Why? Leave Apple Alone Already!
Posted May 2nd, 2003 @ 10:53am by Erik J. Barzeski
From a MacInTouch discussion on the iPods:
Just a note to those people (like me) who are frustrated that the original iPods do not support the new software features of the current iPods. While reader reports like this one on MacInTouch are very useful, if you want a chance of Apple actually developing the 2.0 software for our iPods, you should leave them some feedback.
Bloody shut up already (I just spoke with someone from the UK, forgive me) you wanker! 😛 I mean, if Apple could have given you all those features, might they have? Probably. And hey, if they could have and didn't, oh well - incentive to upgrade. Furthermore, it's not like your "old" iPod became less fully featured than before. You bought a product and with the 1.3 update, it was improved!
Some have speculated that the new iPods contain larger Flash ROMs than the old iPods, leading to the idea that maybe the old ones simply can't take software as large as 2.0. Technology evolves, and people are "left behind." If you feel bad because you're not on the bleeding edge, that's your problem. My answer to that? Don't feel bad. Apple - and most likely you - have better things to worry about!
Donate Life
Posted 02 May 2003 at 12:17pm #
I couldn't agree more, Erik.
It seems to me that everyone wants technology to move further but not at the cost of truly outdating what they currently own. I think it's obvious that the new iPod is much different animal than the previous versions, so it's safe to assume that they don't work quite the same way.
Perhaps they'd like some cheese with that whine? 🙂
Posted 02 May 2003 at 12:35pm #
You have to admit though, if you'd just dropped $500 on a "new" ipod last week or last month, and discovered that it doesn't support the "new" features, you'd be kinda pissed. Incentive to upgrade is good, but not for the cost 🙂 (IMHO)
Posted 02 May 2003 at 12:46pm #
It's not like the new features are all that ground breaking. You have solitaire and play-lists on the fly. Thats about it. I don't see what people are complaining about. Apple has to give some incentives to upgrade, they can't give everyone all their new stuff for free.
Posted 02 May 2003 at 1:31pm #
Rant away Erik...
You'd think that the 2.0 version of the software would give folks the ability to make coffee for all the bitching that is going on. The iPod plays music, and does it amazingly well, and that hasn't changed from version 1.0 to 2.0.
Posted 02 May 2003 at 2:11pm #
I have an old iPod. Yes it is a little disappointing that the new features won't make it to the old iPod. It's not worth a rant, but it is mildly annoying. The reason though is almost certainly simpler than people think. Due to its new hardware configuration the new iPod needs to run different firmware than the old one. Apple (rightly) don't want to have to spend too much energy developing on a split stream. Hence, from now on you only get updates in the 1.x stream that fix bugs, and essential features allow it to continue to work. New features are developed in the 2.x stream.
Incidentally, it is very unlikely that the issue is with space in the FLASH File System (FFS). As long as you have enough RAM to run in it is really no problem. To the OS, the FFS looks remarkably similar to the huge great hard drive you have in there already.
Posted 02 May 2003 at 2:12pm #
Actually, there is one feature of 2.0 that is pretty killer: the notepad feature. I don't know if anyone has looked at the developer documentation for it yet, but that could open up some pretty intriguing possibilities in terms of creating custom UIs for the iPod. I'm thinking of trading up just to get that (I also need access to 2.0 for the purpose of testing with an application I maintain).
I do agree with Erik, though--the amount of bitching related to Apple's recent announcements has really annoyed me!
Posted 02 May 2003 at 4:57pm #
The voice of dissent...
I disagree. While I'm right on board with this attitude when it comes to people 'demanding' that they get refunds for outdated machines, or that OS X should work on their upgraded Centris 605, I don't think this is one of those cases.
Specifically, Macintouch is suggesting that you leave feedback for Apple through the feedback mechanism Apple created letting them know that people are intersted in these features in the current iPod.
Now I'm all for not whining, bitching and moaning, but I'm a bit offended when someone calls folks wankers for suggesting they ask Apple politely.
Posted 02 May 2003 at 5:03pm #
After all, it's not like they're out signing petitions or anything.
Apple asks for feedback. How about we encourage users to give them feedback instead of calling them names?