MP3 owner report.

I generally love Apple, but the fact they charge so much for an IPod amazes me. You can get a Zen or Zune for half the price and it\'s pretty much equal, if not better than the iPods.

[Titan]

I love Apple\'s Ipods. Not because they\'re popular but because they\'re a great package (looks, function, everything). But some people hate them just because they\'re popular and go an inferior route just because. But whatever makes people happy.

Kinda like settling for the fat chick

[nO-One]

It\'s so increadably sad to see the popularity of Ipods. I admit apple got it right in terms of the portable MP3 player/ Music service intergration but other than that, Ipod hardware mimics that of the MAc pc, flashy on the outside cheap in the inside. Then again most people use the pre packaged ear buds.

Ipods user interface was desgined for the dummy, slow and clunky. My Rio Karma from 2002 puts it to shame. FUCKING HATE IPODS, what bothers me the most it that the average marketed brainwashed yuppie thinks apple is top quality and that it\'s competitors don\'t compare, and many people are not even aware that portable mp3 players go beyond what apple makes.

True that there aren\'t a lot of options in the interface, it\'s designed as an extention of ones music library.
However, slow and clunky is just... so wrong that it\'s not even funny. No player has come close to the click wheel interface. Scrolling through thousands of songs and selecting the right one without having to lift the thumb off the iPod or press a button a thousand times or holding a button down and hoping not to pass the song your looking for.
And yes, iPod\'s were designed for dummies, designed so anyone can pick it up and navigating the ui feels natural and simple, and guess what.... it worked.

Overloading the UI with options and settings that few people actually use is just bad UI designing

No-One you need to try the Rio karma UI. Many audiophiles and avid portable users agree that is was the smartest UI ever designed. Twice the speed of ipod and much much much better control. Ipod\'s ui is slow and clunky compared to the KARMA. It\'s to bad Rio decided to close down.

Most people are unaware of this cause they have only ever tried Ipods or say ZEN\'s. Another thing Apple is pretentious in there pricing they demand a premium where there is little justification other than the massive brainwashing/marketing campaign.

[nO-One]

I\'ve tried the Karma, I\'m not saying it\'s a bad UI far from it, just saying the iPod UI along with it\'s navigational controls is a better solution that far too often is slammed by folks who only see the shortcomings and see the iPod crap made by Apple. There\'s a reason it sells, and there\'s a reason it sells despite being expensive.

It\'s so increadably sad to see the popularity of Ipods. I admit apple got it right in terms of the portable MP3 player/ Music service intergration but other than that, Ipod hardware mimics that of the MAc pc, flashy on the outside cheap in the inside. Then again most people use the pre packaged ear buds.

Ipods user interface was desgined for the dummy, slow and clunky. My Rio Karma from 2002 puts it to shame. FUCKING HATE IPODS, what bothers me the most it that the average marketed brainwashed yuppie thinks apple is top quality and that it\'s competitors don\'t compare, and many people are not even aware that portable mp3 players go beyond what apple makes.

I dont fancy iPod much either. They are more expensive and less functionable/user friendly than other mp3 players out there.

Apple did it right by doing the first step though. The first movers are the ones most likely to have the highest market and mind share for many years to come. But indeed there are many better mp3 players out there.

Bigger question.


Do you......

1: Rip all your cds and buy more cds and convert them to MP3?

2: Download from Torrents / etc?

3: Download from a music service and keep the DRM.

4: Download from a service and rip the DRM (ala Zune Pass, where you pay a monthly fee for unlimited downloads, but you must keep a subscription active to listen to the songs).

[Titan]

I do option 1 and 2. I prefer to buy CDs and rip them personally. Its just the last year I had 0 money because of my own stupidity but now I don\'t have to worry about that anymore. I just like having the hard copy CD. They shound better in my car. But I like to have them as mp3s on my laptop then put them on my mp3 player for when I walk to class or something. I\'ve even bought some CDs that I already had downloaded but just wanted to own them. Now that I\'m making some decent money I can start buying CDs again. First up is the new Modest Mouse CD

No-One you need to try the Rio karma UI. Many audiophiles and avid portable users agree that is was the smartest UI ever designed. Twice the speed of ipod and much much much better control. Ipod\'s ui is slow and clunky compared to the KARMA. It\'s to bad Rio decided to close down.

Not sure why getting to a certain song 4 seconds slower makes the ipod the worst mp3 player out there...  Like Sammy said, whatever makes YOU happy.  If you have issues finding songs on the ipod check out the latest ones.  They scroll faster by alphabet.

I\'m definitely not an Apple fan but after working so long with UI engineers I would be hard pressed to mock them for their user interfaces.

I\'m giving serious thought to giving my 30 gig Zune to the wife and picking up the new 80gig. Two things are holding me back tho\'.

1: They don\'t have a "Toughskin" case out for the 80 yet.

2: I want a 24 inch monitor.

Why would you willing buy a Zune?

Why wouldn\'t you?
Honestly, there isn\'t anything really wrong with the Zune, people just bash it because it\'s MS.

I just don\'t see any reason at all to get one over an Ipod. Except with the Zune you can\'t use Apple Store, but have to use the MS ditto. No thank you siiiire.

EDIT: I can see there\'s a new generation Zune out now, which does indeed seem better than the first. Bigger screen etc.

[nO-One]

Zune\'s are fine players, except for the fact that they\'re USA only. Wireless syncing is a pretty nifty feature, there\'s an iPhone hack that does the same but it\'s pretty flaky from what I\'ve heard.

However, the touchpad IMHO still doesn\'t come close to the touchwheel, but keep in mind I\'ve only watched videos, haven\'t actually tried one yet.

[Titan]

That new Zune does look pretty nice. I still think the next player I\'m getting is gonna be a new iPod.