A Sad Fact: The iPod’s Clickwheel Must Die

As tomorrow’sApple eventlooms , rumor ofnew iPodsgrow louder . And it ’s tough not to be at least a little excited . Ever since the original iPod was unveil in 2001 , Apple has wow us time and time again by present the next firearm of design evolution - an iPod that will be better than the last in every elbow room - elan , form and function . In a universe when technological improvements can be gruelling for the naked eye to take account , Apple has given us the most simple system of measurement of man ’s potentiality : A scoop euphony player . But Apple has plateaued with the traditional iPod . In fact , each subsequent firmware update has added features that get with more confusing menus and extra clicks ; meanwhile the iPhone and iPod ghost seem to be capable to take added features more easily in stride . And while every iPod has get a small bit grownup in storage and smaller in size , it has become a software - bulky twist , an heavy ghost of its former unostentatious brilliance . So whether or not we see the iPod touch nano tomorrow or not , it needs to happen presently . If in 2001 the iPod was a lightbulb , today it ’s a tangled bowed stringed instrument of blink away Christmas lights . If in 2001 the iPod was a blistering fudge sundae , today it ’s a Blizzard loaded with a mixture of Runtz and Pop Rocks . If in 2001 the iPod was an Apple product , today it ’s something we ’d require from Microsoft ’s business server department . Here is the original iPod with the recent microcode available ; underneath that is the latest iPod with its previous microcode . ( Keep in mind that the original iPod was even simpler at launch . )

To put this eyeball cacophony into perspective , the fresh fare system has over 60 places to click - almost triple that of the original iPod version ( and that ’s not include Nike+ integrating on nanos ) . Plus , the new system has five screens just for circumstance , all of which are unrelated to the main “ preferences ” menu . How did things become so complicated ? The iPod went from doing one affair really well to doing a bunch of things moderately well . But the UI was never redesigned to lodge the functionality . To be fairish , the original iPod could do less than it can now . Sure , it take on music , but pictures , movies and Nike practice session programs were barely a glimmer in Jonathan I ve ’s eye when the iPod ’s stem user interface was plan . If Apple provides in advance functionality to every user , they should suit these functions in their infrastructure by rights . Right now Apple ’s sending urban center traffic down a one - lane , unpaved route . The affair is , Apple can solve this UI mess . They have , in fact , in their iPhone / iPod hint interface . There ’s unarguably more functionality in an iPhone than an iPod classic , but Apple has made the content manageable by putting you almost anywhere you ’d like to go with one button insistency from the main screen . On the iPhone , you’re able to go over email or send a text message with one push press and make a call or listen to music with two button closet . On the iPod , it consider a minimum of three just to listen to euphony - I should say , any music where you ’d really wish to select who you ’re listening to as my music from yesterday in “ Now acting ” and music from who know when in “ Shuffle Songs ” does n’t really count to me . And of course , I ’m not even match on the difficulty of read prospicient list of text compare to spotting pretty icons . Is this advance ? Really ?

It should be note that Apple has taken some provisions to conciliate the tilt menu system . you’re able to search , TiVo - style , letter by missive , for song , artists and albums . And Repeat and Shuffle can now be accessed from the Now performing CRT screen , whereas they used to want go back to the principal page of context to spark off . Most significantly , users can — and have long been able-bodied to — take which option appear on their principal and music menus , extinguish choice for photos and video and expurgate the farseeing lists of text into the digestible interface we see on the original iPod . But since when should users have to annihilate functions to make UI usable ? We should n’t have to move around off picture to make the euphony solve well , particularly when Apple has proven themselves that the iPhone / iPod touch can balance streamlining and big duty functionality . Quite simply , the clickwheel has n’t scaled to handle the recollective , modern mean solar day menus in powerful iPods . And that ’s why , either tomorrow or sometime in the very near futurity , the clickwheel must die to make elbow room for mathematical product like the iPod reach nano . Illustrations by Logan Lape .

Last Of Us 7 Ellie Crash