Next Generation of iPods to have Wi-Fi?

Zephyr14z writes "A TMCnet article states that Apple has filed a patent for iPods that can purchase music wirelessly over the internet. This was an expected feature in the Zune, though it turns out not to be true. 'While this could be an effort to fight the software giant and its product directly, it should be noted that Zune's built-in Wi-Fi will be limited to the file sharing between devices with no direct Internet purchases from the handheld,' says Campbell."

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Zune?

[P(0)(!P(k)+P(k+1))]

Odd, first of all, that this article appears in YRO (because it involves a patent?); second, and odder still, is Susan Campbell's commentary:

Apple and its iPod didn't earn its throne in the portable music player industry because it had the easiest to use player that offered the best song selection. This success also didn't come because it offered the most competitive price. Apple has been able to dominate this market because of its marketing campaign, pure and simple.

O RLY? As far as I can tell, Susan seems to be a ressentissante Microsoft shill:

Apple did borrow a winning strategy from Microsoft in keeping its technology proprietary. [Emphasis mine]

Suffice to say, even the slickest market campaign can't account alone for iPod's success; just look at the PS3 or Zune: you can't pull the wool over everyone's eyes all the time.

That said, if Apple does introduce Wi-Fi (or an iPod cell-phone, for that matter), it will be on its own time; and not because it's scared of Zune.

Re:Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Zune?

[mgv]

        Apple did borrow a winning strategy from Microsoft in keeping its technology proprietary. [Emphasis mine]

Suffice to say, even the slickest market campaign can't account alone for iPod's success; just look at the PS3 or Zune: you can't pull the wool over everyone's eyes all the time.

Perhaps more importantly, if apple has the patent, microsoft doesn't

It might be more of a blocking exercise than anything else - apple has a perfectly good model for sales, and might just be doing this to prevent other models from happening.

Probably being paranoid here

Michael

I thought a patent had to be non-obvious.

[pipatron]

Seriously. How could they get a a patent on this? Is wireless the new "on the internet!" when it comes to patents?

• I'm going to patent displaying a list... on the internet!
• I'm going to patent buying music online... wireless!

Re:Wireless

[azieniki]

If it is for purchasing or browsing the Itunes Music Store via the internet then wireless is faster than most peoples internet connection, b or g. So downloading a song shouldn't take any longer straight to the ipod.

Re:What's the big deal with wireless?

[aplusjimages]

Most /. users probably wouldn't use the feature that much, but luckily for Apple, theres a mass of suckers out there who can't stop downloading their songs by the pound. What better way to get some money is for those people to be able to download the songs, while away from their computer, like while at the mall after browsing through a music store.

Re:Breaks the 'pod' model

[hcdejong]

As of iTunes 7, you can move authorized music from the iPod to the computer. This was announced as a way to sync the iTunes library on two computers, but it'd also be useful for music that was downloaded to the iPod via wireless.

There's lots more better out there

[RiffRafff]

There's tons of better sounding players out there. Try an iRiver or Cowon with some decent headphones. The sonic quality far outstrips that of Apple's iPod. These other players just aren't "hip," apparently.

Re:Be afraid of the Zune

[pubjames]

If they wanted, they could give Zunes away for 10 years. It's hard to compete against that kind of financial muscle.

This is a common argument about Microsoft. However, it is only partly true. Microsoft has shareholders. Microsoft cannot just throw money away, it has to be something that will potentially bring big profits in the future.

Re:How about play in USB mode?

[shmlco]

It's designed to play music when you're away from your computer. If you're at your computer you could, like, you know, use your computer...

Linux boxes CAN play music, can't they???

Re:There's lots more better out there

[BurningBridges]

They are also, IMO More expensive, and more difficult to use, as a rule. The general public doesn't notice the difference unless you show them, their friends all have one, and they are easy to use, so they get an iPod. Personally I am a big iRiver fan :)

Re:Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Zune?

[SEMW]

>just look at the PS3 or Zune: you can't pull the wool over everyone's eyes all the time.

Don't count your chickens before they're hatched. Slashdot readers may have a good idea of the real issues behind the PS3 and Sony's tactics, especially, but Slashdot readers are not a significant proportion of Joe Public. To the average consumer, "Sony" still conjures up images of reasonably reliable shiny metal consumer electronics, not RIAA lawsuits, rootkit CDs, or the Blu-ray DRM debacle. Sorry to tell you, but it's the advertising and PR campaigns alone that will make or break the PS3; it's how well they can sell that their product is really worth $600. Same applied to the Zune. What Slashdot readers consider "the real issues" will factor into it little if at all.

Re:Breaks the 'pod' model

[Chris Pimlott]

That's just like Apple, too; making a change that didn't really strike anyone at the time, only to reveal that it was in preparation for a bigger change later.

Re:Wireless is the future

[LaughingCoder]

Not as long as you've still got to plug it in anyway to recharge, it doesn't.

By that argument cell phones are not useful because you have to plug them in to recharge them. When I retire each evening I put my cellphone on a charger. Then all day long I use it wirelessly. Why does everyone insist on tying these 2 activities (charging with downloading) together? Sure, if the only way I can put music into my device is from my PC, then having a cradle that also charges is convenient. But that is not the only use model that makes sense. And if you introduce wireless communications, I submit the old use model of charging while downloading will become a thing of the past and people will quickly gravitate to the cell phone use model.

Re:Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Zune?

[UnknowingFool]

Apple and its iPod didn't earn its throne in the portable music player industry because it had the easiest to use player that offered the best song selection. This success also didn't come because it offered the most competitive price. Apple has been able to dominate this market because of its marketing campaign, pure and simple.

I would have to say that Apple of all companies, did market the iPod better than their competitors. They made an MP3 player (which at the time considered a geek's gadget) cool. But they also made the technology easy to use for the average consumer. Considering the alternatives when the iPod came out. Flash MP3 players that could store 32MB or 64MB. That capacity is well under two CDs, and portable CD players were cheap. Also it was a pain to get music onto them. Or something like the Nomad which had more capacity (6GB) but couldn't be used as a hard drive and was the size of a portable CD player.
Enter the iPod. It can be used a portable hard drive. It fit in your pocket. It could store enough songs to last for days. It was easy to use. It was easy to sync (and it got easier later). Is it a surprise it took over the market. And Apple unlike some of their competitors kept innovating? I had a Rio 32MB player. The only thing that the next model added was more capacity.

Apple did borrow a winning strategy from Microsoft (News - Alert) in keeping its technology proprietary. However, this strategy doesn't seem to be enough to keep the fruity giant on top as consumers are beginning to tire of the iPod and iTunes restrictions. This patent could either protect Apple's vision or tarnish its appeal in the eyes of the consumer. Either way - watch out for more news from Johansen and DoubleTwist Ventures as we have likely not heard the last from him.

The factor behind Apple's DRM is not Apple. It is the music companies. I don't think Apple cares if you use your iPod to share all your music with everyone. But the RIAA might. As for restrictions, these are not unique to Apple. PlaysForSure limits you as well. And MS new Zune DRM is identical to Apple's strategy.

Re:Wireless

[spectral]

And with that new enhancement to iTunes to allow people to get the (purchased!) data back off an iPod... it seems pretty obvious that this is where apple is heading. Previously, you would have been able to purchase it to the iPod and then it would have been stuck there. No more.

Re:What's the big deal with wireless?

[sydsavage]

Gee, I don't know... maybe you would have to enter a password to make a purchase using your stored credit card info? Kind of like how iTunes already works? Yes, I know you can opt to save your password in iTunes, but if this was a really a valid concern, they could remove that option from the iPod.

Just think of the stolen iPod recovery potential, too. "Mr. Smith, the iPod you reported stolen yesterday just logged onto the network in the Starbucks at Central Ave. and Main St. The device has been disabled, and we are dispatching the iPolice now."

Re:There's lots more better out there

[2nd Post!]

Try an iPod with some decent headphones. The sonic quality far outstrips that of Apple's headphones. These other players just aren't USABLE. Truly. It took them several iterations after the release of the iPod to approach the ease of use of the iPod.

Re:Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Zune?

[sydsavage]

Although the nature of the patent doesn't portend this, a WiFi enabled iPod would dovetail nicely with the forthcoming iTV. You would now be able to play music and videos stored on the iPod over your stereo (and TV) with no cables attached. You could keep it close by, and the iPod becomes the remote, as well as the storage medium.

Got a cell phone?

[*weasel]

People buy music and games on their cellphones all the time.

They'll connect their CC# to an iTunes account, to the iPod, and not think twice about it.
Losing their pod is a potential issue, but so is losing your phone.
People just don't seem too concerned. They should probably be a bit more concerned, but they're not.

Apple could even toss a 5 or 6 digit pin on there and an X retry lockout if they wanted, passing the 'security' on your ATM or CC itself, without a serious UI hassle.

And the click wheel is good enough to sort through thousands and thousands of songs as it is.
Adding a store with some category breakdowns isn't going to cause UI chaos.

Seriously - these are solved problems.

Zune Wifi

[bmajik]

I think it's important to remember who is behind the Zune. Yes, Microsoft. But more specifically, the Home & Entertainment Division (the Xbox people). Who, by the way, posted a 70% revenue increase last quarter.

Keeping this in mind (that this is an MS product, and that it's the H&E people behind it), just because the Zune _software_ doesn't do something today (or at launch) doesn't mean it won't do it for ZuneOS "SP1"

After all, Xbox Live didn't come out for 1 year after Xbox was shipped, and X360 1080P support was issued as a software _patch_ on the 360 after Sony thought they could use it to make noise in the competitive space. Progessive Scan dashboard support was another software patch on the original Xbox. Those products _had_ to get out in the market place at the right time to be viable, the cut list must have been severe. Everyone knew the hardware was capable of more than what it launched with, and as the Xbox team got their feet under them, and heard the real-world feedback, and had a chance to breathe a bit, some of the more interesting features that didn't make the original bar started to show up.

I'm telling myself that the current idiotic 3/3 DRM model and the lack of wifi sync on the Zune are temporary things. They'll be corrected via a software update after the Zune launches (even if it means a Linux-based "software update" ;) )

This is what I am _telling_ myself (and as an MS employee, I hope it turns out to be accurate) but I don't think i'll actually put my money down until I see it happen.

Re:There's lots more better out there

[EggyToast]

Don't think of it just as portable music in the sense of outside, or moving around noisy places. Think of it as portable in the sense that you can take your computer library anywhere. That includes to work if you work a job where it's OK, or waiting for a plane in a quiet lobby. Or over to a friend's place, to plug into their stereo. Or, perhaps most common, simply listening to music in a room that's not the computer room, such as the living room, or relaxing on the porch.

So yeah, quality is important. But none of the current players on the market degrade sound any more than another. And ultimately, you hit upon the important point -- not everyone needs ultra-high quality. If you're happy with it, then it's good enough for you.

Re:There's lots more better out there

[AmberBlackCat]

There's tons of better sounding players out there. Try an iRiver or Cowon with some decent headphones. The sonic quality far outstrips that of Apple's iPod. These other players just aren't "hip," apparently.

Maybe the iPod sounds good enough. I know a couple of people who were in no hurry to switch from audio cassettes to compact discs because a metal tape with Dolby B noise reduction was good enough for them. I have a cousin who still uses her VCR to record television right now because it's adequate. And I have definitely had no problem with the way my iPod sounds.

Re:Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Zune?

[ceoyoyo]

Yes, most people are complete retards. Except you, of course. We should listen when you say that the iPod interface sucks, it's overpriced and under featured, and everybody else in the world is an idiot. Why? Well, you said so, of course!

This is kind of a crazy idea, but do you think, just maybe, other people in the world have, say, different tastes, needs or wants than you do? Nah, too out there hey? They just think they do. Retards.

Oh yeah, most people haven't seen anything but an iPod either. Every Future Shop and Best Buy doesn't have a rack of side by side, batteries in, working, out in the open, pick me up and play with me mp3 players, including the iPod, almost always with at least a couple of customers in front of it.