Reasons not to buy an ipod

MiCr0

as a follow on to http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=316631

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Why shouldn't i buy an ipod?

Oriel

No FM radio.
No microphone/dictaphone.
No line-in recording.
You need Apple software to copy music to the iPod.
You need 3rd party software to copy music from the iPod.

niall mc

iTunes

jum4

sinecurea wrote:

You need Apple software to copy music to the iPod.

Wrong! Whole variety of programs out there to substitute itunes.

sinecurea wrote:

You need 3rd party software to copy music from the iPod.

Wrong! You can access your iPod just like an external hard drive and copy/cut files directly from your device.

Question is what's wrong with using apple software?

rubadub

Simple ignorance that other players even exist. Many people see my mp3 player and are looking at it oddly, saying "is that an ipod". The expensive marketing resulted in an overpriced product (which should be dirt cheap due to economies of scale) which has costed them (& owners) a fortune. The amount they blew on advertising is evident in the fact that many people thing that ipod is the actual term for a mp3 player. Like a hoover

rubadub

jum4 wrote:

You can access your iPod just like an external hard drive and copy/cut files directly from your device.

Is this true? you simply connect via USB and it appear like a removeable drive that you can drag and drop music files onto, and then listen to them (just like a USB pendrive or iriver). If so then why are all my mates always moaning about not being able to swop songs?

Other reasons.
Pathetic battery life
Insistance on using lithium ion rather than polymer so it will pack in after a few years. (price of a polymer would be a few cent more to apple)
Overpriced, due to the massive cost of marketing. If there was little marketing and they worked at the same profit margin of others it would be dirt cheap. They shift millions of units so there R&D and initial process setup costs were recouped very early.

No gapless
No wma, ogg etc
Crap earphones (many suffer this, I would prefer the option of no earphones)
Relatively poor sound quality

cgarvey

Nope, it's not true. iPod stores the music in a proprietory format, so you can't drag'n'drop music files to be played by the iPod. You can use it as a drive, and store music on that drive, but the iPod won't be able to play them.

Oriel

Also, the white colour gets dirty easily.
jum4, you're wrong on all counts above.

jum4

How am I wrong! you can drag mp3s off your ipod directly, and you can use other sofware to put mp3s on your ipod!

Karoma

"No line-in recording" -> Unless you wanna change the OS on the pod (And this is only an option with some of the iPODs) :rolleyes:
"You need Apple software to copy music to the iPod" - you can get third party apps...but i've yet to find one as "good" (!) as iTunes.
"You need 3rd party software to copy music from the iPod" - you can use file browsers but it's a balls... (Akward,DRM,etc)
I find the constant need to reset my iPod mini annoying (It just refuses to switch on sometimes)
The battery life is not as marketed (Not suprising..but as pointed out that the cost of the massive amounts of marketing has been passed on to the consumer..)

rubadub

jum4 wrote:

you can drag mp3s off your ipod directly, and you can use other sofware to put mp3s on your ipod!

WOW that is fantastic, why dont all the others force you to do this, thats a really good feature, wish I had to do all that....

Does it connect to any PC like a USB pen drive, or do you have to load on software to have it work?

sobberandclean

just dont think there all that good.
il wait till i see somthing that got video on it
psp looks good but the memory sticks are firce pricy.
and just 2gig max i think.

Edwardius

Reasons for not buying one:

iaudio x5, iriver h120/320, iaudio a2 (coming soon), most of the creative zen series...
These have: better features, cheaper (in most cases), (apparently) better sound quality (haven't tested this rigourously so I can't comment. This is based on the observations of others), the fact that your ****ing MUSIC PLAYER isn't referred to as a Gucci bloody handbag. Jeez

the only reasons I can think of buying one:
You like the look of the thing
You are a Slave to advertising
You Feel left out
The user interfaces on the other devices are less intuitive (this is part of getting to know the damn device and takes all of ten minutes to master)

rubadub

Dead Ed wrote:

The user interfaces on the other devices are less intuitive

This is partly due to the lack of features on the ipod. The irivers buttons have many different functions assigned to them. I would prefer to be able to "dumb down" my iriver by turning off functions I do not want.

monkeyfudge

Dead Ed wrote:

I can think of buying one:
You like the look of the thing
You are a Slave to advertising
You Feel left out
The user interfaces on the other devices are less intuitive (this is part of getting to know the damn device and takes all of ten minutes to master)

And the person might be a mac user?

I use a mac and I wouldn't dream of using any other kind of MP3 player with it... it just wouldn't be as well supported.

skywalker_208

reasons not to buy one...

you can buy a Zen or an Iriver instead...
every IPod ive ever seen is scratched on the front...
crap battery life
cant replace battery without sending to the US

honru

Biggest gripe with the iPod is that the battery life could be better.

If you're a new iPod buyer then another gripe is that it no longer comes with a dock and charger (although previous iPod owners should have these already).

Also, to play video the file must be formated to play on the machine.

However, I find many of the touted features that have been excluded are very easy to overlook. You'll know yerself.

Gapless is now in the 5G iPod and the sound quality has reportedly been improved. The price is also more or less in league with its competitors.

Honestly, people seem to have massive grudges against Apple's iPod for the tinniest or most insignificant details.

Slave to advertising? Gucci handbag? C'mon...

Edwardius

Honestly, people seem to have massive grudges against Apple's iPod for the tinniest or most insignificant details.

Slave to advertising? Gucci handbag? C'mon...

So nobody buys an ipod because of advertising/aesthetics?? It has been referred to as some form of gucci product in the press on numerous occasions. Read the post, it was a reason FOR buying the thing (if one is fashionably inclined.)

Random

You can get one that's far superior with a radio for less .....

Scubadevils

The X5 and many others walk all over the iPod, all you need do to be honest is even listen to the sound quality of the X5 and then the iPod, you will be sold straight away - I have both (due to the nature of my work) and I couldnt believe the difference in sound quality, and this was using the supplied headphones with both. I do think the iPod is a good player, purely though as a simple to use and fashionable player, but if you want something that performs and has endless features, the X5 is the one...or iRiver I'm sure, just never used one to any great extent.

melekalikimaka

Dead Ed wrote:

So nobody buys an ipod because of advertising/aesthetics?? It has been referred to as some form of gucci product in the press on numerous occasions. Read the post, it was a reason FOR buying the thing (if one is fashionably inclined.)

mmy girlfriend got one just cos it looks cool, she doesnt even really listen to much music!!! you notice also that more girls than guys have em, i think that proves a point

honru

Dead Ed wrote:

So nobody buys an ipod because of advertising/aesthetics??

I don't think I implied that at all.

I just think the majority of your reasons against it are pathetic.

Dead Ed wrote:

It has been referred to as some form of gucci product in the press on numerous occasions.

How the hell can a handbag be a suitable analogy for a music player? Wha, where are the handles? Can I put my purse in there!?

Dead Ed wrote:

Read the post, it was a reason FOR buying the thing (if one is fashionably inclined.)

...

Reasons for not buying one:

the fact that your ****ing MUSIC PLAYER isn't referred to as a Gucci bloody handbag. Jeez

Felixdhc wrote:

The X5 and many others walk all over the iPod, all you need do to be honest is even listen to the sound quality of the X5 and then the iPod, you will be sold straight away

I would be interested in checking out the sound quality, although there hasn't been much raving about differences in reviews. I just find the X5 useless since it doesn't read ID3 tags.

monkeyfudge

Why does everyone seem to think having a FM reciever built into an MP3 player is such a big deal?

One of the reasons I have an MP3 player is so I don't have to listen to the crappy radio.

whiskeyman

f®eak s&#169 wrote: »

How the hell can a handbag be a suitable analogy for a music player? Wha, where are the handles? Can I put my purse in there!?

Quite simple really.
The iPod has gained a reputation of being a fashion accessory - similar to a top brand handbag.
Just look at the reviews and you'll see designers harping on about the sleek design of player and headphones. And just look at the range of colours.
There's also the uniqueness of having white cord / ear plugs. It is synonymous with the iPod.
People go around wearing the headphone outside their jackets / tops and try to have the iPod itself in full view to others.
It's a statement "hey, look at me! I'm cool because I got me an iPod".

MiCr0

the reason that *some* people buy an ipod doesn't change the reason why someone else would buy one

some people wear football jerseys because they play football - others because they're "cool"

whiskeyman

MiCr0 wrote:

the reason that *some* people buy an ipod doesn't change the reason why someone else would buy one

Sure it does.
If these "some" people are part of a peer group, the flock will follow.

monkeyfudge

MiCr0 wrote:

the reason that *some* people buy an ipod doesn't change the reason why someone else would buy one

some people wear football jerseys because they play football - others because they're "cool"

Actually that's a good point. I use an iPod because I have a Mac and I've always used iPods... I got one the first day it came out and I just upgraded to a nano there recently. It's always served me well... so I've never seen any point in changing to anything else.

It's popularity in recent years has amazed me... and as a Mac user that isn't something I'm used to.

I was at a student party recently.. all art students and the like.. and they all had the latest iPods... I still had my old 1G iPod at the time... they were all amazed by it and thought it looked 'retro'... the fact that an iPod can already be considered retro is a bit strange.

rubadub

monkeyfudge wrote:

Why does everyone seem to think having a FM reciever built into an MP3 player is such a big deal?

One of the reasons I have an MP3 player is so I don't have to listen to the crappy radio.

In the 80's they were able to squeeze a radio onto a wrist watch and it was so cheap they gave them away in texaco with a few petrol tokens, at this time mobile phones were the size of a small car. 20 years on they could probably fit the radio techonology on a match head.
I use the radio when my battery is low since the HD is inactive, with the ipods pathetic battery I am sure many would like the option.
I use it to listen to the news, I know others who listen to the few decent radio programs out there, tom dunne or whatever.

It would cost them pence to put it on (just like a polymer battery). It would make there UI more complicated though, it is easy in the first place due to the lack of features most others have.

The post above says it all about art students, I know a few post art students with them. One is graphic designer, he was looking for a monitor a few years back, I told him of an amazing deal my friend could get him, thing was about 25% of the retail price. I was quoting all the specs, 19", 100hz etc. he replies "is it black?", ehh I dunno "only want it if it is black". like women with their "its a blue car", so the ipods are attractive to the arty students and women, who do not give a damn about functionality, extra features, battery life- as long as it looks good. I have no problem with that as long as they are aware of better things out there.

I have said before I couldnt give a damn if my MP3 player had a picture of eamon dunphy in the raw on it, I use it to listen to music....

monkeyfudge

rubadub wrote:

In the 80's they were able to squeeze a radio onto a wrist watch and it was so cheap they gave them away in texaco with a few petrol tokens,

I think that's your answer right there. Sticking FM radios into things looks cheap and tacky because of years of free giveaways and sticking them into pens and such.

Edwardius

How the hell can a handbag be a suitable analogy for a music player? Wha, where are the handles? Can I put my purse in there!?

I was comparing the ipod to a generic fashion accessory, a comparison (I believe I stated previously) made on numerous occasions by numerous sections of the press.

I don't think I implied that at all.

I just think the majority of your reasons against it are pathetic.

Personally I think stating the names of numerous players that are both superior in features, sound quality and, in some cases, price, is quite a good reason thank you very much.

...

I think the key point was made in a subsequent post, which you were kind enough to bring up following your little dots. This can be seen as a good thing or bad depending on which way you lean in terms of the aesthetics of the thing. Personally, I care more about sound quality, features, and battery life.

I'd also like to state that these are MY reasons for not buying one and couldn't give a flying axe what any non-me people spend their cash on.

rubadub

monkeyfudge wrote:

I think that's your answer right there. Sticking FM radios into things looks cheap and tacky because of years of free giveaways and sticking them into pens and such.

radio on a coffee machine, yes. Radio on a device for listening to music, yeah thats just a crazy idea, who in their right mind would want that....