Apple's iPods
Recently, I've been reconsidering switching to a newer iPod, financed mostly by selling my current model. At first it was the Touch, but then I began to consider the iPod classic.
For $50 less, you can get 10x more memory than the iPod touch, which means either the iPod classic is a great deal, or the iPod Touch is way overpriced. Today I visited the Apple store, and decided I'd get a verdict once and for all by playing around extensively with both versions.
The iPod Classic is a great product for many reasons. The screen is amazingly crisp and sharp, noticeably more than the 5G iPod. The aluminum casing is REALLY cool, and makes so much more sense than the impossible-to-protect glossy plastic on all their previous models--although I will say that the silver casing is about as exciting and appealing as a bowl of oatmeal (but not the kind with dinosaurs in it). I only wish they continued this trend on the back side of the device, which remains, unfortunately, just as scratch-prone as always. The hold button on top is noticeably "clickier" than previous models, which gives it a really high-quality feel.
I'm not crazy about the menu system though. The split display seems to be a surprisingly dumb move by Apple, as it only makes the user feel more cramped. It really doesn't look that cool to me, and certainly contributes to the overall sluggish performance of the device. The MAJOR flaw with the iPod Classic, and really the dealbreaker for me, is the fact that it simply couldn't handle multitasking. Even the simple task of switching from menu to menu (I haven't even started talking about Coverflow yet) consistently made the song skip and jump. When playing a song and attempting to use Coverflow, the song skipped horribly, the kind of skipping where one millisecond is repeated rapidly like machine gun fire, until the album artwork loaded (and this took a couple of seconds). To make sure this wasn't a defect, I switched iPods, but found this to be the case consistently in every unit I tested. WTF?
The new iPod interface is a classic (no pun intended) example of one of Apple's greatest pitfalls: form over function (and in this case...way way way over function). When they hit the mark, they produce a product that not only looks stunning, but functions beautifully. But with some of their products (good luck trying to find an iPod Hi-Fi these days), they simply overlook the functionality.
It is important, however, to note that I tried doing the same things on the new iPod nano, and actually found it to be almost perfectly smooth, and certainly without any song skipping. Of course, this is made possible by the flash-based memory, as it takes the iPod Classic a longer time to access information from it's enormous, spinning hard drive. Another notable factor is that the iPods in the Apple store have a minimal amount of media on their hard drives--a tiny sliver on the capacity meter at best. If the performance is sluggish with this marginal amount of media, I can't imagine what 160 GB or any amount close to that would do to affect the iPod's performance (actually, I can, but I'd rather not think about it).
The iPod Touch, of course, is an amazing product in just about every way. The thinness, the gorgeous screen, and the Wi-Fi capability make it just about the coolest device ever sold outside of Japan. But the price point is just unacceptable. For the pitiful capacity offerings, AT LEAST the same pricing as the iPod Classic would seem fair enough. I just can't bring myself to invest in this product until they settle on a more compelling price point, or dramatically increase the capacity.
My current iPod model has an awesome amount of memory that I've only filled up to half way so far. It's zippy, stylish, and simple, without too much flashy nonsense that slows it down. It plays video on a beautiful, bright display, and the battery life never ceases to amaze me. Apple currently offers no compelling reasons for me to upgrade my current device. Therefore, my verdict has been reached, and I happily await the next generation of iPod devices.
For $50 less, you can get 10x more memory than the iPod touch, which means either the iPod classic is a great deal, or the iPod Touch is way overpriced. Today I visited the Apple store, and decided I'd get a verdict once and for all by playing around extensively with both versions.
The iPod Classic is a great product for many reasons. The screen is amazingly crisp and sharp, noticeably more than the 5G iPod. The aluminum casing is REALLY cool, and makes so much more sense than the impossible-to-protect glossy plastic on all their previous models--although I will say that the silver casing is about as exciting and appealing as a bowl of oatmeal (but not the kind with dinosaurs in it). I only wish they continued this trend on the back side of the device, which remains, unfortunately, just as scratch-prone as always. The hold button on top is noticeably "clickier" than previous models, which gives it a really high-quality feel.
I'm not crazy about the menu system though. The split display seems to be a surprisingly dumb move by Apple, as it only makes the user feel more cramped. It really doesn't look that cool to me, and certainly contributes to the overall sluggish performance of the device. The MAJOR flaw with the iPod Classic, and really the dealbreaker for me, is the fact that it simply couldn't handle multitasking. Even the simple task of switching from menu to menu (I haven't even started talking about Coverflow yet) consistently made the song skip and jump. When playing a song and attempting to use Coverflow, the song skipped horribly, the kind of skipping where one millisecond is repeated rapidly like machine gun fire, until the album artwork loaded (and this took a couple of seconds). To make sure this wasn't a defect, I switched iPods, but found this to be the case consistently in every unit I tested. WTF?
The new iPod interface is a classic (no pun intended) example of one of Apple's greatest pitfalls: form over function (and in this case...way way way over function). When they hit the mark, they produce a product that not only looks stunning, but functions beautifully. But with some of their products (good luck trying to find an iPod Hi-Fi these days), they simply overlook the functionality.
It is important, however, to note that I tried doing the same things on the new iPod nano, and actually found it to be almost perfectly smooth, and certainly without any song skipping. Of course, this is made possible by the flash-based memory, as it takes the iPod Classic a longer time to access information from it's enormous, spinning hard drive. Another notable factor is that the iPods in the Apple store have a minimal amount of media on their hard drives--a tiny sliver on the capacity meter at best. If the performance is sluggish with this marginal amount of media, I can't imagine what 160 GB or any amount close to that would do to affect the iPod's performance (actually, I can, but I'd rather not think about it).
The iPod Touch, of course, is an amazing product in just about every way. The thinness, the gorgeous screen, and the Wi-Fi capability make it just about the coolest device ever sold outside of Japan. But the price point is just unacceptable. For the pitiful capacity offerings, AT LEAST the same pricing as the iPod Classic would seem fair enough. I just can't bring myself to invest in this product until they settle on a more compelling price point, or dramatically increase the capacity.
My current iPod model has an awesome amount of memory that I've only filled up to half way so far. It's zippy, stylish, and simple, without too much flashy nonsense that slows it down. It plays video on a beautiful, bright display, and the battery life never ceases to amaze me. Apple currently offers no compelling reasons for me to upgrade my current device. Therefore, my verdict has been reached, and I happily await the next generation of iPod devices.
posted by John Mark at 11:27 PM
1 Comments:
Hey, JohnMark, what generation of your ipod are you selling? You never said why you were selling it either...
I want to know more about it (because I might want to buy it). Is it broken or something?
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