[inertianinja]

  As far as I know Apple only provides 160 gigs max, all the rest is after market iMods.
 
 
I don't think it's even a conspiracy, phone manufacturers very definitely want to steer customers towards streaming service vendors.

 
It's a shame, because I'm sure the two are not mutually exclusive. I would still stream Rdio / Youtube / Netflix if I had 80GB on my phone.

 

[Achmedisdead]

   
the bigger question, to me, is why smartphones are still being released with 16GB (9GB or less usable), with 32 being a premium. I'm not sure if you can even buy a 64GB phone anymore (HTC One was the last), and Samsung is the only phone in the US with MicroSD. 
 
 

 
Incorrect. LG has 32GB phones with microsd slots.

 

[hsubox]

I really don't understand what all these manufacturers are doing with the storage issue. iPods have had 256GB capacity for many years now. Why is that still the maximum available in any player? Moore's Law would imply that we should be seeing internal-storage terabyte players for relatively cheap prices, with the real cost going into things like battery life, DACs, internal amps, displays and GUIs.

As far as I know Apple only provides 160 gigs max, all the rest is after market iMods.


I don't think it's even a conspiracy, phone manufacturers very definitely want to steer customers towards streaming service vendors.

The iPod classics with the big storage space are magnetic/platter drives. The newer, smaller capacities are solid state. Lots of advantages to the latter, with the drawback of maximum storage space.

 

[miceblue]

Yeah, iPods have spinning hard drives. Hard drive = cheap.

Modern day mobile electronics use solid state memory. Solid state = expensive....

 

[inertianinja]

Yeah, iPods have spinning hard drives. Hard drive = cheap.

Modern day mobile electronics use solid state memory. Solid state = expensive....

 
eh, not really
 
Amazon shows 120GB 1.8'' HDD at $75
128GB SD card at $75
128GB MicroSD card at $120
 
And that's at consumer, non-bulk pricing....and the 128GB MicroSD literally just came out.

 

[hsubox]

   
eh, not really
 
Amazon shows 120GB 1.8'' HDD at $75
128GB SD card at $75
128GB MicroSD card at $120
 
And that's at consumer, non-bulk pricing....and the 128GB MicroSD literally just came out.

 The solid drives inside tablets and media players are way better (faster) than an SD card.... a 256GB ssd is still hundreds of dollars retail.
 
That said, what's in media players is the nand memory without the casing. It's still expensive compared to platter drives.

 

[inertianinja]

 
 The solid drives inside tablets and media players are way better (faster) than an SD card.... a 256GB ssd is still hundreds of dollars retail.
 
That said, what's in media players is the nand memory without the casing. It's still expensive compared to platter drives.

 
i don't understand why people are splitting hairs over this. We're talking about devices that cost $700 and up with laser-chamfered edges, in an audiophile forum, in a thread where many people have purchased the Pono (not to mention those who have paid more for ones that have etched band logos).
 
modern smartphones are not limited to 16GB due to cost issues.

 

[Saraguie]

 
I wonder if it can accept 128 gb sd cards too.

 
Betting dollars to donuts it can.

 

[KT66]

So how would this compare to the HM-901?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Kokomo O]

OK, so my bad on the specifics--clearly I had in my head 256GB, not 160GB, as it really is, and for some reason I thought that the newer iPods used flash to store, not discs. Apparently all the iPod classics, even the smaller ones than the 160GB models, have always used discs, which I find really bizarre. But the point remains--they've had the capability to use flash for quite some time, right? I mean, they use flash storage in MacBook Airs, and have for a while now, with at least 256GB capacity. So why not put it into these players that are coming out? The price points on at least some of them seem to be high enough to accommodate it, and to me, at least, it would make a huge difference. I really don't want to have to carry around and swap in and out a bunch of cards.

 

[hsubox]

The drives are more expensive, and that cuts into profit margin. Sadly, it is that simple.

 

[Replicant187]

and not many ppl wants over 64GB.

 

[Saraguie]

Apple's cost of a iPod Classic must be $50 or less. All the tech to make it has been made back. Apple is NOT a high tech AUDIO company. They may change but I bet there are no plans in place to make 'audiophile' type equipment. If they did, then iTunes et al would have to be redone.

 

[Kokomo O]

Agreed, but there's nothing "high-tech audio" about large-scale flash storage. That's just basic. Still, if I were the CEO, I'd be looking at this market and thinking I'd like to overwhelm it as only they could do. They're already selling lots of headphones in their stores.

 

[fiascogarcia]

  Agreed, but there's nothing "high-tech audio" about large-scale flash storage. That's just basic. Still, if I were the CEO, I'd be looking at this market and thinking I'd like to overwhelm it as only they could do. They're already selling lots of headphones in their stores.

Yep, they could even keep the UI they have because it's still better than the competition (even as dated as it is), High definition formats, and 512g internal storage.  Not to make it sound like too simple of a thing for them to do.