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Five things the next iPod software version needs to have
by Harold Martin
Jan. 22, 2004
Here's five things Apple could put in the next update to the iPod's software that would make it a music power tool (in order of how much I want them):
1. Line-in recording
iPod hackers have shown that the iPod is capable of recording a few seconds of audio through it's headphone port. Being able to record through this port as actual line in would enable you to record pure audio whenever you could get a line. No, the current voice recorder doesn't count.
2. Multi-band on-the-go EQ
A 'Manual' item in the EQ menu would bring up a interface that had a few (say, five) vertical bars that could be chosen with the scroll wheel, selected, then adjusted with the scroll wheel.
3. On-The-Go playlist reordering
The On-The-Go playlist is great, but I'd like to be able to reorder the songs in it. You could choose a song by holding down the Select button (which is how songs are put in the On-The-Go playlist in the first place). Then once the song was selected the scroll would be used to move it up and down in the playlist, pressing the Select button again would set it.
4. Playlist resorting
When a playlist was selected, holding down certain buttons (the Forward and Backward buttons, for example) would bring up a menu the would allow sorting according to various criteria, like Artist, Song Name, My Rating, etc.
5. Playlist Folders
This would allow all related playlists (Soft Rock, Metal Rock, etc.) to be put in a single folder (Rock). Browsing through dozens of playlists would then be a breeze instead of a pain.
A great thing about all these changes is that they don't complicate or clutter the interface for those who don't want to use them.
Here's to iPod software version 3.0!
Harold Martin
is a freelance software developer and author. Visit him at
his blog.
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