when FFXIII is release in the next few years. I had to confirm for myself how bad it actually was though. It's worse than even I thought it would be. For value, it's worth maybe 50.00 as a game machine, 200.00 if you like Blu Ray movies. It might sell in 2008 if they lower the price to 299.00 and throw in 5 games and 20 Blu Ray movies. It's a useless hunk of shit as it stands right now. I don't even have it hooked up. It's in a closet.

Can I have it Winnow? I will even pay the freight!!!

I do have a question for those with the newest version of Itunes. Does it bog your system down. It seems to kill mine. My daughter convinced me to let her use my 30gb Ipod while I was coaching soccer. She promised she would hold onto it, of course she put it down and it was stolen and I bought a new classic to replace it. Since I downloaded the newer version, my computer seems to completely slow down.

[noel]

I have no issues with Itunes. 2GB RAM, C2D E6600.

They've been updating the hell out of it lately, so might wanna check that.