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In article ,
(Overdog) wrote:

Matthew Weigel wrote in message
...
In article ,
Tharnack wrote:

Basic idea was to build a portable mp3 player that could be easily
upgraded. When you don't have more space or hard drives becomes cheaper,
just buy another one and plug it in. And to keep it relatively
affordable. I can't imagine paying for a device that will be outdated in
a few months. Just makes sense to me.

USB is not what you want though. Not at all. It can't provide power,
and it's an external connection.

Actually, the USB bus does provide power. The red wire is specced to
4.5 - 5V @ 500 mA. USB 2.0 might provide even more bus power-- I
haven't looked at the spec.

Yes, I know the USB bus provides power. But not much. I wasn't aware
that there were drives available built around that low power
requirement. USB2.0 provides the same amount of power. Providing more
would make it incompatible with the USB1.1 spec.

If you read his original post, he is basically looking for a device
that connects to his USB storage device, and play the music on it. So
I don't really understand your comment about "usb is an external
connection, therefore usb is bad."

Why would you question my reading of his original post? I responded to
it, and you responded to that response- something to which you allude
later in your post. Now, if you read what he most recently wrote, what
he is *actually* looking for is a storage-upgradeable portable mp3
player, and he thought USB would be a good way to do that.

USB is an wire connection from one device to another (well, from a host
to a device technically), and wire connections are simply not
appropriate for portable use, because they can't be maintained stably
while holding the device in one hand. A portable device should be
completely self-contained and in a single rigid body. (headphones are
an interesting exception because they are usually 'held' by the neck or
head)

Btw... in another thread you point out that most USB hard drives use
IDE internally.

That's this thread, and no, I point out that most hard drive mp3 players
are IDE internally.

"apple does not encourage people to replace ipod batteries."

I don't think that that accurately describes the current situation.
Even back then, I think it would be more accurate to say that Apple
didn't fully grasp the needs of the market, or the long-term
implications of some of their design decisions.

Even more inaccurate was your claim that when the battery dies, your
only recourse is to buy a new iPod.

--
Matthew Weigel
the email address is real
the contents of the post are not