[Hands0n]

In a word ............... "good". Stuff 'em. Too expensive, DRM too restrictive. In the most famous words of the horse on Ren & Stimpy .... "No sir, I don't like it".

I'm quite taken with the iPod itself, even if it is eyewateringly expensive for not much of a good reason, technically or aesthetically. I could even see myself armed with one within the next 12 months. But as for the suggestion to buy music from iTunes *hollow laugh*, no, I'll not be doing that any time soon now.



Despite the success of Apple iTunes, few people stock their iPod with tracks from the online store, reports a study.

The Jupiter Research report reveals that, on average, only 20 of the tracks on a iPod will be from the iTunes shop.

Far more important to iPod owners, said the study, was free music ripped from CDs someone already owned or acquired from file-sharing sites.

The report's authors claimed their findings had profound implications for the future of the online music market.

Ripped disks

They estimate that during 2006 Europeans will spend more than 385m euros (£260m) on digital music - the majority of this spending will be on tracks from Apple's iTunes store.

However, the report into the habits of iPod users reveals that 83% of iPod owners do not buy digital music regularly. The minority, 17%, buy and download music, usually single tracks, at least once per month.

On average, the study reports, only 5% of the music on an iPod will be bought from online music stores. The rest will be from CDs the owner of an MP3 player already has or tracks they have downloaded from file-sharing sites.

The report warned against simple characterisations of the music-buying public that divide people into those that pay and those that pirate.

"It is not instructive to think of portable media player owners, nor iPod owners specifically, as homogenous groups," warned the report.

It said: "Digital music buyers do not necessarily stop file-sharing upon buying legally."

The importance of "free" to digital music fans should not be underestimated, warned the report, and should be a factor for newer digital music firms, such as Spiral Frog, which use an ad-supported model.

Perhaps the only salient characteristic shared by all owners of portable music players was that they were more likely to buy more music - especially CDs.

"Digital music purchasing has not yet fundamentally changed the way in which digital music customers buy music," read the report.

Source Article = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5350258.stm



I wonder if any of us consumers is entirely surprised by any of that? I know that my interest in buying more music can be stimulated by listening to music from other sources. After all, we do not pay to listen to music on radio stations - and that often promts us into wanting to actually own the stuff, or buy more from that particular artist. So maybe, just maybe, the music industry will catch on and "help" us to legally listen to and buy [more] music rather than treat us as society's parahias of the first order! One can only dream......

[Hands0n]

But I couldn't bring myself around to doing it!

On a visit to PC World to replace a duff new HDD I took a few moments out to nip next door to Currys to see their new Apple range - in particular I wanted to get my hands on an iPod to see what it looked and felt like.

They didn't have the 80GB model but the 30GB was there for around £219, more than I'd like to spend on an MP3 player, but it does do a bit more than that so I don't suppose its too off the mark. Competing with the likes of the Archos and others.

Gosh it was heavy! "That'll be the battery, mate" suggested the storesperson who seems unusually knowledgeable for that particular place. He won't last then. :D I digress. But that brought to my attention the nagging doubt I've always had with these Apple devices. The Lithium Ion battery is permanently sealed in the case, it is impossible to replace (at least by the consumer). And the Apple iPod pages do have lashings of information on battery life, how to preserve it for as long as you can, how the battery will eventually lose the capacity to hold a charge. Brilliant!!! Not!!!!!

So lets see now - Apple are seriously expecting me to pay £219 for their MP3 player which has a definite lifespan dictated purely by the fact that the LiIon battery will expire. That is a given. After which I am expected, I suppose, to lay out another £219 or whatever the going rate is then, for another one!

Errrr, if its all the same to you Messrs Jobs and Co., I'll stick with what I've got, thank you very much.

How completely ridiculous. Why on Earth do people buy this stuff? The mind boggles!

[Ben]

The battery can be replaced, though Apple prefer that customers have it done by them - I wonder why ;)

I'm tempted by those new Nano's at the moment. As my computing life becomes increasingly dominated by Apple machines (the Mac Pro is a simply stunning combination of industrial design and engineering) and iTunes slips into my daily usage, including the odd 79p track where I don't want to order an entire album from amazon/play/cd-wow, the appeal has finally made itself apparent to me.

[Hands0n]

See? I think Apple coat their products with some kind of hallucenogenic drug! :D

I'm getting my head around iTunes - it is a very well written bit of software, others could take note!

But for the life of me, I cannot fathom Apple's thinking behind the vendor-only battery replacement concept. It rather stinks in my book. Looks like I'll be beefing up the W900i's memory when the 4GB stuff comes out :)

[Ben]

Well, I bought a Nano today. To be honest, when you examine the incredible design of these things it becomes very apparent why the battery isn't user servicable - space and vulgarity.

Battery compartments take up room. There's no denying that. Dumping the battery in with the internals saves building a compartment.

Battery compartments look minging. Ever seen a sexy battery compartment? Enough said.

I never thought I'd have an iPod but to be honest I'm glad I've finally taken the plunge. The integration with iTunes is rediculously slick (it's currently updating my Nano's software to the latest version). Once my music's all on it I look forward to hooking it up to the Mac to take that seamless integration to the next level.

[Hands0n]

Nice one Ben. I must admit that the design of the iPod range is eyewateringly good. That is one of the main reasons that I took the plunge with the iPod Video (80GB HDD). I do see what you mean about the battery compartment notion - I've yet to see one that I've exclaimed longingly about - LOL. I suppose the nearest I can appreciate a battery is with some Mobile phones (i.e. the Samsungs) where the battery is part of the overall case design - not quite seamless, but discrete as can be nonetheless.

My iPod 80GB tried to turn up on Friday but for the 15 mins that there was noone home UPS decided to try and deliver! Jeez, why on Earth does it take 8-10 days to deliver an Internet order from Apple? Even if it came by bullock cart from Assam it wouldn't have taken that long. Now I've got to wait until Monday for it to arrive

So, you're happy with the Nano huh? I did take a looksee at that particular device myself Which version did you go for? With the AAC encoding the audio files take up much less space than a regular MP3 and so I guess that the 2, 4, 8GB of flash memory that these have is really good for a ton of good sounds.

Interesting the iPod software updating via iTunes - the more I play with that software the more impressed with it I become. Not enough to leap out and buy a Mac - thats a long way off I reckon :D

[Ben]

Their shipping is crazy, no doubt, but I'd like to at least think that the cost savings they make from their choice of manufacturing facilities and shipping routes is reflected in the quality of the materials used in the products - at least in their externals! ;)

I went for the 4GB Nano. Believe it or not it fits my entire current music collection with a gig to spare (192Kbps MP3, for compatibility) and while I could have spent that extra god-knows-how-much on their new 8GB top-end it all boiled down to wanting a silver one to match the Mac Pro. The 8GB version is black.

I did take a peak at that 80GB iPod today. It's an extremely compact way of carrying around ones entire music collection since the beginning of recorded time! It's slightly larger than the other iPod (video) models to allow for the extra drive.

One thing I'm loving about the iPod Nano is it's instant responsiveness. It's got Flash memory to thank for that, where as my Sony A1000 had to fight with it's HDD. The interface is just sick, it really is, and I'm already wondering how I've lived without the click wheel - perhaps that's one of the reasons why I've never really taken to MP3 players in the past.

Sound through the provided Apple headphones is undeniably good, better, in fact, than that provided through my Sony A1000 even with the Sennheisers. I'm just listening to Nelly Furtado's Maneater through my Sennheisers at the moment and, well, all I can conclude is that Sony have gotten seriously lost somewhere along the way. I prefer the Sennheisers due to the inner-ear fit blocking out external sound, but the Apple ones are much more practical for, say, wearing out and about where people might want to get your attention.

I'm sorry to hear you missed your delivery, that's happened to me a million times. I'll religiously camp next to the front door, take half a minute to use the bathroom and *bang* there's a card on the doormat. Try on Monday to take a moment to admire your new iPod's packaging before you cast it to one side and start to play - the experience starts before you open the box.

[Hands0n]

I did look at the Nano to start with but then opted for the 80GB behemoth, not that I have quite that amount of music and video to carry around with me. But I wanted to future proof a bit. I think I've done that alright lol :p

My manufacturer-replace-only battery life concerns me, but then again having a quick peek around eBay I see that there are several people selling DIY replacement battery (http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=ipod+replacement+battery) kits for the iPod range for less than £10. So, once my 2-year extended warranty with Apple runs out I suppose that getting a new Li-Pol battery for the unit won't be that difficult to do without spending the better part of £50 at today's prices with Apple. So that eases my pain quite a bit :D

I have rather been sold the iPod despite my previous comments on the player. Mostly this has come about with my flirtation with iTunes and its apparent tight integration with the hardware. Something you've already confirmed above. For the longest of times I have wrestled with the various means of placing my music on an assortment of MP3 players, and then trying to locate precisely what I want on that player with mixed degrees of success. To have something quite as integrated and functional as the iTunes/iPod combination seems to be a real breath of fresh air. :cool:

Perhaps, then, I am rather more willing to pay [quite] a bit more to carry around and listen to my music.

As to Apple's plans for an iPhone - well, I'm still not convinced considering how poor the battery life is on the average handset. At least with the iPod they can build it to any reasonable size and people will buy it. But the public at large want small(er) phones regardless of what they actually do. The limited success of the large, by comparison, "Smartphones" illustrates this well. Any iPhone will be a compromise - and for that I think that iPod diehards will eschew it in favour of what they are used to.

[Hands0n]

The iPod 80GB arrived finally, this afternoon at 3.30pm after an excruciating 9-day or so wait! I'm not sure I'll ever want to buy [directly] from Apple again if this is their standard delivery method. This has to have been sitting on UPS shelf until delivery date. The packaging label says "Express" ...... huh? in who's definition of "Express" does 9-day delivery figure? Ho well, its here now.

Ben will no doubt say "I told you so" .................. I'm absolutely blown away at the sheer all-round quality of this hideously expensive MP3/Video player. But then the price would seem to reflect the iPod's overall quality. Build is superb, MMI is entirely intuitive, and best of all the audio quality is absolutely gobsmackingly good. I've heard good, this takes it a significant number of steps further.

Setting up is a complete doddle - unpack, plug into the computer that has iTunes installed, sit back and wait for it to [if necessary] update the iPod firmware online, and then sync up the iPod with all of your iTunes content. Some little tweaking is needed to tell iTunes to copy over all your listened/viewed content, if that is what you want (I did). While this is going on you can register the iPod online also.

Never have I seen such tight integration between a PC utility and a device as is demonstrated with iTunes and iPod. Lissen up everyone who manufactures such stuff, this is how it is done!

I'll never forget the dismal failure that was a Sony NetMD and Sony's PC software that would only work on a manufacturer-installed Windows XP PC. Seeing as I build all of my own that ended up a complete waste of time and money on my behalf. The NetMD has languished in its box, rarely if ever used.

The iPod is unlikely to ever leave my side at this rate - even though I cannot use it while working, it will almost certainly fill in the gaps and leisure times.

I'm sceptical, as above, that Apple can repeat this achievement with an iPhone - but I'm thinking that I may just [in time] be proven wrong. I rather welcome that prospect in the light of this most recent experience.

[getti]

welcome to the dark side (which just happens to be better). Now go out and get a Mac...... go on...... you know you want too :D

[Hands0n]

welcome to the dark side (which just happens to be better). Now go out and get a Mac...... go on...... you know you want too :D

Now thats the worrying part of all this ..... For certain Apple has very dark connotations, the white logo is not fooling me, that apple stalk has the hallmarks of one of a pair of horns. It is prophecised that there will be many false prophets - Steve Jobs may just fit the bill. iPods, opiates of the masses, lost in oceans of deep and colourful sound, distracted from reality while the Jobs and his minions take over the earth with their computers and, soon, iPhones.

Where will it all end? Nowhere good, thats for sure ;)

[Hands0n]

El Reg has this hysterical article which I'll only post the link to on here http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/09/hw_ohmibid_ipod_vibe/

Boys, be careful not to show this to your girlfriends/wives/mistresses LOL :p

[E616Vboy123]

El Reg has this hysterical article which I'll only post the link to on here http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/09/hw_ohmibid_ipod_vibe/

Boys, be careful not to show this to your girlfriends/wives/mistresses LOL :p

I have seen something like this before called the "iBuzz". If you are over 18 you can search it on google. Not posting the link when people of all ages could see it;)