Hello, 2005

[av8rmike]

I'm slightly more intrigued by this idea of carrying around my entire music collection with me in some form of "MP3 Player", as the kids call it. However, I'm not suggesting an iPod, since iTunes is a terrible program and doesn't work as well with PCs. I'm actually considering a Microsoft Zune 80, which is by many accounts better than the iPod and costs the same. Although, my CD collection is relatively small and probably wouldn't make a dent in 80GB.

Comments

[violaman.livejournal.com]

You know me: I used to be anti-iPod and anti-iTunes. I ripped my music with 3rd-party software and had a iRiver 40 GB MP3 player for about two years. After a while it was frustrating to manage my music manually and have to remember where I put things. And when the iRiver started to go south on me, there wasn't any tech support out there to help me, nor was there a clear upgrade path to a new iRiver MP3 player (they had phased out their big hard-drive-based players by 2006). So I bought an iPod. Yes, iTunes is a resource hog and doesn't always play well with Windows. No, iPods don't play protected WMA files. But you know what iPods do? They play MP3s, and they play them well. I'm on my 2nd iPod and I love it. I wouldn't go back to another player now. Before you buy something else, try one at an Apple store or check out a friend's.

Welcome to the 21st century, BTW.

[av8rmike.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure you can welcome me to the 21st century until I actually buy something. Yes, I know you: you were sucked in because you liked the flash factor and you wanted to have the most advanced thing out there. So when are you buying that MacBook Air? ;) And yes, I know how iPods work, but most of the reviews agreed that the Classic wasn't a step forward, whereas Microsoft had vastly improved the Zune 80 over the first release and even done some things better than Apple.

Of course, the Zune, Classic, and your iRiver are all HD-based players. Do you think they are a dying breed, since the flash-memory models are all the rage now, despite the much-reduced capacity?

[violaman.livejournal.com]

I had the 5th generation iPod and now the iPod Classic, and I'd say it's a baby step forward, not a leap. But I wanted another HD-based player, and that's what I got. Also, since it's 160 GB, I'm set for at least another year, maybe two. I have heard good things about the 2nd generation Zune but I've never tried one. I do think that there's a market for HD-based players but it's a shrinking one. Most people seem to want to carry a subset of a much larger music collection around with them. Or maybe the average consumer just doesn't own that much music and doesn't need more than 4 or 8 GB. I consider myself an oddball for wanting to have my whole collection with me at all times, but I'm glad there are music players out there that serve my needs.

[tidesong.livejournal.com]

I'm like you...I really like being able to have my whole collection of MP3s with me.

Did you see the Macworld keynote?

[av8rmike.livejournal.com]

I guess I'd have to start ripping my entire collection (which is probably only 50-60 discs), see how much space it takes up, and go from there. That sounds like a fun way to spend a weekend, as if I didn't have enough projects.

[tidesong.livejournal.com]

You should listen to your brother, Mike. ;)

I had him playing with one at the Apple Store here, Phil. He can play with mine when he comes out here next month.