OT: Why An iPod?

Cool factor, mostly. Accessories are more readily available too.

Think of it this way, would it be better to make two or three kids happy, or one happy and cool? BTW, I have a Sandisk Sanza. It does everything I want it to and far more than I need.

The iPod has an "Apple" logo on it.

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Sandisk makes (has made for them?) good stuff.

The advantage to the ipod is the lack of a replaceable battery. Remember, Steve knows better than you. If Steve says you don't need it, you don't need it. ;-)

PT Barnum must salivate from hell looking at Apple. I liked the company when they were still making stuff in the states, but now Apple just sells overpriced made in China crap.

I have a cheap RCA Lyra mp3 player. My peeve about this player: After the battery dies in the middle of a large audio book file and the battery is replaced I then have to hold the fast forward button down for MINUTES! to get back to the original spot. I dunno if the Ipod has this problem.

I'll be interested if anybody knows a mp3 player where I can quickly pick any time point to start playing.

Mine would be. YMMV.

Mostly access to a huge music library where ye can buy tracks (and other media) and enjoy on the player without worrying what happens if the player is trashed, stolen or left on the bus. The iTunes software also makes it easy to rip music from your own CD's and also looks after creation of playlists, album art and automatic sequenced selections called 'Genius.

Then there is the iPhone and iPod touch. Wireless computers. I have an iPod Touch, wonderful bit of kit!

The system, for it is such that you are buying into, is really an investment for a dedicated music fan - not a fashion object, and is admittedly complete overkill for someone who in the eighties had a collection of favorate tapes for the walkman, made from 'borrowed' LP's.

In that case, particularly for younger users, there are many many cheaper alternatives. Some even with better sound quality and more friendly towards stuffing with media from less than legit sources. iPods were really made with a focus towards users that pay towards building their music collections, and also have a well-maintained and backed-up computer to run iTunes.

Also don't discount mobile phones, and for the new year (if not in a country that already has it) don't discount the idea of Spotify mobile now supported on Symbian, Android and iPhone platforms if you can stump a monthly subscription for that (and Spotify may be included in some mobile operator service plans).

I predict Spotify for the US next year will be huge. And Apple iTunes will take a small but significant hit because of it.

--
Adrian C

Kids, waaaaant, want,want,want, waaaaant, want,want,want, waaaaant, want,want,want, waaaaant, want,want,want. Having said that, I have a Philips mp3 player that I'm not happy with. I listen to podcasts, if you push a wrong button, you cannot get back to where you left off. You need to listen through the same 30 minutes to get to that point. Both of my kids have an Ipod nano, my daughters second one, the first one fell in the toilet. Well, at least she was cleaning the bathroom! I'll probably be the next to own one. Mike

On a sunny day (Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:54:45 -0600) it happened "amdx" wrote in :

To counter that, I have a Creative Muvo 1GB. It runs on an AAA battery, also on NiMH rechargeable, about 7 hours. This is how it looks: ftp://panteltje.com/pub/muvo_1_img_1638.jpg Battery compartment: ftp://panteltje.com/pub/muvo_2_img_1639.jpg Load files via USB: ftp://panteltje.com/pub/muvo_3_img_1640.jpg It also is a great voice recorder. You can FFWD and RWD in a 10 hour piece of material within a minute. It has an LCD display with blue LED backlight, you can switch of the backlight so it runs longer. Used a lot, looks nice, equaliser, etc.. I would not touch Apple for anything. The latest thing I heard from Apple is that they refuse to repair players that have nicotine in them, it would harm the repair people. When I had the TV repair shop I had TVs come in with a thick layer of nicotine residue on the screen, always cleaned it with some alcohol, gave a 50% brighter picture, I am still alive. Maybe Jobs is afraid his new liver get rejected if there is nicotine in the building? What a lot of crap is Apple, good thing that it becomes less exclusive the more are sold.

Both our lads have the sandisk players and seem happy with them, even after one got dropped into a drink and I had to disassemble it to clean it out. They have both been brought up to see through the bs of the fashion accessory market and don't seem to have much interest in consumer stuff, which I consider a Good Thing :-). They are both at an age now where they decide what to buy from their own money, but they still have the sandisk players.

Perhaps it's better to help many, rather than one ?...

Regards,

Chris

Style. Coolness factor. [These are probably the most important factors for the younger generation.]

The user interface is probably better designed and more convenient to use than you'll find on some generic MP3 players. [Others are likely just about as good - which one is better is probably more a matter of personal taste by the individual user.]

If you want to buy your music track-by-track from an online source, the iPod lets you do so from Apple's iTunes store/system. iTunes downloads are (last I heard) available only in certain DRM-locked formats, not in MP3 or Ogg Vorbis, and so iTunes isn't available for many generic MP3 players. [If you're buying CDs and ripping them yourself, the players are probably about equal.]

That depends on the kid, I think. If they're in it for the in-group coolness, they might be... if it doesn't have The Brand, it's not the real thing.

--
Dave Platt                                    AE6EO
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There are a lot of free podcasts available for subscription on iTunes as well, though you can almost? always go to the source and download the MP3 files for generic players.

From what I can tell, iPod/iTunes assumes continuous access to one (and only one) computer. If it's a shared computer, there needs to be a USB jack to charge the thing. If you have more than one computer, then you'll have trouble adding new material without deleting old (using iTunes).

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

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"it\'s the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
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Hey Jan and all, I listen to podcasts on my mp3 player, I dislike having wired headphones. I have the same USB connection as Jan's Muvo. Would it be possible connect a bluetooth adapter such as this;

So I could listen on a bluetooth earpiece. I would be happy with one ear bluetooth receiver, but I know Jaybird makes binaural units.. I suspect there would need to be some modification to make this work. Thanks for your input, Mike

My guess is that iPod is a genericized trademark, like Kleenex or Xerox. They're all iPods to the people making the requests.

Re the replaceable battery? I don't think Apple does that to ensure future sales. You can buy replacement batteries all over the place, and everybody knows someone who can take your iPod apart and change it. I think they do it to keep the size down and make them more durable. People buy new iPods for the new features and the fancy colors. The new nano has a video recorder in it. Scary.

I have used some of the less expensive players and they are all kind of kludgy with comparison to the iPod. Here again I don't think Apple is better at designing a mp3 player, they probably just have patents on non-retarded UI technology so everybody else has to make theirs suck just a little more.

My girlfriend has a Sansa Rhapsody player and despite the fact that it, too, has a non-replaceable battery that only lasts an hour now, and despite the fact that she has to pay every month for the songs she downloaded years ago and still listens to, and despite the fact that it quits working if she doesn't connect it to the internet every week to re-authorize its content, she loves it. She absolutely hates iPods and wouldn't be caught dead with one. There is no accounting for taste.

I'm sure if someone got a free mp3 player for Christmas this year they'd be happy.

On a sunny day (Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:51:57 -0600) it happened "amdx" wrote in :

No, that thing goes on a PC, needs software to drive it, from the sound card for example, or skype, I have a similar one.

I can do that, as I have a Nokia 3110 classic GSM, and a bluetooth ear piece. I can play mp3s on the Nokia, and listen to it on the bluetooth ear piece with one ear. It also allows me to make hands free calls (has a mike in it). ftp://panteltje.com/pub/nokia_plus_bluetooth_img_1643.jpg That Nokia also plays movies, and has internet, email, the works, installed Opera mobile web browser on it recently. Still cheaper then an Ipod I think.

Yes, they want it because it's trendy. Having a different brand makes you uncool. And iTunes is the technical advantage over other players. It makes buying music and other content easy for the average consumer.

Dave.

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I'm afraid not, although I'm guessing it's no worse than most any other platform. Amazon has numerous books on "iPhone development" these days...

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...

The worse thing is the development tools only run on a Mac. The sucking doesn't stop there. If you develop an application and you want to sell it, you have to pay Apple to joint the developers "club", then give them 30% off the sales price. No wonder the free software on the iphone is really crappy. You have to pay apple just to give stuff away.

I can see Android taking off. I'm a Blackberry user, but if Google could make Android as secure as a blackberry AND provide a network similar to RIM, I'd consider it competition.

Thanks to the iphone, I now have my choice of 8 different programs that will make farting sounds on my Blackberry. Before Apple introduced that application, my blackberry was flatulent free.

Yep, I agree.

I've stuck witih Sprint for years now based on the price of unlimited data services on a family plan being cheaper than the other guys... and having significantly fewer restrictions on what's allowed (that means you, Verizon). Hence my last couple of phones have been Windows Mobile, but I seriously looked at the HTC Hero before settling on an HTC Touch Pro 2... the 800x480 screen is great for web browsing, and the touch interface is, well, OK if not nearly as smooth as an iPhone.

I also seriously looked at a Nokia N900, having used Maemo a lot before on an N800 Internet Tablet. Nokia had too much "catching up" to do on features though for me to bite. I kinda figure that Android will win out over Maemo based on Google having much better marketing that Nokia.

Didn't that iFart guy make tens of thousands of dollars? Pretty good for a program that probably took him no more than a few hours to code up!

Apparently Windows Mobile has been taken over as well:

"Fart Machine is a hilarious application that let your Windows Mobile pocket PC creates fart sounds in different types. This is one of those app that fall in to you like it or you hate it category and if you are in the like em category go get it here and start annoying every one. Go use this at a party!"

Sheesh.

--Joel