First off, to make a minor addendum to my previous bitching about the new iPods when 4G was released, the click-wheel is actually really cool and easier to use. I like it. thumbs-up.
Now, to my current complaints. The U2 edition iPod is only 20GB?! WHA?! I'm currently storing over 30GB in my iPod, if I'm going to be spending a premium for a special U2 Pod (which I *really* wanted to get when I heard rumors of it), it's going to be at least a 40GB size. GAH!
And further in the "size does matter" department, what's with this 60GB iPod being the photo-capable one only? Why can't they also offer a 60GB non-photo iPod? I simply don't understand that move.
ooh a 60GB black U2 edition iPod.. *drooooool*.. that would've been nice.
And speaking of the photo iPod. *WHY*?? I'm not going to be keepig my photos on the iPod, that's just silly for my pictures. Maybe for someone with a crummy webcam taking 640x480 pictures of their wall, the resolution offered by the iPod's screen is good enough for photos. For me it just doesn't come close. And a slideshow?? what, does the Apple marketing division actually forsee a group of people all crowding around a little 3x3cm screen going "ooh" and "aahh" with the miniscule offerings of colour faintly being emitted?
Or perhaps I am just seriously underestimating how easilly amused and entertained the masses are. After all, 'reality TV' seems to do pretty well for itself.
Truly, Apple, I do (mostly) greatly appreciate your hardware. I love my 40GBpod, and will continue to use it till you get your heads out of one-another's asses and offer a worthy upgrade. Just changing the interface to a click-wheel but keeping everything else (mostly) the same is not enough. And don't try saying "but it shows pictures now!" is an upgrade. This is a *music* device, nothing more. It sits in my pocket and pumps good soothing tunez to my brain. I don't look at it other than to queue up a different artist/album. I use the remote to handle play/skip/volume/search needs, and that's it. Occasionally I'll use it as a data backup for projects, but that's rare now as my mp3 collection is pushing it's capacity. Which is why I'm so keen on a 60GB version.
I'm tellin' ya, soon as the warranty is up I'm replacing the HDD with the largest I can get in that form factor. Hopefully it'll be an 80 by that point.
Though, you know an upgrade that I'd be willing to pay for? actually, make that *two* upgrades I'd be willing to pay for.
1) seemless no-pause playback from one song to the next. I listen to a lot of mix-set CDs and having a fraction of a second pause between tracks kinda kills the whole flow.
2) mixing-friendly tools. Things like: displaying the bpm for a song as a menu option, being able to digitally alter the song (speed/pitch adjustment) during playback, having an uber-responsive play/pause button. Basically make it so I can use my pod for mixing. Admittedly, I haven't done any in some time, but if der'Pod supported it I might just start again.
So there you go Apple, two ideas which would fit *perfectly* with the iPod, and which would convince not only myself but many others that it's worth buying a whole new pod.
