Bibulb's Journal - With apologies to Mr. Mojo Nixon, you can't manufacture cool neither.
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09:47 pm
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With apologies to Mr. Mojo Nixon, you can't manufacture cool neither.
Now, y'all know I'm a partisan when it comes to computers and such (hint : see the icon), so my writing a response piece like this isn't much of a surprise. But I was reading The Unofficial Apple Weblog earlier and saw a piece about iDon't. Now, anything that's a "Bash Apple" site made by a rival company is always good for a laugh, and this one didn't fail in bringing the inadvertent yuks. Specifically, it's when they say "Blindly they’ve bought into the hype without ever realizing there are other mp3 players out there," that I really start laughing my ass off.
Yeah. Y'know, the iPod isn't CLOSE to being the first mp3 player I bought. In fact, the first one I bought... Well, I used SanDisk media in it. Those cards were not so great, and in fact required me to take an X-Acto knife to the contacts on the card fairly often. After that, I used players with Lexar media. Bought several cards of theirs a while ago and they're still running fine with no problems. (While the SanDisk cards still work, more or less, I do still also have to clean the gunge off the contacts fairly often.) Finally, I found the sweet spot of usability, size and price and got an iPod.
It. Just. Works.
And now SanDisk wants me to drop a bundle on one of their new players in an attempt to "stop being a sheep"? Will I still have to clean their equipment with sharp objects to make sure it works? 'Cause I friggin' loved that crap.
(Also, crowing about a "user replaceable battery" (A) is kind of laughable when you still have to start taking the thing apart to do so, and (B) don't mean crap when it's a proprietary battery that you have to get directly from them and has no charger except the player itself.)
Tell you what, guys : stop insulting me by saying I've been unable to think for myself, quit your damn whining and just MAKE A BETTER PRODUCT THAN THE ONE I HAVE NOW, and then we'll talk. Until you get to that point, don't let that X-Acto slip. Gotta be careful with that.
Current Mood: acidically amused
Current Music: "Let's Get Pretty" - by Joe "King" Carrasco and the Crowns
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HEAR! HEAR!
They're just jealous!
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/43781671/1838315) | | From: | ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) bibulb |
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| Date: | May 24th, 2006 04:51 am (UTC) |
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The sad thing is that it's not even jealousy - from the people like AnythingButIpod (and they can't interCap correctly, either), it's a combination of bog-standard Apple bashing and ignorance; and from the people at SanDisk themselves, it's just plain marketing trying to look hip.
Specifically, it's BAD marketing.
But I suspect that this'll have about as much effect as something like the Faux Napster's anti-iTMS ads. That is to say, Apple will continue to maintain market dominance, and no one else will know what to do about that...
I'm a Mac partisan myself. We'll fight the PC aggressors to the very last man! I don't have an mp3 player yet, but you can be sure, before the year is out, I'll have at least one 60gig iPod, if not two.
| | From: | bibulb |
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| Date: | May 24th, 2006 05:22 am (UTC) |
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I'm gonna make two suggestions :
- First off, you're going to want to upgrade the hard drive in your computer itself. I'm not sure how you would use the iPod as a substitute for your library instead of the usual satellite for the library. (Refresh my memory - you're running OS 9 on a G3 iMac, right? Or am I smoking crack again?) Essentially, you'll want OS X along with more memory, and more importantly you'll need more hard disc space for iTunes. Thankfully, you won't need to max out your memory - just get a little bump, Jaguar is pretty cheap these days (and you won't need more than that), and hard drives are CHEAP now. (I just had my eyes opened to this when I went to Micro Center to get a disk for an enclosure I bought from bassfingers, and found an 80gig for fifty (IIRC), and I got a 160gig bare drive for sixty bucks. Do it piecemeal and it should be manageable in terms of cost.
- The other thing that comes to mind concerns pricing and requirements. I've gotten the feeling that you don't need the video portion of the iPod - you just need plenty of space for your music. In which case, you might want to look at getting a 60gig iPod Photo or equivalent from someone like Small Dog or just eBaying it - having been discontinued for a while, you can usually find them cheaper than the current models for the same size. Likewise, IIRC Hewlett-Packard also did iPod Photos as well, and having the little HP logo on the back makes some people avoid them and you don't have the competition. (The added logo on the back being the ONLY difference whatsoever.) (Of course, if you DID want the video capability, never mind this portion.)
You might want to talk with quantumduck and bassfingers about this as well - they've had iPods longer than I have and they know a LOT more about the ins and outs of the whats and hows of them...
You're very close. I'm running OS 9 on a G4. It only has 4 gig memory. Upgrading it to OSX and much more memory is a high priority. You're right that I don't need the video function. Just a place for all my music. It's my intention to have an iPod full of all the music I own, so if i need two of them, I'll do that. Once I've got a bike under me again, the computer and iPod are next in line.
My 'un-replaceable' battery in my 3rd gen. lasted two years of SOLID playback. A replacement battery cost me $30, and was pretty easy to install (then again, I installed a backlight in my GBA using a soldering iron, so your milage may vary). Anyway, I spent more on rechargeable batteries for my FM radio last year! (Now I just use the built in radio in Apple's new 5th gen. wired remote.)
Funny, before i got an iPod as a gift I thought an MP3 playing CD player was far superior to every disk and Flash based player I'd seen. Apple's iPod seemed over priced to me until I owned one.
Like you said: It just works. I know it sound like marketing speak, but it is ACTUALLY TRUE!
I'm also amazed at all this talk of CHOICE in online music! Online music is a racket. I'm not a big fan of the Apple iTunes Store, but I can't even imagine trying to work with PlaysFerShure(tm) stores. (Whenever I see that I hear Janice from the Muppets speaking it.) I've bought tracks from eMusic. My purchases came to me in MP3 format. How's THAT for choice?!!
I HAVE bought music from iTunes, but only when it save me money substantially over buying the CD. Point being: you don't ever have to be locked into the 'Apple Monopoly' just because you want an MP3 player that works. The iPod is just great without the iTunes store, thank you very much!
Also, chimps, sheep, and robots are all COOL! You want to insult iPodders? Pick an animal they hate. (The chinchilla?) |
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