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A Prototype Original iPod

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Re: A Prototype Original iPod

#121

Post by peterburkimsher »

electroly wrote: post #5
happytoexplain wrote: post #4

>As you can see, it’s… quite large! In fact, I can not! The photo in question has no reference objects. (scroll down to see photos that actually demonstrate its size)

Two references in all of the photos are the JTAG connector on the side (a standard pin header with 0.1" spacing) and the standard headphone jack.

I'd be very interested to know where the JTAG connector is routed to on the other side... iPodLinux and Rockbox never did figure out some features, and to finally have a real dev kit means that we might finish it!

Actually I was just using my iPod 5.5G with Rockbox on 2021-10-05, doing a demo of iPod clickwheel -> USB -> Mac -> Arduino -> Rotary encoder -> (commercial product)

I wanted to use my old iPod 1G too, but serial-over-FireWire is a little complicated to set up.

Repairing iPods is what got me into embedded systems engineering in the first place! From a cassette player (age 9) to a 32 MB Rio 600 (age 10) to a MiniDisc player (age 11) to a 1st gen iPod (age 12, Feb 2002), then 3rd gen iPod (age 13, Sep 2003). After that, I was repairing friends' iPods, moderating the iPodLinux forum, reading the Bible as Notes, or Shakespeare for English class... good memories.

And I still use an iPod now! With an SSD, and adaptors stashed in the back.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/150180606@N08/49613276321/

Re: A Prototype Original iPod

#122

Post by xmprt »

thought_alarm wrote: post #92
em500 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

During the heydays of the iPod craze, around 2005-2008, I was convinced that product line would be short lived. It was apparent that music playing was a trivial application of mobile phones, which were already becoming ubiquitous. In those days, Nokia was a far bigger cultural phenomenon outside of North America (where Nokia never gained much of a foothold). And it was truly global, not just European: even tiny villa…

Anyone with a moderately sized music collection depended entirely on iTunes to manage their library, and were hence locked in to the iPod/iTunes eco-system. There was no reasonable alternative. Manually copying mp3 files to a Nokia or Blackberry just didn't come close to cutting it, and any attempts by those companies to compete with iTunes on the desktop ended in miserable failure due to piss-poor software quality.

I can't be the only person who downloaded mp3s from Limewire and uploaded to my iPod. I think a lot of my friends did that too. Were the majority of iPod users already locked in by that point through the iTunes ecosystem? If so, what locked them in (the song purchases)?

Re: A Prototype Original iPod

#123

Post by electroly »

happytoexplain wrote: post #13
electroly wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two references in all of the photos are the JTAG connector on the side (a standard pin header with 0.1" spacing) and the standard headphone jack.

Yes, but that's not useful if you don't know that one is a headphone jack (from the side), or that the other is a JTAG connector, or you do know but don't know what sizes JTAG connectors come in. And even allowing for all that, visual size analogies provide very poor information when the common element is relatively small in both cases.

The article mentions it, that's the only reason I knew it was JTAG. I agree -- a banana for scale would have been appropriate here.

Re: A Prototype Original iPod

#124

Post by creinhardt »

LawnGnome wrote: post #66
ArteEtMarte wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it was Firewire that kept it as a niche product. It was that iTunes wasn't initially available on Windows machines, and Macs were still quite rare. I had a G3 iMac (Graphite) at the time the iPod came out. So I got one. Actually, I got three: the first died after a day, the second was DOA, but the third kept chugging away for about 3 years until the battery died and it was only usable when plugged in. I…

They were linked, though: it was unusual to have Firewire on a PC, so even if iTunes had had Windows support at the time I don't know that it would have made much difference. It was the combination of USB and Windows support that made the difference.

Said elsewhere in this thread, but firewire/IEEE1394 wasn't hard to find in a PC/laptop, it was Windows support at all for the iPod that changed things. Once Apple shipped the Windows version of iTunes they were off and running.

Re: A Prototype Original iPod

#125

Post by phire »

em500 wrote: post #79
macNchz wrote: post #17

Hard to believe it has been 20 years. When talking about the impact of the original iPod on the last two decades of Apple's extraordinary success, I like to jump back to this forum thread from October 23rd 2001 (it is always easy to find because it is thread number 500!) and see the reactions from the time: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apples-new-thing-ipod.5...

During the heydays of the iPod craze, around 2005-2008, I was convinced that product line would be short lived. It was apparent that music playing was a trivial application of mobile phones, which were already becoming ubiquitous. In those days, Nokia was a far bigger cultural phenomenon outside of North America (where Nokia never gained much of a foothold). And it was truly global, not just European: even tiny villa…

I remember in people on the internet in early 2005 wishing that Apple would make an iPod phone. Both so they could combine both devices in their pockets, and because the ipod user interface was significantly superior to every single cellphone manufacture.

The the Motorola "iTunes" phone came out in September, and everyone was like "No, I wanted an ipod with cellphone support, not a regular phone with a shitty iTunes app". It seems to only make people want an ipod phone even more.

There were lots of fake "ipod phone" design concepts over the years (and a few leaked patents) until Apple finally announced theirs.

None of the fantasy concepts predicted what we got.

Re: A Prototype Original iPod

#126

Post by bryans »

batmanthehorse wrote: post #119
bryans wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean copying and pasting files that already contain metadeta? That was difficult? Because I'm pretty sure everyone universally hated the formats and auto-renamed files that iTunes forced.

yes everyone hated that. that's why itunes failed and we're still manually copying files to this day.

Sorry, but while Apple did succeed in manhandling the music industry, iTunes has never been a beloved piece of software. It has always been trash and barely worked. So to put it on some kind of pedestal is disingenuous, at best.

Re: A Prototype Original iPod

#127

Post by bayindirh »

xmprt wrote: post #122
thought_alarm wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone with a moderately sized music collection depended entirely on iTunes to manage their library, and were hence locked in to the iPod/iTunes eco-system. There was no reasonable alternative. Manually copying mp3 files to a Nokia or Blackberry just didn't come close to cutting it, and any attempts by those companies to compete with iTunes on the desktop ended in miserable failure due to piss-poor software quality.

I can't be the only person who downloaded mp3s from Limewire and uploaded to my iPod. I think a lot of my friends did that too. Were the majority of iPod users already locked in by that point through the iTunes ecosystem? If so, what locked them in (the song purchases)?

I always used my iPod Nano with KDE's music player/library AmaroK. I also had a Mac at that time, and purchased a lot of albums too. Since DRM was removed at that time, I either added them to my music library or copied to my iPod via my Mac.

At the end of the day, using an iPod and iTunes neither limiting nor locking-in.

Re: A Prototype Original iPod

#128

Post by salamandersauce »

ArteEtMarte wrote: post #61
Marazan wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The firewire connection was lame. And everyone agreed. If you look at the sales graph for the ipod it is basically a trickle until it suddenly explodes upwards. Why the explosion? USB adaptor connection allowong it to be used on normal Windows machines.

I don't think it was Firewire that kept it as a niche product. It was that iTunes wasn't initially available on Windows machines, and Macs were still quite rare. I had a G3 iMac (Graphite) at the time the iPod came out. So I got one. Actually, I got three: the first died after a day, the second was DOA, but the third kept chugging away for about 3 years until the battery died and it was only usable when plugged in. I…

When iTunes for Windows became available they had already launched the 3rd generation iPod which allowed for syncing over USB unlike the prior two generations. Firewire was pretty rare on PCs in those days too. Had they stuck with firewire only I don't think it would have taken off. Would people have bought and installed a firewire card for it?

Re: A Prototype Original iPod

#130

Post by llampx »

creinhardt wrote: post #124
LawnGnome wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were linked, though: it was unusual to have Firewire on a PC, so even if iTunes had had Windows support at the time I don't know that it would have made much difference. It was the combination of USB and Windows support that made the difference.

Said elsewhere in this thread, but firewire/IEEE1394 wasn't hard to find in a PC/laptop, it was Windows support at all for the iPod that changed things. Once Apple shipped the Windows version of iTunes they were off and running.

I remember at the time many of laptops that had a IEEEE1394 port had the small size one, not the full-size one that the iPod cable used. Also most desktops didn't have it onboard due to royalty fees so you needed to buy a PCI card. Not an insurmountable obstacle, but enough that you had to really want one to look past that.
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