So the “It’s showtime” event from Apple came and went yesterday, leaving me all a bit happy and sad. Happy because they have finally eliminated the gaps between songs on the iPod and Nano. Sad because it isn’t a firmware upgrade to existing machines and also because the new iPods have little else new about them to tempt me to buy one.
Sure the big daddy iPod is now 80gb with a better battery, but the screen is still the same size. There is some new search feature but really the way I manage my music I know where everything is so that’s of no use to me.
Nanos get an upgrade in memory and some whizzy new colours, neither of which affects me as I can fit all of my “in favour” music on a 4gb Nano without too much concern.
Now Steve Jobs did promise a media streamer in Q1/07. This could be the device I’ve been waiting for, with a simple Apple menu system, DRM-AAC compatible and quicktime video encoding all wirelessly streamed from PC to TV could be a winner, so I am looking forward to that. Also the upgrade of iTunes to version 7 has got some very neat features, such as a new view of your library that lets you flick through your album covers like old vinyl - lovely, and the fact that it now gets album art for you when it is missing. I tried this last night on a new album and it is quick.
So, a bit of a disappointment really as I was looking forward to getting a whizzy new iPod. Looks like my secret gadget fund will remain in tact until sometime next year…
Oh I forgot to mention that in the US you can now buy movies for your iPod the same day as the DVD comes out. But as this won’t hit UK shores until next year at the earliest, I couldn’t really care that much to comment.
