QotD: Suggestions for the iPod
Posted October 29th, 2005 @ 09:42am by Erik J. Barzeski
Question: What would you change about the current iPod? There are a lot of suggestions here if you're interested.
My Answer: I think that the ability to store and play back higher-quality (NTSC at least) movies would be nice, because I could carry around a little cord and play funny things on a TV for more people to see. That'd be nice, and could probably be done in software.
You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.
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Posted 29 Oct 2005 at 10:07am #
I wish iTunes could have multiple artists per track, so that you can find your one "Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald" track when you look in either the Louis or Ella artist listing. Also, it would be good if you could specify something as a remix/cover and list the original artist as well. You can fake this using the "composer" tag, but that sort of an abuse of semantics, you know?
Posted 29 Oct 2005 at 10:32am #
I'm with what Carl said and I have a few more suggestions.
Music Shares + AirTunes - connect to any of the shared libraries and play music to an AirPort-connected stereo. (Naturally you should be able to play shared libraries through the headphones, or play iPod music through the stereo, but the specific combo makes it a sort of AirTunes remote.)
Real AirTunes remote - connect to the iTunes that streams music via Bluetooth, fetch the database and control playback, volume, song and EQ setting.
PVR iPod - rig a dock on top of your TV, plunk your iPod in there and enter the showview code/hit record. No-brainer, but unlikely, what with the new TV Shows being sold. However, *could realistically be implemented as a third-party dock*!
iPod camcorder - bring back the Firewire interface, and allow an iSight to be plugged in (the *Book mount probably fits the 5Gs, and definitely fits the nano).
Graphical equalizer and Visualizer - nuff said.
Decoder plugins - OGG, WMA, DivX... 🙂
Posted 29 Oct 2005 at 11:22am #
I want my iPod to make toast.
Seriously, does the iPod need to do much more? iTunes is bloated enough.
Posted 29 Oct 2005 at 11:44am #
Justin: Yes, and iPod has only worked with iTunes, ever. 😉
Don't rule out the possibility of a new app to work with iPod, even if Apple seems to consolidate all communication with iPod to iTunes. If a new app *is* in the works, maybe they'll be moving some of the unnecessary functionality (Contacts, Photos, Calendar) to the new app.
Don't get me wrong, though, iTunes' interface for video still makes, say, RealPlayer look slick and well-designed.
Posted 29 Oct 2005 at 2:53pm #
Crossfading!
Posted 30 Oct 2005 at 7:51am #
I wish the Apple Remote (or any of the remotes actually) could control the entire iPod interface, and not simply within a single playlist. One way to accomplish this would be to present the iPod interface out to the TV if the unit is plugged into the Universal Dock. Then, the "Menu" button on the Apple Remote would be useful for iPods just as it is for iMacs.