2005-10-02

Finally...

Now that I have an iPod I can understand the craze; but I still can’t understand the price.  Apple is a publicly traded corporation so they owe it to their shareholders to charge what the market will bear but still from my perspective the price is quite steep.  I think it would be worth the price if the battery was changeable (I understand that when you send your iPod in to Apple for replacement they just send you a refurb) or something like that to extend the life I might agree more with the price.  

I’m amazed that no one else has come up with a decent user interface (I’m referring to the ease of use and to the nice clean look).  

The other big stumbling block for other MP3 players is the file format.  I’ll ignore Sony here since their software is so dense and difficult to use.  I’ll also ignore Real Player since they have very few players that will play music purchased from their store.  Files in the Apple format (which is essentially the same as Real Player’s except at lower quality) will play on any authorized machine, the same file.  Microsoft’s file format is locked to a specific PC.  When you want to play your track on another PC you have to download the file all over again.  Also, if you have to reinstall Windows you have to download your tracks all over again.  I could go on here but this is very inconvenient.  

Apple is a juggernaut here because while everyone else is trying to come up with a player to rival theirs they are already moving onto content to keep people buying (in addition to improving their players).  Napster and others are making a good try with their subscription models but I don’t see how renting is as compelling as owning.  Maybe this is another bit I’d understand if I tried it but I don’t see this happening anytime soon either.