[NTLK] An interesting and under-reported fact

From: bpearce_at_cloud9.net
Date: Fri Oct 26 2001 - 17:29:28 EDT


Two final observations about the iPod, both relevant in their own way
(believe it
or not!) to the list:

From the iBook Zone <http://www.ibookzone.com/>:

"And that is the rub. Why do so many people think the iPod is supposed to
be for
them? And that if they don't want it or can't afford it, that there is
something
wrong with the product? Think about it. The kind of negative response seen in
many of the comments at slashdot.org really has no complimentary explanation.
This is a well-designed product typical of Apple's history of quality
merchandise."

So you see, it *isn't* just us. The iPod seems to bring out the best and
worst in many
people.

But of more interest, from Jerry Kindall's web site
<http://www.jerrykindall.com/>:

"Early pundit reaction includes much disappointment that it's just an MP3
player,
after Jobs promised a "revolutionary" device. But wait. First, note that
it's got not
one, but two ARM RISC processors in it. Second, note it runs a new mobile
OS from
Pixo <http://www.pixo.com/> and is, so far as I know, the first device on
the market
to run this OS. (At least, this is what I hear from sources I consider
reliable.) Third,
note that its built-in software is upgradable. Last, note it is not
called the "iPlayer"
-- "iPod" really has few music-specific connotations, when you get down to it.

Given these clues, I think it's very likely that the MP3 player is merely
the leading
edge of this device's capabilities -- the "hook" that will let the
company move a lot
of them by Christmas -- and I'll place a wager that we'll be hearing much
more about
it at Macworld Expo San Francisco in early January."

It's not so much the additional capabilities as the fact that the OS it
runs comes
from *outside* of Apple that I find to be an interesting and
under-reported fact.
Without wanting to add to the inevitable speculation of an Apple-branded
PDA, it
does seem to open up some possibilities...even if they might be
unpleasant ones for
Newton fanatics.

BRIAN/bpearce_at_cloud9.net

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