Hoaxes!
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While there has always been a tradition of "vaporware" in the tech industry, products or demos that never materialize into a commercially available product... there are also "hoaxes". Often committed by persons unknown, it can only be assumed that they are conducted mostly to garner traffic and attention, or in some cases, for the shear hilarity of watching huge numbers of people get excited about something that exists no where else, but in the mind of the person perpetrating the hoax.
Non-Hoaxes
It's worth saying that there are exceptions to the idea of seeing otherwise unbelievable things happening on an iPod and knowing to call "hoax". Apple's iPod firmware is certainly able to be "hacked" and as such, people have done an assortment of amazing "enhancements" to it, including installing "Linux" and running "Doom" (as well as versions of Doom altered to look like the game "Half-Life").
- iPod Linux - An authentic video of an iPod Nano running Linux using a Linux-based file browser called Podzilla to launch a Linux version of Doom and play a video. For more information on iPod Linux, visit iPodLinux.org. According to the website, iPodLinux is "safe" to install on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation iPods, and official support other iPods like the 4th generation, Photo/Color, Nano, and Video are still being worked on. Here is an excellent example of a somewhat impressive non-hoax using an iPod to run Linux. and Rockbox .
Video iPod/iPhone Hoaxes
A new hoax trend began with the release of the iPod with video, and involved the use of pre-recorded video to make people believe that something is happening on an iPod (being video taped), that is not actually happening in reality. It's worth mentioning here in its own section, because, due to the amount of attention that will be shown at the launch of the iPhone, there will be an inordinate amount of people attempting to generate fake news stories or buzz worthy "hoaxes" as well. If that becomes the case, know that they can all be pointed at this page for some measure of enlightenment!
Video iPod Party Tricks (click to view / Google Video) - Attention seeker and videographer Dick Buist demonstrates how the iPod video can be used to be the "life of the party". The principles he shows here are the basic building blocks of how people are able to create convincing illusions about what the iPod video can actually do. "I live in my own little world, but its ok, they know me here." - Bumper Sticker on Buist's car.
My iPod runs MacOS X! (click to view / YouTube) - This hoax, posted to YouTube in July of 2006 is easily dismissed for the simple fact that the current generation of iPod's do not have a touchscreen built into them. The person in the video uses a stylus to manipulate the miniaturized version of "OSX" that is supposedly running on his iPod. One can only imagine the amount of times this was practiced, before the movements of the user seemed to match perfectly the events happening in the video.
My iPod runs MacOS X, part 2 (click to view / YouTube) - Early 2007 saw the return of the original MacOS/iPod hoax, once again posted to YouTube. But this time, the person did not attempt to convince people that the iPod had mysteriously acquired a touchscreen. Instead, he limited himself to simply scrolling back and forth along Apple's trademark "dock", implying that "switching" to a different application would be as simple as clicking the "select" button, although this would not ultimately be attempted.
Coverflow Coming in New Firmware Update! (click to view / YouTube) - This hoax, posted to YouTube on February 28th 2007, quickly attracted a lot of attention by being posted by the crew of Gizmodo. While opinions about the possibility of having Apple's Coverflow functionality added to the existing iPod line brought mixed reactions, key flaws in the video were almost completely ignored. An admitted hoax video of a "Google Earth" version of the trick is shown here.
Non-Video Related iPod/iPhone Hoaxes
iPhone Hidden in My Nano! (click to view / YouTube) - In December 2006, a German YouTube user posted a video describing how to activate the "hidden cellphone" feature in the latest generation of the iPod Nano. The video begins by sounding like a bad episode of McGyver, before seguing into an implausible "hack" of the iPod Nano being used. With no cellular network or SIM card in sight, most marginally educated viewers could easily see right through the hoax. As with another popular hoax, the person created a follow-up video insisting that the video was completely "true".
Tech Industry Hoaxes
Coming Soon!