The Wonderful World of iPod

I can still remember when the first iPods were introduced. Everyone wondered what Apple was up too. I was a little let down when I found out their next big product launch was just an mp3 player. I had no interest in mp3s.....oh how I’ve changed!

It took me a while to really start importing CDs onto my iBook. I only had a 10 gig hard drive and I didn’t want to fill it up. It wasn’t until I got an iMac with an 80 gig hard drive that I learned how fun mp3s really were. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I soon had 11 gig of music totaling over 2,900 songs! But the problem was, I could only enjoy those songs while sitting at the computer. I couldn’t take them with me on trips. I couldn’t take them to work. I couldn’t take them when I exercised. I needed a way to take my music with me. But just as I couldn’t stop importing my CDs (I had to have EVERY song, not just the ones I liked) I wanted to be able to take it ALL with me. An iPod was my answer.

I had my mind set on an iPod from the beginning. I’m very happy with all of my Apple stuff, so I was sure I would like the iPod too. I read all the reviews, talked to people with other mp3 players, even looked at Palms that could play mp3s, and decided it was the iPod or nothing. I asked for money for my birthday to help start an iPod fund and was aiming for the 10 gig model. I was willing to sacrifice a few songs from my library.

When I started shopping for my iPod, I realized that the 10 gig model doesn’t come with the wired remote, carrying case, or dock! Once you add all of those things to your bill, it is MORE than the 15 gig model, so I switched my eye to the 15 gig. I also happened upon an “open item” at a Best Buy and saved $50!!

After two months with my iPod I am still very happy, and here’s why:

Price
Sure, it was expensive, but I looked at a few 256 kb players that were $200. I paid $150 more and got a huge firewire hard drive. I can’t image paying that much for one of the smaller players. (Oh, I got the 15 gig, but the actually capacity is 13.9 gig.)

Design
I looked at the Nomads and they looked like a little gray box of cards. The interface also wasn’t as well designed. The iPod has a scroll wheel that is just like a track pad on a laptop computer. It lets you scroll through the menus and song lists. It is also used to play the included games: Brick, Parachute and Solitaire. There are also five other touch sensitive buttons on the iPod: Backward, Menu, Play/Pause, Forward and Select. All of the buttons (except select) light up in red and the display turns a cool white when the Menu button is held down. The light can be set to stay on for different lengths of time.

iTunes
I tried to install MusicMatch on my computer at work so I could organize the audio files I have to work with. It was a nightmare. When it didn’t cause my system to freeze, it seemed to play whatever it wanted to and not what I told it to. It has a bizarre system of menus and was simply awful to use. I thought, after using iTunes that MusicMatch would be on par with it to be included with the iPod. I was wrong.
iTunes is a breeze to use. It may seem a little simple to some users, but that’s why I like it. It does what I need it to do, mainly organize my songs and burn CDs, and that’s it. The newest feature of iTunes is the Music Store. It’s pretty cool too. I haven’t actually bought any songs, but the library is impressive.

The iPod syncs with iTunes every time it is placed in the dock. All playlists and songs are updated in a matter of seconds. With the firewire connection, it doesn’t take long to fill the 15 gig drive.

Other
My whole family loves this thing. It may not be for everyone, but even my grandpa thought it was cool. Being able to carry over 3,000 songs around is pretty neat.

Okay, you know I love my iPod, but what don’t I like about it you may ask.

First, the battery life isn’t what I had expected. It’s supposed to be 8 hours. That 8 hours though is minus searching for songs, not using the light, not skipping anything, etc. That’s 8 hours of being on and playing songs in a playlist. I’ve never really kept track, but I’d say it gets closer to 5-6 hours if you just play songs and around 4 if you do much searching. That’s pretty sad. I believe one of the Nomad models gets around 12 to 14 hours of play time (again, assuming you don’t touch any buttons).

Secondly, it has locked up on me twice, and both times were in the same week. I wasn’t happy. It was easy enough to correct, I just had to plug it in and press a few buttons, but it had just been sitting on my desk. I couldn’t figure out why it locked up.....I still don’t know.

Finally, fingerprints. Yes, this is quite a problem...and the included case doesn’t help things. There are no holes in the case to press the buttons and the wired remote only lets you go back and forth between the songs and adjust the volume. If you want to change playlists you have to take it out of the case. The shiny metal back ALWAYS has fingerprints on it, and the screen shows them too. I haven’t really had a problem with scratching yet, but many people complain about that. I keep mine in the case all the time, so that must help.

The iPod also has a calendar feature and a contact list that Mac users have access too. I don’t have iSync on my system, so I can’t really tell you much about those features. Also, the system comes with a set of ear bud headphones that are surprisingly good.

Overall, I am happy I got an iPod. I was afraid after I bought it that I wouldn’t use it that much, but I was wrong. I use it almost every day. For once I made a good decision!