Martin Gordon's Blog

In a stealth update this morning, Apple introduced new models of the iPhone and iPod touch with increased storage. Both lines received new models priced at $499, the new iPhone having 16GB of storage (double the previously available 8GB) and the new iPod touch having 32GB of storage (double the previously available max of 16GB). None of the other specifications have changed.

Introducing new models with increased storage space seems like a logical move on Apple's part. The new models have practically no R&D costs and might bump up demand for the devices while Apple prepares the 2nd generation iPhone, which many speculate will be released this summer. Of course, Apple hopes that the 8GB iPhone will go the way of the 4GB iPhone. That is, that almost everyone will be willing to spend the extra $100 to double the capacity of their phones.

Something interesting to note is that the iPod touch now has the same storage capacity as the low-end 5G iPods that were discontinued last September (albeit at double the price) and that the price points and storage amounts echo that of the 3rd generation iPods, which came in at 10/15/30 GB for $299-$399. Given another doubling of storage and the iPod touch will be closing in on the iPod classic's storage capacity. Meanwhile, Apple has kept around the $299 8GB iPod touch, most likely in an effort to hit all types of iPod buyers and signaling that the touch is definitely set to become the mainstream iPod sooner or later.

Technorati Tags: Apple, iPod, iPhone, iPod touch

For the third year in a row, I've had a hard drive give me trouble during the month of October. In 2003, my iBook's hard drive failed and I got my new PowerBook. Recovering the data was tough, but in the end I got it all.

Last year, my PowerBook's hard drive was giving me an error similar to the one my iBook gave me. I purchased an external HD last year to use as a backup. I was able to format the internal drive and map out bad sectors, but till this day, I question the integrity of the data on this drive.

Just a couple of days ago, I had trouble browsing the contents of the drive; drectories would take a few seconds to show up. Then it stopped mounting after a restart. Disk Utility, if it didn't crash when searching for drives, wouldn't show volume names but instead would show the Unix device name, "disk2s9". TechTool, when it saw the drive, would report that its SMART status was okay. I was able to plug the drive into a PC and run Western Digital's diagnostics. The PC and diagnostics saw the drive and both basic and extended tests came back okay.

So up until a couple of hours (when I ran the diagnostic), I was scared that my backup drive was dead. Now, I'm pretty sure it's the enclosure (*phew*), but I'll have to try a new enclosure to be sure.

Yes, everyone says, "backup your data," but the new phrase should be "backup your backups." With recordable media having a shelf life of a couple of years and hard drives only having an operating life of around a year (or so has been my experience), where there hell are we supposed to keep data that we intend to keep for a long time?

Technorati Tags: hard drives, backup, storage, troubleshooting, western digital, external enclosure