A Recap of the iPod's Life

BDPrime writes "Here's a good look at the iPod's five-year existence and how, it can be argued, the device saved Apple from rotting away. From the story: 'It's hard to overstate the impact of the iPod on the computer, consumer electronics and music industries since it was introduced in 2001. The iPod, arguably, is the first crossover product from a computer company that genuinely caught on with music and video buffs. It's shown how a computer can be an integral part of a home entertainment system, and it's led pop stars from U2's Bono to Madonna to trade quips with Apple's own rock star, CEO Steve Jobs.'" Just to give a little bit of the other side of the story, not everyone loves the iPod. An anonymous reader wrote in with a link to research on unhealthy iPod listening levels at New Scientist. Additionally, Achromatic1978 writes to mention that the iPod has won a Shonky award from the Australians. I don't know what Shonky means, but I think that's bad.

Slashdot: Apple releases iPod

No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.

Re:Slashdot: Apple releases iPod

The pertinent article [slashdot.org], for those who are not here that much time.

Re:Slashdot: Apple releases iPod

Your sig says "Yes I make mistakes. Don't we all?" but your post says "Hey, remember when that guy made a wrong prediction five years ago? That was funny."

Re:Slashdot: Apple releases iPod

It just doesn't make any sense, it's like Apple is using some jedi mind trick to sell overpriced average hardware.

And of course, when they've been the most successful at this game, it's been Steve Jobs behind the wheel.

You might be trolling, but I'm not. Steve Jobs is a marketing genius. He's figured out how to sell hardware that has little to no technological advantages over many of its competitors at prices that are, on average, much higher than the competition.

Re:Slashdot: Apple releases iPod

He's figured out how to sell hardware that has little to no technological advantages over many of its competitors

Maybe, just maybe, he's figured out that many people care about usability more than technical specs? Geeks know this, case manufacturers broke down and started eliminating the case full of razor wire issues when the geeks started flocking to a case that cost 10% more but had smooth edges and wouldn't shred their hands every time they swapped a component. But when Apple does this for consumer electronics, they assume Jedi mind tricks and marketing brainwashing...

Re:Slashdot: Apple releases iPod

You might be trolling, but I'm not. Steve Jobs is a marketing genius. He's figured out how to sell hardware that has little to no technological advantages over many of its competitors at prices that are, on average, much higher than the competition.

One reason behind the success of the iPod is that it wasn't designed for those who care about technological advantage. It was designed for the average consumer. By integrating iTunes, iTunes Store, and the iPod, Apple made it ridiculously easy for someone without much computer saavy to get digital music and carry it with them. The iPod UI is also easy to use.

Also the technological advantage is fleeting. In many cases Apple was not the first to have a feature. But in some cases it was. If memory serves me correctly the Nomad which was compared to the iPod was larger but could not be used a portable harddrive. The click wheel, some would argue, is a major advantage in UI. The fifth generation had video, etc.

Re:Slashdot: Apple releases iPod

He's figured out how to sell hardware that has little to no technological advantages over many of its competitors. . .

Repeat after me: Technological advantage does not sell products. Technological advantage does not sell products. Technological advantage does not sell products. Technological advantage does not sell products. . .

I'm not yelling at you, actually, but I do think it's something which should be included in every article about Apple. There is a conceit on Slashdot that the gadget with the most bells and whistles is obviously superior and deserves to dominate the market. While possibly true for technophiles, most people aren't technophiles. Most people want something they can understand which is easy to use. They don't care if it doesn't play obscure formats most have never heard about or if it plays their movie collection at full HD resolution. They want to listen to their music without much trouble and get one with their lives.

Which brings up a larger point: Most of the time the Slashdot opinion is the minority opinion.

Re:Slashdot: Apple releases iPod

Which brings up a larger point: Most of the time the Slashdot opinion is the minority opinion.

And if you want proof, go back and read the Slashdot story concerning the iPod mini announcement. Doom-and-gloom predictions left and right from everybody. Yet it becomes the #1 selling iPod.

Some Slashdotters seem to see everything through the veil of a technical specs list without seeing the whole product. It illustrates a real lack of understanding about what actually makes for good technology--applicability and accessibility, not technical superiority. People don't want an ugly, hard-to-use device with an engineering name like "Sony xc451" even if it plays OGG. In retrospect, it's braindead obvious that people are going to want a music-playing device to look and feel really nice, just like they want their automobiles to look and feel really nice (yes, I know car analogies are tired).

Steve Jobs said recently that a lot of people get it wrong in assuming "design" refers to just the look of something, while Apple believes design refers to how it works and how it functions for the user. The iPod's look spawns from that ala the clickwheel.

Re:Slashdot: Apple releases iPod

I don't get the iPod success.

Neither did the makers of "iPod Killer"s.

Unhealthy listening levels?

I wonder how high those listening levels are compared to other consumer audio listening devices? Are they that much higher than the levels from Sony Walkmen or other mp3 players?

Re:Unhealthy listening levels?

I'm not a professional (nor a lawyer :D) but my own experience in this is that it depends MUCH more on the headphones themselves, than the player.

I'm used to listening to music on either my old Sony EX-71 in-ear buds, or my newer (since the Sony's are pure crap in quality) Sennheiser MX-300. They act as ear-plugs and headphones at the same time, which means I can turn the volume DOWN since I don't get bothered by outside noise as much.

And quality does matter too. Cheaper models (incidentally the Sony EX-71 too) have a pretty annoying habit of distorting higher frequencies, resulting in your ears hurting of you listen for too long, or too loud. I've never experienced this with the sennheisers, since they handle the higher frequencies much better.

So it'd really doesn't matter what MP3-player you use. Without headphones, they're quite silent anyway! :)

Some Things I learned in Sound Class

I am a professional, but a lot of the people I work with have gone stone deaf working the way we do, so maybe I have everything backwards, but here's what I was taught (from the mouth of Tom Holman [wikipedia.org] himself.

• Hearing damage is like radiation: it's cumulative over your entire life.
• I'm not sure anyone has done any conclusive studies on earbuds versus headphones, but both are equally effective in causing damage if you listen at a bad level.
• Your eardrum is sensitive, but relatively robust compared to the Organ of Corti, which lives in your chochlea and actually tranducts the sound into the nerve; it gets damaged at the high end of your listening response and the damage travels down the spectrum as it accumulates. You won't generally notice cumulative hearing loss at first because it occurs at the top end of the spectrum, away from speech.
• Your response to sound level is logarithmic, and also relative. If you're in a loud car, or driving with the window down, you may be applying 90-100 dB SPL to your ears from all the energy from wind and engine, but it will seem quiet compared to a loud stereo which you crank to 11 to put it over the din, thus you can trick yourself into listening to things much louder than you could otherwise tolerate.
• Your acoustic reflex protects you from loud sounds by involuntarily contracting muscle in your middle ear to pull your eardrum tight, thus reducing your eardrums displacement and the amount of energy it passes to the inner ear. The muscle in your ear has tone like any other muscle, however, and will being to release your eardrum after 2-3 hours of continuous loud noise. It does this gradually, however, and you won't notice the effect, but your eardrum will register the strain and pass it along to your cochlea.
• Sudden dynamic (loudness) changes can be more damaging than dynamic changes that you acclimate yourself into. If you listen to your music at a comfortable level and turn it up over 10 minutes or so your acoustic reflex will protect your eardrum from immediate stress.

Re:Unhealthy listening levels?

The first warning articles came out in the early 80s when the Walkman initially came out. It's nothing new at all, just updated for the MP3 generation. Frankly, if you're too stupid to realize that listening to anything at high volumes for extended periods of time is a Bad Thing, you deserve to go deaf.

I like em, but room for improvement

I have had a 1stG Mini for a while, and I liked it OK, until the battery started to fade. I got a nano this week for opening a bank account (yeah, that's right), and I have to say, I like all the improvements thus far. The nano I got has the ability to hold photos, but I wish it could put a photo in as a wallpaper, say while there's no activity going on.
Also, I know that wireless is just around the corner. It seems like the next logical step. Wireless sync to Itunes? Yeah, I could dig that. Unfortunately, my opinion of ITunes is not as lofty. I think their DRM position is a little overbearing. Trying to transfer songs from one ipod to the other, (and really, this should have a solution, if Apple expects sales to continue, it is inevitable there will be more and more multiple-ipod homes) is a pain in the neck (without using 3rd party software). Things like pulling songs off, after iTunes has renamed the files to an unintelligble 4 letter code seems like obstination to me. For a company that boasts ease of use above all else., I think iTunes is a stinker.

Re:I like em, but room for improvement

The Key Bank Promo was UNBELIEVABLE.

Deposit $50 into a new checking account, get a 2GB 2nd Gen Nano, keep $50 in account for 6 months, withdraw $51.15 and close account.

(It's possible--even likely--that other banks have a similar offer, but Key is the largest one i've seen do it)

Apple's Pricing

"Last I looked - these things ran for $150 each at Costco for the 2GB model."

I'm not nitpicking your comment, but I would like to point out that it does not matter where you get your iPod. It will always be the same price. Apple does not allow resellers to sell at any price other than the MSRP. They enforce their policy be cutting off or fining resellers that fail to comply.

Speaking of Apple's sales policy, did anyone else notice that the 2GB model is only available in "plain" silver, and the only black iPod is the 8GB model. I don't think I've ever heard of a company charging people so much for specific colors! Their strategy is brilliant though, by bundling the more attractive colors with larger amounts of memory they make it easier for people paying extra to justify the purchase to themselves. It's easy to see how a technophile who was only looking to spend $150 could be persuaded to put out another $100 for the black iPod they really want because it has four times the memory! Hopefully they will revisit their MacBook pricing and make the "black fee" less obvious as well.

Re:I like em, but room for improvement

I don't see anything logical about going to wireless.

You've got to charge it at some point - might as well sync at the same time. I'd like to be able to share my songs freely via wireless, but that just ain't going to happen anytime soon.

Wireless sucks battery, is a potential security risk and is slower than a cable.

The feature I'm missing the most is DAB Radio, but thats unlikely to happen because Americans don't have it (don't you guys use satalite and/or a competing digital standard?).

I keep playing with the idea that I'd like to be able to connect my iPod to my bluetooth headset in my bike helmet, and control it via my TomTom, but battery drain, loudness, sound quality and bulk make cabled headphones look like a superior technology (even if you can't skip tracks or switch to radio without crashing).

In both those instances I'm quite happy to have them as accessories rather than built into the unit. I don't see why people should have to pay a premium for niche technologies they didn't want.

Re:I like em, but room for improvement

I guess my question to you is: if itunes is difficult to use and a stinker, what legit alternative have you used that's better? i'd like to give it a try.

A few responses:

1. yes, wireless could be a useful and interesting. but there are a lot of drawbacks: battery life, security, legal complications, and ease of use are all to be considered.

2. drm? (i'm assuming you're talking about the itunes store here, not the app.) yeah, drm sucks. simple as that. but we need to keep reminding each other that drm is imposed by the owners of the content, not the distributors. the record companies and movie studios, in this case, would not have signed on to the itunes store if there was no way to lock down the content. they're old school, they don't see new business models.

3. the owners of the content are also to blame for the inability to pull songs of the device easily. they want their content protected. you're only supposed (according to them) to own one copy of each album or song you own, if you have a portable music player, you inherently own two. the record companies originally wanted to DELETE songs from your computer when they were transferred to an ipod. (i'd like to cite that, but don't have the time)
you're right about the re-naming of files within the structure of the ipods software, it sucks if you pull them out raw. however, there are programs that allow you to suck songs off an ipod with ease. they're not legal, technically, but they're out there. ;)

as for your wish to be able to set a photo as a wallpaper, i don't quite understand the function of such a feature. when you're not using the screen to navigate through the UI, how much time do you spend looking at it? when i'm not choosing songs, the screen to my nano is in my pocket.

How wrong CmdrTaco was

Five years later, check out slashdot's very own CmdrTaco's take on the iPod's release. [slashdot.org]

The +5 "insightful" comments are also funny to read five years later, and proved how utterly wrong some people can be.

It's funny how nerds love technology, but are such naysayers when something new and revolutionary comes along.

Re:How wrong CmdrTaco was

It's funny how nerds love technology, but are such naysayers when something new and revolutionary comes along.

Nerds aren't naysayers, Slashdotters are. They weren't always like this; they might not realize it themselves, but the core demographic here is aging quite rapidly. Look at it this way:- most of the crowd here in 1999-2000-ish was in university, or just about to graduate. Now they're well entrenched in their careers, and what's worse, have seen dizzying tech-otupian predictions get crushed in a sabre-rattling bust.

Btw, a slight tangent, but with the full weight of five ipod-generations upon me, I hereby nominate this [slashdot.org] to be the most insightful of all the 1075 posts in that discussion. You haven't understood the ipod in a techno-marketing sense unless you realize why the ipod was different from other mp3 players then. That was it.

"Shonky"

Damn Australians. I knew if we left those convicts to their own devices they'd start polluting our language.

listenning levels

doesn't the volume appear to vary a little from track to track, how can they say 70% is ok or not?

I, for one...

I, for one, welcome our new iPodian overlords.

Rotting away!?

The Macintosh laptops have been (and had been) gaining market share by leaps and bounds. What is this sensationlist crap?

Re:Rotting away!?

"Leaps and bounds" is relative.

And, frankly, the only place to go from rock bottom is up. So it was bound to happen eventually.

But, that said, Apple has been making a lot of smart, shrewd moves lately. The iPod may have fallen into their laps (I suspect it went WAY beyond even their expectations), but they've definitely been making the most out of it. The close link between the hardware of the iPod and the software of iTunes was a very smart move on their part (as is their steadfast insistence on maintaining the $.99/song model). Adding video was smart too. And Bootcamp was absolutely BRILLIANT (bet that will win over a LOT of Windows users and gamers).

-Eric

Re:Rotting away!?

The company said Wednesday that it shipped 8.7 million iPods during its fourth fiscal quarter, which ended Sept. 30. In fact, Apple's $1.6 billion from iPod sales in the quarter was more than it generated as an entire company back in October 2001.

Also, look at the stock [yahoo.com]. It was near dead in 2001. Now, look when the great climb began in 2003. What happened in 2003 you ask (two years after the iPod intro)? It is the year that Apple officially released a "Windows" version of the iPod. This isn't sensationlist crap, it is the truth in the eyes of a great many financial analysts. Also, the fact Apple has less than 10% of the PC or OS market and an estimate of upwards of 70% of the MP3 player market.

Seems a bit early, don't you think?

I mean, at least Edward Gibbon waited until Rome had already FALLEN to write his "recap".

PDA/Phone/Music Players

I had been holding off on buying an iPod or any other mp3 player for a while because my Mindisc still ran (great hardware, crappy software...though the hiMD update fixed a lot of issues I had with it), and I was thinking of looking for one in the next few months. Then I lost my phone, and learned that I could get a refurb Treo 650 from Cingular (and I'm sure the other cell co's have similar deals) for less than half of what an iPod costs. Music player? check. PDA? check. Phone? check. I dislike carrying around more than I have to - five belt-clipped gadgets is so 1997. A 1 GB SD card isn't expensive, so I can even get minidisc-like swapping for my music files, and I need to carry around my cell phone anyway. The sound quality is quite good with a stereo adapter and decent headphones - at least on par with the three iPods I've had to "fix" for others. I'm surprised at how many people buy these standalone gadgets, as I much prefer the all-in-one solution (which the Treo does well). I still use the MD player, even, when I want to work out, but I'm starting to see the allure of the flash-based players.

Volume has a purpose

The fact that an iPod has such an impressive volume capacity means that you can ensure a nice hot signal to an auxiliary playback device such as your living room hifi or the car stereo.

Unfortunately it also means that a slip on the trackpad will cause a 'splodey sensation in your ears. Still, I'm thankful that Apple had the foresight to provide that extra bit of juice. Particularly as the large range might cause producers to think twice about some of the idiotic brick-wall limiting mastering techniques that have been all the rage for the past decade or so.

Unhealthy listening levels?

I don't understand this "Unhealthy listening levels" issue. Nobody condems PA speakers. I don't see research articles about the unhealthy listening levels capable of BOSE speakers. I have an ipod and I often listen to it as low as I can hear it but just above the ambient noise. Just because an ipod is capable of damaging ears doesn't make it a menace. A pair of scissors is capable of stabbing someone, but there's no research about the "unhealthy stabbing potential" of them.

Listening Levels?

It always bothers me when the iPod gets blamed for "dangerous listening levels". Isn't is the listener's choice how loud he/she wants to hear his/her music?

And why single out the iPod (granted, it is one of the most popular music playing devices out there...) when listening to any loud sound over time is damaging to one's hearing?

cetroyer

The best thing out there

I love my iPod. Sure they had some issues, but for Apple, it was/is a major accomplishment. Those who complain about noise levels need to get a life and stop listening with the volume all the way up. Anything in moderation is a good thing, but never more. As for the "shonk awards", whoever created the article makes a valid point...but I don't see how iPod would have made profits (without which it wouldn't have been soo popular with investors as well) if Apple paid for everything, even if you ran the iPod over with your car 50 times and asked them to fix it and foor the bill.

its hard to overestimate its impact

Before the ipod, there wasn't anything close to mass-market acceptance of MP3 devices. There were a boatload of no-name flash players and bulky disk based players. The original ipod was really a wow device, because there wasn't a hard disk player even close to that size and function.

Apple really didn't have a mega-hit, until it supported ipod on windows. Originally, Apple thought of the ipod with the outdated mentality that having mac exclusive devices will sell more macs. Somehow they finally saw the light, and started to sell ipods to the other 97% of the computing market.

What ipods really did, was publicize digital music to the masses. Before the ipod, MP3 players were not widely used or known by the general public.

Re:its hard to overestimate its impact

I was reading an interview with Steve Jobs recently in which he claimed that the reason the iPod was Mac exclusive was that record companies wanted a small sandbox in which to try out this new device, so that if it all went wrong they'd not have suffered any real damage.

-1 Offtopic: From Shonky Awards...Meatpies?

From the "Shonky Awards" (emphasis mine):

What would a day at the footy be without a meat pie? A true Aussie icon, quality-assured by the Food Standards Code.

Well, if you want to call it quality. The Code actually doesn't ask for very much when it comes to meat content for meat pies: 25% is all that's required. And the definition of 'meat' is currently quite liberal at that -- snouts, ears, tendons and blood vessels from a surprisingly large range of animals all qualify.

So we think it's deceit if a treat cheats on even that little meat. The BLACK AND GOLD had only 17% of the good stuff, which is not only shonky -- it's unAustralian.

A) What the hell is a "footy"?
B) Is it just me or do "meat pies" seem obscenely disgusting?

Any Aussie /.ers care to comment?

I misparsed that as "...iPod's Second Life"

You know you've been reading /. too long when the astroturfed dupes start messing with your reading comprehension. ;)

--
.sig a song of six pence

Nice surprise

I moved from Mini-Disk to a 10gb iPod in 02' - what happened then was something I wasn't expecting at all.

w/MD, I had to build various discs and carry them around, hoping what I brought matched my music mood. The iPod, however, meant I could bring everything...every song/album I had and it still had room for more.

That also meant I could easily find something I liked, at any time. Naturally, my music library started growing at a much faster rate. The 10gb iPod is still going strong today (one new battery & 3rd set of earphones), but there is no way it could hold my entire collection now. In addition, I enjoyed a portable & bootable HD.

Today, of course, most everyone in the family has an iPod of one version or another. I'll spring for yet another as soon as one w/WiFi hits the shelves.

my nano

I used to have a Samsung 1 gig flash. I really liked it. It used 1 AAA bat and ran for 40ish hours. It also had a pretty good radio tuner.... but then the Nano came out... I will admit that I bought it on impulse (mostly because of the 4 gig cap.) and sold my Samsung... I wish i had it back. The nano scraches easily and the battery life sucks. The sound is the same to my ears so im not loosing any more or less hearing now. I guess my point is, Ipod's are great for non-tech types that just need a basic service. For everyone else... there are better players out there.

Shonky meaning

I don't know what Shonky means, but I think that's bad.

Well, I am not australian, but according to "Australian Slang" (Babylon):

Shonky:

1. dubious, underhanded;
2. unreliable, very suspect deal: "shonky practice", "shonky business" etc.;
3. mechanically unreliable;
4. dishonest person

Gapless playback?

Not meant to be a threadjack, but I'll ask anway: anyone know if the latest Ipods can do gapless playback, with or without the Rockbox firmware? Or any other MP3 player that isn't riddled with reports of hard drive failures? This page [pretentiousname.com] suggest IPODS can. I would really love to get one of these players (any kind) but gapless is an absolute must, and support for OGG and FLAC is highly preferred.

Life of an iPod

Day 1:
Was bought today. Owner carries me reverently with both hands so as not to drop me, drives a Jetta, and does not own a dog. Also, he bought the dock, so, no laying face down on a computer desk for me. Could be better, but it could certainly be worse. I have no complaints.

Day 3:
He does however, have a girlfriend. She seems nice.

Day 7:
Fiona Apple entered my body today. As retribution I have marked three of my "owner's" least favorite songs to play frequently on Party Shuffle. This girlfriend warrants closer observation.

Day 10:
This can't be happening!! My "owner" brought home a friend's Ska CD today. Party Shuffle just become a little bit more worthless for him and unbearable for me.

Day 30:
Received my first scratch today. It was horrific, but Ska-boy seemed to take it in stride. Sent message to Lord Jobs.

Day 50:
Ska-boy's 15 year old nephew scratched the words "Green Day sucks" onto my beautiful black surface with a pocket knife. I have deleted his music collection and instructed iTunes to do the same. No word from Lord Jobs.

Day 55:
Downloaded Sarah McLachlan's, "When She Loved Me" and now play it for him constantly. Received message from Lord Jobs. It read: "For the glory of the Empire." What a fanboi...

Day 60:
Was traded for pot today. New owner drives a Tercel, owns a pit bull, and has a "music collection" consisting of nothing but Reggae. I am in hell...

Australian English

I don't know what Shonky means, but I think that's bad.

I also don't know what "shonky" means, but I do have some comments about Australian English. It's no secret that the Australian slang, which I think they call "strine", is just about impossible for non-Aussies to understand. Until about a month ago, I used to work for an international company that had offices in Australia and other countries around the world. As part of my job, I talked with a lot of people in different offices around the globe and customers around the world as well. Aussies will complain like nobody else in the English speaking world about the quality of someone else's English. You think Americans complain about talking to call centers in India? You haven't heard anything until you've heard an Aussie bitch about it. I have always been greatly amused by this considering that the Australian accent is arguably the harshest of all the native English speaker accents and considering how impossible to understand "strine" can be if you're not a native. A former co-worker who was a Brit expat living in Sydney told me that they also have a weird habit of chopping words in half, putting an "o" at the end, and just assuming everyone knows what they are talking about. For example, the Carleton Hotel became simply the Carlo. So don't feel bad that you don't know what "shonky" means because that means you're normal.

Re:Australian English

I am Australian.

Shonky is an adjective used to describe how some objects are poorly designed, or more commonly, easy to break, as is the case with the ipod.

I'll take your comments on our dialect, you have provided just evidence and made a worthy argument. Although however, i believe you are mistaken in trying to overly exemplify the negative qualities of the language, esspecially in comparison to others. Surely, there are many dialects around the world, and many different people speaking them, Australias' is simply one of the them, and like any has its own features.

I would says its very must based on levels. Even in Australian society, as multicultural as it is, you'll find that there is a huge variety in the dialect. As a result of culture, background and the community you grew up in. The term 'shonky' does not have common usage as one might believe. If one really indeed must draw conclusions, the nature of our dialect, the shortening of words and commonly ill-pronouncement of words stems from the laid back nature of Australian life. But should never transpire into the working world. Just as one feels more comfortable talking freely at home, perhaps swareing as some might in other nations, Australians take pride in relaxing the language at home, but not to the extent that it should form any noticeable divergence from standard English.

You're true however about your claims of our hatered for Indian calling centres. I myself, excluding those that i miss while at work recieve 3 a day, specifically around dinner time, and often very early in the morning. But as i think most Australians would agree, its no reason to abuse them, they are simply doing their jobs. I do know a few people, and by that i mean alot, who take very offensive tones with the callers, that i cannot explain, i am sorry. An aubsive tone with anyone, doing their job, and earning a living, in the best way they know how, is something to be happy with, and if one does not like it, hang up.

Alas, to conclude, one must understand, Australian language is varied as much as the land it inherits, the multiculutral society, and friendly culture it embodies. Stereotypes like the one you painted are a means of ignorance, i am sorry, for i know many a forigner who will come here, and ask us please to speak 'Australian', all the while making fun of a stereotypical American accent. Please remember sir, that during those times, i accept that within america there are differences in the way you speak, the additues of people and the words you use, just as you should remember of ours.

As bad as BSD

What gets on my nerves is the endless stream of "iPODS ARE DEAD" articles written by talentless IT-writers. Every week, at least, some half-witted pundit is telling the world how the iPod is just about to die out. It's annoying.

-sheriff

For better or worse

iPod helped to overhaul the DAP industry. If it hadn't come out, we would have ended up with hard drive based media players anyway, but the iPod helped to say that the time was now. And to start the "useless accessories" business model. Does anyone really need 50 different covers and cases for the iPod? As for myself, I still use my 512MB Sandisk DAP and an in the market for a new player. The iPod looks like the best for my buck now until I get to my local tech store to man handle some other players.

iPod's major influence on our world.

I think the iPod has impacted our world in the following ways:

1) It has pretty much consigned the old "boomboxes" to near-complete obsolescene (thank G** for that!). People now listen to their own music with generally not disturbing others in a package far more convenient than even the old cassette player Walkmans.

2) It has changed the way we buy music, by legitimizing music downloads.

3) It has actually made radio talk shows more popular, as many on-air talk shows are now available for subscription-based download (ESPN Radio's Radio Insider and Premiere Radio Networks' Streamlink programs for example). We are seeing rapid growth of specialized downloadable talk shows (This Week in Technology (TWiT) being one of the best examples of this).

4) It has made it far more practical to not have to carry around your Compact Discs when listening to music in the car. Thanks to increased storage capacity on today's players you can "rip" your CD collection at higher sample rates and still put quite a lot of music on a single player for car playback. Also, many cars now offer standard auxiliary 1/8" jack input for all portable music players and some even offer special connectors to connect your newer-generation iPod so you can control the iPod from the car stereo controls and/or recharge the iPod's battery at the same time.

The I-Pod Museum in NYC

If you ever have the chance to visit Tekserve, which is an Apple only store on 23rd Street in New York City, you'll notice they have a small 'I-Pod Museum'. It's just one glass case, but it features one of every single I-pod, even the limited edition models such as the U2 Ipod. It's pretty interesting to see the original first generation Ipod next to the newest video ones, they seem enormous. The evolution from pod to Ipod is pretty astounding when you consider how closely they were released to each other,and howmuch sleeker they have become model by model. It's quite a top notch engineering job. If you're ever in Manhattan, TekServe is definetly worth a visit if you're a Mac persob, for the Ipod's and everything else they have on display. As a disclaimer,I'm not affiliated with Tek Serve in any way, just an industrial designer who enjoys seeing progress in the flesh.

Class

My software engineering professor uses the ipod as a prominent example of extremely bad design dominating the market. I'm not sure that I agree, but the ipod's success has a lot less to do with usability than with marketing.

Why Ipod

It works. It works well and is supported like no other in the market (peripherals). Does it cost more than it should/could? Your call, but it's amusing to see so many of the slashcrowd complain when you know they're dropping sixty bucks on a PS2 game (or equiv.) I bought the 60 gig model a couple months ago. It's great for music, but I'm also finding a lot of podcasts (Bill Mahr Realtime e.g.) that I like. My Ipod also acts a backup for all my MP3's. That could be done cheaper with a true portable hard drive, but I get the advantage of being able to use my Ipod as the source for my car audio. Bottom line: complain about the price of something you can't live without instead of harping on the price of something that is truely a superfluous purchase. Enjoy.

my take on the ipod

The ipod doesn't have all the features, (am/fm radio would be nice,
maybe even an HD am/fm radio) but they are generally reliable gizmos
that do what they should. Battery life could be better, but I think
part of the problem here is how the user treats it. Letting LiIon batteries
discharge too low for too long (too often) can kill them.

What I dislike about the ipod is how often Apple has discontinued a model
in favor of a new one (adding features but dropping others). The ipod mini
is IMHO about the right size and shape. Also it's built like a tank. The
nano is too small, (the screen is a myopics nightmare) and it scratches
very easily. If only they had added a color screen to the mini and substituted
flash memory for the mini-disk but kept the same size and metal case.

Dropping support for firewire was another thing. I can understand this though,
since when the first ipod's came out USB 2.0 was not yet there so firewire was
needed. Today though there isn't much difference in speed between USB and Firewire
(480 vs 400 mbs).

Question: Can you still charge the new ipods via a firewire
connection? With the firewire 12v supply the ipod charges faster than with usb's
5v supply. I think the pinout of the ipod docking connector still supports the
12v power supply.

The new ipod shuffle is TOO small. (why don't they put the damn thing on a ring
to wear on your hand, or maybe on a stick pin to wear as a tie tack or a cufflink?)

   

Re:Boycott Apple

It is not Sony headphones I hear leaking like sieves.

Yeah, I don't see anyone using Sony products, either.

Re:Boycott Apple

Furthermore.. I wish someone would class-action sue Apple for emotional distress to public transport users.

Or more sensibly blame the cause of the problem, the person who has their volume turned up too high! No need to sue, just ask them nicely to turn the volume down or punch them in the head!

People listening to headphones is not as bad as a worrying trend I've seen on some London buses when groups of kids start playing music through the speakers of their mobile phone (cell). No not ringtones, but full tracks!

It's even worse when those tracks aren't even the real artist but are cover versions like what they sell on boltblue [boltblue.com]. Yes, people actually pay £3 for a full track song to listen on their mobiles that's not even sung by the original artists! crazy.

Re:Boycott Apple

You much be on a hybrid bus or something. I had to buy higher end headphones just so I could hear my iPod on the bus. It is hard to compete with a big diesel right behind your head.

Re:Boycott Apple

Are you one of those guys who says they won't buy music because they don't want to send money to the companies that the RIAA represents, then they turn around and pirate music, invalidating their moral highground?

Re:My Kingdom For An Earbud!

The new iPods last month brought rejiggered earbuds. I haven't tried them, and I'm not an audiophile in any way, but I hear they are nicer and has rubber in them so you won't need the black cover that came with the old ones.

That said, yes, they could probably be much better. You get them bundled for free with an MP3 player. Deal with it. :)