Am I The Only Person Who Doesn't Like The iPod?

[Abstract]

Am I the only person who would never consider buying the iPod for as long as it retains similar characteristics to current models? By that, I mean size, battery life, features, etc.

I would never buy any player where I couldn't get over 8 hours of battery life. And most people don't even get 8 hours because like many people, they skip tracks once in a while and use the menu's, meaning they only get 6 hours of battery life.

And try justifying such a purchase if you go on camping or hiking trips and the like. Poor battery life strikes again. Its also not a smart purchase for anybody who does any physical activity (jogging with an HDD player!!?), and yet people buy it anyway because its cool to have one. Its like they aim their products at lazy people who will never be away from home for over 6-8 hours.
A combination of a lack of features that many people seem to demand (ie: anything that would integrate it with APExpress better) and poor battery life makes me wonder if the iPod is overrated and hyped up a bit too much.

On the other hand, its the best looking player and is quite easy to use, but does anyone else think that this is not enough?

[jenniff]

I would never buy any player where I couldn't get over 8 hours of battery life. And most people don't even get 8 hours because like many people, they skip tracks once in a while and use the menu's, meaning they only get 6 hours of battery life.
What are you doing that you need longer than that? Every road trip I take, I bring my cigarette lighter adapter, my nice Belkin one that give me a pure line out from the dock connecter... no need to even worry about battery life.

And try justifying such a purchase if you go on camping or hiking trips and the like. Its not a smart purchase for anybody who does any physical activity (jogging with an HDD player!!?), and yet people buy it anyway because its cool to have one.
Why isn't it a smart purchase? I go jogging, biking, walking with my iPod, and I don't have any problems. I dun't understand!! Why am I stupid? It works fine!

My main reason for liking the iPod is that I have my whole collection of 400+ CDs on it, in a device that comfortably fits in the palm of my hand. Competing players with similar size capacity just don't cut it for me.

Another reason is that I use it as a Firewire HD, helpful for when I need to transfer large files between my office and my brother's — cable here has a 15k upload cap, way too much waiting! Easier to put it on the iPod, and drive over to his house.

Too, the plethora of iTMS songs that I have downloaded work only on the iPod. I recognize that I could ghetto-rig it, burning them to a CD and reripping them as MP3, but I really don't feel like putting that time. That's a lot of CDs I would have to rerip, and I would have to keep up with my evergrowing collection.. an annoyance. That's not the main reason why I'd buy an iPod, but it is a definite plus.

and yet people buy it anyway because its cool to have one.
Yea, I do admit, that is one reason why I have it. It's really freakin awesome.

[abhishekit]

Am I the only person who would never consider buying the iPod for as long as it retains similar characteristics to current models? By that, I mean size, battery life, features, etc.

You may not be the only one, but still pretty rare species..

[Abstract]

What are you doing that you need longer than that? Every road trip I take, I bring my cigarette lighter adapter, my nice Belkin one that give me a pure line out from the dock connecter... no need to even worry about battery life.

Why isn't it a smart purchase? I go jogging, biking, walking with my iPod, and I don't have any problems. I dun't understand!! Why am I stupid? It works fine!


Have you ever been on a camping trip where you're not always by your car? I'm not always near a car. I was on a train from Sydney to Melbourne the other day....an 11 hour ride. It wouldn't even have been good for THAT situation, and its not like its a weird situation that nobody would ever find themselves in. Heck, I've X-mas shopped for longer than 6 hours. It wouldn't even last me through the shopping mall.

Also, the HDD's have been known to muck up while jogging and such. Apple used to say it was "perfect for jogging", but I'm not sure if they're allowed to anymore. I know that some of you will come here to say that you jog with one, but that doesn't mean that people haven't had their HDD's replaced because their's get damaged. I guess that's why solid state flash memory mp3 players are still being made, but what I'm saying about the iPod is that its not perfect for everyone, and it seems that tech writers don't take this into account.

Also the iPods have a 7 minute anti-skip buffer, but its not continuously refreshing every 10 seconds or so like on a portable CD player. Once the 7 minutes is over.....its over.

[Whigga Spitta]

There are OTHER mp3 players available, so if the iPod isn't the perfect fit, maybe something else is. For me (and others who have bought iPods not just because they are the "thing to have"), the iPod is a godsend, and it's not that more battery life wouldn't be appreciated, but in the grand scheme of things, I've never run out of battery in a situation where it could have been prevented. Plus, having 40GB of music in the palm of my hand is pretty cool, regardless if you like it or not.

[jenniff]

Have you ever been on a camping trip where you're not always by your car? I'm not always near a car. I was on a train from Sydney to Melbourne the other day....an 11 hour ride.


I've taken it on ten hour plane flights. I have the Belkin Battery Backup — 4 double A's holds it for around 20 hours. It is bulky, but while in transit, you don't need it to be as sleek and light as normal.

Why are you listening to your iPod while camping anyway? You antisocial bum, you ;)
(kidding, kidding).


It wouldn't even have been good for THAT situation, and its not like its a weird situation that nobody would ever find themselves in. Heck, I've X-mas shopped for longer than 6 hours. It wouldn't even last me through the shopping mall.
I don't really listen to music while shopping. I mainly use mine while exercising, while in the car, walking across campus, while at work, and at home I plug it into my inMotion Speakers (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?productLearnMore=T8355LL/A), which are plugged into the wall, charging the iPod.

That's wild, that you would listen to it that long in one stretch of time, shopping. Wild.

[Dr. Dastardly]

Given that there are players out there that have much longer battery life. But I bought mine because it was the most versatile for all situations and it suited my needs to a T. It works with everything I need it to and does everything for me, I have it so trained that it even tells me stuff that I forgot months ago that I have to do. The operating system itself was one of the largest selling points, and yes I have tried others. I am usally in the city or at least near a power outlet so I never had much of a concern with battery life. So if it doesn't suit your needs and you can find something that works out better for you than go for it.

[Abstract]

My music is on all the time. I can't even be in my dorm room without music being on. ;)

While I understand that the iPod probably isn't the player for me, and that's what you'll all tell me, I only started this thread to ask if anyone else thinks that the iPod is a bit overrated in its current form, not whether its spot-on perfect for myself. Surely someone else is thinking, or has thought of buying an iPod, but decided not to despite all the good things writers say about it.

People always have great things to say about here, but surely some people look at other offerings and ask themselves why the iPod is rated so much better when its lacking in so many areas? That's what I think sometimes. I read about a new player (forgot the make and model), and they said that its easy to use, "almost" as pleasant to use as an iPod, has better features and double the battery life, and yet nothing is cooler than their iPod. I wonder if its just the hype or something.

[Whigga Spitta]

I see what you mean that something could be "almost" as pleasant, easy to use, etc. as the iPod. BUT, you would be hard pressed to find a device like this that isn't "almost" an iPod. Look at other portable music options, nearly each one has a layout somewhat based on the iPod, heck, the latest Creative one I've seen looks like an iPod clone. Maybe the iPod's appeal is its ability to lead a pack of imitators...

[MacAztec]

Show me another music player like the iPod. With great menus, great syncing via computers, small, lightweight, etc. If you are going hiking, do you want to carry one of those huge Nomads around?

Seems to me like you are in awkward situations. Hell, if battery life is that big of a deal, buy the Belkin thing that extends the battery life, and get 4 AA rechargables. That way you never waste a battery. 20 hours is quite a good battery life time.

[FuzzyBallz]

Me. After getting 90+ hours w/ a single AA battery in SP mode for my MD player, I just can't imagine having anything less. I live in the stone age when it comes to music equipment. My CD deck, a NAD C542 only plays red book and HDCD. I dub CD to MD 1:1 using the NAD and a MD recorder's optical line. But hey, that's just me. I wanna just pop a MD in and start enjoying my music instead of going through a crap load of options.

[tech4all]

Am I the only person who would never consider buying the iPod for as long as it retains similar characteristics to current models? By that, I mean size, battery life, features, etc.

The only think I don't like about iPod is the battary, that could be better. So I agree with you there.

However regarding the size and features....I'm not sure what you don't like about that, I think iPod's size is reasonable and the features are very handy:

1. Plays music
2. Doubles as a portable hard drive (very handy, at least for me)
3. Holds and syncs info with Address Book and iCal (Contact and Calenders)
4. Games
5. Super easy and fast syning with iTunes

iPod has a lot of handy features that I really like and use, especially the HD feature. :)

[jeremy.king]

I only started this thread to ask if anyone else thinks that the iPod is a bit overrated in its current form, not whether its spot-on perfect for myself.

Yet your complaints are specific to your use of said player???

I use mine everyday at work, and yep I plug it in. No battery life worries here. When im in the car, guess what? DC adapter!

Lack of features? you must be on some serious crack. No need to repeat everything you can do with an iPod.

Integration with AE would be nice, but no player integrates currently - so why the complaint?

[destroyboredom]

While the battery life isn't the greatest of what is on the market, it's always been fine for me. Obviously there might be those situations where your battery is going to die but these things happen, I don't find the battery life to be a good enough reason not to buy one.

Even if I was on an 11 hour flight or shopping for 6 hours, surely it probably wouldn't last me the whole time but I would get a good 5 hours out of it for sure. (maybe more)

It's also nice in my car, why spend money on a cd-changer when you can fit roughly 250 CDs on a 15GB ipod? It's also easy to store in the glove box when you park in an unsafe area (a large city, the mall) where thieves might be looking in your car to see if it's worth breaking into, where as a cd case can't be hidden as easliy.

All I'm trying to say is i think and have found for myself the good far outweigh the bad, and I think there are a few million people that agree with me. :)

[jenniff]

All I'm trying to say is i think and have found for myself the good far outweigh the bad, and I think there are a few million people that agree with me. :)
Hehehe, I like that. V. nice.

Mos def, regardless of the hype, the sales do speak for something. The hype had to start from something.

I don't think the necessity of the iPod is quite understood until you've had one. Like a laptop. And a cell phone. There are cons to everything. But, like destroyboredom said, the good far outweigh the bad, and Apple banks on that.

[G5orbust]

The iPod is an amazing MP3 player. Aside from the strange button lay out, the thing is golden. The dock connector streamlines the whole package. No bulky port to thicken it up. The iPod also has the most accessories available to it for any MP3 player Ive ever seen; I dare you to find me one that has more.

All in all, compared with other players, the iPod is superior in most every category except for battery life stand alone and $/MB, but the latter is worth it anyway.

[lord_flash]

I would never buy any player where I couldn't get over 8 hours of battery life. And most people don't even get 8 hours because like many people, they skip tracks once in a while and use the menu's, meaning they only get 6 hours of battery life.


Yeah, but the white headphones can still be worn as obviously as possible even if no music is coming out, so the real purpose of the iPod – letting everyone else know you have one – is still easily achieved, even without any battery. Even after the battery has outlived it's useful life just outside the waranty period...

[lord_flash]

Am I the only person who would never consider buying the iPod for as long as it retains similar characteristics to current models? By that, I mean size, battery life, features, etc.

I forget to mention that, aside from not being able to afford one, and having grave doubts about Apple's build quality (My PowerBook is a pile of crap and the PSU blew up yesterday, not helping) the reason I won't be buying an iPod is Steve Jobbs comments about market share:

As a large crowd of people I can only assume to be total morons – or bribed by Apple to behave like it – cheer loudly, Steve struts on stage telling them that Apple have a decent chunk of the MP3 player market but, and this is the bit that pisses me off "an even larger share of the revenue". That's right, he tells the crowd that Apple are raking in more profit from them, creaming more off the top than anyone else in the market, and they cheer him for it.

"Yeay, Steve, you're ripping us off and you know it and we love you for it"?

Mental.

Also it goes against the philosophy of trying to broaden penetration once the R&D costs are paid off. Apple will continue to sell to an elite, the elite will tire of the iPod and there will be another trend then the sales will slump. Bring the prices down, however, now you've already flogged one to the entire Madison Avenue brigade - make less on each and sell more?

Nah, Steve doesnt' think like that (NeXT cube, anyone...?)

I am in a foul mood today, eh? Still, the bitterness of the tone doesn't make the point less valid.

[michaelrjohnson]

The iPod was one of the things that I thought I'd never own. I always loved it's styling, and it's functionality, but I never really thought that I would use it enough to justify spending the money to try it out. Afterall, I am a college student, and money is tight. When I purchased a PowerBook recently, I was able to pick up a 15GB iPod for only $70. $70! I have to say that it is an amazing piece of equipment. I really hope that I can get enough use out of it to justify the money, still. But it is amazing: size/capacity/ease of use/integration/extras etc. It's a true modern marvel, and also, a true marketing marvel.

I love mine. If the pricepoint was lower, you'd have one, and you'd love yours too! ;)

[abhishekit]

I really hope that I can get enough use out of it to justify the money, still.

To justify 70$ for an iPod!!!! :D Its a loot. If I had just waited fr my pb :rolleyes:

[paulypants]

I've never had a problem with battery life...

[EGT]

I actually get a good 7-8 hours with my ipod! I'm using Shure E5 earphones as well, not the standard ipod ones.

[webmatthijs]

I agree with you on the battery life, it could be much better! but then again, for me the ipod is just a thing to have and not use. well i still use it but anyway.

the features of the ipod are more then enough... i cant think of more for now.

but you will never buy an ipod??? tough life m8! ;)

[NeoDevIL]

atm i have a creative Zen 20GB wich is almost dead.
im thinking in buying a mini-ipod since, even with 40GB Ipod i couldnt fit half my mp3 collection, so might as well go for the smaller one!

But i remember that when i bought my zen, ipod was a complete rip off! for 700$ u could get a 10GB ipod, for 600$ u could get a 20GB Zen! :rolleyes:

[jimjiminyjim]

Until iPod becomes a more versatile tool - and I don't mean it needs to play video - I'm not keen on it. That it's cool, I cannot deny. To see one is to droll. To buy one is an entirely different story. I have a Samsung Yepp! Player. One hour of music, have to use classic to get songs onto it, but the sound couldn't be better. When iPod becomes a portable USB and Firewire "Home," I'll begin to consider it. For now though, it's a no purchase.

[parrothead]

And try justifying such a purchase if you go on camping or hiking trips and the like. Poor battery life strikes again.


The purpose of going camping, hiking, backpacking, etc. is to get away from civilization and technology. Try listening to the sounds of nature, it has a very long battery life.

[MorganX]

I'm open to replacing my iPod for some of the reasons you've mentioned. But I haven't found a replacement worthy yet. And, I don't play 6-8hrs consecutively so dropping it in the dock hasn't been a big problem, just a minor inconvenience. It is a potential big problem though.

The iRiver products are probably technically superior but are a little cluttered for my tastes. Also, with no integrated software, media management on Windows is still a kludge, with the exception of iTunes+iPod. When MS opens a music store, who knows. But if WMP 10 is any indication, it will be a while before Apple has anything to worry about. Thanks to Sony's determination to try and force ATRAC. Sony doesn't understand Apple hasn't forced AAC. Most users are Apple people anyway, those of us who are not dedicated to Apple, well 95% of my music is in MP3 format.

I will not touch a player that doesn't play native MP3. <<< period

[tech4all]

I actually get a good 7-8 hours with my ipod! I'm using Shure E5 earphones as well, not the standard ipod ones.


Do the headphones used with iPod play a role in how long the battery lasts?

[PowerMacMan]

Am I The Only Person Who Doesn't Like The iPod?



Yes.

[tech4all]

I will not touch a player that doesn't play native MP3. <<< period

But the iPod can play mp3 audio files....By default iTunes is AAC but you can change it to mp3. (Yes I know you know that, im sure, lol.) I dunno, I'm just not picky, AAC....mp3.....to me its the samething. As long as I can hear the music decently, im happy. :)

[rueyeet]

People always have great things to say about here, but surely some people look at other offerings and ask themselves why the iPod is rated so much better when its lacking in so many areas? ....I wonder if its just the hype or something.I dunno. I played with a friend's 20 GB Creative player, and the interface annoyed me to ranting within 5 minutes, specifically the scrolling. I don't think it's the hype.

I got an iPod not because it was cool, but because I was sick and tired of changing out the lame 64 MB of music allowed by the MP3 player I'd gotten free with my previous laptop. And since I was buying a PowerBook to replace said laptop, I figured I might as well get the player that integrated best with an Apple system. It was only after using it that I realized how much I love the little thing. :)

Sure, who wouldn't want more battery life? Nothing's perfect. But the iPod comes closer than any other player on the market for a lot of people. The rest are going to have very specific needs or complaints that make the iPod a bad choice for them, yes, but that doesn't invalidate it completely.

[Jalexster]

I'm just jumping into the thread here, but here is my opinion:

I think that everyone should buy an iPod! Go on! They are easy to use, the battery life is good enough for most people, and you get plenty of storage space.

So go on, get an iPod! Because I'm not!

And I'll tell you why...

Until the iPod has the following, I'm not buying one:

Better audio quality (I heard the iPod's sucks, and only someone with good ears will notice, like me)
Longer battery life (Creative has claimed thier Nomad Zen Touch will have 24 hours batter life. Creative normally dosen't lie about thier product's battery life. Thier claims are spot on, and are not based on weird options, like 20% audio volume, etc...)
Line in/Line out -Optical and Analouge for both (the iRivers have this, and can even record MP3s on the spot! Up to 320kbs, the highest MP3 quality)
An internal mic (The iRiver's mics record at full quality MP3 - up to 320kbs, not 16kbs or whatever the iPod does)
Driverless operation (iTunes counts as driver-required operation - In other words, you can't just drag your music on, using Explorer/Finder)
A good remote (Other brands have LCD screens, the ability to change playlists, etc... from the remote)
Vorbis support

Right, so thats why I'm not getting an iPod.

But that dosen't mean that everyone else shouldn't get one, because:

Intergration with iTunes (I use iTunes all the time, it's a great piece of software, and it helps by putting all my music in one folder, so I can just drag that one folder over to my Drag-and-Drop compatible MP3 player)
The ability to play iTMS songs (This is important (not to me, because I'm here in iTMS deprived Australia) - because you don't want to have to resort to PlayFair and other crap like that to play your music)
Games (I don't need this)
Intergrated Calender (I don't need this either)
The ability to download pictures off of your camera's card, for storage (I honestly don't need this)

So, everyone. Get an iPod!
I don't need one...

[asif786]

I have an iPod. I must say I dont like it that much but that's not because the battery power isnt good or anything, i think i just dont really like portable mp3 players.

i guess im just a bit self conscious when walking with headphones

[Savage Henry]

Even totally non-techies I know speak to me (unbeknowngst of my affiliations with Apple) about the iPod , and how much they want it.

Strangely enough not many of those same people speak to me of the Creative Labs Jukebox Zen Xtra 30GB.

Funny that.

So to answer the main question, I'd say at the very least yes, you are certainly in a minority.

[tech4all]

Can someone please explain how the music quality sucks? I'm just not agreeing with it. It's probably because I'm not a recording artist and don't know all the in-depth stuff about music. But I think for the average person the quality is very good.

[slughead]

I own a 40GB ipod.

I bought it because it's a very portable hard drive that plays music in all the formats I wanted it for. In all, at the time, it was worth it.

The battery thing doesn't effect me, because I rigged a D-cell battery pack which I have yet to drain over the past 3 months since I started using it. Sure is heavy though.

If I did need the internal battery, however, I'd like to remind all of you that a flight from the pacific coast to europe is more than 8 hours.

Also, the ipod really isn't worth the money anymore (for my purposes at least), with all the competitors having larger HDs which are cross-platform.

[wdlove]

I wouldn't say that I dislike the iPod, just don't see that I would have any use for an iPod. Just wouldn't get the use for the price.

[MorganX]

But the iPod can play mp3 audio files....By default iTunes is AAC but you can change it to mp3. (Yes I know you know that, im sure, lol.)

Yes, I was referring to why Sony's player will fail relative to iPod.

[Gyroscope]

Abstract, you are not alone mate. :co

I am not big fan of iPod either. Though, I'm glad that people are buying it because it is helping Apple stay relevant and afloat :p , so that maybe one day they can change their minds and release decently priced/powered Mac for the rest of us.
It would be wrong to say that iPod is not nice device,but it would also be wrong to say that it is device for everyone. What I like about iPod is its design/UI design, superb integration with iTunes music store, sound quality(if you buy decent pair of headphones) and its capacity. Main reasons it is not for me are: battery life, weak/non existent recording capabilities (i play few instruments and often want to take live recordings) ,being tied to PC/Mac to transfer/swap songs, there's still no iTunes store in Australia. That's why I still stick with MiniDisc.

[Maxx Power]

Am I the only person who would never consider buying the iPod for as long as it retains similar characteristics to current models? By that, I mean size, battery life, features, etc.

I would never buy any player where I couldn't get over 8 hours of battery life. And most people don't even get 8 hours because like many people, they skip tracks once in a while and use the menu's, meaning they only get 6 hours of battery life.

And try justifying such a purchase if you go on camping or hiking trips and the like. Poor battery life strikes again. Its also not a smart purchase for anybody who does any physical activity (jogging with an HDD player!!?), and yet people buy it anyway because its cool to have one. Its like they aim their products at lazy people who will never be away from home for over 6-8 hours.
A combination of a lack of features that many people seem to demand (ie: anything that would integrate it with APExpress better) and poor battery life makes me wonder if the iPod is overrated and hyped up a bit too much.

On the other hand, its the best looking player and is quite easy to use, but does anyone else think that this is not enough?

I totally agree with you. I dislike ipods as well. I have not yet seen 1 player that i really want to like. The ipod in particular, is more like a long-term investment, at the 18 months mark (or 12 if you use it a lot), you need to shell out 99 bucks US to get a new battery, every few years if you wish to use it. And then, it does break, and when it does, you may have to shell out a lot more to get another hard drive. It frequently falls and slips for people who prefer to use it actually outdoors and/or in the gym since it is very slippery with most types of clothing.

[comictimes]

The reason I got my ipod (2, almost 2.5, years ago, I'd like to point out, before most of the people I knew had even heard about them), was mostly that it was just about the only option. But even now, when there are more choices, I would still prefer getting an ipod rather than any of the competing brands simply because the things that the other brands have over the ipod don't make as much of a difference to me as what the ipod has.
- Size: the only other mp3 players that I know of that are approximately the same size as the ipod are the iriver, the cowon, and the sony player. Unfortunately the iriver is slightly thicker, the cowon only has a screen on the remote, and the sony player doesn't work with macs.
- Operating system: The only other operating system that, to me, rivals the ipod's is that of the rio, which one of my friends has, and I do really like. However the rio is really thick, which gets to me. As for the iriver, the only other player I've actually used, it's really slow, and the system just isn't designed to well in my view.
- Battery life: admittedly, the ipod's shorter battery life is annoying, but I never use it for more than 8 hours straight without being near a plug. I never fly to europe, I have a car charger, and I personally can't deal with shopping or being alone in a mall-ish area for more than an hour and a half, so that isn't an issue.
- Features: The main good feature about the ipod is that it plays ITMS files, of which I have quite a few. It doesn't naturally have a microphone or radio, which aggravates me, but I would never use a microphone, and the only other HDD player that I know of which has a radio, once again the iriver, has awful reception, so I prbably wouldn't use the radio even if there was one.

So yeah. Sorry about the long post, but I just wanted to point out the pros of the ipod.

[comictimes]

Oh yeah, I forgot, I think the ipod is the only player that supports playlists, which I use almost exclusively.

[hulugu]

I would never buy any player where I couldn't get over 8 hours of battery life. And most people don't even get 8 hours because like many people, they skip tracks once in a while and use the menu's, meaning they only get 6 hours of battery life.

And try justifying such a purchase if you go on camping or hiking trips and the like. Poor battery life strikes again. Its also not a smart purchase for anybody who does any physical activity (jogging with an HDD player!!?), and yet people buy it anyway because its cool to have one. Its like they aim their products at lazy people who will never be away from home for over 6-8 hours.
On the other hand, its the best looking player and is quite easy to use, but does anyone else think that this is not enough?

Totally, looks are of secondary importance. But, I get about 8 hours of battery life, and I was able to use it on my camping trip last year while hiking and bouldering. And just three weeks ago I travelled through Europe and used it the entire time. Obviously an extended battery life would be awesome, but except for the night we spent on the top of Red Rock I was near either a car or a source of electricity. If you go deep country backpacking this is going to be a problem with almost every device with rare exceptions and those have so many other shortcomings (Minidisk) that it's not worth it for me.
Now, as for jogging, I've carried mine with me and it works fine, just don't hang it on your waist or anywhere the ipod will be under constant shock, I use an arm-band and the mini-iPod is even better.
Furthermore, don't you listen to music near your house? Or even in your house? Or car? Then having a mediocre player that gets great battery-life but doesn't sync well, and is difficult to use, sucks.
Lastly, the iPod has a huge range of extras: transmitters, voice-recorders, memory card readers, and about a zillion different cases including water-proof ones for river-rafters.
All those things together.
The iPod wins hands down, even far from the city hanging by my fingertips with my other hand in my chalk-bag while Hendrix hits that guitar lick just right on Voodoo Childe.

I hope Apple extends the battery life to 16 hours+; if they do I'm selling my old one.

[hulugu]

I totally agree with you. I dislike ipods as well. I have not yet seen 1 player that i really want to like. The ipod in particular, is more like a long-term investment, at the 18 months mark (or 12 if you use it a lot), you need to shell out 99 bucks US to get a new battery, every few years if you wish to use it. And then, it does break, and when it does, you may have to shell out a lot more to get another hard drive. It frequently falls and slips for people who prefer to use it actually outdoors and/or in the gym since it is very slippery with most types of clothing.

18 months; it happens but it's not like there's a viral bomb that goes off right then. I use the hell out of mine and it's been 20 months and I still get above 8 hours; it helps to read the instructions about charging from Apple.
Second, get a case! As I previously stated there's a zillion of them, water-tight ones, metal ones, arm-bands, fanny-packs, small ones, large ones that can hold earphones and the chargers, etc.
I would suggest Marware's. My iPod is 20 months old, has gone to San Francisco, Big Sur, Sedona and then all through Italy, Switzerland, and Paris.

[slughead]

Oh yeah, I forgot, I think the ipod is the only player that supports playlists, which I use almost exclusively.

I haven't seen a player that DOESN'T support playlists, and I've seen at least 1 sony and 2 creatives.

I think the accessories for the iPod, and the fact that it uses HFS+ are the only real differing points (besides the silly scroll thing which I refuse to use 1 handed out of fear of dropping the $500 bastard).

[jenniff]

18 months; it happens but it's not like there's a viral bomb that goes off right then.

I can see it now. Like a mini atomic bomb - boom. Widespread devastation. Women and children running from iPods, for fear of their lives. Hehehehe. Alright I'm tired. But that's really, really funny to a really tired person. Thanks for the laugh.

[hulugu]

Until the iPod has the following, I'm not buying one:
Better audio quality (I heard the iPod's sucks, and only someone with good ears will notice, like me)
I think this is more dependent on earphones and speakers, the Nomad Zen Touch sounded tiny when I listed to my friend's, but I'll concede that its the earphones.
Longer battery life (Creative has claimed thier Nomad Zen Touch will have 24 hours batter life. Creative normally dosen't lie about thier product's battery life. Thier claims are spot on, and are not based on weird options, like 20% audio volume, etc...)
These things need to be judged on experience and not lab tests, Apple is more honest and wattage for their laptops than other companies, and I think it depends on the user. But, Apple does need to improve this as much as possible without adding weight or size. 24 versus 10 (max for iPod I heard) is really not competitive.
Line in/Line out -Optical and Analouge for both...
Driverless operation...A good remote (Other brands have LCD screens, the ability to change playlists, etc... from the remote)
I think you can mount the iPod as a Firewire device, but iTunes is really very useful to name songs and make playlists, with 10Gb of music I'd like being able to play all my favorite Hendrix songs for example without paging through each song. But, I'd agree on these ideas, they're interesting, I'd like the remote to show information like the minimized version of iTunes.

Vorbis support What is with you people? Ogg! No FLAC! No wait...I need something more obscure. ;)

Intergration with iTunes (I use iTunes all the time, it's a great piece of software, and it helps by putting all my music in one folder, so I can just drag that one folder over to my Drag-and-Drop compatible MP3 player)
The ability to play iTMS songs
Games
Intergrated Calender
The ability to download pictures off of your camera's card, for storage

Although the iPod is not the ultimate warrior of Mp3 players able to defeat all takers like Bruce Lee, it has some superior advantages.

This is my third post in a row, so I'm going to shut up now.

[slughead]

What is with you people? Ogg! No FLAC! No wait...I need something more obscure. ;)

FLAC and OGG beat the pants off of "Apple Lossless" and AAC respectively.

FLAC is lossless, it's smaller than "Apple Lossless" by quite a bit, and it takes less processing power to decompress (so the only reason the iPod doesn't have it is because Apple is a buttmunch).

I would use FLAC if my iPod and iTunes could. Instead I use Mp3.

OGG is better than AAC, it's smaller, and it's l33t3r.

And what do you mean "you people"? .. you getting geekist on a computer board? So you can be geeky enough to know Macs are cool but the moment you point out FLAC is the shizzel it somehow crosses the line?

heh I made that 'geekist' word up. No seriously I'd think OGG and FLAC were silly if they were only a *tiny* bit better, but they seriously just blow AAC and AL away. Not to mention the fact that if you had all your files in OGG, what the hell are you going to do with them if you buy an iPod? you'll ruin them if you convert to mp3 or AAC! I guess it's .wav then (because quicktime doesn't support OGG so you can't use AIFF or AL).

[Jalexster]

By driverless operation, I meant the ability to drag audio files onto it, and actully play them on the player. Because if you mount the iPod as a drive, and try to copy music onto it using drag and drop, you can't play the music.


Also, OGG is the "container" for Vorbis. And FLAC is (I think) Vorbis-Lossless (I belive it's made by the same group).

And, about Creative. They are honest about thier battery life. They also have the best audio quality.

On that note, about audio quality, if you are listening to say, and iPod and a Creative Nomad, with a really good pair of earphones (like, for example Sony Nudes (Weird name, great quality)), the Creative will get better audio quality out of an MP3 file, than the iPod does out of an AIFF file. And when an uncompressed files on one player, is worse than a compressed file on anouter player, you can tell which is better. Although, Creative's last Remote, sucked royaly. iRivers are the most feature packed, and have the best remotes. They also have support for 36 lanuages.

Edit: I forgot to add, not only do the iRiver and Creative Nomads have better battery life, they have user replacable batteries. And they are easy to replace, you don't need a screwdriver or anything.

[melchior]

I often regret buying my 3G iPod. Why? Size, weight and most of all, battery life. I am another md'er that came over when the collection just became ummanagable. THe best feature of the iPod is iTunes integration even then I have a lot of things on my wishlist for iTunes.

Going from 30 hours and 55g (with battery) to the bulk and irritation of the iPod was very hard. I guess I am used to it but I am just praying for a minimum of 16 hours battery on the 4g iPod. Praying I tell you!

I feel like I am tied down with the iPod. I go out for days at a time and while I do have access to electricity the idea of carrying that bulky charger is not pleasant.

I could not honestly recommend it to anyone who I know. and i think that's kind of sad...

[Savage Henry]

I often regret buying my 3G iPod. Why? Size, weight and most of all, battery life. I am another md'er that came over when the collection just became ummanagable. THe best feature of the iPod is iTunes integration even then I have a lot of things on my wishlist for iTunes.

Going from 30 hours and 55g (with battery) to the bulk and irritation of the iPod was very hard. I guess I am used to it but I am just praying for a minimum of 16 hours battery on the 4g iPod. Praying I tell you!

I feel like I am tied down with the iPod. I go out for days at a time and while I do have access to electricity the idea of carrying that bulky charger is not pleasant.

I could not honestly recommend it to anyone who I know. and i think that's kind of sad...

I know what you are saying, but considering the brouhaha over the batteries, if I were Apple I would not even consider a 4gen model without addressing that issue as the no.1 priority....Shiny new casings or not.

I'm sure that you will be back to you recommending days not before long ....

[hulugu]

FLAC and OGG beat the pants off of "Apple Lossless" and AAC respectively.
OGG is better than AAC, it's smaller, and it's l33t3r.

And what do you mean "you people"? .. you getting geekist on a computer board? So you can be geeky enough to know Macs are cool but the moment you point out FLAC is the shizzel it somehow crosses the line?

heh I made that 'geekist' word up. No seriously I'd think OGG and FLAC were silly if they were only a *tiny* bit better, but they seriously just blow AAC and AL away...I guess it's .wav then (because quicktime doesn't support OGG so you can't use AIFF or AL).

Ogg Vorbis, I swear this is a character from Star Wars. ;)

I was kidding really about the whole comment, but everytime there's a conversation on a board about sound quality someone pipes up with Ogg, it's quite funny actually. Then someone mentions Ogg Vorbis, and how one is a container—I can never remember which is which—or FLAC is better. But, mention this to anyone else and you'll get what the hell is an ogg?
It's just so geeky and consistant, like arguing about who was a better captain Kirk or Picard, that at some point I just have to roll my eyes or I'll get involved.
It would be great if Apple would just support Ogg Vorbis and FLAC and let people choose Apple Lossless if they want. The only problem I've ever heard about this is the amount of power FLAC songs take because of their size, but I have also noticed that AAC does very well in different sound tests; and I haven't noticed anything about AL though.
Personally, I haven't heard the difference, but I'll take your word for it.
Geekist, it's really not a word, but it just rolls off the tongue: damn geekist!
I love that.

[tech4all]

I never even heard of FLAC and OGG. Now for the people that say those formats are better than AAC, are you guys in the music profession or something? Becuase I hear AAC and it sounds great. But perhaps for a person in the music industry, they know some stuff about AAC compression that I dont know of that make it not as good. I guess I could compare that to TIFF images Vs. JPGs, to a non-graphic designer the JPG will look just as good as the TIFF. But as a designer would know, TIFF is not compressed while JPG is, thus JPG would "suck" compared to TIFF in some circumstances.

[melchior]

Well, it just depends how much credit you give the greater majority of your target market. I would be willing to bet that people who care about image format quality (not just because they are a professional, I am not a professional anything and i care, as i think a lot of people do, otherwise Digital SLR's wouldn't be selling the way they do) those same people care about audio quality.

then again, i thought of something that just blows my argument. i think i might be the only iPod user i have ever seen that uses non-apple ear phones.

apple is definetely playing to the lowest common denominator, at 128kbs AAC's and 8 hour battery life they sell because they're shiny and designed by jonathon ive, let's face it. the question is, does apple have any reason to support the minority that care about more than the shiny factor? :(

I never even heard of FLAC and OGG. Now for the people that say those formats are better than AAC, are you guys in the music profession or something? Becuase I hear AAC and it sounds great. But perhaps for a person in the music industry, they know some stuff about AAC compression that I dont know of that make it not as good. I guess I could compare that to TIFF images Vs. JPGs, to a non-graphic designer the JPG will look just as good as the TIFF. But as a designer would know, TIFF is not compressed while JPG is, thus JPG would "suck" compared to TIFF in some circumstances.

[Maxx Power]

18 months; it happens but it's not like there's a viral bomb that goes off right then. I use the hell out of mine and it's been 20 months and I still get above 8 hours; it helps to read the instructions about charging from Apple.
Second, get a case! As I previously stated there's a zillion of them, water-tight ones, metal ones, arm-bands, fanny-packs, small ones, large ones that can hold earphones and the chargers, etc.
I would suggest Marware's. My iPod is 20 months old, has gone to San Francisco, Big Sur, Sedona and then all through Italy, Switzerland, and Paris.
I have no idea how you managed that. Maybe if you set the volume to really low and never skip tracks or use backlight or use the remote. Mine is 13 months old, and the battery is only lasting 5 hours now. This pod hasn't even seen the typical use of any music player, you got lucky i guess.
I am fully aware of the options that holds your pod close to your body, but I find it quite annoying to workout with such a large portable player (compared to flash based, 24gram units) and having to constantly worry about not hitting it or dinging it on something and lose my hard drive over it.

[pepita]

All in all I think the iPod is rather good, but it's no doubt been overhyped (and overpriced), but then that's Apple, what do you expect ;)

I got mine as a present a couple of months ago and though I am pleased with it, I too have been disappointed with the battery life. I mostly use it in the city, on trains etc. and when I go cycling, not for longer than two or three hours it's ok, but it really lasts a lot less than advertised.

That said, the other features make up for that. I never tried any other player so I can't compare. But I appreciate the audio quality, the playlists, the whole way it works.

There's one other thing that I was very disappointed with, though it's a minor thing cos it's about "accessories" - it's the lack of a belt clip, yeah yeah I know there's lots of cases and clips on sale out there thank you very much but if I'm buying (or, someone else is buying for me) something that costs so much I'd expect to find that kind of thing included, not have to shell out another $20-50 to get it extra. They did it for the mini iPods, that plastic clip or whatdoyoucallit, the one that slides in the back, I can't understand why they couldn't add something similar in the regular iPod box. It is an accessory but an essential one. It was cheap of Apple not to include one.

Come to think of it, they should have thrown in an album or two of my choice for that price. Tsk.

Anyway. there's no mandatory worship of the iPod as far as I know, so you're more than entitled to think it's no good and doesn't match your own preferences, and I can't for the life of me understand why saying so gets so many people irritated to the point they have to come up "oh you must be on crack". Geez, people, until Apple registers as a Church, in fact, even if Apple registered as a Church, it's not like everyone has to be a follower.
:rolleyes:

[hulugu]

Anyway. there's no mandatory worship of the iPod as far as I know, so you're more than entitled to think it's no good and doesn't match your own preferences, and I can't for the life of me understand why saying so gets so many people irritated to the point they have to come up "oh you must be on crack". Geez, people, until Apple registers as a Church, in fact, even if Apple registered as a Church, it's not like everyone has to be a follower.
:rolleyes:

Infidels are not supposed to talk about the Church of the Sacred Apple, nor speak the name of Jobs nor his lambs the iPod and the iPod Mini. You dare to speak ill of our lords and saviors!
May Jobs himself smote you!
Covert infidel or face the consequences.
There is no Church of the Sacred Apple. Forget everything I just said. ;)
Infidel.

Actually, I just happen to disagree with you. However, for battery life I would suggest checking out the Apple site and iPodLounge on how to extend battery life. As for the belt clip, I guess, but I think you're getting to the point where you're asking for the world and everything.
The iPod isn't the best HD-player in every single regime, but it does many things very well.
But, then I get easily distracted by shiny things....ooooo pretty.

[Maxx Power]

I'm just jumping into the thread here, but here is my opinion:

I think that everyone should buy an iPod! Go on! They are easy to use, the battery life is good enough for most people, and you get plenty of storage space.

So go on, get an iPod! Because I'm not!

And I'll tell you why...

Until the iPod has the following, I'm not buying one:

Better audio quality (I heard the iPod's sucks, and only someone with good ears will notice, like me)
Longer battery life (Creative has claimed thier Nomad Zen Touch will have 24 hours batter life. Creative normally dosen't lie about thier product's battery life. Thier claims are spot on, and are not based on weird options, like 20% audio volume, etc...)
Line in/Line out -Optical and Analouge for both (the iRivers have this, and can even record MP3s on the spot! Up to 320kbs, the highest MP3 quality)
An internal mic (The iRiver's mics record at full quality MP3 - up to 320kbs, not 16kbs or whatever the iPod does)
Driverless operation (iTunes counts as driver-required operation - In other words, you can't just drag your music on, using Explorer/Finder)
A good remote (Other brands have LCD screens, the ability to change playlists, etc... from the remote)
Vorbis support

Right, so thats why I'm not getting an iPod.

But that dosen't mean that everyone else shouldn't get one, because:

Intergration with iTunes (I use iTunes all the time, it's a great piece of software, and it helps by putting all my music in one folder, so I can just drag that one folder over to my Drag-and-Drop compatible MP3 player)
The ability to play iTMS songs (This is important (not to me, because I'm here in iTMS deprived Australia) - because you don't want to have to resort to PlayFair and other crap like that to play your music)
Games (I don't need this)
Intergrated Calender (I don't need this either)
The ability to download pictures off of your camera's card, for storage (I honestly don't need this)

So, everyone. Get an iPod!
I don't need one...

I totally agree with you. And i have something to add - the ipod's sound quality has Decreased in the latest generation because of their use of the wolfson Low power DAC WM9371L i believe is the correct model number. This chip has much lower average and minimal signal to noise ratio when compared to the previous wolfson dac which wasn't low-power (previous i believe was 94 avg, current is 90 or lower in low power mode). Also, in designing the smaller current generation ipods, they eliminated the secondary headphone amplification circuitry so now the maximum output is decreased from 60mW to 9mW per specification. Also if you noticed, the new generation uses very cheap LEDs to provide white backlight, which has a hint of blue in it, indicating it is of a inferior white LED which is cheaper. As well the new generation of iPods have some severe problems with sound quality compared to current good sounding portable players such as the creative Zen (signal to noise ratio of 96 dB). For some information reguarding some basic standardized testing of the iPod, refer to: http://members.brabant.chello.nl/~m.heijligers/ipod/measurements.html
and for information on the Dac's of ipods', refer to:
http://www.ipoding.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1141&mode=thread&order=0

[Maxx Power]

I think this is more dependent on earphones and speakers, the Nomad Zen Touch sounded tiny when I listed to my friend's, but I'll concede that its the earphones.

These things need to be judged on experience and not lab tests, Apple is more honest and wattage for their laptops than other companies, and I think it depends on the user. But, Apple does need to improve this as much as possible without adding weight or size. 24 versus 10 (max for iPod I heard) is really not competitive.

I think you can mount the iPod as a Firewire device, but iTunes is really very useful to name songs and make playlists, with 10Gb of music I'd like being able to play all my favorite Hendrix songs for example without paging through each song. But, I'd agree on these ideas, they're interesting, I'd like the remote to show information like the minimized version of iTunes.

What is with you people? Ogg! No FLAC! No wait...I need something more obscure. ;)



Although the iPod is not the ultimate warrior of Mp3 players able to defeat all takers like Bruce Lee, it has some superior advantages.

This is my third post in a row, so I'm going to shut up now.

If you had golden ears like some of us do, particularly audiophiles, or if you listen to anything BUT what's on the radio and in some people's passing SUV's or what everyone considers "rock" or "alternative" these days, you'd know that a better DAC in your ipod means better sound, and quite frankly, if you refer to my other post i made prior to this one, you'll see that the DAC used in ipod is inferior to that of the Creative Zen by quite a bit.

[Jalexster]

I would just like mention that everyone should buy an iPod, because it helps Apple, and they are good enough for most people (not me of course).

[floatingspirit]

Yes.

Thank you

[floatingspirit]

(besides the silly scroll thing which I refuse to use 1 handed out of fear of dropping the $500 bastard).

Prudent, though crudely put. New Apple slogan: Get your new 60gig Bastard; so loaded with memory it'll crack the floor if dropped!

Sorry, I'm tired too and it just sounded so funny/absurd to call an iPod a "@##$@#$"

[Abstract]

Even totally non-techies I know speak to me (unbeknowngst of my affiliations with Apple) about the iPod , and how much they want it.

Strangely enough not many of those same people speak to me of the Creative Labs Jukebox Zen Xtra 30GB.

Funny that.

So to answer the main question, I'd say at the very least yes, you are certainly in a minority.

People who want it and don't even know why..... hehe, exactly.

The iRiver products are probably technically superior but are a little cluttered for my tastes. Also, with no integrated software, media management on Windows is still a kludge, with the exception of iTunes+iPod. When MS opens a music store, who knows. But if WMP 10 is any indication, it will be a while before Apple has anything to worry about. Thanks to Sony's determination to try and force ATRAC. Sony doesn't understand Apple hasn't forced AAC. Most users are Apple people anyway, those of us who are not dedicated to Apple, well 95% of my music is in MP3 format.

I've looked at the iRiver, and I've read some great reviews, and I can't see how the iPod can be THAT much better than the iRiver. Its not as cool, but that's about it.

And I'm glad there are over half a dozen people who agree with me, and another bunch who admit that it's not SO great that it's completely dominant over every other player. I didn't even think I'd get that much agreement. Some of the reasons for getting an iPod --- size, holds all my mp3's, good enough battery life for me, I only use mp3's anyway, sometimes AAC--- are matched or surpassed by other players out there (except AAC support).

And the iPod's menu layout is just a very basic menu layout that was used well before the iPod was introduced, so I don't get why people keep complaining about other makers "copying the menu layout". Ever use a mobile phone from 5+ years ago?

The aesthetic design of the iPod is good, though. :)

[Maxx Power]

I would just like mention that everyone should buy an iPod, because it helps Apple, and they are good enough for most people (not me of course).

You would like to help corporations ? Are you nuts ? When was the last time they cared for your well being, your environment, your loved ones, and your opinions ? Corporations have too much power and influence in our society as it is, supporting them blindly is a terrible blindfolded act. Would you trust your kids or loved ones with a stranger for a period of time ? Why would you trust a corporation knowing they are externalizing machines created to generate wealth to the already wealthy who don't have to, and disregards all other people's well being, especially people in other countries ?

[Jalexster]

We should support the iPod because the iPod is the only thing keeping Apple alive.

And Apple can't die, if they did, we would have to use x86 computers...

And I like Apple, they support people. Are you saying we should support... Micro$oft?

[Maxx Power]

We should support the iPod because the iPod is the only thing keeping Apple alive.

And Apple can't die, if they did, we would have to use x86 computers...

And I like Apple, they support people. Are you saying we should support... Micro$oft?
I said specifically, SUPPORT NO CORPORATIONS, regardless of which one it is.