So are they really doing it for the reasons Joz says, or are they doing this to spite Toshiba?

Or could they be planning to use the 60gb drives in another product? A real subnote, perhaps? Or just as the new drive in all of their notebooks?

Apple is not going to, not ever, make a subnote again. I think the subnote market is dead. What do you do on a subnote? Typing, e-mail, maybe a little web surfing. Sounds like a Palm with a foldable keyboard would do it for you smaller, cheaper, and with longer battery life.

Obviously, Apple will NOT pre-announce a 60GB iPod. Certainly not the day they announce new generation units. I'd suspect they WILL produce a 60GB iPod when Toshiba can supply 60GB drives in quantity.

Apple using 1.8" hard drives in laptops?
Well, I want a FASTER (7200rpm, thanks) and LARGER (100GB, please) hard drive in my PowerBook. The 1.8" won't cut it in the speed or capacity departments for people who need as much kick as possible from their portables.

"We have no plans in regard to announcing 60-gigabyte models,"

Hmmm.. read between the lines. key words here are "in regard to announcing one." He never said they werent going to make one. They just have no plans on making an announcement for one. Once the drives are readily available, THEN they will make the plans to announce one!

If Apple hadn't just introduced their lossless codec, this would make perfect sense--no one needs 60gig of mp3s at their fingertips. For 99% of consumers, 40gigs is fine. I mean, *I* could fill up 60 gigs, but I'm a geek. But they DID intro the lossless codec, and there WERE those reports of Apple buying up 60 gig hds, so why wouldn't they want to cram as much storage into the iPod as possible, so people can listen to their music library in all its glory? Could they really be planning another portable device? Cuz this 20+40 only move just makes sense if they're trying to differentiate the iPod from..well..something else. Something more expensive. Maybe a PowerPod, designed for media professionals to store their current project? This is all speculation, but as an avid Apple watcher, this new lineup strikes me as odd.

Hmmm... interesting theory. A pPod perhaps? If they add a colour screen, video out, capture via firewire, card reader, they might have a nice gadget for photographers and videographers.

A 60GB iPod with iPhoto capabilities seems a no brainer. Why buy several expensive CF cards or have to lug around your laptop when you can just downlod your digital images from your camera directly into your iPod? I look for an iPhoto for Windows to appear soon.

It looks like Toshiba screwed the pooch with their announcement that Apple was a customer for 60 GB hard drives. If Apple was anything near on the fence about whether to drop the price or raise the capacity, a chance to spite a supplier who screwed up would be enough to tilt the balance.

I want them to release a 60Gb (or larger) iPod so that I can rip EVERY song off from EVERY CD I own, I hate having to decide what to rip and what to leave, why can't I have them all on? I have about 2,700 CDs with an average of, what 10 tracks on each - I don't want apple ignoring me and my money just that they have nice market-segmentation. I thought they were supposed to be leaders, just wait iRiver or someone will make a nice press-release beating apple to it.

I call BS.....they will come. Dropped the 15GB, and kind of ironic that the 20 GB is at the low end now and just like the15GB no remote, case, etc. The 20GB will become the low end when the 60GB arrives.