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Jan 29, 08 - 08:33 pm Comment from: LorD1776

Buy a new one.

This is funny on several levels to me, but what is happening on a basic level is that people are being educated in Apple's way of doing things. That is, they mean what they say.

Jan 29, 08 - 08:42 pm Comment from: Toasty

OMG My 07 car only has 2 doors not 4 doors like the new 08!!!!! I call shenanigans!! Get someone out here pronto to cut me 2 new doors holes for free damn you!!!

Jan 29, 08 - 08:47 pm Comment from: Spark

There are compromises everywhere. My old iPod won't play video of any kind, nor will it display photos. No one purchased the 5G iPod with the expectation of viewing rented movies. Once again some people need to be reminded that their equipment does nothing less than it did when it warranted a purchase. As technology moves forward most of us get left behind unless we pony up more cash. Why is Apple always being singled out for this? Oh yeah, Apple is the only one innovating at the speed of light.

rentals don't play on older models because those iPods don't support anamorphic 720x480, which is what the rentals use to provide DVD quality and scalable playback on a broad range of devices, including AppleTV

This is obviously not false advertising on Apple's part, so nobody has the right to be legitimately angry. That being said, I'm sure Apple could have made available for download the appropriate software upgrade. I don't have a previous iPod video, but I can understand people wanting the software upgrade–even at a price, like with the iPod touch.

Wired used to be "it" in terms of tech journalism. That it has now stooped so low as to publish misleading crap like this is both annoying and sad. Even the headline itself is misleading.

Jan 29, 08 - 09:13 pm Comment from: treestman

Philip,

You assume that filling the "analog hole" is a software issue, but in the case of the older iPods I believe it's a hardware issue.

Jan 29, 08 - 09:21 pm Comment from: KingMel

Raymond Blanchard and those of his ilk need to get a clue. Have they attempted to compile a list of all of the other commercial devices that can be updated to include functionality that is provided on newer models?

Overall, I believe that Apple has done a nice job in providing computers/devices with lengthy operational lives and good upgrade paths. Older Macs can generally run the fifth generation of MacOS X reasonably well, iPod/iPod touch updates, AppleTV updates, iPhone updates, etc.

One thing that Apple does that bugs me is changing interface types/locations and using slightly non-standard or recessed connectors, etc. But things did get much better after Apple bought into industry standard such as PCI, USB, etc. One of my last remaining gripes is that you can't plug a standard 'PC' video card into a Mac. Let's get away from Mac-specific video cards!

Jan 29, 08 - 09:26 pm Comment from: Hm...

I'm going to contact Blanchard and see if he wants to join my class action suit. I'm suing Apple because my Apple ][ won't rent movies from iTunes. It won't even run OS X! How could they do this most heinous and dastardly deed? Recidivists,they are!

I was disappointed that the rentals wouldn't work on my 5th gen iPod. The copy on Apple's Web site, as well as the help in iTunes itself, referred to copying movies to "your iPod." It seems reasonable that 5th gen owners might well have expected that iPods, which are perfectly capable of playing movies, would have been able to handle rentals.

I have a feeling that the vast majority of these onerous limitations aren't due to Apple but to the studios.

Jan 29, 08 - 10:34 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

You mean... I can't play movies on my G2 10GB iPod with the black & white screen..?

See you in court, Jobs.

Jan 29, 08 - 10:35 pm Comment from: Cubert

I wonder if these complainers are also pissed that the PC they bought 2 years ago can't run Shitsa?

My touch screen packed it in on my old ipod too. The only way to work it is to move my thumb in a circular motion in the centre of it. Wierd.

I put a CD on my record player and it sounded like crap and it scratched the buggery out of it. Where can I get a new needle?

Wired is now tired. . . (yawn)

Jan 29, 08 - 11:30 pm Comment from: Brau

"As some have observed, this theoretically makes it easier to copy rented movies, by plugging the iPod into a camcorder or other video-recording device."

BINGO! Only Apple could remove a major feature, try to assert the new ones are better, all the while pushing you to swallow DRM inspired crippled hardware. Love my Macs, but can't stand iTunes + iPod and the crippleware coming out today, not that other brands are any better. There was a day when if you owned a Mac you could rip, record, save ANYTHING that came across your desktop. Already those features are being denied. Soon they'll remove the ability to convert to MP3 too, under the moral assertion that everyone who does is just a thief.

Jan 29, 08 - 11:35 pm Comment from: Randian

These guys are to journalism as the Spice Girls are to Grand Opera.

Jan 29, 08 - 11:40 pm Comment from: Richie Rich

While Apple has been very clear about which iPods the iTunes rental service will work on (His Jobsness even displayed the appropriate iPods during his keynote), I can understand the disappointment of having an "iPod with Video" (Apple's name for the product!) not be able to play video (albeit rented).

Noone expects a first gen 5GB black and white iPod to play videos. Those comparisons are just silly.

Jan 29, 08 - 11:53 pm Comment from: shen

"BINGO! Only Apple could remove a major feature, try to assert the new ones are better, all the while pushing you to swallow DRM inspired crippled hardware."

yeah cause Apple really wants to lose sales due to this, while i am sure the movie companies, who don't have any history like this at all, have nothing to do with it......

oops, forgot to close my sarcasm tag. </sarcasm>

A new wave of writers and analysts are rising up now. Basically, all the guys who covered the Wintel era are obsolete and irrelevant. While they were covering Wintel, they neglected Apple, and they are trying to play catch up now. Too bad! New media, new writers, new thinkers. Forget CNet, Wired, MSNBC, Dvorak, Endele, etc. etc. etc.

New operating system, new ecosystem!

Jan 30, 08 - 01:56 am Comment from: ken1w

There's a reason why Apple released the new iPods in September 2007, four months before announcing the existence of the video rental service. The fact that the old 5G iPods cannot use the rental service must be a hardware issue that cannot be overcome by updating the software. Otherwise, Apple would do it as it has in the past by updating the iPod's internal software as much as possible. Video rental is a new feature, just like video itself is a new feature for the newest iPod nano. Should Apple give free upgrades to customers who bought the previous (non-video) iPod nano during the four months before September

We don't have any itunes movies or TV shows of any sort in Australia yet and you are fussing about rentals!!!!!!!!

"Buy a new one."

That's right, you should update all your white plastic gadgets once a year as Jobs commands.

Jan 30, 08 - 05:50 am Comment from: LorD1776

In reply to the unregistered nameless one above:

Yes, that would be great if you can afford it. There is always a sound reason why Apple does things, we just don't always know why. If you want to follow the Apple path, you'd better get used to it.
That's the way they roll.

If you can't accept that, then hitch your wagon to MicroSoft and ride off into the sunset. Happy trails!

Oh No! My Windoze machine won't run Windoze XP software on Windoze Vista! Actually when I was using Windoze 1 in 3 games I brought that said they would run on XP didn't - funny that.

Anyway - I believe it's stated cleary in the store that they only run on those iPods - I could be wrong though.

"Noone expects a first gen 5GB black and white iPod to play videos."
Ah ah ah, never underestimate the stupidity of the populace.

"you should update all your white plastic gadgets once a year as Jobs commands."

This isn't limited to Apple or even technology companies. If you want the "latest and greatest" of anything, you should update EVERYTHING once a year. Even some car companies are creating .5 model runs so anyone who bought a 2006 is missing out on features added to 2006.5 (which of course will be superseded by 2007, to be rapidly updated with 2007.5 etc. etc.)

Jan 30, 08 - 07:27 am Comment from: FreddyThePig

Scott Adams says that all of us are idiots some of the time.
Amen Scott, Amen!

If there is no limitation that can be corrected with a simple firmware upgrade then Apple is guilty of not providing an easy fix for older Pod owners. Question is, if there is no limitation why is Apple making owners of older iPods having to purchase another iPod? The answer isn't customer service.

LorD1776 is registered. Ooooh, isn't that special. What do you want, a cookie? How does making yer alias a registered name make you more intelligent? Yer still as anonymous as anyone else threading here. If you had no qualms about broadcasting yer identity you would thread yer real name, address, and telephone number wouldn't you? Why not, fanboi?

If anyone wants to watch a color film in black-and-white, isn't that the customer's choice? Who the hell is Apple that they feel obligated to dictate to anyone what they can and cannot watch? How about those who Think Different and want to watch films in B&W;?

Ooops, you don't think like we tell you to think. Now, toe the party line! We refuse to provide the firmware upgrade, get used to it and fork over your cash.

But I only watch B&W;films, that's my niche.

We don't cater to niches, you bitches. STFU and give us your money!

As the owner of a 5th Gen iPod, I don't see the point of copying iTunes video to a camcorder as I can rip a DVD or download a higher quality torrent that will play just fine.

If Apple made an iTouch with a 80 or 160 GB hard drive I already own it. Until then the 5th Gen will do just fine.

All this confusion and complicated bullshit is going to turn people off to Apple eventually, just like it does to Windows.

Jan 30, 08 - 08:50 am Comment from: LordRobin

If you ask me, Apple should have chosen a better name for the 'non-touch' iPod than "iPod classic". When I think "iPod classic", I think "Coca-Cola Classic", i.e. a new name for the old formula. It's not surprising that many people who own a 5G iPod think they already have an "iPod classic"!

The iPod classic's physical appearance is virtually identical to the 5G iPod. I originally thought Apple was just rebranding the 5G and changing the size of the scroll wheel a little. I kept waiting for the software update that would give my 5G CoverFlow and such. When it didn't come, it sank in that the iPod classic was a completely new animal.

They really should have chosen another name. It would have prevented a lot of confusion.

------RM

Apple is free to make the rules as they see fit (or tailor them to the demands of the studios as needed). But in defense of those, like me, who made this same mistake, it was easy to misread the announcement. The announcement referred to "video-enabled iPods," which my 5G iPod certainly is; I was led astray by enthusiasm and didn't notice the qualifications at first. It took me a few minutes after renting my first movie to figure out why it wasn't transferring to my iPod. (Once I figured it out, I happily watched the movie on my iMac; I didn't feel like I'd been ripped off, just confused.)

The info page on movie rentals at http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/movies.html makes no reference to iPod restrictions. It IS confusing that you can watch movies you buy on your iPod, but not movies you rent. Apple could have made this clearer.

@Tad Davis:

Right on the money. Yes, it's confusing that a device called iPod with Video, on which you can watch purchased movies, does not play rented movies from the same store.

It's understood that Apple does specify this, but not so obviously as they could, and they should explain their reasons.

Jan 30, 08 - 10:05 am Comment from: Mr. Peabody

@Old Mac Man,

Here here. But, anytime you try to work with the entertainment industry things always tend to go from complicated to ridiculous, so what's Apple supposed to do. They want to, and need to (and needed to be one of the first successful ones), be in the pc and hand held media devices markets that they are in if they want to remain a viable company into the foreseeable future.

If Apple were to just focus on personal computing and hand held computing, which I wish they could do, I don't believe they would be anywhere near where they are today.

I understand technology moves and some get left behind, but where is the line? Do you buy a video ipod today, an hour later, two seconds later.. it's out of date. Sept 2007 seems a little rediculous for a product to go out of date. There are a lot of people who agree with this. There are a lot of people who think this is ok. Hopefully there are enough people who feel this is unacceptable and make apple think and not alienate it's consumer base. For me I'll remember this the next time I see an exciting new apple product whith premium pricing. I'll discount it by the frustration I will remember by this experience......

HAHA! So what was that about ipod sales causing the stock to drop?

HAHA! Here's your fix.

(yes, I know it's not the complete solution... I am just pointing out the irony)

When will the update be available for Apple TV? It's been two weeks. Apple late AGAIN??? Can I rent from iTunes and stream to Apple TV in the interim. Even the geeks at the Apple store didn't know the answer to that one!!!

Mark,

How do you propose Apple should introduce new products? As soon as a new product hits the shelves, the older one is obsolete. Or, are you suggesting Apple should never introduce new features? As some people here has suggested, there must be a valid reason (hardware-based) that the 5G iPod is not supported. You can still watch the rented video on your TV (Apple TV) or your computer. Is this nearly as bad as Microsoft pulling the rug from under play-for-sure with the introduction of the Zune? I haven't seen a food of articles complaining about that! Why is there so much criticism directed at Apple? Are we to expect people complaining that the expected to find an actual TV in the Apple TV box they just purchased?

As a 5G iPod owner, I can understand the disappointment at finding out that your iPod, which will play TV shows and other iTunes video content, won't play the new rentals. I myself was hoping perhaps that this would be a way to get rented movies on the TV without plunking down $$ for an Apple TV.

Once I read this though (I think it was the day of the announcement, though it took some effort to find a media outlet that was actually technologically competent and reported facts and details correctly) I was not overly surprised or upset.

My 5G iPod is almost 3 years old now. It still does what I bought it for great, which is mostly playing music.

I think anyone who doesn't have an expectation of obsolescence coming for the consumer electronics they buy (in little ways soon after purchase, and eventually to the point of total incompatibility), they are just setting themselves up for frustration.

Jan 30, 08 - 05:38 pm Comment from: LorD1776

"LorD1776 is registered. Ooooh, isn't that special. What do you want, a cookie? How does making yer alias a registered name make you more intelligent?"

Thanks Phred.

I was just saying that people can suffer from upgrade fatigue. Fanboys aside there are only so many times you can get somebody to rebuy essentially the same product.

"LorD1776 is registered. Ooooh, isn't that special. What do you want, a cookie? How does making yer alias a registered name make you more intelligent?"

Thanks Phred.

You don't answer the question. You thank me for no good reason.

I reckon this proves my point that having a registered alias does not guarantee one is intelligent, eh?

Jan 31, 08 - 05:35 pm Comment from: LorD1776

Phred,

You're right. You're always right. I admit I can't compete with you on an intellectual level. Isn't that what you want to hear?