Why a Large-Format iPod Touch will be a Netbook Killer
January 1st, 2009 by Scott
When I first read the rumors that Apple was working on a big-brother version of the iPod touch I had the same reaction as most people: “Huh!?” The more I think about it however, the more I realize this may be a stroke of genius and create a whole new product category.
Two of the biggest reasons people say a large-format iPod is unlikely are because it will be too big to fit in your pocket and apps from the app store won’t run correctly.
The idea that apps won’t look right on a different resolution screen is correct, but also silly in its assumption that the iPhone SDK is static. Sure, many apps as they’re written now will look funny and scale incorrectly if they’re put on another resolution screen, but apple can easily add scaling to the SDK and different apps can handle it in different ways. The same way a desktop application changes its layout when you change the size of its window, an app could adjust to different resolutions. Also most iPhone and iPod games are written in openGL, which is generally resolution-agnostic. Almost all openGL games will port over to a different size screen with little or no changes.
Thinking that consumers won’t want this product because of its size is, I think, completely misunderstanding what the target of such a device would be. A large-format iPod touch would overlap a lot of the same market that netbooks are currently thriving in.
Imagine you’re sitting in your lazy-boy, in an airport, or on the subway and you want to casually browse the web. A laptop is a little too bulky for these situations and you’re not typing a novel so you don’t need a full keyboard. The current iPhone or iPod touch works for this, but the text is really darn small and hitting all those little links with your fat fingers means you have to zoom in every time to do it. An ipod touch with a seven-inch screen would be almost the exact size of a paperback novel. This would be the ideal size for armchair web browsing, sharing photos with friends, watching a 2-hour movie while away from home or playing all kinds of games. No, it won’t fit in your pocket, but you wont even notice the bulk in your bag or backpack.
This big-brother ipod will be in direct competition with the netbook, the kindle, the portable dvd player, and all kinds of gaming devices. I think it will stack up quiet well against all of them.
My final, off-the-wall prediction: Apple will put in a front-facing camera and market it as a video conferencing device.
February 13th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
Just came across your blog on Google. Interesting post, you bring up a few good things to think about. Good luck with the blog.
January 27th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
what is the ipod called, and how much does it caust?
March 20th, 2010 at 7:12 am
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March 26th, 2010 at 10:15 am
The instant I started to examine this posting, I felt kind of perplexed. I get it finally. I’m in a good mood, so I left you a link to a no cost Best Buy gift card. Just make sure you do not use it to get lame crap.
April 1st, 2010 at 8:49 pm
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April 16th, 2010 at 4:07 am
I read your blog often and I just thought I’d say keep up the good work!
April 22nd, 2010 at 3:08 pm
I just recently picked up the ipad touch,havent dug through it to figure out all the ins and outs but from what I can see its a pretty decent little piece of technology.
May 12th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
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May 13th, 2010 at 3:58 am
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May 16th, 2010 at 2:18 am
Very informative website. I was wondering about getting an iPad and now i definitely will!
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May 31st, 2010 at 2:05 am
Howdy there,Excellent blogging dude! i am Tired of using RSS feeds and do you use twitter?so i can follow you there:D.
PS:Do you thought putting video to this blog posts to keep the people more enjoyed?I think it works.Kind regards, Latia Pettway
June 9th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
The affect this product is going to have on the computing world is large. It will give us a slightly greater reason to waste time messing around on the internet. I would be tempted to purchase the ipod if it cleaned up my room and did my washing!
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June 16th, 2010 at 12:59 am
Hmm…this is very interesting. I wrote a piece a while back on a company called Reputation Defender
June 16th, 2010 at 7:52 am
So other than some A-hole hacking my Twitter (I do NOT have vagina dentata… anymore), the only other thing that’s been tickin’ me off lately is all this stuff about the Grateful Dead getting back together? It’s like okay, here I am pulling off the biggest comeback in the history of everything, so who cares about some old-guy band that no one’s even heard of getting back together?
June 16th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
superb blog, you deserve a free iPad: http://bit.ly/freeipad6
June 30th, 2010 at 3:32 am
Can’t seem to find the RSS button for your blog to subscribe to? Do you have one, or am I just blind?
June 30th, 2010 at 11:22 am
The iPod touch is a great iPod, an awesome pocket computer, and a neat portable game player. Listen to a mix of songs automatically put together by the new Genius Mixes feature. Watch a movie. Surf the web. Download countless apps…. what more do you want? Check out http://goo.gl/nOyN for the cheapest offers – now with iPhone OS 3.1 Software installed, newest model – definitely worth to compare prices here!