# IPod vs MP3 Player--what's the diff? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 1, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-vs-mp3-player-whats-the-diff/515897 "2009-11-01T00:58:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-vs-mp3-player-whats-the-diff/515897/41 "2009-11-02T11:11:52Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > That depends. If you plan to use it to store your music collection on, no. If you store your collection on your computer (or have it on old-fashioned media like CDs), but want to load some music (or podcasts or audiobooks or whatever you listen to) onto it to have with you during the day, the way people would carry around a few tapes or CDs in the Walkman days, then that may be plenty. this is more like my goal. BTW–Secondary Question: If I buy a song on Amazon, can I re-download it again, to another device? Or do I need to buy it again? Info on Amazon, for downloaded songs? Oh, and I have a crumby net speed. Problems with downloading? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-vs-mp3-player-whats-the-diff/515897/42 "2009-11-02T11:53:20Z")
Per the [FAQ](http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200154210&#copy), you cannot redownload a song after you successfully download it once, but you can copy it onto a USB drive, or over a local network, or email it to yourself, etc. (For the same reason, it’s important to back these up once you buy them.) ############################################# ############################################# ############################################# ############################################# ############################################# ############################################# ############################################# ############################################# ############################################# ############################################# ############################################# ############################################# ############################################# ############################################# ############################################# ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-vs-mp3-player-whats-the-diff/515897/43 "2009-11-02T13:35:35Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > If I buy a song on Amazon, can I re-download it again, to another device? > Or do I need to buy it again? > > Info on Amazon, for downloaded songs? > > Oh, and I have a crumby net speed. > > Problems with downloading? As **Reply** noted, Amazon won’t let you re-download it again, but you **can** easily copy it from one place (like your computer) to another (like an mp3 player). Amazon offers a number of free tracks, and whole “sampler” albums, for free, so you may want to start by downloading a couple of those, to see how the process works. With Amazon, you don’t need to subscribe to anything (beyond having an ordinary Amazon account), but the first time you download any music they’ll ask you to download and install their Download Manager. (According to the FAQ, you don’t have to do this to download just one song, but you do if you’re downloading a whole album.) And, downloading may take a while with a “crummy net speed.” From that FAQ that **Reply** linked to > [@](#): > > Download Times: A single MP3 file 5MB in size will download in less than one minute on a typical broad-band Internet connection. A similar download on a 56k dial-up connection can take up to 30 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-vs-mp3-player-whats-the-diff/515897/44 "2009-11-02T14:37:21Z")
Not a dig by any means but the OP reminds me that the knowledge that you think EVERYBODY has is not always the case. I was very surprised to see a thread in 2009 asking about the difference between an iPod and MP3 player. I just thought everyone knew that already. Just curious, how old are you Bosda? Again, this is not a dig. I’m just surprised that someone that spends time on the internet and posts on message boards needed to ask this question. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-vs-mp3-player-whats-the-diff/515897/45 "2009-11-02T14:41:24Z")
**Bosda** , do note that you can take music you already own and turn it in to MP3 files. For free. You do not have to buy everything you want to put on your MP3 player from an online source - that’s just an option. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-vs-mp3-player-whats-the-diff/515897/46 "2009-11-02T14:47:17Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > If I buy a song on Amazon, can I re-download it again, to another device? You’re downloading a file, just like a Word .doc or an Excel .xls. You can copy that file as many times as you like. [QUOTE=Reply] So is iTunes Plus (NOT regular iTunes). [/QUOTE] Even before they removed the DRM as Yookeroo noted, you could simply burn any songs you got from iTunes onto a CD and distribute that music to any number of computers/devices you wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-vs-mp3-player-whats-the-diff/515897/47 "2009-11-02T18:11:04Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > Not a dig by any means but the OP reminds me that the knowledge that you think EVERYBODY has is not always the case. I was very surprised to see a thread in 2009 asking about the difference between an iPod and MP3 player. I just thought everyone knew that already. > > Just curious, how old are you Bosda? > > Again, this is not a dig. I’m just surprised that someone that spends time on the internet and posts on message boards needed to ask this question. I’m surprised that anyone in 2009 still knows there _is_ a difference. Maybe Apple hasn’t been as successful in its marketing as I thought. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-vs-mp3-player-whats-the-diff/515897/48 "2009-11-02T18:45:56Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > In terms of DRM, let me suggest something else right off the bat: GET DRM-FREE MUSIC. DRM-free music means songs that you can copy to any number of computers and devices without restriction. It also means your music isn’t dependent on the solvency (or whim) of the company that sold it to you. Several online music stores have closed over the past decade, permanently disabling their users’ music (usually with a refund/credit of some sort, but it’s still a hassle). > > … > > The only worthwhile DRM, in my opinion, is “subscription music” – you pay, say $15 a month for all the music you care to download, but the songs will only be playable as long as you retain an active subscription.. This is good advice. I have a very large collection, the vast majority ripped from CDs I’ve purchased, and I would hate to not be able to hear them at some unknown point in the future. As for MP3 players themselves, there’s a few things you need to consider when choosing one. First, how big is your collection? If you only have a few hundred songs, you don’t need anything bigger than a few Gigs. If you have a medium or large size collection you have to decide what use you want out of it. Most people are perfectly happy with a smaller size and will just fill it up with whatever they’re listening to or with random tracks. If you’re like me, however, I keep my full collection on a hard drive AND on my MP3 player since I use it as my primary source of music when I’m in my car, at the gym, or whatever, and I want to be able to hear any song whenever the whim hits me and the cost was worth it to me. Another question to ask is what other features do you want? Do you want to watch videos? If so, you’ll obviously need one designed for it and possibly more space than you’d otherwise need. I’ve owned two Creative Nomad Zens. The first one I bought was 30GB about probably around 7-8 years ago (all I remember is it was before XP came out). I used it for a few years and eventually got upset enough that I had enough new music that I couldn’t fit on it that I bought a 60GB one that I’ve had for probably about 4-5 years now and I’ve had no problems with it except that it’s old enough that they never updated the firmware to work with Vista, muchless Windows 7, so I either have to use an XP box to update my library, or sync it manually. Otherwise, I’ve dropped it numerous times (usually on pavement, of course) and it still works fine; moreover, even as long as I’ve had it with very frequent use, I still get a good 8-10 hours of battery life out of it (was around 12 hours when it was new). Both of those are issues that I’ve heard iPods have. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-vs-mp3-player-whats-the-diff/515897/49 "2009-11-02T23:01:10Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > Not a dig by any means but the OP reminds me that the knowledge that you think EVERYBODY has is not always the case. I was very surprised to see a thread in 2009 asking about the difference between an iPod and MP3 player. I just thought everyone knew that already. > > Just curious, how old are you Bosda? > > Again, this is not a dig. I’m just surprised that someone that spends time on the internet and posts on message boards needed to ask this question. 46 years too old. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-vs-mp3-player-whats-the-diff/515897/50 "2009-11-03T00:17:07Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > 46 years too old. I am posting with children. Mama Plant is from the noble volunteer state. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-vs-mp3-player-whats-the-diff/515897/51 "2009-11-03T20:32:28Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Sorta like “Walkman,” for those of us who were around during the 80’s, was a brand name for Sony’s personal cassette player, but was often used to refer to one of any brand. They Walkman is still around - earlier this year I bought a Sony 8 GB MP3 player, and it’s proudly branded a Walkman. Indeed, I bought it because I’m a child of the 80s (in addition to my need for an MP3 player). I didn’t want an iPod. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-vs-mp3-player-whats-the-diff/515897/52 "2009-11-04T01:11:44Z")
Fun fact: The Sony Walkman debuted for $200 and went by the name “Soundabout” in the USA. “Walkman” was the Japanese branding. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-vs-mp3-player-whats-the-diff/515897/53 "2009-11-04T04:03:50Z")
I had an MP3 player which used [MTP](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Transfer_Protocol) for transferring files. Didn’t care for it much at all, and it indirectly bricked the thing, as during one of the regular hangs I impatiently pulled the plug on it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-vs-mp3-player-whats-the-diff/515897.md?page=2)