4979 It's difficult to overstate the importance of the iPod to Apple's Jobs II renaissance. If Steve Jobs and his brains trust hadn't come up with the iPod idea back in 2001, who knows where Apple would be today. Perhaps swallowed up by another company. It's not "just" the 160 million or so of the little digital jukeboxes that Apple has sold over the past seven years, but also the famous "halo effect." The iPod, perhaps more than any other factor, has been instrumental in getting PC-Centric consumers to pay attention to Apple and to take the company seriously, to discover that Apple products really are cool and that it isn't just fanboy hype.

The new iPod revisions Jobs unveiled on Tuesday are quite substantive updates, notwithstanding a lot of ho-hum reaction from the media tech commentariat, which had made up its collective mind before the fact that Apple's Special Event was going to be "underwhelming," and that has certainly been the dominant spin.

I think the new iPods are just fine, and I would be delighted to own any of them. As you're probably aware since you're reading Applelinks, the iPod touch, nano, and classic all received significant, value-added refreshes. The nano is the most changed form-factor wise, reverting to the general proportions of the first and second-generation nanos - a decision I wholeheartedly approve. The 3G nano was just fine functionally, bit more than a bit dumpy in the looks department.


However, I want to comment in detail here first on the new iPod classic, partly because Apple opted to say almost nothing about it on stage, and didn't even issue a press release. I infer that's a signal that the classic is on the way out, which saddens me, because in my estimation the classic epitomizes the essence of iPodness, and is the 'Pod I would most prefer as a replacement for my ancient 1st-generation iPod that died earlier this year of a hard drive coronary. The touch is very cool, but it's basically an iPhone without the phone, while the nano, despite its many virtues, seems to me in some respects an engineering exercise in miniaturization.

Aside from aesthetics, size (I like my wife's 2nd-gen. nano, but find the controls annoyingly too small for comfortable manipulation compared with the ones on my late iPod), and tradition, I would find the classic the most practically useful iPod, not, I hasten to add, because I need 120 GB to store an expansive music collection. The 5 GB HD in my old 'Pod still had about a gig free space when it croaked. However, that 120 GB drive could be used for other purposes, such as data backups, and if I'm going to spend several hundred dollars for an iPod, I'd like it to be more than a digital jukebox, photo album and video player.

Unfortunately, the "thick" 160 GB dial=platter drive classic is no longer, with it's and the erstwhile 80 GB "thin" classic's capacity converged on a single, 120 GB single-platter thin unit selling for $249. That pretty much puts paid to there being a 240 GB ipod, which some had been hoping for.

For me I expect 120 GB is plenty enough and then some, being as the largest capacity drive I have in any of my laptops is 100 GB (although I do have a 500 GB external drive for Time Machine and all. As Apple says, with 120GB of storage, iPod classic is the take-everything-everywhere

Pundits are predicting that iPods with 128 GB solid state drives may be a available by late next year, which would likely mark the end of the classic, although there is perhaps a sliver of hope that Apple would keep a hard-drive based 'Pod in the mix as a low priced model with decent storage capacity. I don't anticipate that a 128 GB SSD-based iPod will be inexpensive.

But right now you can get an end-of-line 80 GB classic ($199 while quantities last) for the same price as a 16 GB nano - which works out to five times the capacity for the same amount of money, I wouldn't have to think more than once.

Changes in the September '08 iPod classic, aside from the capacity changes, are thin on the ground - the all-metal enclosure of anodized aluminum and polished stainless steel is now available in black as well as the carry-over silver livery, and it gets the new Genius feature, about which more below. The new classic can also now make voice recordings through its headphone jack provided you have a compatible headphone set with an in-line microphone.

Photo: Apple


The classic has a 2.5-inch display with with LED backlight and
320-by-240-pixel resolution at 163 pixels per inch, and Apple claims you can get up to 36 hours of battery life with the classic between recharges listening to music or up to 6 hours of video playback. Charging is via a USB computer port or optional freestanding power adapter. Fast-charge time is about 2 hours (up to 80% of battery capacity) Full-charge takes about 4 hours. That's all vastly better than my old 1st-gen iPod ever managed, even after I replaced the battery with an extended life unit. Speaking of which, another benefit point of going with the bigger classic as opposed to the minuscule nano pertains to matters like battery replacement. iFixIt, which tore down a new 2G touch and 4G nano this week noted that the nano's battery is soldered to its motherboard and will be a challenge to replace. That sort of thing drives me nuts. I bridle at regarding anything that costs more than say, 30 bucks, as disposable. Heck, I was using an iPod built in October, 2001 into 2008. To be fair, iFixIt didn't tear down the new classic, but I would expect battery replacement to be a less challenging proposition with the larger machine. It was relatively simple with my old 'Pod.

The new iPod classic is a green tour-de-force by traditional standards with a raft of features intended to reduce environmental impact:
• Arsenic-free glass
• Brominated flame retardant-free
• Mercury-free
• PVC-free
• Highly recyclable aluminum and stainless steel enclosure
• Recycled and bio-based packaging materials

iPod classic system requirements - Mac:
Mac computer with USB 2.0 port
Mac OS X v10.4.11 or later
iTunes 8 or later

Windows system requirements:
PC with USB 2.0 port
Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 3 or later
iTunes 8 or later

Moving on, the new iPod touch 2G gets a somewhat thinner (by one-third) smaller and lighter metal housing than the original, a la the iPhone 3G, with a 3.5-inch widescreen glass display, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi wireless networking, integrated volume control buttons, a new built-in speaker for casual listening, a built-in accelerometer - also new - and other advanced sensors, plus Apple's Multi-Touch user interface, starting at $229 for the 8GB model. Also available are a $399 32GB model that holds up to 7,000 songs, 25,000 photos or 40 hours of video; and a $299 16GB model that holds up to 3,500 songs, 20,000 photos or 20 hours of video, and the 8GB model holds up to 1,750 songs, 10,000 photos and 10 hours of video

Photo: Apple


The new iPod touch works with the new iTunes 8 Genius feature, allowing iTunes users to automatically create playlists while on the go, preview the playlist Genius creates, refresh the list to choose different songs and save Genius playlists to enjoy again later.

The new iPod touch is also also the first iPod ever with a built-in speaker, although don't expect hi-fi tone, and it features built-in Nike + iPod support.

iPod touch requires a Mac with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS X v10.4.10 or later and iTunes 8. Existing iPod touch users can update to the latest 2.1 software for $9.95 to add the new Genius feature. iPod touch owners who already have the 2.0 software get the 2.1 software update for free. Simply download the latest version of iTunes onto your Mac or PC, and purchase the 2.1 software update via iTunes.

The fourth generation iPod nano (how time flies) features new, back-to-the-future design returning to the original, oblong nano proportions but now with a curved aluminum and glass enclosure, in nine colors. Included are the aforementioned Genius technology, a high-resolution 2" portrait display (same one as in the preceding squatty nano) and a built-in accelerometer that automatically switches to Cover Flow when rotated and automatically goes into Shuffle mode when lightly shaken - gimmicky, but I suppose mildly entertaining to some. Apple claims the new nano offers up to 24 hours of music playback or four hours of video playback

The 4G nano comes in an 8GB model for $149 and a 16GB model for $199. Both models come in silver, purple, blue, green, orange, yellow, pink, (PRODUCT) RED and black. I like the rainbow of colors.

Photo: Apple


iPod nano requires a Mac with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS X v10.4.11 or later and iTunes 8; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 3) or later and iTunes 8.

And what of the little iPod shuffle? No changes other than four new colors - blue, green, pink, and red - in addition to silver. I've never been much of an iPod shuffle fan, although I do like Shuffle mode on larger iPods.

It would be fun to have any of the new iPod models, but for me, again, the iPod classic is the most desirable. Whichever floats your boat - you really can't go wrong.

Charles W. Moore

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