A lot of the coverage about the run-up to the release of the fourth-generation iPods centered on speculation that a 60GB model was in the pipeline. The proof? Stories from June about Toshiba’s new 60GB 1.8-inch hard drive.
And yet when you ask Apple about a 60GB iPod, they tell you it’s not coming.
So what’s the story? Well, it’s still possible that Apple’s being coy. They do that a lot. Because companies that tend to blab about their forthcoming products tend not to have the element of surprise in their favor. And Apple likes to surprise.
So if the stories are true and Apple is indeed snapping up 60GB Toshiba drives — and there’s no guarantee that what was reported in June is still the case — what might those drives be used for?
I’ve got a couple (obvious, I know) guesses. First is that the new G5 iMac, due in September, is so amazingly small and cool-looking that it requires a teensy weensy 1.8-inch hard drive. Second is that there’s a new Apple gadget on the horizon that we don’t know anything about, whether it’s a portable video player or a device that you attach to your TV or, heck, a 60GB Apple refrigerator.
I’ll say this: if Apple really is buying all those 60GB Toshiba drives, they’ve got to be going somewhere . Don’t they?