techipedia | tamar weinberg

Dear Apple,

In all this iPhone hype, many of your consumers seem to have forgotten about your beloved iPod. I haven’t, and I still keep my trusty Mac Buyer’s Guide handy to find out when a buying cycle ends or is about to begin.

I bought my first iPod, a 3rd generation device, in September of 2003. I still like it, but my music collection has grown and the battery life of this iPod is not as good as it used to be. I’d love to upgrade and take advantage of those features that have graced the presence of newer portable Apple products.

I saw my boss’s iPhone. I even played with it for a bit, but I was scared that I’d accidentally call someone. Despite this, the interface is totally awesome. You’ve made great strides since the 3rd generation iPod days.

Therefore, I write to ask of you, my friends, to consider building a 6th generation iPhone — only without the phone. I think the WiFi is hot, and I really don’t care about how it’s interfering with Duke University’s WiFi network (even though it really isn’t). I can still handle that.

I think you need to consider merging the best technologies from previous iPods and iPhones in your next generation iPod. Here’s what I’d love to see:

• Storage capacity increased to 100GB+
• WiFi
• Great battery life
• Solid and lightweight
• Black!
• Downloadable applications that synchronize with your computer

I guess we’re talking about a superb PDA MP3 player. I don’t think such products exist on the market today. I like the mockups I’ve sighted on the Internet, and I think you can take a few good design tips from these designers.

Now that is truly awesome.

I know you’re still working out fixes for the bugs related to the iPhone and you’re even considering releasing the second generation iPhone in two months’ time. Just don’t forget about those of us who don’t need a new mobile phone and still are loyal to your older products. You can really take the best of both worlds and put them together to make a solid device. I’d totally buy one.

[Necessary Update: This post was actually written on July 18th and scheduled for July 22nd. I had no idea that they'd be announcing a similar interface, but that rocks. :)]