I for one welcome my new iPod overlord.

Cafe Society
1

/ Mods, I assume this is the correct forum because ultimately it’s about music. If needed, please move. Thanks! /

Well, Althea and I came into a little of extra money unexpectedly, and so we went out and splurged on a pair of 40 GB iPods. I gotta say that this might be the coolest thing I have ever owned. And as both a musician who collects instruments and a technophile gearhead sound engineer that’s some pretty high praise.

We spent all weekend dumping our CD collection into iTunes - we’re still not completely done as there are still some CD stragglers running around the house - and currently there are approximately 6000 songs in this little thing the size of a deck of cards. I’m impressed. And we haven’t yet filled them up!

I’ve pretty much been living with music going 24-7 now. It’s amazing, especially as I really have everything at my fingertips - bluegrass, jazz, classical, metal, you name it.

It’s kind of like having your very own soundtrack.

So I’ve started this thread mostly to talk about the coolness all things iPod and to hear how others use their iPods.

/ Mods, I assume this is the correct forum because ultimately it’s about music. If needed, please move. Thanks! /

2

I have a question:
Why do some people insist on calling every single mp3 Jukebox an iPod?

And if you aren’t one of those people:
Can I still participate even if my mp3 player doen’t cost as much and isn’t made by Apple (but has far more features) ?

:dubious:

3

I was completely obsessed with mine for the first month or so. Just at the novelty of having every song I owned (at the time) on one device. Eventually I got tired of it and stopped using it.

(For the record: note that the thing still draws a small amount of power even when you’re not using it. So if you go for a while without listening to it and find that the battery’s dead, don’t immediately panic and assume you got one of the defective ones.)

Then, somebody posted a thread on here challenging everyone to use the “shuffle” feature and list the first 9 songs it came up with. All of a sudden, I was hooked again; it was like getting a new toy and a new music collection. Now I put the thing on shuffle and let it play on the morning and evening commute. Sometimes the choices don’t work at all, but sometimes they’re eerily appropriate. And I’m hearing songs I haven’t heard in years.

4

I like my iPod well enough (immensely overrated, but it’s functional enough), but I can’t stand using iTunes to play my music. It’s ugly and I can’t control it using my keyboard as easily as Winamp5.

As a result, I have a ridiculous system of importing music into two players–frustrating since iTunes doesn’t appear to automatically import music from designated folders–using one to update my iPod and another to play music at home.

5

Thusfar, I have only thought of one really clever thing to do with my iPod (other than, you know, listening to it lots and lots.)

I have a “15-Minute Mix” set up in iTunes. It’s a Smart Playlist that randomly selects songs, excluding those with only 1 or 2 stars, for a total of 17 minutes. The time-limiting algorithm, I think, keeps picking songs until one of them causes the total to go over 17 minutes, then discards that song. So in practice, the playlist it comes out to about 15 minutes.

I do flylady.net, which has a policy of working on household tasks for 15 minutes, so I can put on my iPod and listen to 15 minutes of music as I work. When the music is done, so am I.

I refresh the playlist in iTunes by deleting all the songs on the list and letting it refill. I do this fairly frequently, because I also use it at work, like, when I don’t really want to do something, so I promise myself that I only have to work on it for 15 minutes, and then finish it later if it isn’t done. And I plug in my iPod pretty often, too, so the list gets refreshed. But it’d be even cooler if you could change playlists on the iPod on the fly.

Aside from that, it is really great to have it at the gym. I have a Workout playlist that has fast-paced songs with a good beat, but sometimes I’d rather just listen to Vivaldi or whatever. It’s also keen for working in somewhat noisy public spaces.

If you haven’t already, I highly recommend that you get a case to protect your unit. I didn’t, and the chrome and screen got pretty scratched up, just from bouncing around in the cd-player pocket of my backpack.

6

For the same reason people called all brands of portable cassettes players “Walkmans,” all brands of disposable tissues “Kleenex,” all brands of adhesive bandages “Band-Aids,” etc.: it’s easier.

Do share; I’m curious to know what people don’t like about iPods.

7

I kinda wanted an iPod, but it’s really just a glorified mp3 player. I want my gadgets to be versatile, damn it! looks at his memory stick/digital camera.

Now, I really want one of these. It plays MP3s, Ogg Vorbis, FM radio, it records, it transmits to FM (no need for a car adapter!), and the firmware is Open Source. I like that last part best; maybe someone will add a player for the native Super Nintendo sound format (.smc).

Oh great, now I’m all sticky.

8

For starters, they are far more expensive than other brands of mp3 players. My player (a 30gb Nomad Zen Xtra, by Creative Labs) was only a little over two hundred dollars. It was less expensive than the 4gb Ipod minis that had just come out, and about the same price as a used 15gb iPod. Even though I haven’t filled out even a tenth of my mp3 player’s capacity, I couldn’t see spending the same amount of money (or more) to get something that had less file space.

Also, I’m a PC user. I know iPods work with PCs, but they’re pretty cranky about it, and besides, all my music is already stored on Windows Media Player. It will only transfer songs from iTunes. So I would have had to input all my CDs into my computer again, and recopy them, and that would have been a pain.

The only real advantage of iPods is that they’re smaller and lighter than other players, which I guess would be good if you use it for running or something. But I don’t get why so many people prefer iPods over other brands, when you get more for your money with other players. I guess it’s all that slick advertising.

Also, my player lasts for twelve hours on a battery charge, iPods usually only last for eight hours. And when the lithium battery runs out, I can buy a new one at the store and replace it myself, I don’t have to order one from Apple and send back the player so they can install it for me.

Really, I’d like to know why people think iPods are better!

9

I’ve seen reports that the sound quality is slightly better, but not enough that anyone but a dedicated audiophile would notice, and those folks aren’t going to be listening to mp3s anyway.

For the most part, it’s just the result of a very slick marketing campaign by Apple. That’s one thing that they’re very good at.

As for me, I’ve got a 60 GB Zen that does me just fine, and ran me about $350.

10

I’ve you encoded your tracks in mp3, you wouldn’t need to do this; you could just point iTunes to your root music folder and let it import all your tracks. If you encoded in .wma, OTOH, you’re pretty screwed.

11

Oh crap! Creative Labs just came out with a mini player. link. And it comes in neon green, my favorite color! I’m going to have to restrict myself from asking for this for Xmas. I mean, I already have an mp3 player, I can’t very well justify getting another. It’s damn awesome looking, though.

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Not really. There’re plenty of third-party converters that you can get free off the 'net. When I converted my music from .wma to AAC, I used db Power Amp, and did the whole thing (~4000 songs) in an evening.

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I’d like to know why people who have obviously never used an iPod or iTunes can say they are not better?

First, iTunes will import and convert Windows Media files to AAC and add them to your iPod. As well as any mp3. So it is not true that you would need to re-rip all your stuff

Second, your 30GB Zen cost you a bit over $200. Yes, it was cheaper then the iPod, but you admit that it is smaller and thus more useable to certain people that want a smaller player. And if you only use a tenth of the space why did you need a 30GB? You could have spent less money on a smaller mp3 player from any number of manufactures. Some would say that you “overpaid” by buying something much larger than you need. Maybe you don’t feel that way, but maybe iPod owners (like myself) also don’t feel like we overpaid because we have most useable digital music player and music store on the planet?

Third, I use my iPod with my PC and I don’t know what you mean by cranky. It works fine. Or are you just saying that all hardware with WinXP can be cranky at times depending on your machine? If so, then I agree with you. Why can’t your Creative Player be cranky for other people?

It is not all about storage space. It is about usability and the iPod and iTunes are the most usable hardware/software combination out there. I like the fact that I put the CD in that came with the iPod, installed iTunes, plugged in the iPod and I was ready to go, either via iTunes Music Store or with 1 click ripping and synching with the iPod.

14

I noticed that this is the same price as an iPod mini, only has 1GB of more space, is thicker (but shorter), doesn’t look nearly as useable with one hand, and is ugly as sin.

iPod mini’s will be at 5GB or better come Christmas.

15

iPods have the slick design going for them, that’s for sure, but I find them feature poor. I ended up going with the iRiver, which is about the same size and cost as an iPod although it has only 20GB compared to the 40GB. Why? Well, it’s got an FM tuner, voice recorder (extremely handly for interviews, YMMV), can record from FM, and plays more formats. Also, I’m a little gunshy about the battery issues I’ve heard the iPods can have.

16

Sour grapes? :wink:

It’s worth noting that the iPod now seems to have 92% of the market for hard-drive-based digital music players. Apple’s fourth-quarter results today noted that they sold over2 million iPods in the last three months, a 500% increase in sales.

They’re obviously doing something right…

17

Marketing. Say whatever you want about the folks at Apple, but they know how to market stuff.

18

I’ve used an iPod before, my boyfriend (who uses Macs) has one. I tried his out before buying mine, just to make sure I didn’t want an iPod instead. When I plugged it into my computer, it said I could only take songs from iTunes. I didn’t know it could take regular mp3 files, but most of my music is stored in .wma anyway, so that wouldn’t have worked. So I installed iTunes on my computer to try that out. iTunes is a horrible mp3 system! (IMO, of course.) It was so much harder to locate files; maybe I just didn’t like it because I’m used to Windows Media Player, but I didn’t like it. I also found the wheel used for navigation to be tricky; I much prefer button controls. So considering that I didn’t like the feel of the iPod, the look of the iPod, the handling of the iPod, the software it runs on, or the fact that you have to send it back to the company to change the batteries (a major minus for Apple), I think I did well to choose another player. The lower price was just an added bonus.

And I’m not seriously going to get a Zen mini, I just think they look neat.

19

I’d be curious to know why people feel they have to have 25,000 songs (or whatever) at their fingertips at any given time. I have a Palm with an MP3 function and while the sound is awesome and the ease of use is stellar, I find I never use it because I’m already bombarded by music everywhere I go: the store, the radio, at work, etc. When I finally have a few minutes to myself I cherish the silence. Plus, 90% of the people who listen to walkmen/iPods are doing so wearing headphones. Where I live (and most places these days) it’s a BAD IDEA to be out in public and give someone the chance to sneak up on you unawares; if you’re in your house, why not just play a CD as loud as you want?

In a nutshell, iPods cost like $300 for something I hate and don’t need OR want. When someone mentions their iPod I have to really, really restrain myself from busting a gut.

20

That doesn’t work so well if you live in a townhouse or condo.