iPod PDA

N

Nachohat

je suis donc je pense
I'm looking to buy an Mp3 player this summer. The iPod is great and it is definatly tempting but I also want to buy a PDA; the Sony Clie is nice with its built in Mp3 player.

The iPod could easily be made into a kickass PDA if Apple wanted to. The iPod has 32 MB of SDRAM and an ARM7 processor. All this thing would need is a slightly bigger screen (color possibly, touch screen with a stylus would also be cool) and Apple could lincense Palm OS. This would not drive the cost of the iPod up much more than 50 bucks and it would easily beat any of the other PDA's out there right now.

Maybe Apple can call this the iWalk or something :D
 
Naw, I like it just the way it is. Combining 2 products 99% of the times, ruins both. check this Sony-thing, how much music can you cram into it?
 
Imagine, carry around a whole PowerPoint presentation with not only basic graphics and movements, but also with embedded OuickTime movies! Furthermore, you can carry around all of your office documents and edit them (albeit rudimentarily) on the iPod/iPDA!

And if Apple licenses the Palm OS and include the Newton (but improved) handwriting recognition, it would rock!

I know quite a few Mac users who use a PocketPC device simply because they refuse to use Graffiti (sp?), so the iPDA with Newton handwriting recognition would certain appeal to these people...

*day dream* *drool*

-B
 
Well it all depends on how they implement it but convergence is definatly the future. I mean wouldn't it be cool to have a cell phone/PDA/mp3 player all in one? The Sony Clie is cool no matter what you say. The problem with the mp3 player is that is uses memory sticks. Flash memory is cool and all but it is still extremely expenssive, I think it's roughly 1$ or more per MB.

Check out Danger.com It's what Steve Wosniac has been up to. They make a cellphone/PDA/instant messenger type device due out this spring. If Apple doesn't come out with an iPDA I might buy one of these along with an iPod.
 
I only hope Apple jumps into the fray because they do very minimal and usable things very very well. I have yet to get a PDA because nobody's gone past the possibilities of pencil and paper for notekeeping to justify the massive cost. The reasonably priced ones barely have any memory, and the expensive ones still suck (while having only a marginal amount of memory).

In general- apple considers the design implications of a device very very well. The iPod has done so well becuase it's violently functional in the way it was intended, but also for people who need convenient portable file storage. PDA's right now simply don't come close in this regard. Pocket PC's are ok- but bleh... WindowsCE and still with the tiny tiny memory.

I've harped on this before. Apple's design team could totally rip into this market and set a new bar for PDA devices. And they'd sell... because like the iPod... it's the one to beat. Then again... Apple could be waiting for wireless networking to develop a bit more so they could have something really really trancendental... but I almost hope they're not... I don't have a cell phone for a reason :)
 
i think voice has it right, that combinig two products comprimises both...
i was considering a clie, and then i thought to myself, do i want to have to have a touchscreen device with me while i'm jogging? the ipod puts a wrinkle in this as i spent as much for it as i would have for a pda. still, it is built fairly ruggedly, and i have just resigned myself to beating it up...

all this being said, it just comes back to, "how are YOU going to use it?". i can see how convienent it would be to commute on a train (or bus or whatever), carrying only one device that lets you listen to music and keep track of appointments. On the other hand, taking an all in one to the gym or skiing seems like a recipe for spider-webbed touch screens, and lost info.


j
 
yeah, that is very true, but I'd like something to listen to MP3s on while doing other things, like showing picutres and checking my email. But I'm just dreaming :)
 
Speaking of PDA's... Sony Japan just released a couple new Clies, and they look awesome. 66MHz Motorola DragonBall Prcessors, 16MB RAM, 10MB ROM, memory stick, MP3, built in keyboard, 1/2 of a VGA display, built in camera... Now if only it syncs perfectly with OS X.

http://www.palminfocenter.com/new_sony.htm

-B
 
I think that an MP3 player and a PDA could be combined relatively easily, but it definitely would compromise the ease of use of the iPod.

I would like to see Apple come out with a PDA, though. Apple, with it's products all easy to use, could revolutionize the PDA market like they did the MP3 player market.
 
Damn those new CLIE's are tempting. They cost about the price of the iPod. Now I don't feel like buying a damn iPod anymore. The only grippe I have is that the battery life sucks. Come on 7 hours with the screen of? My Tibook can last that long with the screen off.

I guess I could always just buy an MP3 player and a Handspring Visor Edge for about the same price as an iPod.

I just wish Apple did something with the iPod. It would be almost effortless from a design perspective. Probably a couple of weeks of R&D.

Oh well, I can always dream.
 
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