iPod <-> iPod Cable?

[MacWhispers]

Not For Connecting Two iPods

Just for the record... I never said this was for connecting two iPods. That has come up because of the way the headline here is stated, not from information on my site.

Of the bizillion possible uses for this sort of cable, the least likely, in fact, would appear to be any having to do with directly linking two iPods. The iPod is not an intelligent device, in the sense of it being able to run complex file management software, like iTunes... just not enough processor horsepower, nor is the OS robust enough for that use. So, even if one could physically link two iPods, the 'Pods would not be able to make any real use of that connection.

Since getting this information, I have all along considered the cable for hooking (1) iPod to (1) some as yet unknown "other device."

 

[zach]

I agree with Spock. Making a cable with a proprietary connector at each end would keep anyone without an iPod out of the music downloading kiosk. Otherwise other iTunes compatible mp3 players could plug into the firewire port.

Just my $0.02.

 

[benjaminpg]

If apple made music store kiosks, They would not use cables to hook up customers iPods. They would use some variation of an iPod dock. It is much slicker, and easier for the user; just drop it into the slot. A cable on the other hand gets yanked and stretched and is overall tackier.

I suspect that the cable is for some iPod accessory, who knows what. I personally would like a device that has a slot for CompactFlash memory cards in it that would connect and transfer my photos to the iPod. I don't know if the firmware is capable of this, though.

 

[bennetsaysargh]

Originally posted by benjaminpg
If apple made music store kiosks, They would not use cables to hook up customers iPods. They would use some variation of an iPod dock. It is much slicker, and easier for the user; just drop it into the slot. A cable on the other hand gets yanked and stretched and is overall tackier.

I suspect that the cable is for some iPod accessory, who knows what. I personally would like a device that has a slot for CompactFlash memory cards in it that would connect and transfer my photos to the iPod. I don't know if the firmware is capable of this, though.

the firmware is there. there was the ability to burn CD's on the first iPods, only thing is the OS needs to be enabled to do so.

 

[ozubahn]

Interesting. Since the earliest days of FireWire, it was supposed to be a magical interconnect that would finally make the home theater all digital (replace all those nasty RCA cables with one firewire cable per device). That hasn't happened, for one reason or another. Maybe Apple is trying to jumpstart the market by defining a slightly more useful hybrid connector. We know that the dock connector has Firewire data and power, USB 2, at least two audio channels, and a host of other unknown pins. All that makes for a pretty flexible interface that would let devices of several different types and levels of sophistication (high/low data rate, analog/digital) to connect as one system. Obviously, this is all complete speculation, but it would make sense. Adding a new brand identity couldn't hurt too much, as there are already three in circulation. I'm sure that the majority of consumers don't know that FireWire, IEEE 1394, and iLink are all the same, but some of them could possibly be convinced that the new Apple Media Interconnect, or whatever, is the wave of the future...

 

[bennetsaysargh]

thjat would be awsome! all th new gaming systems will have it. cable boxes. vcrs, dvd players. AWESOME!

 

[melchior]

Originally posted by ozubahn
Interesting. Since the earliest days of FireWire, it was supposed to be a magical interconnect that would finally make the home theater all digital (replace all those nasty RCA cables with one firewire cable per device). That hasn't happened, for one reason or another.

you pay a fair bit, but they do exist. sony definetely has a line that connects with Link and i'm sure there are others.

 

[Analog Kid]

Originally posted by melchior
it's not an ethernet cable...

Is an ethernet cable the only interface that needs to swap send and receive?

Serial cables need null modems... USB cables need cross overs if you're trying to connect two "hosts" rather than just a host and a peripheral which is why the ends are keyed...

It would sure suck if send was connected to send and receive was connected to receive...

Firewire is multihost so any device can act as a host and any can act as a peripheral. It gets negotiated while the bus is in reset after sensing a new device attached.

USB doesn't work that way, there are very definite hosts and peripherals. If audio is on that cable, it certainly isn't multihosted-- connecting two audio line outs could be disasterous.

Maybe I'm wrong-- maybe the physical layer chip can intelligently reroute the signals, but knowing one way or the other would help cut the number of possibilities in half. Is it like device to like device or is it host to peripheral.

Originally posted by ozubahn
Maybe Apple is trying to jumpstart the market by defining a slightly more useful hybrid connector. We know that the dock connector has Firewire data and power, USB 2, at least two audio channels, and a host of other unknown pins. All that makes for a pretty flexible interface that would let devices of several different types and levels of sophistication (high/low data rate, analog/digital) to connect as one system.

Devicebay was an attempt to provide USB and Firewire on a single port so little peripherals (like modems) could use the USB and hard drives could use Firewire.

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/Device_Bay.html

Never got anywhere... The PC camp decided to get into a pissing contest and crank out USB2 to compete with 1394.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hwdev/archive/DEVICEBAY/default.mspx

Dumb idea since the interface protocols are targeted at completely different devices and USB1.1 was perfectly good for those devices.

Could still have a device bay type interface with USB2 and Firewire 800/1600 but egos are likely to put out USB3 instead...

Regarding the cable you're suggesting: trouble is that all those wires cost money. Cables are surprisingly expensive, especially when they need shielding around highspeed data lines and to protect noise free audio lines. Apple can probably get away with the extra cost, but you won't find consumer electronic folks buying in if they only need one set of wires.

If this cable exists, it's either really short or really thick to handle the shielding.

 

[jholzner]

Originally posted by AppleMatt
Now THAT'S a good idea, it would allow people with a slow connection to get all their music quick, and...

...it would allow Windows iPod users access to the Apple music store ahead of time.

Apple are crafty

AppleMatt

But, when you reconnected your iPod to you computer, whould the songs you purchased at the Apple store be put into your iTunes Library? If that was the case it would be a great idea.

 

[ozubahn]

Originally posted by Analog Kid


Regarding the cable you're suggesting: trouble is that all those wires cost money. Cables are surprisingly expensive, especially when they need shielding around highspeed data lines and to protect noise free audio lines. Apple can probably get away with the extra cost, but you won't find consumer electronic folks buying in if they only need one set of wires.

If this cable exists, it's either really short or really thick to handle the shielding.

True. The iPod dock connector has 30 pins that I can detect. That would be quite a fat cable if all of them were carried through, especially if digital lines are arranged as twisted pair and analog lines are properly shielded. That said, you can never overestimate people's willingness to pay too much for audio cables. I agree, though, that the difficulties involved in making such a cable viable might be too much. We'll see. Either the product will appear along with a good explanation (and it better not be multiplayer solitaire), or it will just turn out to be nonsense. I think that Apple should be more aggressive in the home theater space, so I'm hoping for the former outcome.

 

[gopher]

A new cable should make it possible to store data on the iPod from a digital camera. Afterall, they are making a USB2 connector cable. Why not make a means of storing your digital camera photos on the iPod?

 

[bennetsaysargh]

Originally posted by gopher
A new cable should make it possible to store data on the iPod from a digital camera. Afterall, they are making a USB2 connector cable. Why not make a means of storing your digital camera photos on the iPod?

that's what i was thinking. it would be truely one of the best ides for the iPod.