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General discussion

Bringing the IPOD down

Nov 29, 2005 10:59PM PST

Discussion is locked

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I think the opposite
Nov 30, 2005 3:30AM PST

I would think that a universal interface would in fact encourage innovation. Why would someone make some peripheral when they know it will only work with one MP3 player (1% of the market, unless that player happens to be an iPod)?

However, if the company knows that they can make something for a large number of MP3 players they will be more willing to make such a device.

Take for instance the USB cable. Look at all the wacky things that have popped up since that came out. I just saw a cup warmer at the store the other day. Why would you plug a cup warmer into your computer instead of a wall? Who cares! The point is you know that you can plug it into 99% of the computers out there.

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Innovation in Accesories, not the players
Nov 30, 2005 3:34AM PST

I think it would bring inovation to the accessories, but it would limit the form factor of the actual player as well as the features that the players include. We would end up with a standard shape and feature list of players because the inovation would be in the accessories, not in the player. I think that is why the Ipod has so few actual features and other players have so many. Some of the features are dumb, but that is what inovation is about.

By the way I saw a link the other day for a cup cooler that was USB powered.

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Infinite possibilities!!
Nov 30, 2005 3:43AM PST

So admittedly I didn't read the article, so feel free to blast me if I'm wrong here. I assume it was talking about adding a universal interface to MP3 devices. So the players would now all have a universal port (like a USB port on a computer). So the only limiting factor to the player would be that it would have to have that port. It doesn't limit the features on that device.

I would imagine that the MP3 player companies would still want SOME kind of innovation in their device to attract some attention. But this added benefit of having this univeral port to widen the range of accessories you can get for your brand new player will sweeten the deal.

Okay, to further the USB analogy. Every new computer uses USB technology now but not all new computers are the same. You've got innovation up that wazoo.

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You may be right
Nov 30, 2005 5:04AM PST

If the universal connection could be as simple and small as a usb then that would probably work. But I think we are still probably talking about something that is larger and more complicated. Especially when you start talking about video, audio and program control. That means it will probably be limited to hard drive based players, which is not all bad. My personal Irvier H320 has plenty of connection problems so if they could simply make it work correctly I would be happier. But if history is any guide, the universal connector is probably only good for one to two years. Even Apple has changed thier universal dock several times. Dell tried to have a universal dock on thier Axims and ended up changing it three times in the last four years. My problem is mostly a lack of faith in standards actually being followed and in enough preperation to make a standard that is worth following.