iPod’s New Tune

I feel so… obsolete. The fourth generation iPod was announced, leaving me with an antiquated third generation model that’s utterly useless now. Did I drip any sarcasm on your keyboard?

In all seriousness, the latest iPod models pose a great opportunity to jump in if you’ve been procrastinating an audio player purchase. The 4G models dismiss the four control buttons just below the display in favor of a four-point control added to the navigation wheel, similar to the iPod Mini.

Other enhancements include multiple on-the-go playlists, re-worked menus, 50% greater battery life, and the ability to increase or decrease the play speed of audiobooks and the like. They are still white, though.

Pricing and capacities differ, also. The 40GB model will go for $399 and the 20GB version for $299, cutting $100 from the previous price points of each capacity. The 15GB model has been axed, and there is yet no word on if or when a 60GB model will appear. As you’ll recall, Toshiba loosened their lips and let the world know that they would have a 60GB 1.8″ drive available around August, and that Apple had already signed on as a buyer. That said, I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that we’ll see a 60GB iPod before the year is out. Anyone wanna buy a used 10GB iPod for $299?

As an interesting addendum, Duke University will be doling out some 1,800 iPods to incoming Freshmen. Various school audio material will be pre-loaded on them, with other content available via campus Web sites.

With the scads of players on the market, it’s interesting that the school would choose the iPod with much less costly options available. I wonder if the cross-platform support has anything to do with the choice. If you think about the wide array of computer hardware and personal preferences toward file formats that appear on a college campus, combined with the iPod/iTunes market position, it’s easy to see why no Windows Media based players were chosen.

Until Microsoft makes the Windows Media formats more useful on the Mac platform (and others), expect that to be the rule, rather than the exception. All I can do is play some Windows Media formats on a Mac, and it doesn’t work all that well at times. Few, if any, of the players that support Microsoft’s formats provide Mac support in any way, and then only for MP3 formats, which eliminates the use of all but a small number of music download services, and is generally the lowest quality audio format. Granted, Apple uses their own DRM format, but being that it’s the market leader, it makes some bit of sense to take that into consideration, particularly when there is full Windows support for the iPod and iTunes. If you live in a Windows world, by all means, go nuts with Windows Media, but when looking to outfit a large number of people, everyone will be happy with an iPod. [Furo]