Video iPods, Apple Video Store

[Broly]

They're trendy, cute, have a lot of storage for music to listen to and apparently movies to watch, and are smaller than CD players and they can clip onto things

They're fashion statements as well as useful

(I don't really know if they're fashion statements for the guys as much as us girls but they're still cool-looking either way so whatever)

i walk around with my mp3 player occassionally and people ask me 'is that a ipod shuffle?' and im like 'no it isnt' and they immediately continue on their way as if nothing happend.

Fuck ipod, because of teenage whores everyone has to have one now or your not fashionable. You say mp3 player to someone, they immediately think ipod. In the midst of this, people fail to realize theres actually BETTER mp3 players.

[DoTheFandango]

i walk around with my mp3 player occassionally and people ask me 'is that a ipod shuffle?' and im like 'no it isnt' and they immediately continue on their way as if nothing happend.

Fuck ipod, because of teenage whores everyone has to have one now or your not fashionable. You say mp3 player to someone, they immediately think ipod. In the midst of this, people fail to realize theres actually BETTER mp3 players.

It's because they made the mp3 player for everyone, not just for people that knows how to work a flash drive.

My Grandparents can work an iPod, but they barely know how to turn on their computer.

And in what way are other mp3 players "better" than iPods? iPods, to what I have listened to, offer slightly to extremely better sound quality (depending on what you are basing it on, AAC vs. WMA, MP3, WAV, etc.)

Alot of people hate iPods because everyone has one. (JEALOUS MUCH!?) People have them because they work and work well. They offer a user friendly interface as well as durablity and quality.

You can accept them or hate them, but either way they are going to be here for a while.

[Blanke]

iRiver and the iAudio are produced by the same company.

[Saturn V]

We go through this everytime a topic about the iPod comes up.

Non-iPod owners: The iPod sucks, it's so trendy.
iPod owners: The iPod rules, you're just jealous.

STFU.

[Epinephrine]

It's because they made the mp3 player for everyone, not just for people that knows how to work a flash drive.

My Grandparents can work an iPod, but they barely know how to turn on their computer.

And in what way are other mp3 players "better" than iPods? iPods, to what I have listened to, offer slightly to extremely better sound quality (depending on what you are basing it on, AAC vs. WMA, MP3, WAV, etc.)

Alot of people hate iPods because everyone has one. (JEALOUS MUCH!?) People have them because they work and work well. They offer a user friendly interface as well as durablity and quality.

You can accept them or hate them, but either way they are going to be here for a while.

I don't hate iPods, but my Rio was only $80 and I really don't know what to do with 60 gigs of portable music. My 512 SD card is enough for me for my jogging! Meanwhile my PDA can be used for both mp3s and movies as well, so what the hey.

[Dameon Angell]

Wow, I might of actually found something to replace my Creative Labs Nomad.

[Krusnik]

yeah so what? ive been watching movies on my iriver since february. why are people so enthusiastic about ipods?

Because, Ipods are the l33t sexyness. Iriver is like the hyundai, and Creative Gen is like the Kia of mp3 players.

[Ashlee]

Fuck ipod, because of teenage whores everyone has to have one now or your not fashionable. You say mp3 player to someone, they immediately think ipod. In the midst of this, people fail to realize theres actually BETTER mp3 players.

Well, yeah, that's sort of the point of me saying that it was trendy in fashion

And I could care less if there are "BETTER" mp3 players. Ipods are just fine for me, decent price, cute colors, good quality, etc.

Also, I just noticed you're the Broly who was in pictionary last night, gg with that

[BleakFuture]

I bought a Minidisk player 3 years ago and I like it better than most of the stuff out there. I dont need to be able to watch videos while I walking to class, so I just use it for music, and occasionally audio books

[project dragon]

All I need

[Kyace]

All I need

I hum.

[Kim]

I have that

[K2Grey]

And in what way are other mp3 players "better" than iPods? iPods, to what I have listened to, offer slightly to extremely better sound quality (depending on what you are basing it on, AAC vs. WMA, MP3, WAV, etc.)

Alot of people hate iPods because everyone has one. (JEALOUS MUCH!?) People have them because they work and work well. They offer a user friendly interface as well as durablity and quality.

You can accept them or hate them, but either way they are going to be here for a while.

I find flash players very easy to use. IMHO, if you notice a significant difference in ease of use then it probably indicates that something's wrong with you, unless the flash players you have experience with using are completely bizarre.

For iPod SQ, it's not really anything special. AAC < LAME vbr mp3 presets, and compatibility is much better with mp3. I would say that LAME mp3 aps is equal to lossless CD quality 99% of the time and any higher up the LAME ladder is just frosting on the cake (the same deal applies to ogg). In addition mp3 can be ReplayGained without requiring player support, thus allowing you to even out the volume on your albums so you don't need to hit the volume control every time you find out one album was made with a higher dB level than the other. Headphone out has something of a bass roll-off. Line out is great, but very few people are going to bother with the line out so it's kinda irrelevant for most cases.

Main reason people have iPods is because of advertising and because they're well known and because people are attracted to brand names. When I first started trying to figure out what mp3 player I should get I was considering non iPod mp3 players because of price reasons. I was under the impression that if I was willing to spend more I should just get an iPod. It was only later after some research that I realized that the iPods aren't particularly amazing compared to other mp3 players. In particular, I wanted a flash mp3 player so I could drop it without damage and for the ability to put it around your neck, and the Shuffle just plainly sucks due to lack of LCD screen so it was an easy choice there. But even if I was going to go with HD player, there are still better choices e.g. Rio Karma (albeit their hard drive failure rate is pretty bad). But from what I have heard iPod HD failure rate is nothing to brag about either.

Having said all this there is nothing particularly bad about iPods themselves other than the Shuffle, which I can't believe people buy, unless they're the type for whom all music is the same and so it doesn't matter that they can't navigate through their collection. If you are trying to get the maximum sound quality of a mp3 player iPod is in fact probably the best (but then you need to lug around a PocketDock and pocket amplifier with you). Making iPod hate web pages is a bit excessive. There is however something bad about 1) people having the misconception that iPod is automatically superior to everything else because it's well known 2) using $2 earbuds with a $250 mp3 player 3) playing your music at such volumes that people 10 feet away can hear you, which will surely kill your hearing.

Edits:

1) Yes, I know Apple came out with VBR AAC 2 weeks ago or something. LAME vbr mp3 has been around for who knows how long and has been refined for quite a while.

2) iPod is in fact not the best choice for maximum sound quality out of mp3 player, however the #1 pick doesn't qualify as portable after you add on the DAC and amplifier.

[geekbot]

iPods gained a dominating 75% market share even though it was far from first to market only because of *marketing*?

I don't buy it.

It's part of it, yes, but Apple has created a purchase to computer to portable solution. Great software running on your computer complements and adds value to the portable- something very few in *any* market provides. How many printer, digital camera, etc driver/programs do you throw away for a better solution because they suck?

iPod + iMac with remote and Front Seat + iTunes video downloads builds on this sucessful formula. Marketing is only part of the formula.

No, not first to market with video (portable video/DVD players have been around before iRiver, etc, etc), but I have a sneaking suspicion everyone who didn't have one is going to after Dec 25. If you were sick of iPods before, I'm just saying- brace yourself.

[Broly]

Well, yeah, that's sort of the point of me saying that it was trendy in fashion

And I could care less if there are "BETTER" mp3 players. Ipods are just fine for me, decent price, cute colors, good quality, etc.

Also, I just noticed you're the Broly who was in pictionary last night, gg with that

i can get a mp3 player (for example a zen micro w/ better sound quality, same price, same capacity).

The mp3 player could look like a pink dildo for all i care, as long as it works, is good and affordable.