Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008 -- 12:25 p.m. -- at my desk
I'm very intrigued by the news of some sort of Apple-branded musical app being launched in tandem with a new album by Snow Patrol. That's really all we know about it now, and, there's no guarantee it's true, but apparently the band is talking about it.
Note to Snow Patrol: Be careful. Steve doesn't like it when you tip your hat about anything Apple. So don't say too much else -- unless you want to call me and talk privately. That's a whole different story :-D
Anyhoo, the confusion is whether or not this will be an App that's separate from the album or whether it's paired together somehow. I assume it's paired, but are we talking about an album that resides in my iPod and an icon that resides somewhere else that acts like an app and features all kinds of extra, pictures, interactive features, etc.?
Hard to say ... I would prefer not having an icon that's separate. I think everything together. If you want to give me an icon that appears within my iPod playlist that allows for this kind of interaction, well, you've got my attention.
Now getting back to the title, here's where I think things have the potential of getting interesting.
Is this part of what could be announced come next Tuesday? Could be ... this is more an iPod thing, so there doesn't have to be any necessary tie to the iPhone, but what's fascinating to me is that apps are currently only available via iPhones and iPod touches. If Apple is interested in doing more with the iPod line, which it obviously is, how can it just release something this big on the iPhone and iPod touch? It would cannibalize sales of the regular ol' iPods out of the gate, especially if it really wants to sell these special features.
So that said ... is the App Store in one form or another coming to regular old iPods? I'm not thinking all the apps, I'm thinking musical apps (or whatever these end up being called) and I think it's possible.
And ... does that mean we need some sort of connectivity to the app store that goes beyond an iTunes sync? Yeah, I'd say so ... I'd also say that Wi-Fi on a regular iPod is way, way, way overdue. So is this the introduction of a revamped iPod line that features musical applications and Wi-Fi?
Is this the launch of an iPod with a touch screen with a virtual scroll-wheel? The kind that just appears like a keyboard does on the iPhone? Intriguing, isn't it? The scrollwheel would keep the most iconic part of the iPod but adapt it for the future in a way that makes sense.
I have no inside information ... I'm going to say that right from the start ... but you have to admit ... it makes sense on many levels, doesn't it?
Oh, and I think one thing that's safe to say is that we'll see iTunes 8 demoed and perhaps released on Tuesday.
What do you think? Am I on to something here? Because believe me ... if Apple is making the new iPod nano look more like the old iPod nano, they don't need a special event for that. They do special events for big things ... and what I'm talking about here might be different, but I don't think it's that big. I think it's the next logical step.
Thanks for calling.
