I just posted on another thread my befuddlement re: ipods. It's an mp3 player, right? What's all the hype for? I don't get it. What's so special about it? And there are other places to buy music online, like real rhapsody. What makes ipod such a must have?
Good question. I don't have iPod myself, so I'd be interested in the explaination also. I presume it just makes things easier/faster/more-user-freindly that could be done on other equipment as well?
It's mostly the seamless integration of the system, though Apple did do a great job coming up with a seamless interface. You pop up your iTunes application, pick your song, and the whole thing automatically downloads and installs itself. No messing with transfers or quibbling over what folders to hide your songs in. The iPod made downloading music to the player easy for those who don't know, and more importantly don't care, how it all works on the backend. They just want to pick a song and go, and Apple was the first to deliver it.
For the technically knowledgeable user, the iPod offers nothing that other players and services don't. For everyone else, it offers "pop the CD in" convenience of a CD walkman without the annoying skips or the hassle of changing disks.
marketing.
"I just posted on another thread my befuddlement re: ipods. It's an mp3 player, right? What's all the hype for? I don't get it. What's so special about it? And there are other places to buy music online, like real rhapsody. What makes ipod such a must have?"
Answer: awesome marketing.
That's how you get people to pay 30%-50% MORE for something with a branded name versus the same thing from a relative "unknown" manufacturer.
Just proof of how gullible some people are.
Software makes it extremely easy; good organization makes it easy to use. Simple answer.
I suggest you actually try a regular MP3 player and iPod and compare the experience.
If you find no difference then the difference doesn't matter as far as you're concerned. The iPod fits a lot of people like a glove in the way it works and the ease of its integration.
Ever drive a nice car and a not so nice car? The difference is experiential, and there are people who really can't tell the difference.
Having tried several brands of MP3 players in an attempt to avoid Apple, which I liken to the Borg, I was forever frustrated by technical glitches. I spent countless hours updating firmware and loading add-ons to Window Media Non-Player. I got my kids Ipods because they have all to "cool" concerns of teens. Plug 'em in, charged 'em up, music synced automatically and played without a single hitch on my Dell 5150.
Short answer, Ipods really do work.