Yet another idea was stolen a few months ago that I failed to record.
A while back, I wrote:
“[The only way an iPod has communicates with you] is with its display, and that is useless when your eyes are on something else. You already have the earphones in. Why shouldn’t the iPod use them to speak with you? [..]
“[The system could] pre-render text-to-speech of the tracks on the desktop before syncing to the device. The device would declare the names of the songs as you skip around: “Alicia Keys track three superwoman. (forward) four: No One. (forward) five: Like You’ll Never See Me Again. [This verbal approach would also bring] badly needed playlists to the Shuffle.”
Over a year later, Apple make quite a hoopla over just this type of features to its third generation iPod Shuffle. Check out its resemblance to the excerpt above:
“VoiceOver also tells you the names of your [songs and your] playlists, so you can easily switch between them to find the right mix for your mood. Without having to take your eyes off your run, your ride, or whatever you’re doing. [..]
How is this possible? First, iTunes reads your song information, then [generates] the announcements for the songs, artists, and playlists [on the computer]. Just sync your iPod shuffle with your computer and it really speaks to you.”
My original article provided details about other elements of the sonic design, including sound effects to convey how fast you were skipping between tracks, and how quickly you were rewinding. I don’t have a recent Shuffle. If you do, I’d appreciate if you could compare my original write-up with how Apple’s implementation really behaves.
Now that they are starting to speak to us, the next step is for our mobile electronics to listen to our verbal commands.
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