While looking at MacSurfer today (instead of studying) I came across an… interesting post on "why the iPod sucks". Let's have a look at what this person has to say for himself…
Longevity problems, dare I mention the battery issues that have plagued the iPod, batteries in a device with this kind of price should not fail or lose a significant amount of charge for years - months and weeks is simply not acceptable, what's more if (or when) the battery fails this actually requires Apple to sort it because the batteries aren't removable, a critical flaw in the design. Apple don't cover this in their warrantee, so that's hundreds of pounds down the drain.
Yes, there have been some problems with batteries in the iPod, but I don't think it's as bad as you make it out to be. No one I know has ever had a problem with the battery life of their iPod. I owned a 3G iPod for over a year and have had a 4G iPod for a couple of months now, and haven't had any problems.
If the battery were to fail during the warranty period (one year), then it is covered under warranty, and you can get it fixed free of charge.
The point Paul is trying to make is that if the battery does fail, you're screwed, which is not the case. If you've bought AppleCare Protection for iPod (US$59), then you have an additional 2 years' warranty. However, if you're out of warranty and your battery dies, Apple provides the following:
If your iPod requires service only because the battery's ability to hold an electrical charge has diminished, Apple will replace your iPod for a service fee of $99, plus $6.95 shipping.
(From the iPod Service FAQ.)
While it requires you to fork out a bit of money, you're not wasting "hundreds of pounds".
1980s style LCD - not even colour? Come on this is the 21st century, for that kind of price it should have double the resolution and at least 16bit colour.
Ummm… heard of the iPod photo? Granted, it is a bit more expensive than the other iPods, but it will be introduced into the cheaper models sooner or later.
Double the resolution would be nice, but the current screens and resolutions look fine now, since only text is being displayed.
No charging over USB, that's right you can't even charge the iPod over the USB cable. Sorry but that is totally not on, most of the competitor products do that at a far lower price point, very few mainstream computers have firewire ports, adding the ability to charge over USB would of cost just pennies, yet Apple cut corners yet again.
Actually, iPods can be charged with a USB cable.
Poor sound quality. I don't know what Apple can get away with among it's Mac OS users but Windows users are used to far better sound quality. Virtually every portable media player (even bargain basement players) I've listened to has exceeded the iPod in sound quality, this is one area where Apple need to do a lot of work to catch up, I'm not saying they'll ever be able to match what Creative have with their Zen players, but for a several hundred pound device not to compete with a £60 device in this department certainly raises a few eyebrows.
Sound quality is great for me. I've had no problems. My sound system (which I sometimes connect the iPod up to) hasn't revealed any problems either.
UPDATE 19:22: Mat just let me know that Stereophile named the iPod the product of the year in 2003. If the sound quality was so horrible, why was it product of the year, and why have 6 million people bought them?
I doubt a "bargain basement player" would have great sound output, too. If you're selling the device really cheaply, you have to cut corners somewhere…
Poor control system - yes I'll admit the wheel looks like a good idea, and it's easy to control if you've got it out in front of you, but what about in your pocket? Where these players are suppose to be? It's virtually impossible to control, another gimmick feature out of Apple.
The wheel is a GREAT idea. I couldn't imagine using a portable music player without it.
If the music player is in your pocket, why not take it out of your pocket? Not so hard, is it? You'd have to do the same for any other music player if you wanted to browse your music collection (that and the fact that you might want to see what music you're browsing).
If all you're looking to do is skip to the next song, go back a song or pause, then you should have no problems pressing the buttons on the wheel. I do it all the time by pressing on the outside of my jeans pocket. (Although I occasionally get some weird stares!)
Poor compatibility - this is probably the iPod's worst defeat. Zero support for Windows Media Audio, the best lossy codec there is today
The Windows version of iTunes allows you to transcode from WMA to AAC if you wish (although that results in some loss of quality). This could be an issue if you have an entire library encoded in WMA. If you do, just go buy a WMA-compatible player.
… no support for Ogg Vorbis, an open source ultra-high quality codec that enjoys mass support from Linux fans (and myself)
Ogg Vorbis support *might* be nice, but the number of people that use it is quite small, I would think.
… then it lacks support for lossless formats like, WMA-lossless and Monkey's audio both very popular among audiophiles.
Sure, there's no support for the lossless codecs you mention, but you could always use the Apple Lossless codec. If you're a real audiophile and want to listen to your music on multiple platforms, why not just encode the files as WAV? You might not be able to hold as much, but at least you won't be plagued by the hisses and crackles and pops that are oh-so-prevalent when you encode the song as a 256kbps AAC. 
Apple are bent on using the fringe format AAC, with their own copy protection bolted on the side for the iPod, a format that has almost zero support, a format that requires lots of unstable plug-ins on other players to actually work.
The AAC format has almost zero support? Considering Apple has around 92% of the hard drive-based music player market and 65% of the entire music player market (at least in the US), I'd say there's significant support for AAC and FairPlay.
No support for Windows Media Player - the most popular media player in the market by far.
Where's your proof? If you base it on the number of computers it's installed on, then your generalisation may be correct. But that's not what counts. It's how many people actually use it.
Over 70 devices support the latest version of Windows Media Player (version 10)
Yes, but how many of them actually work? How many offer the same experience as using an iPod with iTunes? You simply plug it in, and it'll sync all of your songs (or selected songs or playlists) with no hassle.
… you simply plug them in and WMP will auto-sync, transfer media the lot - all automatically if you want, you don't need to install any software you just plug them in - simple, how things should be.
I'm sure Omar Shahine would disagree. Not all of the devices will sync automatically, if at all. See his review of the iRiver H320 and the Rio Carbon. (Omar Shahine works at Microsoft and is looking for an iPod replacement.)
Not the iPod. Apple want you to install their own software called "iTunes" which like a lot of Apple software, is slow, it's buggy it's glitchy it just isn't very well thought out. It places icons on your desktop, start menu and quick launch all without asking, it installs several other applications that you never asked to be install and secretly boots them with Windows. Forcing users to install your own software and having the software do things behind your back is not on at all, you could quite easily compare that to the behaviour of a virus.
Yah huh… Yes, you may have to download and install iTunes on a Windows computer, but you have to do that anyway in order to use Windows Media Player 10, so what's the issue?
iTunes works fine on my Mac, and I've used it on my flatmate's laptop running Windows XP and it works fine. He updated to iTunes 4.7 the other day, and I distinctly remember the installer asking if he would like to place an icon on the desktop, the quick launch bar and in the start menu.
The only other applications it installs are "helpers" for iTunes, and QuickTime, which is required to play the files! Please show me how the software is doing things behind your back… and how iTunes' behaviour is akin to that of a virus. Provide some proof before you start throwing claims around.
No support for 3rd party music stores. Thinking about using your iPod with many of the other music stores, Napster, MSN Music and the many others? Think again Apple force you to use their own music store linked via the before mentioned virus known as iTunes.
This is a legitimate concern, but last I heard, Apple had the largest catalogue of music for online music stores, so unless it doesn't offer something you're looking for, why would you go anywhere else? It's also an extremely easy to use interface.
Apple also doesn't force you to use their music store. No one forces you to do anything. If you want to buy something off Napster or MSN Music, that's fine. But because of the way Apple has decided to control the iPod, you can't play those songs on it. In a perfect world, every music store would be compatible with every music player, but we don't live in that world.
The music you download from this store has extremely restrictive rights, you will only ever be able to play the AAC files you download on your iPod and on your computer, thinking about transferring some songs to your new player at some point in the future? Dream on, you'll have to buy it all again, and most likely from another store anyway.
I think the iTMS rights are hardly restrictive. Let's see what Apple says on their iTunes Music Store page:
You can burn individual songs onto an unlimited number of CDs for your personal use, listen to songs on an unlimited number of iPods and play songs on up to five Macintosh computers or Windows PCs.
Hey, that seems to be a bit different to the picture Paul painted. You can put the songs onto an unlimited number of iPods (they just have to be linked to the computer). You can burn the songs you purchased onto as many CDs as you want. You can authorise four other computers to play a purchased song.
So… if you get a new iPod, you'll have no problems transferring your purchased songs to it. Buy a new computer? No problems either. Just de-authorise your old computer and then authorise the new one.
Let's compare that to Napster. According to Napster, you can listen the tracks you have purchased on up to three PCs. That seems a bit paltry compared to the "restrictions" put in place by Apple in the iTunes Music Store.
Let's also compare the "restrictions" to MSN Music. According to the FAQ, MSN Music lets you:
… play your music on up to five Windows PCs, burn playlists to CD up to seven times, and transfer to an unlimited number of portable audio devices.
Hmmm… maybe my comprehension of the English language isn't as good as Paul's, but the "restrictions" placed on the music purchased from both the iTunes Music Store and MSN Music appear to be quite similar. Paul, please correct me here if I've misinterpreted the information. Does this mean that music purchased from MSN Music has "extremely restrictive rights", too? That's terrible. It's a pity you neglected to mention that in your original post.
Apple are deliberately trying to trap users into their own media empire, a very shady business activity indeed
That's the way business works. You think Microsoft didn't do that with Windows, and that they're not trying to do the same as Apple with WMA?
… but then for a company that's been declining for over a decade what can you expect?
Oh ho! Now he brings out the big guns. Join the ranks of people who have been predicting Apple's demise. It's still here, isn't it?
I only hope people wake up and realise this before they have several hundred (or thousand) pounds worth of music that suddenly becomes totally worthless when Apple find themselves being squashed out of the market, by all their competitive that offer choice.
The fact is that Apple offers a very good product that many, many people appear to have adopted (on Windows and the Mac). I don't think it's going anywhere soon.
Hypothetically, if Apple did go down the gurgler, your music wouldn't be worthless, either. You could still listen to it in iTunes and on an iPod. You could also remove the FairPlay DRM (using one of the various utilities available) and go and play it elsewhere. I could say the same for WMA files encoded with the Microsoft "Janus" DRM system. What happens if it's squashed out of the market? Then you have a pile of WMA-encoded music that can't be used.
iPod symbolizes lack of choice. In this day and age this is unacceptable. If you go for any Windows Media Player there are over 100 of them ranging for double digit costs and up, you can use them with virtually any online stores (except iTunes - cheer!) you'll have the choice over which licenses to go for, which prices you like and other packages that are suitable for your needs. Something that iPod users will critically lack, and something they will in the end suffer for. With Windows Media players you can just plug it in to your PC and let it fly, no installing complicated software that does things behind your back.
I'd like proof you can get a portable music player for a double-digit price, that is compatible with the "Janus" DRM AND will sync with Windows Media Player (by implementing PlaysForSure).
iTunes, on the other hand, syncs perfectly with the iPod (whether on Windows or the Mac).
The choice is clear - don't go for an iPod. It's an evil hugely over-priced, parasitic device with virus like software that attempts to trap you and limit your options.
"Evil". There's that word again. How is the iPod evil? It doesn't make your life any worse. It doesn't torment you or destroy your life, so what's the problem?
Although the iPod is a little bit more expensive than some portable music players, I think it's worth spending that extra $50-$100 to get something that "just works".
As I mentioned before, some proof of the "virus-like" activity would be nice, as you have provided none.
After replying to Pauls original blog posting (reply #3 or 4) I felt it was pointless as his rant was so totally inaccurate. After more than 80 subsequent replies, he’s even tried to correct some of the inaccuracies but that would leave him with only three words (I hate iPod). Your point by point deconstruction of his rant is well thought out. Thanks for taking the time…..!
this guy (the anti-ipod guy) is pretty sour. maybe he only complains to spite the world that supports apple. maybe he was fired by apple. maybe he thinks the entire world is against him and this is revenge for half a lifetime of torment.
I was too lazy to write a reply to Paul’s blog entry. It’s not worth it. I’m glad that you did though. You’ve done a good job of proving his points wrong, which really isn’t all that hard.
Quote: “If the sound quality was so horrible, why was it product of the year, and why have 6 million people bought them?”
Hmm.. hello? Th simplest reason is there are 6million idiots out there! After doing a comparsion between iAudio, Hi-MD Player, iPod and Creative Zen Micro with the same song ripped at 256kps from the same in mp3 format (atrac3plus for Hi-MD) and playing it on each players over both a 2.1 subwoofer system and also an Audio Technica clip-on earphone, me and my bunch of friends who are music lovers that are very particular about sound quality, concluded that hi-md player offers the best sound quality! This includes some hard-core fans like you, and they blushed when they finally admit that iPod produces one of the worst sound quality out of these few players.
Also, with regard to the battery. The battery used in iPod is an lithum battery. Although manufactures never tell its consumers this, such rechargable battery normally wear out completely only after just 3~5 years of usage. So, be prepared to throw your iPod away any time soon, especially if you are not in US. The battery placement service isn’t available in all countries. For most of us, iPod is actually just a disposable, low quality white elephant.
Ok, I think alot of your retorts are pretty stupid, but let me go through
them all and explain myself before you make me out to be a simple ipod hater.
“Yes, there have been some problems with batteries in the iPod, but I don’t
think it’s as bad as you make it out to be. No one I know has ever had a
problem with the battery life of their iPod. I owned a 3G iPod for over a
year and have had a 4G iPod for a couple of months now, and haven’t had any
problems.
If the battery were to fail during the warranty period (one year), then it is
covered under warranty, and you can get it fixed free of charge.
The point Paul is trying to make is that if the battery does fail, you’re
screwed, which is not the case. If you’ve bought AppleCare Protection for
iPod (US$59), then you have an additional 2 years’ warranty. However, if
you’re out of warranty and your battery dies, Apple provides the following:
If your iPod requires service only because the battery’s ability to hold an
electrical charge has diminished, Apple will replace your iPod for a service
fee of $99, plus $6.95 shipping. While it requires you to fork out a bit of
money, you’re not wasting “hundreds of pounds”.
So I’m meant to spend $100 US? Is that what you’re saying? I don’t think its
fair to make users pay additional because of a device’s defective battery.
The battery lasts only 16 months which would explain why ‘you’ve had no
problems’, which you state in an ‘I’m the only person in the world’ tone.
“Sound quality is great for me. I’ve had no problems. My sound system (which
I sometimes connect the iPod up to) hasn’t revealed any problems either.
UPDATE 19:22: Mat just let me know that Stereophile named the iPod the
product of the year in 2003. If the sound quality was so horrible, why was it
product of the year, and why have 6 million people bought them?
I doubt a “bargain basement player” would have great sound output, too. If
you’re selling the device really cheaply, you have to cut corners somewhere…”
Wonderful, a website named a product “product of the year” and 6 million
uneducated sheep have bought in to ipod propaganda, what proof does this give
me that the sound quality is decent? There are plenty of products that have
gotten good reviews despite not deserving them as well as being bought
largely, just look at the sales of n*sync albums.
“The wheel is a GREAT idea. I couldn’t imagine using a portable music player
without it.
If the music player is in your pocket, why not take it out of your pocket?
Not so hard, is it? You’d have to do the same for any other music player if
you wanted to browse your music collection (that and the fact that you might
want to see what music you’re browsing).
If all you’re looking to do is skip to the next song, go back a song or
pause, then you should have no problems pressing the buttons on the wheel. I
do it all the time by pressing on the outside of my jeans pocket. (Although I
occasionally get some weird stares!)”
Generally when something is inside my pocket playing music, I don’t want to
take it out just to change songs, there should be buttons on the top of the
device to help me with such matters. I don’t want a remote, that removes
portability, and pushing buttons through my pants isn’t exactly conveniant.
Why couldn’t they simple place buttons on the top? Be realistic.
“The Windows version of iTunes allows you to transcode from WMA to AAC if you
wish (although that results in some loss of quality). This could be an issue
if you have an entire library encoded in WMA. If you do, just go buy a
WMA-compatible player.”
But I don’t want to transfer all my damn songs to AAC, why should I have to
convert my library to suit apple’s needs? Why can’t I just transfer the songs
onto the player as they are? WMA has become far too big to be neglected and
for the people who have masses of songs in it’s format the iPod fails. I
shouldn’t have to compromize my entire collection of music just to get it
working on an iPod.
“Ogg Vorbis support *might* be nice, but the number of people that use it is
quite small, I would think.”
But you see, there is the problem, you THINK Ogg vorbis is small and that
therefore it isn’t important. How do you think people feel who have some of
their best music in OGG vorbis format? The iPod is claimed to be the best mp3
player yet it doesn’t even feature the file range that most mp3 players
consider a necessity.
“Sure, there’s no support for the lossless codecs you mention, but you could
always use the Apple Lossless codec. If you’re a real audiophile and want to
listen to your music on multiple platforms, why not just encode the files as
WAV? You might not be able to hold as much, but at least you won’t be plagued
by the hisses and crackles and pops that are oh-so-prevalent when you encode
the song as a 256kbps AAC. ;)”
Don’t be an idiot, if people use an the Line out of the iPod to connect it to
their $16,000 speakers to play their entire collection on, they WILL hear the
‘crackles and pops’. Not to mention they’d have to CONVERT to AAC to hear
those crackles and pops, so they are not only wasting time converting but
they are converting to a poorer quality for the sake of an mp3 player,
useless. WAV is space-hungry and pointless, FLAC is the way to go and iPod
doesn’t support it. This all falls down to once again Apple’s attempt at
monopolizing the market with their shit, not to say microsoft is better but
at least Windows media player supports FLAC and such other
non-microsoft-or-mp3 formats.
“The AAC format has almost zero support? Considering Apple has around 92% of
the hard drive-based music player market and 65% of the entire music player
market (at least in the US), I’d say there’s significant support for AAC and
FairPlay.”
If I wanted to use Windows Media Player - which comes with Windows XP,that
the vast majority of PC users use - to play AAC files could I do it?
Negative. I’d have to install iTunes, what if I want to play the songs at a
friend’s house who doesn’t have iTunes or a fast enough internet to download
it in a fair amount of time? Then I’m screwed thanks to iPod.
“Where’s your proof? If you base it on the number of computers it’s installed
on, then your generalisation may be correct. But that’s not what counts. It’s
how many people actually use it.”
You will find that windows media player is actually USED by far more than any
other player, primarily because of the fact that its installed with windows
XP but also because of personal preference. The fact that they have neglected
this fact is ridiculous and simply adds to the list of problems, you can’t
rule this one out because its put simply the only software a computer has
with windows XP on it to play music and video files, unless you download
another program ofcourse.
“Yes, but how many of them actually work? How many offer the same experience
as using an iPod with iTunes? You simply plug it in, and it’ll sync all of
your songs (or selected songs or playlists) with no hassle.”
Windows Media Player is just as capable of doing what you ask, not to mention
you don’t get extra baggage.
“Yah huh… Yes, you may have to download and install iTunes on a Windows
computer, but you have to do that anyway in order to use Windows Media Player
10, so what’s the issue?
iTunes works fine on my Mac, and I’ve used it on my flatmate’s laptop running
Windows XP and it works fine. He updated to iTunes 4.7 the other day, and I
distinctly remember the installer asking if he would like to place an icon on
the desktop, the quick launch bar and in the start menu.
The only other applications it installs are “helpers” for iTunes, and
QuickTime, which is required to play the files! Please show me how the
software is doing things behind your back… and how iTunes’ behaviour is akin
to that of a virus. Provide some proof before you start throwing claims
around.”
Dude, the software comes with Windows XP, obviously you need to download an
“upgrade” for version 10 but at least you can play the files without
downloading anything at all, its just a matter of wether you want the bells
and whistles or not. With iTunes you’re forced to download the program. Apple
wouldn’t need those bloody “helpers” if it didn’t use its own media format,
and even so those “helpers” should be asked to install by the user, not
installed by themselves. The act of installing additional data to your
computer without informing you or giving you a choice is akin to a virus,
this is considered common sense by the original writer but you have failed to
grasp the concept.
“This is a legitimate concern, but last I heard, Apple had the largest
catalogue of music for online music stores, so unless it doesn’t offer
something you’re looking for, why would you go anywhere else? It’s also an
extremely easy to use interface.
Apple also doesn’t force you to use their music store. No one forces you to
do anything. If you want to buy something off Napster or MSN Music, that’s
fine. But because of the way Apple has decided to control the iPod, you can’t
play those songs on it. In a perfect world, every music store would be
compatible with every music player, but we don’t live in that world. ”
Wrong, most players will provide you access to almost all stores, far more
than the apple store at least. It’s not a matter of “In a perfect world” its
just a matter of compromizing for iPod’s shit. Again, I shouldn’t have to
compromize for them when other mp3 players don’t trouble me so.
“Music store rant”
I don’t know about this topic.
“That’s the way business works. You think Microsoft didn’t do that with
Windows, and that they’re not trying to do the same as Apple with WMA?”
Ofcourse he knows, but why does Apple have to make life even harder? We
accepted the fact that windows media player threw in another file format, we
don’t need apple troubling our lives with another format. The fact is that
this isn’t the way “Business works” as you put it, but rather the way ‘Apple
and Microsoft’ work. The fact that microsoft acts this way doesn’t remove the
fact that apple is just as guilty.
“Oh ho! Now he brings out the big guns. Join the ranks of people who have
been predicting Apple’s demise. It’s still here, isn’t it?”
Microsoft/Windows still has the amazingly large majority of the computer
industry, the fact that apple is still here doesn’t remove the fact that its
used far less.
“The fact is that Apple offers a very good product that many, many people
appear to have adopted (on Windows and the Mac). I don’t think it’s going
anywhere soon.
Hypothetically, if Apple did go down the gurgler, your music wouldn’t be
worthless, either. You could still listen to it in iTunes and on an iPod. You
could also remove the FairPlay DRM (using one of the various utilities
available) and go and play it elsewhere. I could say the same for WMA files
encoded with the Microsoft “Janus” DRM system. What happens if it’s squashed
out of the market? Then you have a pile of WMA-encoded music that can’t be
used.”
Hah, microsoft squashed out of the market? I hope you’re kidding. Also the
fact that ‘many many people’ have adopted to Apple doesn’t make it a ‘very
good product’ and the things I’ve pointed out here still stand.
“I’d like proof you can get a portable music player for a double-digit price,
that is compatible with the “Janus” DRM AND will sync with Windows Media
Player (by implementing PlaysForSure).
iTunes, on the other hand, syncs perfectly with the iPod (whether on Windows
or the Mac).”
There are MP3 Players out there which are double digits and provide Janus DRM
with WMP and PlaysForSure, you just have to look. I’m not going to waste my
time proving this to you but I’m sure if you cared you’d find one just as
well.
“”Evil”. There’s that word again. How is the iPod evil? It doesn’t make your
life any worse. It doesn’t torment you or destroy your life, so what’s the
problem?
Although the iPod is a little bit more expensive than some portable music
players, I think it’s worth spending that extra $50-$100 to get something
that “just works”.
As I mentioned before, some proof of the “virus-like” activity would be nice,
as you have provided none.
Tags: none”
Oh it isn’t evil, it just traps you with its file format, required software
installation, incapability of transferring music from computer to computer
and 18 month battery life. Not to mention its propaganda and monopolization
attempt on the MP3 Player market. Worth spending $50-$100 extra to get
something that “Just works”? You mean, once you’ve downloaded the software
they force you to download and by disregarding all the things I just said,
yeah I guess it works in that case.
The virus-like activity was stated above, the installation of data without
choice for the sake of apple’s crap.
If you disagree with anything I’ve written - which by all means feel free to
-, don’t hesitate to buy another apple product and feed the juggernaught. The
last thing this world needs is convenience and simplicity, we need a world
full of incompatibilities, complications and redundant file formats. As well
as people who care more about money than productivity, efficiency and
support, we don’t have enough of those.
That’s all. e-mail me at the_vortex01@hotmail.com if you feel I’m being
unfair or that my factual argument is somewhat incorrect, contradictory or
wrong, though this time I’d prefer you to have some reasoning.
***** IGNORE MY LAST POST, DELETE IT IF YOU CAN *****
Ok, I think alot of your retorts are pretty stupid, but let me go through them all and explain myself before you make me out to be a simple ipod hater.
“Yes, there have been some problems with batteries in the iPod, but I don’t think it’s as bad as you make it out to be. No one I know has ever had a problem with the battery life of their iPod. I owned a 3G iPod for over a year and have had a 4G iPod for a couple of months now, and haven’t had any problems.
If the battery were to fail during the warranty period (one year), then it is covered under warranty, and you can get it fixed free of charge.
The point Paul is trying to make is that if the battery does fail, you’re screwed, which is not the case. If you’ve bought AppleCare Protection for iPod (US$59), then you have an additional 2 years’ warranty. However, if you’re out of warranty and your battery dies, Apple provides the following: If your iPod requires service only because the battery’s ability to hold an electrical charge has diminished, Apple will replace your iPod for a service fee of $99, plus $6.95 shipping. While it requires you to fork out a bit of money, you’re not wasting “hundreds of pounds”.
So I’m meant to spend $100 US? Is that what you’re saying? I don’t think its fair to make users pay additional because of a device’s defective battery. The battery lasts only 16 months which would explain why ‘you’ve had no problems’, which you state in an ‘I’m the only person in the world’ tone.
“Sound quality is great for me. I’ve had no problems. My sound system (which I sometimes connect the iPod up to) hasn’t revealed any problems either.
UPDATE 19:22: Mat just let me know that Stereophile named the iPod the product of the year in 2003. If the sound quality was so horrible, why was it product of the year, and why have 6 million people bought them?
I doubt a “bargain basement player” would have great sound output, too. If you’re selling the device really cheaply, you have to cut corners somewhere…”
Wonderful, a website named a product “product of the year” and 6 million uneducated sheep have bought in to ipod propaganda, what proof does this give me that the sound quality is decent? There are plenty of products that have gotten good reviews despite not deserving them as well as being bought largely, just look at the sales of n*sync albums.
“The wheel is a GREAT idea. I couldn’t imagine using a portable music player without it.
If the music player is in your pocket, why not take it out of your pocket? Not so hard, is it? You’d have to do the same for any other music player if you wanted to browse your music collection (that and the fact that you might want to see what music you’re browsing).
If all you’re looking to do is skip to the next song, go back a song or pause, then you should have no problems pressing the buttons on the wheel. I do it all the time by pressing on the outside of my jeans pocket. (Although I occasionally get some weird stares!)”
Generally when something is inside my pocket playing music, I don’t want to take it out just to change songs, there should be buttons on the top of the device to help me with such matters. I don’t want a remote, that removes portability, and pushing buttons through my pants isn’t exactly conveniant. Why couldn’t they simple place buttons on the top? Be realistic.
“The Windows version of iTunes allows you to transcode from WMA to AAC if you wish (although that results in some loss of quality). This could be an issue if you have an entire library encoded in WMA. If you do, just go buy a WMA-compatible player.”
But I don’t want to transfer all my damn songs to AAC, why should I have to convert my library to suit apple’s needs? Why can’t I just transfer the songs onto the player as they are? WMA has become far too big to be neglected and for the people who have masses of songs in it’s format the iPod fails. I shouldn’t have to compromize my entire collection of music just to get it working on an iPod.
“Ogg Vorbis support *might* be nice, but the number of people that use it is quite small, I would think.”
But you see, there is the problem, you THINK Ogg vorbis is small and that therefore it isn’t important. How do you think people feel who have some of their best music in OGG vorbis format? The iPod is claimed to be the best mp3 player yet it doesn’t even feature the file range that most mp3 players consider a necessity.
“Sure, there’s no support for the lossless codecs you mention, but you could always use the Apple Lossless codec. If you’re a real audiophile and want to listen to your music on multiple platforms, why not just encode the files as WAV? You might not be able to hold as much, but at least you won’t be plagued by the hisses and crackles and pops that are oh-so-prevalent when you encode the song as a 256kbps AAC. ;)”
Don’t be an idiot, if people use an the Line out of the iPod to connect it to their $16,000 speakers to play their entire collection on, they WILL hear the ‘crackles and pops’. Not to mention they’d have to CONVERT to AAC to hear those crackles and pops, so they are not only wasting time converting but they are converting to a poorer quality for the sake of an mp3 player, useless. WAV is space-hungry and pointless, FLAC is the way to go and iPod doesn’t support it. This all falls down to once again Apple’s attempt at monopolizing the market with their shit, not to say microsoft is better but at least Windows media player supports FLAC and such other non-microsoft-or-mp3 formats.
“The AAC format has almost zero support? Considering Apple has around 92% of the hard drive-based music player market and 65% of the entire music player market (at least in the US), I’d say there’s significant support for AAC and FairPlay.”
If I wanted to use Windows Media Player - which comes with Windows XP,that the vast majority of PC users use - to play AAC files could I do it? Negative. I’d have to install iTunes, what if I want to play the songs at a friend’s house who doesn’t have iTunes or a fast enough internet to download it in a fair amount of time? Then I’m screwed thanks to iPod.
“Where’s your proof? If you base it on the number of computers it’s installed on, then your generalisation may be correct. But that’s not what counts. It’s how many people actually use it.”
You will find that windows media player is actually USED by far more than any other player, primarily because of the fact that its installed with windows XP but also because of personal preference. The fact that they have neglected this fact is ridiculous and simply adds to the list of problems, you can’t rule this one out because its put simply the only software a computer has with windows XP on it to play music and video files, unless you download another program ofcourse.
“Yes, but how many of them actually work? How many offer the same experience as using an iPod with iTunes? You simply plug it in, and it’ll sync all of your songs (or selected songs or playlists) with no hassle.”
Windows Media Player is just as capable of doing what you ask, not to mention you don’t get extra baggage.
“Yah huh… Yes, you may have to download and install iTunes on a Windows computer, but you have to do that anyway in order to use Windows Media Player 10, so what’s the issue?
iTunes works fine on my Mac, and I’ve used it on my flatmate’s laptop running Windows XP and it works fine. He updated to iTunes 4.7 the other day, and I distinctly remember the installer asking if he would like to place an icon on the desktop, the quick launch bar and in the start menu.
The only other applications it installs are “helpers” for iTunes, and QuickTime, which is required to play the files! Please show me how the software is doing things behind your back… and how iTunes’ behaviour is akin to that of a virus. Provide some proof before you start throwing claims around.”
Dude, the software comes with Windows XP, obviously you need to download an “upgrade” for version 10 but at least you can play the files without downloading anything at all, its just a matter of wether you want the bells and whistles or not. With iTunes you’re forced to download the program. Apple wouldn’t need those bloody “helpers” if it didn’t use its own media format, and even so those “helpers” should be asked to install by the user, not installed by themselves. The act of installing additional data to your computer without informing you or giving you a choice is akin to a virus, this is considered common sense by the original writer but you have failed to grasp the concept.
“This is a legitimate concern, but last I heard, Apple had the largest catalogue of music for online music stores, so unless it doesn’t offer something you’re looking for, why would you go anywhere else? It’s also an extremely easy to use interface.
Apple also doesn’t force you to use their music store. No one forces you to do anything. If you want to buy something off Napster or MSN Music, that’s fine. But because of the way Apple has decided to control the iPod, you can’t play those songs on it. In a perfect world, every music store would be compatible with every music player, but we don’t live in that world. ”
Wrong, most players will provide you access to almost all stores, far more than the apple store at least. It’s not a matter of “In a perfect world” its just a matter of compromizing for iPod’s shit. Again, I shouldn’t have to compromize for them when other mp3 players don’t trouble me so.
“Music store rant”
I don’t know about this topic.
“That’s the way business works. You think Microsoft didn’t do that with Windows, and that they’re not trying to do the same as Apple with WMA?”
Ofcourse he knows, but why does Apple have to make life even harder? We accepted the fact that windows media player threw in another file format, we don’t need apple troubling our lives with another format. The fact is that this isn’t the way “Business works” as you put it, but rather the way ‘Apple and Microsoft’ work. The fact that microsoft acts this way doesn’t remove the fact that apple is just as guilty.
“Oh ho! Now he brings out the big guns. Join the ranks of people who have been predicting Apple’s demise. It’s still here, isn’t it?”
Microsoft/Windows still has the amazingly large majority of the computer industry, the fact that apple is still here doesn’t remove the fact that its used far less.
“The fact is that Apple offers a very good product that many, many people appear to have adopted (on Windows and the Mac). I don’t think it’s going anywhere soon.
Hypothetically, if Apple did go down the gurgler, your music wouldn’t be worthless, either. You could still listen to it in iTunes and on an iPod. You could also remove the FairPlay DRM (using one of the various utilities available) and go and play it elsewhere. I could say the same for WMA files encoded with the Microsoft “Janus” DRM system. What happens if it’s squashed out of the market? Then you have a pile of WMA-encoded music that can’t be used.”
Hah, microsoft squashed out of the market? I hope you’re kidding. Also the fact that ‘many many people’ have adopted to Apple doesn’t make it a ‘very good product’ and the things I’ve pointed out here still stand.
“I’d like proof you can get a portable music player for a double-digit price, that is compatible with the “Janus” DRM AND will sync with Windows Media Player (by implementing PlaysForSure).
iTunes, on the other hand, syncs perfectly with the iPod (whether on Windows or the Mac).”
There are MP3 Players out there which are double digits and provide Janus DRM with WMP and PlaysForSure, you just have to look. I’m not going to waste my time proving this to you but I’m sure if you cared you’d find one just as well.
“”Evil”. There’s that word again. How is the iPod evil? It doesn’t make your life any worse. It doesn’t torment you or destroy your life, so what’s the problem?
Although the iPod is a little bit more expensive than some portable music players, I think it’s worth spending that extra $50-$100 to get something that “just works”.
As I mentioned before, some proof of the “virus-like” activity would be nice, as you have provided none.
Tags: none”
Oh it isn’t evil, it just traps you with its file format, required software installation, incapability of transferring music from computer to computer and 18 month battery life. Not to mention its propaganda and monopolization attempt on the MP3 Player market. Worth spending $50-$100 extra to get something that “Just works”? You mean, once you’ve downloaded the software they force you to download and by disregarding all the things I just said, yeah I guess it works in that case.
The virus-like activity was stated above, the installation of data without choice for the sake of apple’s crap.
If you disagree with anything I’ve written - which by all means feel free to -, don’t hesitate to buy another apple product and feed the juggernaught. The last thing this world needs is convenience and simplicity, we need a world full of incompatibilities, complications and redundant file formats. As well as people who care more about money than productivity, efficiency and support, we don’t have enough of those.
That’s all. e-mail me at the_vortex01@hotmail.com if you feel I’m being unfair or that my factual argument is somewhat incorrect, contradictory or wrong, though this time I’d prefer you to have some reasoning.
There’s an even better reason to hate the iPod: It’s destroying our culture!
Lets discuss this irrespective of the “space” here. By nature hard drive based players obviously offer larger space. Having said that, I’ll write some questions to help you make your purchasing decision.
You can read the features above so I will not reiterate them.
[*]AA (disposeable) battery. Why is that good?
I don’t like proprietary batteries. They are expensive, and after few months, they are out of production, non supported as companies come up with newer product models. So you’re stuck. Now mp3 players (most of them) have the battery built in. What makes it even worse is that with exception to Creative players, most others are completelye irreplaceable. Ipods too! That is where AA, or AAA batteries come handy. They are found anywhere there is civilization. They are disposeable, cheap!
Of course this little wonder offers 40 hours of playtime with just one AA battery. Ipods barely offer 10 hours of playtime. So compare that.
[*]The music formats.
Majority of the online music vendors use WMA format. Guess what? Ipods don’t play them. Its because they want to force people to buy from itunes store (true for other Apple products, and Microsof is accuesed of monopoly!). With this Samsung player, you are not bound to a specific vendor. Dump your music in it, regardless of the source, it will start playing. Not to mention Samung player also plays more music formats than ipod.
[*]Line input.
Do you have old cassetts? Old records? VHS tapes? Got your favorite songs or any audio on them? Guess what, you can use this player to make mp3s from ANY audio source. Just connect the included cable and press record on the player. You don’t need a computer for this. Line input is not available for Ipods even as an expensive add on.
[*]Built in mic.
Need to record your lecture? Capture a moment? Record live concerts or any other events with this feature. Now this is available for ipods. You can get an extra thing to carry for around $40 or more. Then again, Ipods are capable of handling only 1 accessory at a time. You have to remove other add on such as a remote
[*]Control without seeing?
Many people buy Ipods just to show off, “hey, look, I’m controlling an Ipod, look at me! Oopss, I forgot I can’t operate it from my pocket! I need to have it in my hands to do everything, except the “hold” switch”. Yah. Of course thats true. This Samsung player, you can operate from your pocekt, change volume, skip songs, on, off, pause basically everything. Obviously you’ll need to look at the menus if you want to change the settings, but it no way requires you to look at it. You can operate it with your eyes closed. Ipods are incapable of being controlled without looking. There is a remote for ipods (another $40 extra) which has 3/4 buttons such as back, forward, volume up and down only!
[*]Size? Yes it matters.
Please have a look at the images I have added. You can see for yourself how “small” it is. It comfortably fits in your palm. A bit cube shaped so its easier to hold. Just a little bigger than an AA battery. Its just above 2 inches in height, and little more than a half inch depth.
[*]Flash? yes please!
I always prefer flash players to any “hard drive” based players. Sure the space is small, but flash players are more reliable. The reason is, in hard drive players, there are parts moving, spinning and if for any reason they are dropped accidentally, or experiences a big jerk, it is more than likely that the drive data reader (the magnetic head) being displaced. In plain English, your fancy hard drive player won’t play anything any more. This is true for Ipods and any other hard drive player as well. Now flash players on the other hand, shake them with all of your might, nothing will happen, and the music will also be skip-free. Basically flash players are generally VERY stable, solid, not allergic to simple or tough shaking, jerk etc. Unless you break them with a hammer, or drive your car over them, flash players are very sturdy, tough guys.
By the way, if you don’t believe me, you can try shaking your hard drive player but be WARNED, you might very well damage it parmanently!
[*]Others things about this player.
- Body is made of aluminum (2 sides) and plastic (2 sides) (Its one of the VERY few mp3 players that are extremely well built, built to last! Even some newer models from Samsuing are fully made of cheap plastic, which most other players are made of anyway).
- Portable storage. It comes with both cable and a mini plug so it can be uses as a storage drive. Its plug and play, platform independent. Translation, you can use it at your computer, your friends computer, your secret lovers computer, your boss’s (if you’re allowed) computer etc. Only few hard drive players are plug and play, but most of the flash players are plug and play.
- FM radio. It wasn’t important for me, but its there. Reception is pretty good and again you can directly record from FM radio without any wires to mp3 format. You can even change the region, if you’re moving outside the US.
- Advanced SRS, WOW effects, detailed, customizeable equaliser settings, display mode, default volume etc. As it might come as shocking to many, Ipods aren’t the only players that “shuffles” music. Its a common feature that many many players have built in. You can set to normal, repeat 1, repeat all, and of course shuffle all songs in this Samsung player.
Final Verdict:
Please don’t give in to the “hype” and just buy an ipod. Do compare the features, prices. Ipods are overrated, overpriced and offers very little for the money you pay for it. So if money doesn’t matter to you, all you care about is how fashionable, how cool it looks, maybe Ipods are for you but if you are a serious, conscious, educated consumer, this Samsung player is a must buy. This is one purchase you will not regret. I’m actually getting a second one too!
I replied to original thread, but I repeat. Don’t but this shit. Whatever they say Apple is not the choice for smart guy. It goes to Macs , same to iPods, same to whatever they invent.
The iPod and iTunes are both less than average products that have become popular due to brilliant marketing. These both have poor sound quality which is a surprise because Apple has been a leader in sound and video application through the years. But the public bought it which is a clear case of ignorance and/or the need to be trendy. The bottom line though, is that the sound is bad and anyone who disagrees should understand and take a closer look at compression rates……..or run Windows Media Player or another player in comparison and decide on your own terms and own ears.
“If your iPod requires service only because the battery’s ability to hold an electrical charge has diminished, Apple will replace your iPod for a service fee of $99, plus $6.95 shipping.”
Yeah, great, my Creative Nomad Zen Xtra has a sleek case too, except that I can remove it easily and pull the battery right out. So, if the battery on this fails (which it hasn’t in more than two years), I can buy a new one for a few bucks from a battery reseller and put it in myself. Who is stupid enough to think that $105.95 to replace A BATTERY is a good deal?
bottom line, ipods will last long enough for the warranty to wear out. 13 or 14 months. Then you are stuck buying another $250 device to play the songs you bought from itunes that don’t play on any other system. So figure out how to break them before the warranty runs out, but you’ll still get the run around. Ours is staticy and the battery runs down too quick. Sony, Help !
I what world it is supposed to be ok to charge a fee for something anyone should be capebible of doing in their own? A trained monkey could replace a battery if it could get to it without a huge hassle.
When the battery goes dead on my Sansa all I have to do is slide off the back and…Wow..look at that..put in another one. Just like any other portable electronic device built for the past 50+ years.iPod users are either sol or have to plug into something else to charge up the one and only battery that you can’t get to without having to literally PRY the case apart when the battery is drained.
Why would anyone buy something portable with a battery that can’t be changed on the go..let alone easily replaced when it goes bad?
“I owned a 3G iPod for over a year and have had a 4G iPod for a couple of months now, and haven’t had any problems.”
Wow! A whole year? A couple of months? And you mean to tell me that after all that time your $200+ devices still work? I should hope so.