Courtesy of OSWeekly.com

(Column) - If iPods could talk, I’m sure they’d be saying that they feel pretty neglected right now. They’ve had their day in the spotlight, and now the iPhone has stolen some of their popularity. Steve Jobs may have called the iPhone the best iPod that Apple’s ever made, but even though it has the features of an iPod, it’s a very different experience, and therefore shouldn’t really be considered as a true iPod.

If you’ve visited an Apple Store recently, then you probably noticed that there’s usually a crowd of people around the table containing the iPhones, but the support expressed over at the iPod table is slim to none. All of this can make us ask ourselves, what’s next for the iPod? Will it ever grow up and take away some of the spotlight from the iPhone? You can count on it.

Jobs was recently quoted as saying that their OS X group has been working on iPods, and since that comment was preciously dwarfed by all of the hoopla surrounding the iPhone, it’s now time to think about what that really means. The truth is that the regular iPod is starting to feel a little stale to consumers, and even though it’s still selling, there’s definitely a "been there, done that" mentality that’s associated with Apple’s digital music player. Apple has worked hard to implement versions of OS X into the majority of their products, so it only makes sense that the iPod is next in line for an OS X makeover.

Apple iPhone Review

A lot of people have said that the only thing they don’t like about the iPhone is that it’s a phone. That may sound odd, but whether they don’t want to switch to AT&T or just don’t want to upgrade their phones and subscribe to a data plan, the comment is significant because it shows that people like what the iPhone interface and software has to offer, but they just don’t want to use it like a phone, and would rather use it like a regular iPod.

You might think that this would be a simple fix for Apple. All they would have to do is just remove the phone features, beef up the storage, package it like an iPod, and call it a day. With that said, there are a lot of features contained on the iPhone that truly make it feel like it offers a mobile OS X experience, and a lot of these features don’t make sense on the iPod.

For example, does it sound reasonable to offer a camera, e-mail client, Web browser, Google Maps support, and widgets on an iPod? Sure, they could always do it, but just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should. I definitely feel like some sort of WiFi connectivity should be a part of the next-generation of the iPod, but if I want some more familiar OS X functionality, then I’m going to use my iPhone or my laptop.

Yes, OS X on the iPod should definitely be a different implementation from OS X on the iPhone. I like the idea of putting some form of OS X on the iPod, but it has to be done in the right way. No matter what happens, the iPod should stick true to its roots as a simple music player. I’m a little concerned that the inclusion of OS X on the iPod could overcomplicate things and make the device feel more like a computer. Of course, we’ll just have to see what tricks Apple has up its sleeve before we pass judgement.

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