Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable Music Player (2001)

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by nercht12 on Monday October 24, 2016 @11:54PM (#12785164)

Obligatory Onion News reference: http://www.theonion.com/video/apple-introduces-revolutionary...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by bluthru on Monday October 24, 2016 @10:13PM (#12784718)

I remember hearing that Phil Schiller came up with that idea.

Apple really wouldn't be Apple without him. He's the guy who had the goal of making a laptop with one port. He's the guy who's on board with removing the headphone jack. He's the guy making decisions that piss a lot of people off but understands what makes their products uniquely Apple.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by IslaDeEncanta on Monday October 24, 2016 @10:54PM (#12784909)

Having one good idea doesn't mean that all of those are good ideas.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by bluthru on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @01:26AM (#12785524)

Any company can add a bunch of ports and say "yes" to everything. It's characteristic of Apple to piss people off in the short term and keep things focused.

Personally I wish the MacBook had 2 ports, but I love that Phil's philosophy is "what if we made a notebook with just one port?"

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by danieldk on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @01:58AM (#12785649)

Personally I wish the MacBook had 2 ports,

Me too, but I have come to appreciate the whole product experience. I went from the MacBook Air 13" to a MacBook 12". I cycle to work nearly daily and take my MacBook in my backpack. Yesterday I had to connect my wife's MacBook Air 13" and then I realized that I forgot how heavy it is.

If you need a laptop that is so light and thin, something's got to give. If removing a few ports and a CPU fan brings you there, it's like it is.

(Before someone says that you have the extra weight of an USB-C to display/USB-A adapter: the MacBook 12" charger is also smaller and lighter than the MacBook Air charger.)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by zimpenfish on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @05:52AM (#12786572)

Plus you can charge the Macbook from any* 2.4A USB charger with appropriate cable - and since I'm already carrying two of those for the iPad and iPhone, there's no need to carry the USB-C brick as well.

* I've had issues with some of the cheaper ones I've tried.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by qbrass on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @02:10AM (#12785693)

The real innovations come from saying "what if we made a notebook with no ports?"

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by ghaff on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @12:15AM (#12785239)

The Click Wheel wasn't until the 4G though in 2004. That was my first and that's arguably when the iPod really broke out.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by shawabawa3 on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @08:55AM (#12787501)

Pretty sure the 1st iPod had the click wheel. It was a mechanical wheel with a separate button in the middle to click.

The 2004 ones were touch wheels with tap sensors

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by ghaff on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @09:19AM (#12787677)

Yes, but it's the 4G and successors that AFAIK had the selector that was dubbed the "Click Wheel." Previous models had a mechanical scroll wheel that looked somewhat similar and which incrementally added touch functions but when people talk about the click wheel they're normally referring to the tap sensors in the iPod Mini & the 4G and followons.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by branchless on Monday October 24, 2016 @09:16PM (#12784414)

Why? It allowed navigating up and down. And you could select. A simple plus sign like button did this.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by ChristianGeek on Monday October 24, 2016 @09:39PM (#12784559)

You obviously never used one. It gave you full, immediate control over how fast you scrolled, which buttons could never do. It enabled you to immediately change direction without lifting your finger. You could start by placing your finger anywhere on the wheel, which made it easy to use in the dark, and moving your finger from the wheel to the button in the center was just as easy.

It was, and still is, the best interface I've ever used for navigating through large, grouped lists.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by Obi_Juan_Kenobi on Monday October 24, 2016 @09:56PM (#12784642)

You could also adjust the volume through your pants, at least with some versions. It was just sensitive enough that I could do this with jeans without having to stick my hand in my pocket. Honestly this was one of my favorite features, at least until the headphone remotes.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by branchless on Monday October 24, 2016 @09:47PM (#12784597)

I've used one. I find them a little annoying when it comes to selecting the actual song. Not a real problem, but neither was using a regular button.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by groby_b on Monday October 24, 2016 @09:41PM (#12784566)

That is exactly why Apple cleaned up and previous players didn't.

From a technical point, that is correct. From a usability point, it isn't - because it took a previously digital control (button pressed or not) and made it feel analog (just turn the wheel).

And it's much easier to precisely navigate over large distances with an analog(-feeling) control.

Of course it wasn't only the wheel that made a difference, but it was the mindset behind it: Take things that to most engineers are functionally equivalent and choose the one that makes it easier for the user. Or find something that makes it easier for the user.

That is a lesson that many of the products of our industry are still missing. What matters is not only functionality, but how easily and intuitively I as a user can access that functionality.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by wruza on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @04:48AM (#12786281)

Not only still missing, but largely extinct. Analog displays had two brightness/contrast dials (or knobs? can't find a word), and you just rotated it until done. Now I have to use crappy OSD menu with 4 plus/minus/up/down/enter/exit/auto/mode/etc dynamic buttons each time I need to adjust these. Some manufacturers' ui designers are even so dumb that put unobvious logic into it like when you first press minus, it adjusts contrast, and when plus, it is brightness. HOW could that happen to the industry?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by sulam on Monday October 24, 2016 @09:42PM (#12784571)

Because it was tactile, and allowed for you to spin at higher and lower speeds. Good luck pressing a button with any velocity at all, and I've never seen the "press and hold for higher speeds" thing done half as well. Not to mention that it completely lacks in terms of feedback.

The smartest thing they did with the click wheel after the wheel itself was the little clicking noise they played as you spun it. It made it feel mechanical, and gave you immediate feedback about how fast you were going.

[ Parent | on HN ]