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102 Comments
- alexology, on 10/12/2007, -10/+250Apparently, the new iPod likes it from behind
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -9/+160this is a weird, though somewhat clever, idea. we'll probably never see it though.
does anyone else get the feeling that whenever some apple employee presents a decent idea, they get a response like, "eh, just go patent it. i'll look at it more closely when i have time." - ravishjunk, on 10/12/2007, -7/+143my ipod has the buttons on the otherside even in this edition. for some strange reason the screen is also on the otherside, which is kind of puzzling me
- Ireland, on 10/12/2007, -2/+27"New iPod Patent Reveals Touch Surface On Back"
Technically if you can dial phone numbers (as per the drawing) wouldn't this be more of an iPhone, as in iPhone nano? - Murdats, on 10/12/2007, -7/+27apple will just sit on this and stifle competing innovation
- kiensoy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Because you would be able to make calls with it.
- SirBotchness, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15Yay, the same ***** story on the frontpage at the same time. I'll put it on my blog and repost it and i'll get up here too. Now i just need a blog and to give a *****.
- leprix, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16first, why is the keyboard not qwerty, second, why is the alphabet "A B C V E F G...."
- Shevanel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10@tomplansmedia
Alot of the larger companies(the ones with the money too) have their employee's patent their idea's under the company's name and then pay the employee for the idea. You just hear more of it from companies in the media. - etandrib, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12Hmm… did you think they were only going to make an iPhone and not a iPhone Nano?
- nick2, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10You will just be moving your finger around in the back. No need to flip the iPod over since there will be a cursor on the screen.
- binarybandit92, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8ABCVEFG
now I know my ABC's - kdbarto, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Sadly the USPTO allows you to take any two or three things, blend them together and patent them. The PB&J sandwich which was patented a while ago shows this to be the case. The idea is not to have the most innovative idea and patent that; the idea is to patent anything that might/ be patentable, and let the competitors complain that it isn't really something that should be protected.
It keeps the lawyers in business. (sigh) - iwanttodiggthis, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12It's called Adaptive Letter Frequency Arrangement, or ALFA. ALFA keyboards automatically change the letter arrangement based on the word you have started typing. For example, if I typed C-A, the next letter would almost certainly be T, so T is placed in the middle of the keyboard for easy entry. I am very pleased that Apple has jumped on the ALFA bandwagon.
- illwil, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8When using a mouse, do you need to stare at your hand?
Of course not, a cursor on the screen gives you visual feedback.
Imagine, for a moment, that this visual feedback idea be transferred to a rear touch panel. - dypchit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Great, 1 more feature surface to scratch.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8[Insert 7th failed attempt at wit only to get dugg down]
- bimtott, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6So let me get this straight: I'm supposed to use the back of the iPod so I don't touch the screen, which means I won't be able to put in a case. Won't that just make the screen + everything else more prone to scratches anyway?
- 93ex, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7And for us people who lack manual dexterity to dial a phone backwards, we like it simple too.
- matito10, on 10/12/2007, -6/+11Why is there a dial option?
- lorean, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3They could make the areas on the back of the ipod corresponding to keys be rough. This way your fingers could feel their way around.
- TechyLah, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3No one-handed operation anymore. Big loss in convenience.
Pretty good way to adjust video, though.
Don't press too hard with right hand. - noreturn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3At this point, I think Apple could patent a device that made use of stray cats to control the weather, and people would speculate and pander and call *****. One wonders if perhaps they do this just to screw with us for their own sick amusement.
- fhscomtech3, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5ALFA arrangement? You have to be kidding. How could you possibly type more than a few works per minute if the arrangement of the keys keeps changing on you?? Also, there is two V's and no D's on that keyboard, it seems more like a mistake than a 'feature' to me.
- iwanttodiggthis, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5I've been using a custom ALFA keypad on my Blackberry for a while now. (Each key has a small LED display in it, much like the Optimus Maximus.) It works amazingly well.
- reevolutn, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6reacharound
- RexMaxus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@iwanttodiggthis
what? - geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4"does anyone else get the feeling..."
Yeah, it's called Corporate America. For the record:
IBM held the lead 14 years running of greatest number of patents at 3,621.
Samsung, Canon, ***** and Hewlett-Packard joined the 2000 patent/year crowd.
Microsoft trailed behind with >1,400 patents in 2006.
Apple... didn't rank (146 patents issued between Jan 2006 and Jan 2007). - gerriediaz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It looks more like a future phone version to me...The 'dial' button gives it away...
- Diggtatorship, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"first, why is the keyboard not qwerty, second, why is the alphabet "A B C V E F G....""
Of course it's because Snuffleupagus and Big Bird have the alphabet patented. Which wouldn't be surprising considering how ass backwards our patent system is. - awfulgrace, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's absolutely right that companies patent things way before a go/no-go decision is made.
I work for a Fortune 500 company, and our R&D people are evaluated by how many patents they've been granted - not by how many patents have gone to market. There are people with 100+ patents under their belt, but probably only 10 or so made it to market. - Jeezoflip, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2its probably for some crazy ass ***** that none of us can even imagine.
- starf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It will be a while yet before they announce the next ipod. This is just for a patent. They won't want it to detract from their iphone. I've been waiting too, but I finally caved and got a 5.5 gen.
- TheProtested, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1why does apple always make things smaller...
- Spaceomega, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think this looks horrible.
- iwanttodiggthis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It is extremely unlikely for words to begin with "D," at least according to the dictionary loaded onto the prototype which Apple photographed.
- DigitalRambler, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Everyone jumps on the fan boy wagon every time someone whispers the words touch screen,
But personally I do not see how a touch screen interface will be better then the tactile feel of buttons.
I can control my ipod now with out looking at by feeling the buttons.
How the heck are you going to do that with out buttons.
It would be like trying to touch type with out the little bumps on f and j - slapthemonkey, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I will buy this. After few days, there would be new version. It happens with me. Believe me........
- hadak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hey, I sure called that one a few months ago. :)
- ialan2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1u gotta love apple and its design and great thinking.
There was also an idea of having the cd tray at the bottom on notebook computers. - fast1marine, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Who cares if one of the crappiest music players ever has a touchscreen on the back.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm aligned with the gaming controller crowd. It's impractical for most other tasks.
- ncaauwe, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6@ Ireland
That's exactly what I was thinking. - alceria, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1>What do we do with our thumbs? It looks like it might be a bit of a challenge to get used to.
Your thumbs are going to be balancing the device, and for those of you less delicate types, obscuring half of the display. - TommyTikal, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I would never buy an iPod...and I know very well what I'm talking about.
When I was looking for a new MP3 player I wanted:
-Drag and Drop Usability
-Compatibility with all computer types [I've got Ubuntu at home]
-Feature Rich [FM Radio, Voice Recorder, Video]
-Reasonable Price
-Durability and good design [Fairly scratch, drop resistant]
I found an 8 Gig Flash Player with all of this, for 50 dollars less than an iPod Nano...which wouldn't have included Video, FM Radio, etc...
Also I've heard many bad things about the iPod Nano regarding how easily it scratches, and how durable it is.
My MP3 player has hard clear plastic, much better than the Nano at avoiding scratches, and a LiquidMetal backing...which is twice as strong as titanium for many applications, and is used in Satellites to protect electronic components.
So am I anti-iPod? No...just a smart consumer. The iPod offers less than the competition, with less flexibility, and costs more. That is terrible. - getliquified, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1seems awkward but then again...a lot of ideas in their infancy seemed awkward
- sczebelianist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What do we do with our thumbs? It looks like it might be a bit of a challenge to get used to.
- insomniac8400, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Why can't patents be reserved to new functionality. Putting a touch pad on the back is not an invention.
- dugR, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I am glad i never bought an ipod they keep coming out with more, and i would feel the need to upgrade. I'm satisfied with my creative zen vision M, even though it has been freezing up recently.
- rasterbator, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Whether or not Apple actually uses this technology remains to be seen. It is more likely that they are just patenting the concept in case some other company tries to put a touch sensitive keypad on the back of their music player. Now they can't without getting sued by Apple. Nice move...
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