Apple’s Clickwheel Conundrum...
A lot of people were hoping to see Apple introduce a new, widescreen ‘Video iPod’ at Tuesday’s ‘Showtime’ event. It was the one ‘no-show’ item in an otherwise solid lineup of new products and services. So why is building a true ‘Video iPod’ such a challenge for Apple when others like Archos and Creative have been making them for years?It is quite likely because of the clickwheel...
This ergonomically brilliant interface component poses a lot of design challenges when it comes to making a large, widescreen device. It needs space, and compared to other interface approaches, lots of space. On the iPod Nano - the smallest iPod with a clickwheel - it requires about 1.5” of space. That is a large piece of device ‘real estate’ to give up compared to devices with buttons along an edge and switches on the top or sides. Given Apple’s obsession with elegant design in svelte form factors, I just don’t see them making a ‘video’ iPod without giving over most of the top surface to the screen.
After all, its about the image - both the video image and the product image...
This leaves them with two choices. They can either build a virtual clickwheel into the display (the rumored ‘touch screen’ interface), or opt to use a different interface from the traditional iPod. On the surface (no pun intended) the virtual clickwheel seems to be an ideal approach. The device could be sleek and uncluttered, and the entire top could be given over to a video screen. In practice, however, it could pose some challenges. There is no tactile feedback like you get from touching a physical clickwheel, making it more difficult to use. A touch screen approach could leave finger marks on the screen -not a good thing for a product being optimized for viewing. It would likely also add to the cost of the device and possibly reduce battery life.
Most importantly, it would require flawless engineering. If it didn’t function with the same reliability and simplicity as a physical clickwheel, people would be really frustrated and the ‘ipod experience’ would be completely ruined.
And flawless execution with any first generation technology is extremely difficult to do...
I think a safer approach for Apple would be to adopt a different interface. One that is simple and elegant in its own right, and that can take advantage of a larger screen.
And it just so happens that Apple already has one...
Front Row.
All Mac computers built within the last few years include Front Row - a simplified media interface for access to music, video, and photos. And last Tuesday, Apple just announced a new product with an updated Front Row interface - iTV - that will provide a way for people to navigate and play their music, photos, and video through a living-room media center, or any other TV centric audio system.
It is controlled by a very simple remote with just 6 buttons, and has a very intuitive visual interface. The buttons on the remote have a compact layout that could work very well on a portable device. It is not even clear that the traditional iPod ‘clickwheel’ interface would be superior, given a larger screen size, to an interface modeled on Front Row. The two interfaces seem to co-exist fine today, so it wouldn’t be hard to imagine Apple making a move like this with the introduction of a new class of portable device.I would REALLY like to get a true ‘Video iPod’ soon. Even with the increased battery life and brighter screen, the small screen size and 4:3 aspect ration of the current 5G+ models still falls short for me. Whatever path Apple takes with it, I am confident that it will be the most elegant one available to them that they feel confident enough in from an engineering perspective.
What I am not confident in is ‘WHEN’ they will release it. While I’d love to see it come out this year, I’m guessing it would more likely be announced at MacWorld in January. Then again, it may never come out.
When it comes to Apple, your guess is as good as mine...
Friday, September 15, 2006
