As the froth and fervor surrounding the iPhone continues, it is no surprise that we see some people making some poor decisions. For instance, we have the lady who spends $800 for the front spot in line because she thought she was going to buy out the whole store, clearly ignorant of the one-per-customer rule at AT&T stores. That’s just incredibly embarrassing and foolish, which is different than what I’m going to talk about next.

Alex King is someone I respect and occasionally read, and he recently canceled his iPhone plan in line with TUAW’s instructions so that he could use his iPhone as the world’s coolest widescreen iPod and internet device–apparently the syncing and WiFi capability continue to function just fine with the phone components disabled.

My first reaction was how awesome that was. And more power to Alex for having the gumption to try it and for buying himself the coolest iPod ever. In the end, though, you’re paying $599 + $49 for first month of service = $650 minimum for an 8GB video iPod. The cool factor may be here now, even if the high price tag doesn’t deter you, but it may feel a bit more foolish when the heat and excitement of the iPhone cools and Apple brilliantly times the release of a 60GB widescreen multitouch iPod 3 months out from now, for a comparable $400-$600 price range because it lacks the complexity, price and hassle of the phone components. The price, the timeframe, the mere existence of said iPod are all pure fabrications to indulge my point (although “sources” do claim these things). It could happen. And it would make business sense.
Yes, there may be some phoneless iPhone owners grumbling in October.

I know I grow continually more irritable at the rumor sites, because I can’t help but read them because there may be some ounce of golden truth in the sands of fabrication. But the way AppleInsider handled the news of an orange iPod Shuffle is just irritating.

“Look! Here is a ‘new’ iPod Shuffle that looks and operates just like the old iPod Shuffle, except it is orange. And here are 21 high resolution photos for you to look at the same old thing…in orange.”

One or two photos, fine. Oh cool, look, it’s orange. But 21 supersized photos. One term. Over-zealous.

Okay, I admit. I came into that article already agitated. Why? Because of irritating headlines like this: New Apple Products coming TOMORROW? I am so tired of headlines like these. Meanwhile, the article suggested the possibility of 8-core Mac Pros and other nonsense. Yeah, it just ended up being that amazing orange Shuffle. Here’s another term. Fiction.

There’s no professional prognostication going on there. It’s pure story-telling. Yeah, an 8-core Mac will undoubtedly come out someday. Yeah, Apple will eventually revamp their displays. But there is no news or scoop to back up your speculation.

I just wish the rumor runners would practice my final term for this rant. Discretion.

This is pretty funny. Apple contracts various companies to manufacture their iPods, and apparently one company mistakenly allowed a situation where the iPods were being manufactured and released with the RavMonE.exe virus, effectively serving as Typhoid Mary devices for any Windows customers.

Apple is taking steps to correct the matter, and apparently it is an extremely small percentage (less than 1%) of affected iPods.

In the Information Week article “Apple Says Shipped iPods Carrying Computer Virus“, statements from both Apple and Microsoft are quoted. Allow me to translate and paraphrase.

Apple: “We’re sorry for shipping our iPod with a Windows virus. Gee, it’s too bad Windows is so bad with viruses.”

Microsoft: “Yeah, but you’re stupid for letting the virus get on your product, even if, erm, it doesn’t affect your own OS. Just watch it in the future, will ya?”

Griffin Technology will very soon be releasing an FM receiver for your iPod, called the Griffin iFM.

Playlist magazine posted a First Look of the Griffin iFM, and it looks promising.

Like most Griffin Technology devices, it is compact, performs well, and has a superior user interface compared to other products.

I never listen to the radio. Why would I care about one of these? Because when we go to assemblies or conventions, and the sound system transmits the speakers over a radio frequency, I can use this device to record the speaker with, effectively, a direct line in, with minimal background noise, because the iFM also support recording the radio frequency it is tuned into.

My dad actually tried this with an off-brand MP3 player that supported FM reception and recording, but unfortunately the reception was very poor. My hope is that the iFM will have better performance.