the things we think but do not say

Guess my Visa’s staying in my wallet after all. What the hell happened guys? As someone mentioned to me, I’d hate to see this turn into a case of emperor’s new clothes, since just about everyone loves Apple’s products. But isn’t this one a little weird looking? They’ve taken a centre speaker from a home theatre system and then stuck the iPod into the top of it? Is that it?

After all the excitement and rumours since Jan, this is a disappointing release. Mainly because they’ve always been so remarkably consistent with their design logic. Each product stripped away all unnecessary parts while unifying all the details with such care that it always felt that it should have been there all along. They’ve pretty much never missed a step. Except maybe now.

The latest iMac; the most elegant tilt mechanism I’ve ever seen.
The latest cinema displays; slim, sleek and exuding professionalism.
The iSight built into the bezel of the latest iBook Pro; of course it should go there. It made all other webcams feel so ‘third party’.

With the new HiFi I’ve got some questions:

Why isn’t there a rechargeable battery inside? You have to get some clunky ass D Cell batteries if you want to take it out? Part of the beauty and allure of the iPod versus any other mp3 player is that you never ever opened up the product. It would spoil the mystique and make it feel like just another electronic device. At least they’ve considered it and molded decent white battery bays. I guess you’d never really move it since the handles are clearly intended for two handed use.

Isn’t $350 a bit much even for the most devoted Mac zealot?

Is the Apple Airport Express the only way to stream music from your Mac to your Hifi?

Does it really need to look so freaking huge?!

As a tech blogger once wrote, I’m an easy lay when it’s comes to Apple’s products, but this one is not getting a call back, no matter how much it wants it.

Go visit the Apple site for more images and info.

It’s less than two hours now until Apple releases news of a number of rumoured new products.

I doubt that a brand new iPod will be released since it’s been so soon since the new 5th generation iPod with video was announced but that’s not to say that special editions of it won’t come out (similar to the red/black U2 model). And by new iPod, I mean one with a new interface/design architecture like a huge touch screen. It’s not that they couldn’t, but it’s just that it’s uncharacteristic of them to bust out a new device when the sales of the previous generation are still so strong.

The one thing I’m hoping to read about is the fabled iPod boombox thingy. The one thing that’s currently a huge pain in the ass is being able to access my iTunes from my PC and get it routed into my home theatre set up in the living room. Wirelessly or not, this is only being addressed by the a couple of things, the Roku soundbridges and the Slim Devices Squeezebox.

By the way, if they don’t release it, then I’d happily recommend the Altec Lansing iM7, voted iLounge’s speaker system of the year 2005. Of course, the fact that it was designed in my studio does not influence my opinion of it in any way

If Apple releases something like these two products, my Visa number would be tapped as fast as my Firefox autofill feature handle.

Damn you Apple!
Damn you Steve Jobs!
Damn you Jonathan Ive!

Why do you tease me so?