[average_joe]

Of the people I know that are not head-fiers that have iPods, iTunes is the primary reason they will stick with iPods/iPhones. They have all their music on it, are comfortable with it, and don't have the knowledge/desire to convert to other formats for use with other players.

I don't see any other company taking the iPod down as the mainstream #1, sound quality, features, whatever. The only way IMO would be if other players have software that imports an iTunes library. Maybe that exists (I do know how to extract my wife's iTunes music), but not that I know of in a main stream app with ease of use. I am not so sure about the legal issues, as I am sure Apple wouldn't let Microsoft for example include an app to move all iTunes music to other music management software.

Plus, as said before, most people don't care much about sound quality. I have let people listen to my equipment and they think it sounds awesome, much better than theirs, but they don't want to shell out the cash for it, as it is not that important to them.

 

[headfever]

Plus, as said before, most people don't care much about sound quality. I have let people listen to my equipment and they think it sounds awesome, much better than theirs, but they don't want to shell out the cash for it, as it is not that important to them.[/QUOTE]

How much do you tell the other people of your equipment? Maybe the price of your set up frighten them to shell out cash.

How do you predict that if the hifi DAP could be cheaper than average DAPs? would the average consumers refuse it and say no, I don't like hifi DAP?

it is a very interesting topic. I think the price is the main reason for the average people to make their mind to buy a hifi set up. if HIFIMAN or AMP3 Could be as cheap as less than $100, maybe there are lot of poeple like to take one.

 

[midoo1990]

i dont think that money is the reason why they dont buy high end phones or cans,it is the phsycological factor that prevents them from buying it.i once told my friends about the ie8 price and all what they said is that i am crazy and out of my mind and waisting money.they said that if they have $400 they would buy new shoes,cool new clothes or even new mobile.i told them this is my hobby and i dont mind paying that much as long as i fullfil my needs and of course my ears

.i told them that i can buy new clothes and new other usefull stuff,but i wont be happy or satisfied.they told me it is fair enough and that everybody have the right to spend his money the way he feels good and satisfied about it and not just getting stuff that people care about.

 

[average_joe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by headfever /img/forum/go_quote.gif Plus, as said before, most people don't care much about sound quality. I have let people listen to my equipment and they think it sounds awesome, much better than theirs, but they don't want to shell out the cash for it, as it is not that important to them. How much do you tell the other people of your equipment? Maybe the price of your set up frighten them to shell out cash. How do you predict that if the hifi DAP could be cheaper than average DAPs? would the average consumers refuse it and say no, I don't like hifi DAP? it is a very interesting topic. I think the price is the main reason for the average people to make their mind to buy a hifi set up. if HIFIMAN or AMP3 Could be as cheap as less than $100, maybe there are lot of poeple like to take one.

My wife would still have her buds that came with her iPod and her Clip as she refuses to spend money on headphones. But she really does love the ADDIEM and some of the other headphones.

It is not about price IMO, it is about interest and sticking with what they know. Also, the fitting in aspect comes into play. I told a friend I was probably going to get an iPod (5.5G and mod it), he said to me, "finally, welcome to the club."

Quote:

Originally Posted by midoo1990 /img/forum/go_quote.gif i dont think that money is the reason why they dont buy high end phones or cans,it is the phsycological factor that prevents them from buying it.i once told my friends about the ie8 price and all what they said is that i am crazy and out of my mind and waisting money.they said that if they have $400 they would buy new shoes,cool new clothes or even new mobile.i told them this is my hobby and i dont mind paying that much as long as i fullfil my needs and of course my ears .i told them that i can buy new clothes and new other usefull stuff,but i wont be happy or satisfied.they told me it is fair enough and that everybody have the right to spend his money the way he feels good and satisfied about it and not just getting stuff that people care about.

Yes, exactly. Most females I know would rather spend that money on clothes, shoes, purses, etc. Even if they already have 50 pair of shoes and 40 purses, etc. And I know plenty of guys that would rather spend the money on expensive dinners, or a new car every 6 mo to a year, etc. It's all about what you want, and sound quality isn't high on many people's list.

 

[originalsnuffy]

Its not that the ipod (or equivalent) is dead per se. Just that all of the functionality has been subsumed into smart phones.

 

[grawk]

I think the ipod touch and whatever follow-on products and the iphone are going to eventually be the only ipods left, but I don't think the ipod touch is done, by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[Spyro]

As a pure music player, I'd say the nano will live on forever. It's very popular is fairly priced and get's tweaked enough every year to keep sales strong. The portability is extremely important to the so many people that use Ipods will working out and the Shuffle model is too much of a toy. That's the model I could see getting eventually dropped.

Since most music that is purchased (85-90%) is done in the form of downloads, and Apple's download files leave a lot to be desired, I see no reason they will come out with a high end "audiophile" Ipod until they resolve that issue first. Sort of counter-productive. Just my opinion.

 

[neoufo51]

iPods are terrible and any iPod-style player will not exist 5 years from now. It will be only full size touchscreen players, and tiny OLED players for people who need something to work out with.

 

[lamewing]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vranswer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Snake, Not sure of your listening "experience", but do you have any albums you've been enjoying for more than 30 years? At some point the music can get so stale as to be rendered unlistenable.

I don't know about Snake, but I started collecing CDs from the mid-eighties until now. I probably have about 800 or so CDs and to be truthful, 50% of I will never listen to again.

I made the mistake of putting the CDs and sleeves in Case Logic CD carriers and recycling all the plastic CD cases - 800 of them. If I still had the cases I could sell these for about $1.00 each at the local 1/2 price bookstore, but alas....

95% of my music, these days, comes from Japan. I study Japanese and switched to Jpop, Jrock, and a bit of Enka (SMALL bit) about 5 years ago and have not looked back. I think I have purchased 5 U.S. CDs since 2001; Michelle Branch, Dido and an Enya CD. The U.S. music scene just doesn't do it for me anymore.

I LOVE the idea of the Zune Pass - 10 songs to keep each month and the ability to listen to any other song in the catalog - for $15 a month. Nice. BUT...Zune Marketplace doesn't carry the music I listen to today. If iTunes Japan would institute such a plan I would be one of the first to sign up!

I don't see that happening as most of the music on iTunes Japan still has DRM restrictions. They have not caught up with the U.S. and I don't expect them to any time soon.

 

[Sparky191]

Dunno throw on Abba at the right moment....

Theres a certain amount of deadwood in any collection though. I stuck with tapes for a long time. resisting CD's for many years. Only a few years back, I realised they had mostly degraded too badly to keep. So I MP3'ed the best of them, dumped the rest. Sad to see all the boxes go, and the cases.

Plan is now to slowly get CD's of the stuff I miss. Mostly its in bargain bins or you can get best of collections. Some stuff has been remastered worse and some better than the originals. So you have to be selective about that you get. Some of the old favorites have had a whole new lease of life they sound so much fresher/better on the remaster.

I rip them all though to a external hard disk. Thats my library. I like getting the CD's over downloads, as its a good archive medium, a backup of the MP3's. Its often cheaper then downloads. Though recently I've been looking at the CD's and thinking do I really need this.

Could be new purge on the way....

 

[lamewing]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky191 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Dunno throw on Abba at the right moment.... Theres a certain amount of deadwood in any collection though. I stuck with tapes for a long time. resisting CD's for many years. Only a few years back, I realised they had mostly degraded too badly to keep. So I MP3'ed the best of them, dumped the rest. Sad to see all the boxes go, and the cases. Plan is now to slowly get CD's of the stuff I miss. Mostly its in bargain bins or you can get best of collections. Some stuff has been remastered worse and some better than the originals. So you have to be selective about that you get. Some of the old favorites have had a whole new lease of life they sound so much fresher/better on the remaster. I rip them all though to a external hard disk. Thats my library. I like getting the CD's over downloads, as its a good archive medium, a backup of the MP3's. Its often cheaper then downloads. Though recently I've been looking at the CD's and thinking do I really need this. Could be new purge on the way....

Let me know what you need, I may have something you like.

 

[Spyro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neoufo51 /img/forum/go_quote.gif iPods are terrible and any iPod-style player will not exist 5 years from now. It will be only full size touchscreen players, and tiny OLED players for people who need something to work out with.

No way. Ipods are the best for 90% of people so they will always reign as king. Touch screen is a gimmick. In the long run people always prefer tactile buttons.

 

[roebeet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spyro /img/forum/go_quote.gif No way. Ipods are the best for 90% of people so they will always reign as king. Touch screen is a gimmick. In the long run people always prefer tactile buttons.

Nothing lasts forever - look at the original Walkman, for example.

The iPod will probably continue on as the king of MP3 players, as long as lossy digital files continue to be the main source for most consumer's listening habits. But, as some point, there will be a shift to another format. Maybe it will be lossless, or maybe some DVD-A / SACD / BR digital hybrid. Who knows.

 

[neoufo51]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spyro /img/forum/go_quote.gif No way. Ipods are the best for 90% of people so they will always reign as king. Touch screen is a gimmick. In the long run people always prefer tactile buttons.

You're wrong. The future is touchscreens that are supplemented with tactile buttons for fundamental functions like volume/next.

 

[vranswer]

The ability to operate the device with one hand and without looking at it is paramount for the largest percentage of my personal usage (i.e., whilst clipped to the belt). My iTouch can't do it (although I enjoy it for other purposes), my nano is superior for such "touch" operation. To say,"people always prefer" anything is a potentially spurious extrapolation of one's individual tastes (IMO).