Beating the iPod Crunch

Business Week ^ | 11-22-2005 | Peter Burrows

[Tempest]

Pfft! Who cares about that junk. It's all about the Xbox360 this Christmas Baby!

[goldstategop]

Wait til the hype comes out next year over Windows Vista.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[miliantnutcase]

very good player imo...

Now if us conservatives can get us an mp3 player with AM radio as well.

[dfwgator]

It needs to drop about another $100 in price before I get one.

[Terpfen]

why do I need this again?

You don't. But if you're ever in the market for a portable mp3 player, the iPod is about as good as it gets, especially if you want music that isn't in your CD collection. Just load up iTunes and shell out the 99 cents.

[Yossarian]

I pods just don't have the power to drive a good pair of Sennheisers so I'll stick with my Sony MD recorder.

My iPod Photo seems to do a good job driving my Sennheiser 595s..... and I don't need to "up" the volume with them on as I do with my Sony noise cancelling big cans.

[CarrotAndStick]

The on-the-go removable, replaceable rechargeable battery pack is a major plus on the Sony NW HD5 as compared to the in-built battery of the iPod, which, strictly is a limited-life player, because even though the battery can be replaced, the procedure of removing the battery damages the iPod's acryllic cover . Two or more of these batteries can last an entire trip without recharging. Of course, the iPod's Click-Wheel™ interface is unbeatable. And I've noticed that the iPod fails to satisfactorily power large headphones, a problem I never face with Sony portables.

[chilepepper]

for the price of a mac-mini i put together a AMD 64 with 1G of RAM...

[CarrotAndStick]

[goldstategop]

Really? I bought a Mac Mini with 1 GB RAM. The 1.25 version not only came with the 40 GB internal drive but also a 160 GB Acomdata Minipal external drive! And it cost me half of what a new Mac Mini fully configured on Apple's own website costs. Oh and did I forget to mention it also includes a Bluetooth and wireless Airport card? Its little for a Mac but I already have a PC and there's not much space on the table for a second tower...

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[CarrotAndStick]

Apple enjoys a fat profit margin on most of their products. IIRC, the iPod 20GB model costs Apple $150 to make, which is sold at $300.

[BunnySlippers]

Big annual Aple sale on Friday. If it's like last year there will be a sale on iPods.pMacs and iBooks ... and mac.com

[chilepepper]

yeah, but i'll bet the 4200rpm disk drives you nuts...

[mathluv]

And coming soon, Tony Snow!

[goldstategop]

The funny thing is the drive in the lower processor model is actually faster in boot up time than the one in the higher processor unit! And yeah, Apple does make a nice fat profit off its products. People have gotten used to I-pods but no one figured they would make a sub-$1,000 computer. When Steve Jobs unveiled the Mac Mini at the last MacWorld, people thought it would go the way of the ill-fated X-Cube. Apparently, its been blessed. The small size must have something to with it and PC makers are catching onto Apple's innovation by making similiar machines to ride the Mini craze. Now its completely possible to network a house with a mother tower and baby satellites.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[Yossarian]

...as compared to the in-built battery of the iPod, which, strictly is a limited-life player, because even though the battery can be replaced, the procedure of removing the battery damages the iPod's acryllic cover .

Huh? I've popped open my 3G 40GB iPod a couple of times, with no damage to case evident whatsoever....

And I've noticed that the iPod fails to satisfactorily power large headphones, a problem I never face with Sony portables.

I drive a nice big pair of Senheiser 595 cans with my iPod, no problem, great volume, and with no distortion....

[CarrotAndStick]

A look at the edges of the iPod WILL reveal damage along the (originally perfectly sealing) surfaces of the steel base and the white acrylic top. This is inevitable because of the way the iPod has to be pried open to access the battery.(The iPod was never designed to be battery-replaceable. What is available now as a battery replacement is an "improper" fix. A look at the older iPod's manuals explicitly mentions that the iPod must be discarded once the batteries stop holding juice.)

Not to mention the consequent stress-induced plastic deformation on the holding clips of the acrylic cover, on prying the cover open. As a result, the cover will never fit tightly, once opened. My iPod now collects more dust inside, after having its battery replaced, due to the loss of the original sealing action of the tight-fitting cover.


About the power, I have tried good large headphones from Sony, Sennheiser and Bose, and have seen that the iPod is limited in being able to satisfactorily power these pro headphones. This is a common complaint about the iPod.

And having multiple battery packs and being able to change them on-the-go is a major plus on the Sony player. Not to mention the better acoustic performance on the Sony, beaten only by the Creative player(105 dB?).

[xsrdx]

an iPod would be a good fit for my logistical requirements

I've transferred a sizeable (4000 song) CD collection to my 20GB iPod, and I have line out -to- RCA inputs for each stereo, and adapters for the cars.

iTunes is a powerful tool for capturing CDs, downloading and sorting music, and creating playlists.

I've rediscovered music I love but had forgotten, many times over - the downloaded new music aspect is the most frequently emphasized iPod benefit, but I find the ability to catalog and sort every CD I've ever owned in a high quality, portable format to be it's most rewarding trait.

If you enjoy music, it's tough to overstate how useful it is to be able to carry your entire collection around in your back pocket, and create unsurpassed digital "mix tapes" to fit every mood.

[pageonetoo]

Apple enjoys a fat profit margin on most of their products.

Jealous?

I bought AAPL a couple years ago at 13 3/8. It split in 2/05, 2 for 1. It closed yesterday at 67.11, up more than 10% since the "hold" was recommended week before last.

Somebody likes those profits. We call them capitalists.

[CarrotAndStick]

Oh, no no, you've got me wrong. Overpriced iPods coupled with a general ignorance on the availability of better personal HDD music players (like those of Sony, Creative and Kenwood) mean good news to the shareholders of Apple, but bad news to the unwary iPod customer.