The security around developing these things pre launch was a bit hilarious, even compared to later mobile devices/tablets. A few of the members of one team I worked on were instructed to bring their passports to work in the months running up to any expected announcement, and when notified they would be dispatched to a basement in Cupertino with laptops with self contained build environments (a major headache) to produce the game, which would then appear on stage.
We've largely forgotten what a strangely big deal iPod launches used to be. I remember being mildly amused/amazed by the fact you could see them announced online and in use on the London Underground within hours.
Ooh, I have a lot of questions if you're willing to answer them :). I've been reverse engineering the original iPod software for the iPod Nanos for some time now, and I've seen the interface to 'eApps' (what they seem to call loadable applications) from the OS point of view [1], but I've always wondered about the app developer experience.
What was the SDK/toolchain like? Did you have any way to test the software in an emulator/simulator on a PC? What was debugging like? Was the iPod software/hardware you were developing against in any way special?
[1] - IIRC after the binary is decrypted, loaded into memory at a fixed address, and a symbol table (based on numeric IDs, not strings) is used to populate a trampoline with function pointers that the app requested. There seems to be no privilege separation between the app and the rest of the OS, as is the case for the iPod software in general.
I remember being on a plane as a kid and seeing someone playing sonic on their ipod video across the aisle and my mind being blown. I assumed it was some sort of jailbreak that loaded the games on. I had no idea they were an actually supported feature!
If someone like me wanted to see a playthrough. What a trip down memory lane. Still remember having Mr Bean's Holiday on my clickwheel iPod and watching it every time my parents took me somewhere to the point I remembered all the dialogues.
iPod games in all honor, but none of these games beat jailbreaking your 1st gen iPod nano, dual-booting whatever OS and playing the Half-Life 1 DOOM Wad on it. My only regret in life is exchanging it for the 6th gen when Apple did a recall for some reason.
Doubt it, there’s plenty of mp3 players out there including 2nd hand ipods. You don’t see them in use much. Ratio of for sale / in-use is probably a good indicator for a new product not to take off.
Also most watches can function as music players with wireless headphones nowadays. For a while I ran a low-notification apple watch purely for the time, nfc (payments and to enter the gym) and music functions.
I'm still salty that the Special Edition versions of Monkey Island that I purchased on iPad like 10 years ago can't be played anymore. They weren't updated and LucasArts pulled the games from the store, which is a damn shame because they were the PERFECT examples of paid-games on iPad that were a great experience on the iPad given the point-&-click nature translating quite well to a tap interface.
A used iPod (probably flashed with the open source Rockbox firmware) for the cool factor and reducing ewaste. This is an amazing guide: https://yuuiko.github.io/iPodGuide/iPodGuidev2-1.pdf that gives recommendations on what model and the mods you can do. I have a 5.5 gen with an SD card mod all for £50.
Edit: Actually, I forgot the eBay listing said it was a 5.5 gen but the serial number when I got it was just 5th gen, and I got a full refund! £20 in total then.
The security around developing these things pre launch was a bit hilarious, even compared to later mobile devices/tablets. A few of the members of one team I worked on were instructed to bring their passports to work in the months running up to any expected announcement, and when notified they would be dispatched to a basement in Cupertino with laptops with self contained build environments (a major headache) to produce the game, which would then appear on stage.
We've largely forgotten what a strangely big deal iPod launches used to be. I remember being mildly amused/amazed by the fact you could see them announced online and in use on the London Underground within hours.
Ooh, I have a lot of questions if you're willing to answer them :). I've been reverse engineering the original iPod software for the iPod Nanos for some time now, and I've seen the interface to 'eApps' (what they seem to call loadable applications) from the OS point of view [1], but I've always wondered about the app developer experience.
What was the SDK/toolchain like? Did you have any way to test the software in an emulator/simulator on a PC? What was debugging like? Was the iPod software/hardware you were developing against in any way special?
[1] - IIRC after the binary is decrypted, loaded into memory at a fixed address, and a symbol table (based on numeric IDs, not strings) is used to populate a trampoline with function pointers that the app requested. There seems to be no privilege separation between the app and the rest of the OS, as is the case for the iPod software in general.
I remember being on a plane as a kid and seeing someone playing sonic on their ipod video across the aisle and my mind being blown. I assumed it was some sort of jailbreak that loaded the games on. I had no idea they were an actually supported feature!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM7mdKy3opo
If someone like me wanted to see a playthrough. What a trip down memory lane. Still remember having Mr Bean's Holiday on my clickwheel iPod and watching it every time my parents took me somewhere to the point I remembered all the dialogues.
Good times.
iPod games in all honor, but none of these games beat jailbreaking your 1st gen iPod nano, dual-booting whatever OS and playing the Half-Life 1 DOOM Wad on it. My only regret in life is exchanging it for the 6th gen when Apple did a recall for some reason.
Wondering if Apple revived the iPod today, would it actually take off? Feels like everyone’s trying to cut back on phone time.
Doubt it, there’s plenty of mp3 players out there including 2nd hand ipods. You don’t see them in use much. Ratio of for sale / in-use is probably a good indicator for a new product not to take off.
Also most watches can function as music players with wireless headphones nowadays. For a while I ran a low-notification apple watch purely for the time, nfc (payments and to enter the gym) and music functions.
Most people don't consider listening to music on your phone to count as "Screen Time".
I'm still salty that the Special Edition versions of Monkey Island that I purchased on iPad like 10 years ago can't be played anymore. They weren't updated and LucasArts pulled the games from the store, which is a damn shame because they were the PERFECT examples of paid-games on iPad that were a great experience on the iPad given the point-&-click nature translating quite well to a tap interface.
Great to see this piece of history preserved. We need more innovative game controllers!
https://github.com/Olsro/ipodclickwheelgamespreservationproj...
https://archive.org/details/icgpp
posted 29-oct-2024 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41978486
Reminds of those games Archos (Gmini or AV?) devices had decades ago. Some of them were quite neat.
dear god I had forgotten Achos. I had a Gmini 120 and loved it. :)
It takes a few minutes to get used to the controls, but Ms. Pac-Man on an iPod Video is quite good.
Sorry but I have a tangential question. What is the state of portable music players these days? Are there any that are good and reasonably priced?
A used iPod (probably flashed with the open source Rockbox firmware) for the cool factor and reducing ewaste. This is an amazing guide: https://yuuiko.github.io/iPodGuide/iPodGuidev2-1.pdf that gives recommendations on what model and the mods you can do. I have a 5.5 gen with an SD card mod all for £50.
Edit: Actually, I forgot the eBay listing said it was a 5.5 gen but the serial number when I got it was just 5th gen, and I got a full refund! £20 in total then.
Mod an iPod with hundreds of gigabytes of SD storage, a bigger battery, and bluetooth
Normally, a phone with a streaming app or large SD card.
https://boards.4chan.org/g/thread/106533110
By the way, take a look at Snowsky Echo Mini
Replaced with usually expensive (as compared to non-Applle devices) "digital audio players".
FIIO's M21 looks pretty decent:
https://www.fiio.com/m21
Its an audiophile market now, you know .. gold buttons sound better, and all that.
Okay, now all we need is to port them to the tangara. :D