“Home On iPod” in Leopard?


macosx10-5.jpgApple Insider reported today on the resurfacing of the patent for the “Home on iPod” feature that was to be a part of Panther a while back. While the granting of this patent doesn’t ensure anything as far as the feature being implemented is concerned, it does bring the question of “Will we ever see it?” back to the surface.

I think the answer is yes.
For those of you that might not be familiar with what “Home on iPod” can do, here is an excerpt from the Apple Insider article:

“Ever thought you could carry your home in the palm of your hands or in your pocket? You can. Panther’s Home on iPod feature lets you store your home directory – files, folders, apps – on your iPod (or any FireWire hard drive) and take it with you wherever you go,” Apple had written in a blurb on its Panther preview website that was eventually removed.

When you find yourself near a Panther-equipped Mac, just plug in the iPod, log in, and you’re ‘home,’ no matter where you happen to be,” the description continued. “And when you return to your home computer, you can synchronize any changes you’ve made to your files by using File Sync, which automatically updates offline changes to your home directory.”

When Panther was released in 2003, the largest iPod on the market was 40 Gigs…with some as low as 10 Gigs. Now, the minimum for a full sized iPod is 30 gigs with 80 Gig models available…and those numbers are only going to keep going up. When “Home on iPod” was first revealed, iPods didn’t even have full color displays yet.

Now, however, we can watch full length movies on our iPods, we can store thousands of photos, read comics, play games – you name it – we can do it on Apple’s portable power house. Why not carry around your entire computer on your iPod?

The time is right for a feature like this, and Leopard still has secrets yet to be revealed…

What do you think?


Kokou Adzo

Kokou Adzo is a stalwart in the tech journalism community, has been chronicling the ever-evolving world of Apple products and innovations for over a decade. As a Senior Author at Apple Gazette, Kokou combines a deep passion for technology with an innate ability to translate complex tech jargon into relatable insights for everyday users.

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