Quoth MacDEF
Actually, before I quote MacDEF, some initial comments. I may have sounded like I was down on the iPod. I'm not, I think it looks cool and hope it brings people closer to the music. However, like anything else, make sure it works better for you and your situation before you drop your hard-earned cash on it. I did (try it out, not buy it) and found that the iPod had very little to nothing to offer me. By the same token, the MP3 player that I've quite enjoyed since the 7th of January (an Archos 6000) may not be the best one for you. Particularly if you have a Mac.
"In fact, Apple already couldn't make enough of them -- they sold 125,000 of them in the first 60 days. I can't imagine all the complaints they would get about availability if all the Windows users lusting after them tried to buy them, too"
Fair enough, although a lot of those 125,000 must be sitting in their distribution channels, because every store I went to that carries 'em had a bunch in stock.
"Second, I would add that there are already hacks to allow you to use it with Windows."
Which, I'm sure you'll allow, is very different from support out of the box.
"Finally, the "two-mouse" criticism is also an empty one. The Mac OS fully supports two-button mice."
OK, but what's the point of a laptop if you have to plug in things just to get it to do the most basic things, like open a web-page in a new window?
(I don't care about iMacs or Cubes or whatever, because I don't see myself ever owning or wanting to own a stationary computer. I'm not a stationary person, after all.)
"Studies have shown that most uses, even Windows users, never use the right mouse button, and in fact find it confusing."
I didn't believe it needed to be established that most people are stupid.
"The battery life of the iPod is OVER 10 hours. Some reviewers reported regularly getting 13-14 hours."
"The Archos's battery life isn't really comparable."
Actually, at least when new, it is. I can't vouch for anything over five days old, though
"Only someone who has never actually used FireWire would ask that <snip>"
Thanks for the info. I appreciate you taking the time out to walk me through it. I had no idea that it was so versitile. Although I wouldn't expect ANYTHING to be that easy with Windows...
Do you happen to know if any makers of laptops with 2 mouse buttons install FW ports? I'll probably be putting my ca. 1997 Dell Inspiron out to pasture in six to eight months.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"As for the interface, I don't think there CAN
be a good interface for a thing with maybe ten buttons total....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You have never seen or used one, you simply have a general doubt about whether or not it "CAN" have a good interface?
Actually, that's wrong. I have used it. I'm not going to dismiss something as unsuitable for my needs (or comment upon it otherwise, generally speaking) without firsthand knowledge of it. And I stand by my statement, restated thusly: it is impossible to have a really usable interface for scrolling through thousands of songs using just six to ten buttons.
quote:
"1) The possibilities of "what else" are pretty much endless."
But the only really useful ones, as far as I could see, would be to turn it into PDA or cell phone. The idea is to let people carry fewer silicon wafers and glass screens on their body.
"It's definitely a good -- no, great -- MP3 player."
Unless you have a Windows laptop, in which case it's not even a good MP3 player. Superlatives are situational.
"It's won more awards and "best product" recs in the last two months
What's printed in magazines really doesn't impact me. Hobbyist magazines exist in order to get magazine writers the newest toys cheaply or for for free (which also has the useful function of telling other people about said new toys), and the flip side is that they're going to write glowing reviews of products whose creators smile at them and remember their writers' names. That goes for computer magazines, audio magazines, car mags, fashion mags, etc.
"than most of the products you mentioned have in their entire product life."
Which has been about six months, right?
"In terms of the HD-based MP3 market, about the only "need" that it doesn't fill better than any other product is hard drive capacity,"
Unless all of your MP3's are on a Windows laptop. Then it doesn't fill any needs at all.
Peace,
Jay