New iPods not compatible with old accessories
If you’ve purchased a lot of third party accessories for your old iPods, then you might want to rethink purchasing a new iPod. That’s right, the new iPods have little backwards compatibility with old third party accessories and even some Apple accessories. So far this seems to be limited to video output cables but don’t be surprised if additional things don’t work.
As far as the new Nano and iPod Classic are concerned old video cables will not work with them, at all. The new iPods require the output cable to have one of those fancy Apple authentication chips in it and few third party cables do. Apple is more than happy to sell you the $50 cables from the Apple store.
If you have the universal iPod Dock then it will have an authentication chip and your world is unchanged. Also, the new iPods do not work in third party portable video players. So far this only applies to the iPod Classic and Nano but don’t be at all surprised if this is passed along to the iPod Touch.
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September 8th, 2007
If Apple is wondering why they only have 10% (if that) of the computer market, here is the fundamental.
If you want to your platform to be as ubiquitous as the PC has become, you make sure that third party accessories and devices will work with your technology as seamlessly as is practicable.
What you don’t do is continually put barriers in the way, particularly at exorbitant prices. Fifty bucks for a cable set that possibly cost some Chinese factory about fifty cents to make; what a blatant rip off!
Silly stuff, like ensuring that cables without authentication chips won’t work, just drive home an impression that you are ripping folks off. After all, it’s just a cable – it’s only your greed that has led to locking out any other brand of accessory.
Apple have complained long and hard about Microsoft’s proprietaryness in the past. They and others have whinged about how Microsoft tries to smother the market with its own brand of software. Personally, I think Apple are just as guilty, for example, by locking iPods to ITunes.
Ensuring that no other brand of accessory will work with the new iPod range without an Apple chip is just as culpable. Completely blocking backwards compatibility with old iPod accessories is just total and utter elitism, arrogance and greed.
December 22nd, 2007
I couldn’t agree more with a non e mous on this one.
Apple’s Motive here is clearly about making more money by deliberately forcing us to buy their overpriced accessories. When he launched against “big brother” in 1984, Steve Jobs intentions appeared more noble then. Alas, we now see the true intent come to light and that is: “Apple wants it all”. This is the old animal farm paradigm at play isn’t it? Could anyone suggest how to persuade apple to reverse such unethical practices before they become the target for hackers and pirates to render their systems “open source”.