[pds6]

The gist of a number of posts is: "The iPod is boring".

To me, being boring after a year or two of use is a good thing. If something does what it is suppose to do, day-in and day-out, I think boring is wonderful. The iPod is a platform with a very short learning curve that for the most part (iTunes 7.0 was a bit much until the update) does as advertised. It is boring.

If you don't need a new dap, don't buy it! Save your money. Either a true iPod video player and/or an iPhone is in the works.

 

[K2Grey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pds6 The gist of a number of posts is: "The iPod is boring". To me, being boring after a year or two of use is a good thing. If something does what it is suppose to do, day-in and day-out, I think boring is wonderful. The iPod is a platform with a very short learning curve that for the most part (iTunes 7.0 was a bit much until the update) does as advertised. It is boring. If you don't need a new dap, don't buy it! Save your money. Either a true iPod video player and/or an iPhone is in the works.

It makes one wonder whether the iPod is brought for playing music, or if it's brought for the thrill of buying, or because it's somehow exciting to have a mp3 player, or something else I don't understand really.

 

[Zanth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by K2Grey It makes one wonder whether the iPod is brought for playing music, or if it's brought for the thrill of buying, or because it's somehow exciting to have a mp3 player, or something else I don't understand really.

Interesting point. Certainly for me, I'm all about the music. Hence me not caring much about the screen. In fact, I don't display album cover art. Why? It takes up a substantial amount of space which could be used for more music. Of course others will use them for many purpose, such as a digital storage device. For me, the iPhoto has a great linear sound, works well, stores enough (mine is 60) to be decent for weeks at a time and provide me enough selection I can get my fix of pretty well any genre, but this new Nano, I am just so impressed. The only think that could be better would be if it folded down (maintaining the same size nearly) then it would be the size of the new shuffle and perhaps even more durable (less likely to be cracked in one's pocket). Still, at this point, I couldn't imagine that I would need anything more out of it save for those extras I listed above.

If people are buying for status..well let them, and the iPod or any device for that matter, will fizzle out of uber must-have popularity. The fashion world is a fickle lot.

 

[Evisu]

Edited

 

[stevesurf]

So there we were, at a party, last night, and the host pulls out his 5G that I sold him and starts showing the guys pixs of him and another guy at an Adult Film Award Party. I heard quite a few people saying "I have to get one of those." "I didn't know the pictures looked so good on that." Of course they could be talking about the subject matter instead of the iPod, but it was the attention center for a few at this party.

So then, I was talking with this nice young lady and decided to show her pictures of my cats, which she really enjoyed. I think iPod hype will continue for many as they discover it; keep in mind that Head-Fiers tend to be way ahead of the technology curve and are early adopters.

Now if you really want something that deserves hype, get one of those portable air cannons and bring it to a party

 

[nvkid909]

i think people (inc. myslelf) have been putting up with alot concerning iPods, mostly the BS that apple say & do. they [apple] have always been economical with the truth when claiming battery times, instead offering unreasonable advice to get such run times. they're always slow to offer support, or if there's a general concensous of something wrong in a product of theirs, they go into denial mode.

 

[3X0]

In my experience, iPods are ubiquitous enough to not really warrant any special attention. Sure, it may be perceived as some sort of pop culture or status symbol by many, but the hordes of people at my school that are outwardly plain and uninteresting (to be polite, I'm seriously understating the fact) that have iPods suggest otherwise.

For me, more-unique players have garnered a lot more interest in my environment. In the past I've heard a lot more comments towards the few Dell JukeBoxes and Creative Zen Micros among the sea of iPods; it's no different today. The few "underdog" players I've seen have caught much more attention than the ever-common Pod. Even the new Nanos on the campus were greeted with little enthusiasm.

 

[The_X]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nvkid909 i think people (inc. myslelf) have been putting up with alot concerning iPods, mostly the BS that apple say & do. they [apple] have always been economical with the truth when claiming battery times, instead offering unreasonable advice to get such run times. they're always slow to offer support, or if there's a general concensous of something wrong in a product of theirs, they go into denial mode.

What are you talking about? First off, how is being economical with battery times a bad thing? Would you rather they be liberal and claim exaggerated times like a lot of other companies?

Also, Apple has historically been pretty responsive to customer complaints. For example, when people complained about Nanos scratching, Apple started packing in slip cases and offering an extremely liberal replacement policy. It has nearly always been able to solve Rev. A problems in subsequent revisions. It has solved almost all of the sound quality and playback complaints of its previous iPods, including the bass roll-off, hard drive noise, and--significantly--gapless playback. More recently, there have been some issues with the Rev. A MacBooks which Apple has been also liberally fixing under warranty. Many other companies do not offer the same "no questions asked" warranty policies that Apple does. Look at Creative. Its MuVo's have had backlight buzz since day one, and guess what? They still have backlight buzz today. Apple has its problems, but compared to other companies can you rightfully say you've been putting up with its "BS"??

 

[3X0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_X What are you talking about? First off, how is being economical with battery times a bad thing? Would you rather they be liberal and claim exaggerated times like a lot of other companies?

I think he meant economic testing conditions, not economic claims.

 

[blessingx]

I wonder if Zune pushes the other WMA players aside, if things will turn into a Zune v. iPod hype fest?

And with great trepidation, I post this.

 

[discord]

There's still A LOT of people at my school with ipods. I dare even say more than before.

 

[Sybaek]

I can safely say iPod's are the most common sight on campus. Everyone carry's them. While the new models may not turn as many heads as before, because they are not as radical as the nano's were, they are selling like crazy still. Heck I bought a new iPod about a month ago, upgraded my 4g to a 5.5g 80gig. Then again I fall under the nerdy category

.

Perhaps it's the location. I attend a University of California school, so we see new fads and technologies gain popularity before alot of others. I mean many of our professors explicity forbid iPods in lectures, and eject students with the tell-tale white earbuds (crappiest headphones ever....) in thier ears.

I mean nowadays Treo smartphones and Motorola Q's are the new "in" thing. Anyone who has a status to hold, carries one of these. Motorola RAZR's are so last summer.

While I do believe iPods have somewhat lost their fervor due to the fact everyone has them and sees little reason in upgrading them after only a year or two, they are here to stay. I'm sure they have become the cultural icon, similar to the Walkman's in their heyday.

 

[PeeeMeS]

Not reallyyy

 

[erlik]

Quote:

And with great trepidation, I post this.

I think the reason the ipod hype is dying is that DAPs are pretty common nowadays. The ipod is the reference, it is reliable, easy to use, everybody know what to expect from it.

What's needed to spark interest anew is a device that offers something really different. The Zune could have been it but seems to have failled because the wireless is cripled.

Apple may do it again with their "true video wireless ipod" if it is finaly released. First this would not replace the 5G ipod but have to be a parrallel product line. This would be ideal for peoples who want more functionality such as better video, games, text, streaming and maybe some web browsing and basic PDA functions at the expense of simplicity, size and a virtual clickwheel. This device would be in competition with the announced archos 604 wifi, the zen vision W and palm / WM PDAs rather than the 5.5G ipod and zen vision M.

 

[packetloss]

It's hard to beat the nano, long battery life and extremely compact. No hard drive so you can wear it while jogging, working out. Do you really feel like carrying around an iRiver H1xx which 5-10x bigger + a miniDAC? Sure the sound is better, but that's too much for most people to drag around with them.