The perfect MP3 player

[Grant Robinson]

On Sep 15, 2005, at 12:20 PM, Barry Roberts wrote:

> On Thu, Sep 15, 2005 at 11:42:07AM -0600, Grant Robinson wrote:
>> Except for using iTunes (and perhaps budget), I would say an iPod fits
>> your bill.  Lets run down the checklist:
>
> I would say an iPod is pretty far from that.  Yes you can mount it
> up as a hard drive and drag and drop files to it.  But not music.
> Unless all you want to use it for is to copy files around, and not
> play them on the iPod.

Which is why I said "Except for using iTunes" because he didn't want 
to, and that is the only way to get music on there.  On every other 
count, the iPod fits his bill.

<snip>
>>
>> iPod is #1 for a reason - the interface is very intuitive, and it's
>> very easy to use.  Until something else comes along that trumps it's
>> ease of use and interface, that is my recommendation.
>
> It's also SEVERELY hated by a lot of people.  It's interface isn't
> that obvious to a lot of Windows users I know, and using iTunes you
> CAN'T get your music off the iPod.  You have to have gtkpod (or the
> low-level tools it uses, or something like it) on one end or the other
> to use your iPod to copy music files, say from work to home.

First of all, clarify "a lot".  An 80% market share would tend to say 
that the people who hate the iPod are in the minority, not the 
majority.  If they hated it, why would they be buying it?

As for the interface, it must be doing something right, as I've seen 
several players whose interfaces (down to the fonts) are basically an 
exact replica of the iPod's (sans scroll wheel).  It may not be the 
_best_ interface possible, but it's the best one so far, and solves a 
fairly hard problem (quick, usable navigation through thousands of 
items using limited controls).


Lastly, I don't know of many (if any) players that _do_ let you move 
songs.  At least there are ways to move songs using the iPod, even if 
they are low-level.  My first MP3 player was a RIO, and the only 
utility for that was a command-line tool that didn't work very well at 
all.  Compared the other MP3 players I have owned and used, the iPod is 
by far the best.

Grant