[Masolino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaikoten Of course none of my "research" is first hand lab research, as I don't have the deepest pockets around My "research" is comprised basically of trying out all of the players I can, and gathering lots and lots of independent reviews (from average people, not professional reviewers), looking at the specs, and taking into consideration the future of the device. So far, hands down, the Karma is the best portable music device I've seen, while the iAudio X5 and iRiver H340 are very close to each other in terms of overall features. The iPod is nice in terms of the click wheel navigation, but I still much prefer the Karma's scroll wheel.

Ah but don't forget that even average persons' reviews are still not the
same as "independent" reviews, as people do read professional reviews
themselves and aren't as immune to marketing ploys as you seem to
be. While your approach is obviously so much more than sheer reliance
on "word of mouth," it does not (imo) warrant the air of total neutrality
or objectivity your posts appear so confidantly to imply. Perception
colored by personal preferences (which in turn may be colored by
collective perceptions which in turn...you get the point) dominates our
buying decisions. That's a consumer's fate living in an information
saturated society like ours, and there is no escaping it: even our
so-called "needs" can be just desires under influence and shaped
tastes, and this is where I find the original poster's words to have their
ring of truth, so to speak.

 

[Mano]

Quote:

Originally Posted by K2Grey Well, ok, everyone can be called a "sheep" in the sense that they are influenced by marketing. But it's not a real useful word for discussions when it applies to everyone. For example, if everyone is a sheep, the topic title "The irony of calling ipod users sheep" is bizzare, because one could as easily say "the irony of calling non ipod users sheep" and it would mean just as much.

But thats why its ironic

at least according to what the topic author thinks

about the sheep thing: i think stereotyping is only useful on very specific cases that we as a society dont need as much as we did when we were on our early stages (though sadly sometimes its needed to make a system work faster), in the case of the ipod, stereotyping is really really useless (for the consumer, but not for apple for marketing and focusing purposes), for the consumer it shouldnt matter if you belong to one group of sheep or another, unless you have some ego issues.

I would choose a Nano as a portable player, i could really use those 4 gigs and the flash+form factor and size would help me in the workouts and going around, Though im quite happy with my Muvo v200 (very practical -usb plug in unit, good enough sq, backlight buzz doesnt bother me and no clicks)......B..B..BAaaaa!!????

In fact i have assigned money for one, just need someone to bring it to me here (Peru), might not happen until october 20th or something around that date sigh....

 

[Nicolaij R.]

Quote:

Ah but don't forget that even average persons' reviews are still not the same as "independent" reviews, as people do read professional reviews themselves and aren't as immune to marketing ploys as you seem to be.

Absolutely true Masolino, but reading several reviews (we can call it the plurality of reviews) can shield you aganist the not-indipendent reviews. I mean one review may be influenced in one sense, another one exactly in the opposite sense, etc...

And after all... comunity like this one exist even to collect TRUSTABLE information (INFORMATION is the keyword) on several products...

Quote:

even our so-called "needs" can be just desires under influence and shaped tastes

Again true, but with some limits... I love music and if I think I need a DAP, probably I really need a DAP...

 

[Shaikoten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masolino That's a consumer's fate living in an information saturated society like ours, and there is no escaping it: even our so-called "needs" can be just desires under influence and shaped tastes, and this is where I find the original poster's words to have their ring of truth, so to speak.

That's very true. Almost everything is a desire. I desire to be clothed, but I could probably live without it

My work becomes pretty monotonous without a DAP. With it, I become much more productive and focused. Gaps in my music annoy me, and I find them very distracting. When there's a gap on my H340, I typically interrupt my work and glance over at it to make sure everything's alright. Subconciously, I KNOW it's alright, but it's also distracting and annoying. That's why my Karma is set up at work now.

So do I need a DAP? Not at all. Does my Karma help me get through the day a lot easier and help me get my work done? Definitely. It gets the job done better than an iPod would, just by virtue of the features it has. The general concensus wasn't, "wow, the Karma is the bee's knees, everyone should buy it because it's cool." People said, "The Karma has gapless, ogg, flac, and a practical interface. It is also prone to mechanical failures--but it's the best player around for playing music." I listened, and those statements turned out to be 100% true. My Karma's power switch broke a few weeks ago, and I was up late last night teaching myself how to solder it back together, and doing it, because the Karma is the right product for me. My method of product research hasn't failed me yet, as I'm happy with every major purchase I make. I know it sounds overconfident, but that's how I feel, it's hard to go wrong collecting info like that.

 

[Masolino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaikoten My method of product research hasn't failed me yet, as I'm happy with every major purchase I make. I know it sounds overconfident, but that's how I feel, it's hard to go wrong collecting info like that.

And overconfident and totally subjective it is, too, if ultimately what matters to you is "how you feel"-- it is hard to argue that other sheep think otherwise
when they do things you seem to despise

 

[Shaikoten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masolino And overconfident and totally subjective it is, too, if ultimately what matters to you is "how you feel"-- it is hard to argue that other sheep think otherwise when they do things you seem to despise

I never said I despised anyone who used an iPod. iPods ARE good solutions to some, if not most of the population. They're ridiculously user-friendly, and iTunes just makes the whole process easier. That being said, I have no reason to touch iTunes with a 10 foot pole. All my music is a mixture of LAME, OGG, and FLAC, and has been for quite a while now. So why buy a player that can play only half of my music?

To be honest, I do dislike the fact that people use their iPods as status symbols, but I recognize that not all people do this. I don't think I'm "cooler" because I use less mainstream players. I know that the features of my players work better for me, and I've tried iPods, and that they don't suit me well, that's all.

 

[Masolino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaikoten I never said I despised anyone who used an iPod. iPods ARE good solutions to some, if not most of the population. They're ridiculously user-friendly, and iTunes just makes the whole process easier. That being said, I have no reason to touch iTunes with a 10 foot pole. All my music is a mixture of LAME, OGG, and FLAC, and has been for quite a while now. So why buy a player that can play only half of my music?

I wonder what you meant by saying something is "ridiculously"
user-friendly? That it is not geeky enough to be reverse
discrimination against those who happen to be somewhat
technologically handicapped?

I also wonder if MOST of the population have a mixture of
LAME, OGG and FLAC in their music collection, so perhaps iPods-iTunes
are in fact a good solution for them, and that's why they are presently
the mainstream player on the market?

 

[Jahn]

i went to the apple store in SoHo today. tried a Nano. so did my wife. we both loved it - i mean, my wife LOVED it. so small. so awesome. screen rocked. so cool. if i didn't have an ipod, and if she didn't have a mini, we'd have walked out with one, that's how much we loved it. BAAAAAAAA and happy to be one!

 

[Shaikoten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masolino I wonder what you meant by saying something is "ridiculously" user-friendly? That it is not geeky enough to be reverse discrimination against those who happen to be somewhat technologically handicapped? I also wonder if MOST of the population have a mixture of LAME, OGG and FLAC in their music collection, so perhaps iPods-iTunes are in fact a good solution for them, and that's why they are presently the mainstream player on the market?

Heh, no, really, none of that was meant as a attack on iPod users, I'm just saying I have different needs than them. I need to organize my tracks in folders, in the fashion I want, have an easy way to control how I rip, at the quality I want, manually sort by the genres I like, etc, etc. iPod and iTunes are not a solution for me, but it DOES work for 95% of the population. I think I put it best in my first two sentences of the last post, which, perhaps you forgot
Quote:

I never said I despised anyone who used an iPod. iPods ARE good solutions to some, if not most of the population.