10 Reasons not to get an Ipod

[HAVIC]

http://www.smartmoney.com/10things/i...story=june2006

[Florian]

The iPOD blows! People should wake up and buy real HIFI and real records and cd's and none of this digital downloadable junk. Stupid P-Diddy and the other morons run around with iPOD that alone is reason enough not to buy it.


-end statement

[HAVIC]

Floridian, while I agree that the IPOD blows. There are "Hi-Fi" portable digital audio players available. I use an Iriver with optical IN/OUT and lossy audio format. So I get the same effect as using a cd player.

[Florian]

Well compared to a standard CD player for sure, but ths is not my forte :-)

[paul_pci]

Too bad Smart Money doesn't have any smart writers.

[Florian]

I didnt even read it. LOL

[Duds]

If people keep buying these things, in about 5 years there wont be any brick and mortar cd stores around to buy real cds.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I actually agree with the writer's assertions about the IPOD. I do not own one, and I never will. My trusty Sony non skip, optical digital out, 20bit DAC portable CD player works just fine when I run, walk, and sounds great even when hooked into my reference system. I am very audibly aware of the impact of lossy encoding on PCM bitstreams as aggressive as used on both MP3 and the IPOD. Don't like the sound even if it is portable and easy to use.

[Florian]

If people keep buying these things, in about 5 years there wont be any brick and mortar cd stores around to buy real cds.

I hope the record industry sues the living hell out of all the illegal copy makers!

[HAVIC]

Actually I meant to say I use lossless format on my media player with optical out.

I don't care if the CD medium goes away, they just have to provide a lossless format available for download. Shouldn't a lossless format and cd audio be the same quality?

[noddin0ff]

Well, #1 on the list reads
"At issue is Apple's proprietary format, which makes the iPod incompatible with other digital-music technology. According to Chris Crotty, senior analyst for consumer electronics at iSuppli, such closed systems either move toward compatibility or get surpassed by the competition. "

Which is a mis-statement. The iPod is very compatible with other freely available music technology (MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3 and 4), WAV, AIFF). Is it compatible with other proprietary formats that must be licencsed? no? Is it compatible with every format under the sun? No. The iPod is also compatible with AAC which is a proprietary music format sold by iTunes and not compatible with other players.

Reasons #6-10 are just stupid. Buyer beware on 2-5.

[audio_dude]

I have an iPod, but I still buy all my music from brick and mortar stores, it just sounds better, and I only use it for portable music, an occasionally as a media player for movies and stuff, I love my music, but I don't think the iPod is that bad...

[Kaboom]

that's hardly a problem with the illegal copy makers. Lossy-encoded songs are available at a buck each in Itunes, which is about the same they cost at the store, with the added advantage of not having to drag your ass over there.
so even if piracy is stopped, there won't be any brick and mortar stores to buy CDs because people will pay for the download.
i hate iPods, too.

[Florian]

Maybe we should clarify this.

Others and I dont hate the iPods technology or design but the problems that arise with masses of people downloading music instead of searching for CD's and LP's in a real store! And lets face the truth, most dont buy legal copys and rip them to to MP3 and transfer them to the iPOD. Most download music at bearShare, P2P Appz or Warez Sites.

-Flo

[Mike Anderson]

The article is full of crap. It's simply wrong about so many things.

1) As someone else pointed out, the iPod is perfectly compatible with many non-proprietary formats.

2) "If you drop me, I'm toast." Also BS. I've got two iPods, and I've dropped both of them on the pavement more times than I can count. Never had problem one with either of them. They're built like little tanks, like most stuff Apple makes.

3) "But once you've filled your player with as many as 15,000 songs, it's not so easy to get them off again." This is just WRONG.

4) "Because of copyright issues, Apple doesn't let you move music from your iPod to another computer or other electronic devices, even though it would be legal to do so."

This is ONLY true of the music you download from the iTunes store. You do NOT have to buy a single song from iTunes to use an iPod. 99.9% of the music on my iPod is from CDs I bought, or other music I downloaded legally from other sources. You can move it around anyway you like.

The entire article -- like many criticisms of the iPod -- complete conflates the iPod with the issue of music from the iTunes store. It's like saying, "You bought your refrigerator from Sears, so you can only fill it with food you buy at the Sears lunch counter." These people have no idea what the hell they're talking about.

5)"My battery life is pathetic." Is there somebody who listens to music for 15 hours straight??? Come on. I've literally NEVER had the battery run out on my iPod 5G. I've listened to it all day long, 12 hours or more - you just recharge it at night, big deal.

[Mike Anderson]

The iPOD blows! People should wake up and buy real HIFI and real records and cd's and none of this digital downloadable junk. Stupid P-Diddy and the other morons run around with iPOD that alone is reason enough not to buy it.


-end statement

Florian, as you know, I love HiFi as much as anybody else around here, and I'm willing to spend a few bucks to get it.

But this is about portability.

I travel a lot. I go the gym a lot. I go to work a lot. I can't take my 1.6qr speakers with me everywhere I go, nor the hundreds of CDs and albums I have.

With the iPod, I can fit tens of thousands of songs in the palm of my hand. I can take it on the plane, to the gym, to work, to the hotel, wherever I want. That's POWER.

Is it hifi? No. But I use very good encoding (variable bit rate at an average of 200k), and very good headphones. Believe it or not, it sounds pretty damned good.

And when you're sitting on an airplane, ANYTHING sounds better than the noise of the engines.

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Yet another "professional" who's too lazy to look up the difference between iPod & the iTunes music store. sigh

[Florian]

Florian, as you know, I love HiFi as much as anybody else around here, and I'm willing to spend a few bucks to get it.............................

I know that Mike, and it would be fine if people just use it for that and burn a few of their CD's on it. But most young adults in my age group, download thousands of songs over fat broadband lines, never visit concerts and dont buy CD's. Those are the ones comparing Vinyl and CD on a small Home Theater system with some box speakers from a Clearance sale. Or they use the iPOD as a source and trash good HIFI gear. Its a shame

[Mike Anderson]

Yet another "professional" who's too lazy to look up the difference between iPod & the iTunes music store. sigh

If I had to guess, I'd say it isn't laziness, but rather someone being paid to assert a commercial agenda.

[emorphien]

I've been enjoying the same iRiver iHP-120 for over 2.5 years now for on the go purposes and don't have any plans to get rid of it.

Still sounds better than the new iPods based on my listening.

[Mike Anderson]

I've been enjoying the same iRiver iHP-120 for over 2.5 years now for on the go purposes and don't have any plans to get rid of it.

Still sounds better than the new iPods based on my listening.

What's the capacity? I've got 60GB on mine.

[Feanor]

The article is full of crap. It's simply wrong about so many things.
....

10. "Once you go iPod, you're locked in for life."

This completely wrong; dBpower Amp Converter (for example) will translated from any Apple format to almost anything else.

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm

[Bernd]

Apologies for going slightly off topic here, but I just found this and maybe just maybe I can try and start showing our offspring that there is more to listening then little headphones.

www.goldster-audio.com

It's expensive, but kind a cute.
On the matter of physicaly buying music I am with Flo on that one. Our young one only ever downloads music, I don't think he has ever set foot into a music store. He is missing out on one of lifes joys. Ahh the smell of a fully stocked Vinyl shop is something to behold.

Peace

Bernd

[Feanor]

http://www.smartmoney.com/10things/i...story=june2006

Seems like a couple of comments made by Mike Anderson and myself have been remove. Perhaps because they challenged the accuracy, not to say veracity, of the reasons given.

Suffficient to say the the statements made in the article can be challenged.

[emorphien]

What's the capacity? I've got 60GB on mine.

20GB. I could upgrade to the 30GB drive, but no larger (unless there are higher capacity single platter drives out there now).

I could also upgrade the battery to a 30hr battery.