Dropping the other shoe?

I think the new iPod is going to be a bigger change from the iPod Touch than the iPhone 3G was from the original iPhone. Think sexier form factor (whatever that means), more storage, a camera, and GPS. Maybe some dramatic new software enhancements.

And it's going to be much cheaper.

The App store is exploding in a major way and Apple's new touch platform is taking off. Apple is going to want to hang as many devices and users off of that platform as fast as they can.

Since its announcement, the iPhone has eclipsed the iPod in terms of being the height of Apple coolness. The iPod had experienced years of dominance as the pocket device king, and then suddenly, the iPhone came and blew it out of the water. The iPod Touch was a first step in bringing the iPod up the iPhone's level, but it was an equalizer at best.

In some ways, I think the iPhone itself will be a transitional product, ultimately merging back into the iPod line. As good as the iPhone is for Apple, it has several serious limiting factors, not the least of which is the fact that it forces Apple to make partnerships with companies and an industry (the cell carriers) that seriously crimps Apple's style- and forces consumers to go through painful and expensive contortions to become customers.

None of these headaches exist with the iPod. And the only thing the iPhone can do that the iPod can't is connect to a cell network for voice and data services. Sure, that's a big thing right now, but I'm sure Apple is doing everything it can to bypass it. At some point in the future, it's likely that people will be able to have a voice or text conversation without needing to know what type of network is physically carrying the signal. EDGE? 3G? WiFi? WiMAX? It won't matter at all, as long as people can reliably connect with their contacts whenever they'd like. At some point, Apple will be able to- voila- yank the table cloth of cell phone network access out from our devices, and all of our important communications opportunities will remain intact.

So, back to my thesis. The iPhone 3G is selling like hotcakes, mostly due to its lower price. The App Store is going like gangbusters. Apple is expected to make new product announcements in the September timeframe. And we've got Apple's official comment about lower margins due to a "product transition" in the current quarter.

Sleeker MacBooks and/or MacBook Pros? Probably. A "tablet" Mac device that's like an iPhone-plus or a Mac-minus? Possibly, but doubtful.

To me, all signs point to the rebirth of the iPod line, reinvented as a series of devices that are, at the high end, like the iPhone 3G on steroids (absent the cell aspect). I think the Shuffle will stay at the low end, but there's a good chance that the Classic will go away and everything else will run a variation of the OS X-based iPhone OS.

I'm probably wrong, but it's fun, as always, to speculate.