Raise your hand if you have iTunes ...

Raise your hand if you have a FireWire port ...

Raise your hand if you have both ...

Raise your hand if you have $400 to spend on a cute Apple device ...

There is Apple's market. Pretty slim, eh? I don't see many sales in the future of iPod.

Slightly off topic but: "Plus, you can use it as a portable disk. No "content protection". Yay!"

That was one of the best features of the original ipod line. Not only did was it a device to play music with, I could also use it as removable storage.

Everyone always digs that out, but the first iPod was kind of lame. I don't think it's unfair for someone to have pointed that out at the time. Especially when it's a hardware product - sure, the line is going to get better but you're not going to get a free upgrade to it.

"Not unfair to point out" -- true.

But, the linked comment does miss the point. Specifically, it is doing a hardware spec comparison and not thinking about what it means when a large player is entering the market with a more-usable device.

And the linked comment (which is indeed an old chestnut) is typical of the spec-by-spec comparisons you still see in the tech press, and here on HN. It's a small reminder to look at the bigger picture.

That "someone" is Rob Malda, who ran Slashdot. In a way that comment embodies how the "old guard" on Slashdot was left behind in their predictions of what technology would become pertinent post-90s.

On the other hand if you look at iPod sales numbers he was right. Their sales really didn't pick up that much until they released some new models: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ipod_sales_per_quarter.sv...

Some great throwback comments in that /. thread. Love it.