Rokr, iPod Nano, a silly thing, and iTunes 5
You've heard the announcement already, so now go dancing to learn the specs, watch the ads, or just have fun! The Motorola Rokr will prove to be a big hit and the next step in the convergence of communications and entertainment technologies. I can hardly wait to get my hands on one of these, but they aren't available for Cingular employees as yet, and if tradition holds it would be cheaper for me to get one as a consumer. Either way, having one would be easier than carrying my iPod Mini and my phone, too.
Of course, having an iPod Nano would be easier -- It's even smaller than my Mini! Just over 1/2 as thick, a hair shorter, and almost half-inch narrow. Then they throw in a color screen and more than double the battery life. It's a no brainer. Sony may be announcing new products and Creative may be ditching the market altogether, but these companies still have a hard road to travel if they wish to keep up with the boys and girls in Cupertino. Just check out the proud Papa on video at CNet and you'll see.
However, this development is very, very silly. Clothing makers latch on to iPod craze: "Kenpo has created a jacket that controls the popular Apple iPod music player, seen in this publicity photo released September 7, 2005. The jackets will retail between $275-$350 and feature a chip that actuates the iPod's controls on its sleeve."
Now honestly, who is really going to go for this? I'm an iPod fanatic, but I can even manage to go a week or two without carrying one around. It is the music that matters. For the price of one of these jackets I could upgrade my iPod mini or buy several hundred more tracks from iTunes.
That's someone's way of cashing in, I guess. They should follow Apple's lead and come up with a great product and then tweak it now and then based on consumer feedback. That's why we have the net iTunes 5 interface. Very, very friendly, indeed. Okay, from the sample pic you can't get a good idea of that, but you can see my favorite feature, the revamped time display. I was just thinking a few days ago that they should import this from the iPod. Behold! Steve Jobs read my mind.
Okay, that's the mini interface and the picture doesn't do it justice, but be honest: You aren't looking at the GUI, are you. Ha! Gotcha!
