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classics

Back to the Future: the sweet and soulful sound of classic audio gear

If you're into cars you've probably have read a million stories about guys who invest tons of money and time restoring cars. You know the type, a baby boomer in Texas buys a '65 Mustang for $3K, and then over the next five years drops $30K to make it look brand new. But it's still a 42 year old car and no matter how pretty it looks, it can't compare, performance-wise, to any decent modern car, or for that matter, a brand new Mustang. The new one could blow the doors off the original, but it … Read more

Photos: Apple iPod Touch

Apple's latest iPod Touch is finally joining the iPod Nano and iPod Classic in stores this weekend. I'll be working on getting a full review together for next week. In the meantime, take a look through our iPod Touch photo gallery. If that's not enough to quench your iPod thirst, then head over to CNET's iPod Central for all our iPod-related news.

Top 5 reasons not to buy a new iPod

After awarding Apple's iPod Classic and iPod Nano an 8 out of 10 rating over on CNET Reviews, I think it's fair to say that I think both products are exceptional. Still, the iPod is not for everybody. If you're thinking about using that $100 iPhone credit toward a shiny new Nano or Classic, here are five reasons that might give you pause.

5. iTunes 7.4 is required

Requiring the latest version of iTunes might not seem like such a big deal, but if your computer doesn't play friendly with the latest build of iTunes--you're screwed. iTunes 7.4 requires OSX 10.3.9 or later for Mac users, and Windows XP or 32-bit editions of Windows Vista for the PC.

4. No more built-in video output

Gone are the days when you could just plug a $10 minijack AV cable… Read more

First Look: Apple iPod Classic

Again, the video here tells most of the story for this new sixth-generation version of the iPod, now called the iPod Classic. Still, there are a few specific details worth focusing some extra attention on.

Capacity

The iPod Classic is now the only iPod Apple makes with a storage capacity over 16GB. In fact, the base model ($249) starts with a whopping 80GB of storage, and the next model up ($349) jumps to 160GB. These are serious numbers that are bound to excite those of us who carry huge music and/or video libraries. Many people were worried that Apple would ditch high-capacity players altogether with their latest line of iPods, but maintaining a high-capacity legacy MP3 player makes sense. After all, the iPod at this point has become an icon of industrial design and a symbol (for better or for worse) of our current digital music economy.… Read more

Photos: New Apple iPods

As expected, today's Apple event at Moscone Center here in San Francisco was all about music--iPods to be exact, and lots of them. The least exciting of the bunch is the Shuffle, for which there is a simple color refresh, while the most dramatic is the new Nano, which is shorter and squatter than its predecessor and now supports video. On the full-size iPod side, the video version has been rechristened the Classic and comes with up to 160GB of space on board. And, last but not least, there's a phoneless iPhone, dubbed the Touch. Yep, that'… Read more

And on day 67: $200 iPhone price drop and new services

Steve Jobs certainly knows how to surprise and saturate. Along with other Applephiles, I was following the live coverage of the latest Apple/iPod/iPhone news via Gizmodo, which couldn't refresh fast enough!

So much to digest, but the main points:

(1) iPhone price drop!? The 8GB iPhone's price fell markedly with this announcement to $399. (Say buh-bye to the 4GB model). Boy, I sure could have used that $200 for the past two months, but it's an inherent risk of being an early adopter. So there is a $100 premium for the phone part of the … Read more

Instant reactions to Apple announcements

I'm following the special "Beat Goes On" event being put on by Apple this morning in San Francisco's Moscone Center. Here are my first reactions....

Do-it-yourself ringtones for the iPhone. Great idea, but I want to be able to do it with any song in my iTunes library, not just songs I've purchased from iTunes. And only 500,000 songs are approved for this usage. And you have to pay an additional $0.99 per ringtone, in addition to buying the song. Kind of a snooze. I've seen people hack together custom ringtones from … Read more

Four new Wii virtual console releases this week

Nintendo has bestowed upon us a holiday bonus for Labor Day. Instead of the usual three virtual console releases, there are four new Wii games ready for download this week.

Adventure Island (1988, NES, 500 Wii points)--Adventure Island is a classic side-scrolling platformer, where you play as Master Higgins. Tina, the love of your life, is missing, and it's up to you to find her on a remote island. Donkey Kong Jr. Math (1985, NES, 500 Wii points)--And who says learning can't be fun? This is a great game to buy if you've got a … Read more

Who decides what's "classic rock"?

In Seattle, there's a classic rock station, KZOK, that's been around forever. It was already old when I discovered it in junior high school in the early 1980s, and of all the music stations in Seattle, it's the only one that still has exactly the same format. I mean, the playlist yesterday is exactly the same as the playlist in 1982, although they might stick in a song by an artist that used to be known as "new wave" (U2, Talking Heads, Pretenders), or a band that didn't exist in 1982 (Guns and Roses), … Read more