Dave Caolo

If we only knew.

“Apple has been in talks regarding the licensing of music videos for sale through the iTunes Music Store, fostering speculation about the release of a video-capable iPod.”

Related: did I really write that 5 years ago?! Goodness.

Many people are bemoaning the iPad’s lack of a camera. Actually, they’re questioning why Apple would be so thoughtless as to exclude one. These are the same people who demanded copy-and-paste of the original iPhone and Wi-Fi of the iPod. “Apple has squandered a huge opportunity” they say.

That’s perfectly wrong. They’ve seized an even bigger opportunity.

The designers at Apple know full well that users want a camera in the iPad. They know that customers will bitch and moan without it. They know they’ll lose a certain percentage of sales. They also know that taking the time to find the single best way to implement it is worth the complaining.

Apple isn’t always the 1st to market. They didn’t create the first digital music player. They certainly didn’t create the first mobile phone and they didn’t create the first tablet computer. The important thing is they took the time to devise the absolute best way to implement each of those devices.

The iPod is hands-down the best digital music player. We take the iPod touch for granted at this point, but it’s a phenomenal device. When I consider it from the perspective of a former Rio owner, I’m in awe of the touch. The same is true when I consider the T-Mobile phone I owned 8 years ago. The iPhone is light years beyond that device.

Apple could have released a “compromise” phone 7 years ago, but they didn’t. The could have crammed every feature on their list into the original iPhone, dispersing the developers’ attention from the core functions that made the original model such a hit. Likewise, future iPad models will include features that users are demanding today. They’ll be added when — and only when — Apple is damned good and ready.

And that’s how it should be.

“It isn’t the best music player, but it’s the cheapest!”

That’s the sentiment in Microsoft’s new Zune ad (as you might have noticed, that’s Wes Moss from season 2 of The Apprentice in the role of “Certified Financial Planner.” Who trusts a financial planner these days?), which claims that it costs $30,000 to fill a 120GB iPod classic* with music from the iTunes store. Let’s examine that claim.

The assumption is that all of the music on an iPod will come from iTunes. Most of my music came from CDs that I purchased years ago, which transferred for free. That’s sunk cost, yes, but those tracks consume storage space just as greedily as new iTunes tracks do. Also, they’re assuming that you buy all of your music one track at a time. An album is cheaper than the same 10 songs individually.

As an alternative, the ad promotes the Zune Marketplace. For $15/mo., you may download and keep as many songs as you want, as long as you maintain your subscription. Additionally, you may keep 10 songs a month for good. So, you’re purchasing 10 songs at $1 each, and paying $4.99 to rent unlimited songs. It sounds like a good deal but I don’t ever want to rent music.

The ad also assumes that there are no videos, TV shows, movies (rented or purchased) photos, free podcasts, audiobooks or data stored on the iPod. Those who buy the 120GB model are certainly using it in disk mode.

In the end, price is the deciding factor here so let’s talk price. I’ve recently canceled my Netflix, Sirius Radio and a few other subscriptions in an attempt to save money. If I don’t want to spend money in iTunes during a given month, I don’t. My music library is unaffected. If I cancel my ZunePass subscription, the vast majority of my collection goes with it. Finally, my friends have set goals for themselves other than “Fill my iPod to the brim with music from the iTunes Store.”

*Microsoft calls the 120GB iPod classic “…the lastest iPod.” Actually, that model was released on September 9, 2008. The latest iPod is the iPod shuffle, which was introduced on March 11, 2009. At 4GB, it would cost $1,000 to fill the shuffle with new iTunes tracks at “…a buck a song.”

I awoke this morning to find a bulging TUAW tipline email folder. It seems the Oopma-Loompas at Apple have created a new iPod shuffle.

It’s tiny — just 1.8″ high, 0.7″ wide and 0.3″ deep (45mm x 17mm x 7.8mm). What’s most striking is its feature-less face. The controls have been moved to the headphone wire. It looks odd, and users who despise Apple’s earbuds are out of luck, as the shuffle can’t be controlled without them. I’m sure the folks at Griffin and Belkin are already working on an adapter.

Of course, the flashy new feature is VoiceOver. Through a series of clicks on the wired controller, you can prompt your iPod to “speak” the name of the current track and artist, current playlist or even scroll through playlists. Pretty neat. It’s interesting that the voice on a shuffle that’s been synced with a Mac differs from one synced with a Windows machine (it’s Leopard’s Alex High Quality on the Mac).

I’m disappointed that it doesn’t work with Apple’s Nike + product for runners. It’s true that the shuffle has never worked with Nike+, but this model ought to be the exception. Being able to control the song selection, playlist and volume while receiving audio performance updates via the headset controller would be great. Reaching to click the buttons of my nano while it’s in my armband is a hassle, and I never refer to the screen while I’m running. It’s just too difficult to read while moving.

Still, it’s a snazzy little device. The VoiceOver features are clever and I do like the controller on the headset wire (though I know it will be an area of contention). The convenience of simply reaching up to make a click or two is great. There’s no need to stop walking, pull it from your pocket, fiddle with the hold switch, etc. Plus, it’s smaller than its predecessor yet has twice the storage capacity (4GB) at the same price point ($79US).

Best of all, my geek girl crush — Hannah — is back with the Guided Tour.

Classics is a forthcoming iPhone and iPod touch eBook reader by Andrew Kaz and Phill Ryu. You can read about its development history here. The UI looks nice, with a clever “page flip” animation.

Still, I can’t imagine reading a book on that tiny screen. I can remember reading Stephen King’s “On Writing” on my old Palm ///e, and it wasn’t the most pleasant exprience.

Classics will be released with an introductory price of $2.99 soon.

One tip to the developers: The title of the book is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Might want to fix that before release.

Poolga continues to post very nice wallpaper for the iPhone and iPod touch.

Piper Jaffray goes out on a limb and predicts that Apple will do something they’ve done every year for the past three years: Release new iPods in September.

Way to sick your neck out, boys.

Brett Kelly notes a trend in the App Store

“The number of tip calculator apps for iPhone is quickly becoming absurd.”

He’s right. In a few seconds, I found

1. Tiptap
2. Check Please
3. iTip
4. Tips (here’s the lucky bastard who got the name everyone wanted)
   
5. mTip
6. Tipulator
7. BigTipper

These range in price from free to $1.99. The worst part is how darn easy it is to figure a tip in the first place. If the bill is $20.00, you move the decimal one place to the left to figure 10% ($2.00), cut that in half for 5% ($1.00) and then add the two together to get the 15% tip — three bucks.

Really, people. This is 3rd grade math.

The UK’s Mail Online (the online version of The Daily Mail) has posted an article about a rumored “iPhone nano.” According to an “expert,” the phone will be the shape of the iPod nano and possibly feature “…a touch wheel on the back and display on the front so that numbers would be dialled from behind,” which, as you’ve certainly realized, is the dumbest thing anyone has ever heard.

Selecting numbers on a keypad that can’t be seen. Where do I line up for that?

During this week’s financial conference call, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer revealed his company’s intention to exectute a “product transition” sometime before September.

Apple typically refreshes the iPod lineup in September, and back in March I predicted the death of hard drive-based iPods. We’ll see if this is it.