A Recap of the iPod's Life 236
BDPrime writes "Here's a good look at the iPod's five-year existence and how, it can be argued, the device saved Apple from rotting away. From the story: 'It's hard to overstate the impact of the iPod on the computer, consumer electronics and music industries since it was introduced in 2001. The iPod, arguably, is the first crossover product from a computer company that genuinely caught on with music and video buffs. It's shown how a computer can be an integral part of a home entertainment system, and it's led pop stars from U2's Bono to Madonna to trade quips with Apple's own rock star, CEO Steve Jobs.'" Just to give a little bit of the other side of the story, not everyone loves the iPod. An anonymous reader wrote in with a link to research on unhealthy iPod listening levels at New Scientist. Additionally, Achromatic1978 writes to mention that the iPod has won a Shonky award from the Australians. I don't know what Shonky means, but I think that's bad.
Unhealthy listening levels? (Score:5, Interesting)
I like em, but room for improvement (Score:4, Interesting)
Also, I know that wireless is just around the corner. It seems like the next logical step. Wireless sync to Itunes? Yeah, I could dig that. Unfortunately, my opinion of ITunes is not as lofty. I think their DRM position is a little overbearing. Trying to transfer songs from one ipod to the other, (and really, this should have a solution, if Apple expects sales to continue, it is inevitable there will be more and more multiple-ipod homes) is a pain in the neck (without using 3rd party software). Things like pulling songs off, after iTunes has renamed the files to an unintelligble 4 letter code seems like obstination to me. For a company that boasts ease of use above all else., I think iTunes is a stinker.
How wrong CmdrTaco was (Score:5, Interesting)
Five years later, check out slashdot's very own CmdrTaco's take on the iPod's release. [slashdot.org]
The +5 "insightful" comments are also funny to read five years later, and proved how utterly wrong some people can be.
It's funny how nerds love technology, but are such naysayers when something new and revolutionary comes along.
PDA/Phone/Music Players (Score:2, Interesting)
Volume has a purpose (Score:5, Interesting)
Unfortunately it also means that a slip on the trackpad will cause a 'splodey sensation in your ears. Still, I'm thankful that Apple had the foresight to provide that extra bit of juice. Particularly as the large range might cause producers to think twice about some of the idiotic brick-wall limiting mastering techniques that have been all the rage for the past decade or so.
its hard to overestimate its impact (Score:5, Interesting)
Apple really didn't have a mega-hit, until it supported ipod on windows. Originally, Apple thought of the ipod with the outdated mentality that having mac exclusive devices will sell more macs. Somehow they finally saw the light, and started to sell ipods to the other 97% of the computing market.
What ipods really did, was publicize digital music to the masses. Before the ipod, MP3 players were not widely used or known by the general public.
Re:Slashdot: Apple releases iPod (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Boycott Apple (Score:3, Interesting)
Or more sensibly blame the cause of the problem, the person who has their volume turned up too high! No need to sue, just ask them nicely to turn the volume down or punch them in the head!
People listening to headphones is not as bad as a worrying trend I've seen on some London buses when groups of kids start playing music through the speakers of their mobile phone (cell). No not ringtones, but full tracks!
It's even worse when those tracks aren't even the real artist but are cover versions like what they sell on boltblue [boltblue.com]. Yes, people actually pay £3 for a full track song to listen on their mobiles that's not even sung by the original artists! crazy.
Nice surprise (Score:4, Interesting)
w/MD, I had to build various discs and carry them around, hoping what I brought matched my music mood. The iPod, however, meant I could bring everything...every song/album I had and it still had room for more.
That also meant I could easily find something I liked, at any time. Naturally, my music library started growing at a much faster rate. The 10gb iPod is still going strong today (one new battery & 3rd set of earphones), but there is no way it could hold my entire collection now. In addition, I enjoyed a portable & bootable HD.
Today, of course, most everyone in the family has an iPod of one version or another. I'll spring for yet another as soon as one w/WiFi hits the shelves.
Re:I like em, but room for improvement (Score:4, Interesting)
You've got to charge it at some point - might as well sync at the same time. I'd like to be able to share my songs freely via wireless, but that just ain't going to happen anytime soon.
Wireless sucks battery, is a potential security risk and is slower than a cable.
The feature I'm missing the most is DAB Radio, but thats unlikely to happen because Americans don't have it (don't you guys use satalite and/or a competing digital standard?).
I keep playing with the idea that I'd like to be able to connect my iPod to my bluetooth headset in my bike helmet, and control it via my TomTom, but battery drain, loudness, sound quality and bulk make cabled headphones look like a superior technology (even if you can't skip tracks or switch to radio without crashing).
In both those instances I'm quite happy to have them as accessories rather than built into the unit. I don't see why people should have to pay a premium for niche technologies they didn't want.
Re:its hard to overestimate its impact (Score:5, Interesting)
Australian English (Score:3, Interesting)
I also don't know what "shonky" means, but I do have some comments about Australian English. It's no secret that the Australian slang, which I think they call "strine", is just about impossible for non-Aussies to understand. Until about a month ago, I used to work for an international company that had offices in Australia and other countries around the world. As part of my job, I talked with a lot of people in different offices around the globe and customers around the world as well. Aussies will complain like nobody else in the English speaking world about the quality of someone else's English. You think Americans complain about talking to call centers in India? You haven't heard anything until you've heard an Aussie bitch about it. I have always been greatly amused by this considering that the Australian accent is arguably the harshest of all the native English speaker accents and considering how impossible to understand "strine" can be if you're not a native. A former co-worker who was a Brit expat living in Sydney told me that they also have a weird habit of chopping words in half, putting an "o" at the end, and just assuming everyone knows what they are talking about. For example, the Carleton Hotel became simply the Carlo. So don't feel bad that you don't know what "shonky" means because that means you're normal.
Too loud (Score:3, Interesting)
yet, on a plane, there is no volume setting that works with the basic ear buds - everything distorts before i can hear anything over the plane's engines. yes, i should buy better earphones, for that situation.
life is hard
Re:Volume has a purpose (Score:3, Interesting)
I can't remember the last time I listened to my iPod through headphones. I plug it into computer speakers when I'm at home, plug it into my car when I'm driving, and never go far enough to make it worth taking on a walk. Usually my iPod is playing between 80% and 90% volume, as it sends a signal to whatever auxillary device it's plugged into. On the rare occasion that I do use it with headphones, I use my noise cancelling headphones and keep the volume at about 50%. People who suggest that the high volumes only exist to destroy people's ear drums have a very narrow view of what the iPod is used for. Nobody is forcing people to listen at 100% volume, and for some purposes that volume level is actually quite useful.
Re:Slashdot: Apple releases iPod (Score:2, Interesting)
The I-Pod Museum in NYC (Score:2, Interesting)
Apple's Pricing (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm not nitpicking your comment, but I would like to point out that it does not matter where you get your iPod. It will always be the same price. Apple does not allow resellers to sell at any price other than the MSRP. They enforce their policy be cutting off or fining resellers that fail to comply.
Speaking of Apple's sales policy, did anyone else notice that the 2GB model is only available in "plain" silver, and the only black iPod is the 8GB model. I don't think I've ever heard of a company charging people so much for specific colors! Their strategy is brilliant though, by bundling the more attractive colors with larger amounts of memory they make it easier for people paying extra to justify the purchase to themselves. It's easy to see how a technophile who was only looking to spend $150 could be persuaded to put out another $100 for the black iPod they really want because it has four times the memory! Hopefully they will revisit their MacBook pricing and make the "black fee" less obvious as well.
Re:Slashdot: Apple releases iPod (Score:3, Interesting)
I remember when I got my 2G iPod that to use it for windows you had to use music match to do it. It totally sucked. Im surprised that it took off for windows (ie outside of the mac faithful) without decent software to manage the iPod. Apple was selling 'windows formatted' iPods without a decent solution because people wanted them that badly, myself included.
I think discussion of the iPods success should be focused around how it succeeded and reached a critical mass, before the entire iPod ecosystem developed around it. Its obviously the choice now becuase it is THE player but how did it get started like that. I mean, I hated mac stuff then but still got the iPod.
Re:Unhealthy listening levels? (Score:3, Interesting)
You have muscles in your ear that dampen sounds over a period of time (I know the names but IANAPP [I am not a pedantic prick] so I'll spare you). For instance, if you're in a loud machine shop and someone fires a starter pistol, your ears will probably be OK. However, if you turn all the machines off and have it silent in the exact same room for a while before firing the pistol, you'll likely damage your ears.
Therefore, in some cases, plugs + phones can be bad. The outside noise will cause your ears to adjust for the loudness and will attenuate the force of the sound as it enters your ears (unless you just turn up the volume too loud).