iPod: It's the little details 🔗

October 31, 2004

Last Tuesday, Apple announced the new iPod Photo, which adds a color screen and the ability to view photos on the iPod directly or on a connected television.

As with the very first iPod and the iPod Mini, I ordered the iPod Photo on the day it was announced. (Alright, so I have a soft spot for iPods.) And I'm now the proud owner.

It meets my expectations, but I just discovered a "new to me" feature that is one of those little elegant touches that makes the iPod so popular. When I unplugg the headphones, the iPod Photo automatically pauses.

This may very well have been a new feature in the click wheel iPods, the last major update to the iPod line, but it isn't present on the iPod Mini or any model prior to that. Apple has done some creative engineering to make the headphone jack double as the video out jack; the iPod Photo includes a cable that connects to the composite input of a television, and this cable plugs right into the headphone jack.

John Gruber, a friend and colleague from college, provides his analysis of the new iPods and iPod Mania in his recent blog entry.