Mike Mularkey Posted January 12, 2005 Posted January 12, 2005 By the way, the password to my iPod Shuffle is "nineandseven". -The Mizzle
Fezmid Posted January 12, 2005 Posted January 12, 2005 Your 12 hour battery life is now the same as the iPod. When you bought yours it was probably only 8 hours for the iPod. There is no 20 hour player listed at Dell. Mine does have 20 hours of battery life: http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/p...c=us&l=en&s=dfh Apparantly when they redesigned it, they reduced the battery life down to 12 hours. Also, I bought mine for $179, not $150 as I originally thought. As for your "compliments" of the iPod - please. Many of them are backhanded compliments that are then either dismissed out of hand or they are followed up with "it's all marketing". Check out the consumer forum when this question was asked: http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showtopic=12889 And, from what I've read, I still think the iPod Shuffle is a waste. You're not getting a good interface (as there is nothing special since there's no display), you have no idea how much battery life you have left, weighs the same as every other USB player, and it costs more than comparable technologies. The iPod has some merits (not enough for me personally to justify the additional cost), but the Shuffle (which the thread was first about) has nothing other than "put a random collection of your music on it with the push of a button!" Oh boy... CW
soljc Posted January 12, 2005 Posted January 12, 2005 FWIW, my 1GB Creative flash player currently has 4 complete cds on it and a bunch of remixed tracks that are 5-9 minutes long (85 total songs), and it's only half full.
PhilsBills Posted January 12, 2005 Posted January 12, 2005 Well i chose Creative's Zen Micro because it had an fm tuner, 5 gigs (vs ipod's 4) , and a removable battery. I hear it costs alot to send the ipods back when the battery craps out. My player was sent with an extra battery, too. It cost the same as an ipod mini. To each his own, but I really like the Creative line.... Also if ya get the red one, it looks like a Buffalo Bills mp3 player with the blue backlight (to keep this post Bills related )
Fezmid Posted January 13, 2005 Posted January 13, 2005 Creative's CEO is bashing Apple's "shuffle" now... http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin.../127025/1/.html Said Mr Sim, "Actually, to me it's a big let-down: we're expecting a good fight but they're coming out with something that's five generations older. It's our first generation MuVo One product feature, without display, just have a (shuffle feature). We had that -- that's a four-year-old product. "So I think the whole industry will just laugh at it, because the flash people -- it's worse than the cheapest Chinese player. Even the cheap, cheap Chinese brand today has display and has FM. They don't have this kind of thing, and they expect to come out with a fight; I think it's a non-starter to begin with."
SDS Posted January 13, 2005 Posted January 13, 2005 Creative's CEO is bashing Apple's "shuffle" now... http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin.../127025/1/.html Said Mr Sim, "Actually, to me it's a big let-down: we're expecting a good fight but they're coming out with something that's five generations older. It's our first generation MuVo One product feature, without display, just have a (shuffle feature). We had that -- that's a four-year-old product. "So I think the whole industry will just laugh at it, because the flash people -- it's worse than the cheapest Chinese player. Even the cheap, cheap Chinese brand today has display and has FM. They don't have this kind of thing, and they expect to come out with a fight; I think it's a non-starter to begin with." 203777[/snapback] HAHAHA! Whatever. Desperate times call for desperate words.
Fezmid Posted January 13, 2005 Posted January 13, 2005 HAHAHA! Whatever. Desperate times call for desperate words. 203799[/snapback] I thought you'd appreciate that. CW
SDS Posted January 13, 2005 Posted January 13, 2005 I thought you'd appreciate that. CW 203800[/snapback] Flash-based players could be compared to watches. Do you remember when they started loading watches will all sorts of features back in the 80's? It was neat until most people realized they only wanted to know the time...
Rubes Posted January 13, 2005 Posted January 13, 2005 I'll let y'all know what the Shuffle is like when mine arrives....
SDS Posted January 13, 2005 Posted January 13, 2005 here is a good review... much of the value is how it interacts w/ iTunes: http://playlistmag.com/weblogs/todayatplaylist/
stuckincincy Posted January 13, 2005 Posted January 13, 2005 They should all come with instructions about the manual alphabet, on the theory that anyone who insists on jamming his ears with noise 12 hours a day will be stone deaf by age 40.
soljc Posted January 13, 2005 Posted January 13, 2005 Flash-based players could be compared to watches. Do you remember when they started loading watches will all sorts of features back in the 80's? It was neat until most people realized they only wanted to know the time... 203843[/snapback] I hear ya' on some of the ridiculous features of these players, but a display is one feature I sure don't want to be without.
SDS Posted January 13, 2005 Posted January 13, 2005 I hear ya' on some of the ridiculous features of these players, but a display is one feature I sure don't want to be without. 204075[/snapback] That may be true for you, but I wonder if you analyzed how you actually use a small capacity device in day to day activity if you wouldn't realize that you hardly used the display on such a limited number of songs. Plus, the shuffle has a form factor like the common usb key drive that these other flash drive players don't have. So, you need a cable to transfer data between computers with other players. Personally, since I carry a dell usb drive w/ me at work - I would prefer the option to swap that out with a unit that has 100 songs, is mac/pc agnostic, has a headphone jack and control wheel, than have a display that gets used maybe 0.5% of the time. Music when stuck in the lab, plus an easy way to get some data out on non-networked machines. The wife won't miss a display while running on the treadmill either. Seriously, if you manage your songs with iTunes - you shouldn't have any dogs on the player anyway and if order was important - you could easily make a playlist. Do you really EVER listen to a song - then hunt for a new one with display - listen to it - then repeat, ad nausem? Who does that?
Rubes Posted January 13, 2005 Posted January 13, 2005 For those interested in this debate (particularly Scott and Chris), there was a very interesting article posted yesterday on Motley Fool, located here. This guy was pretty hard on Apple, particularly from a financial aspect. Too harsh, I though, but then again I'm just another Apple homer. What was really interesting is that he posted this article before yesterday's earnings report came out. Want to see a journalist eat crow? Check out his commentary from today. One of the most interesting snippets: By far, the best bits are in the margins: The gross improved nearly two points, reversing the three-year downward trend I discussed yesterday, and setting the stage for a much more profitable earnings machine. SG&A dropped 3.5% as a portion of sales, helping net margins soar to 8.5%. That makes Apple more profitable than Dell (Nasdaq: DELL), for the time being. Absolutely amazing. Time for me to think different. Talk about a 24-hour turnaround...
todd Posted January 13, 2005 Posted January 13, 2005 I've got a 20 Gig Ipod click wheel. It is the coolest tech thing I have ever owned. It is so much better than any other MP3 player I've ever experienced. I think the new teenie IPOD is a great compliment to it. I plan on getting one so when my wife and I work out we can both listen to our music without having to own two Ipods, or suffer with an inferior product that doesn't compliment what we currently have. The 20 Gig IPOD is amazing. I've got 2493 songs on it so far, and am not close to being full yet. The way it works with Itunes is awesome, and the wealth of accesories for it are great. Best of all, it's interface, including the click wheel absolutely blows away anything else on the market. Sorry folks, that's just the way it is. Based on the latest interview with Bill Gates, Micro$oft is clearly underestimating how much people who have Ipods love them. I don't own a Mac, either. I'm a PC guy, but the Ipod is awesome.
todd Posted January 13, 2005 Posted January 13, 2005 Hear, hear! I have an Ipod and have evaluated other MP3 players. The Ipod is so far superior it isn't even funny. It's like comparing a computer to a calculator. No offense, but I shall be going on a rant that will include most of my Bills brothers in this thread.... Your criticism is unfounded. Were you at MWSF? Did you read the reports from there? I'm guessing no... Flash-based players had 62% of the market in 2003 - the iPod mini reduced that to 29%. Now, Apple has targeted the remaining 29% who see a value in extremely small devices. They DID NOT claim to reinvent the wheel. They ARE expanding their product line to appeal to users who have different needs. Considering Apple is kicking the absolute SNOT out of every single competitor in this area - with higher prices - maybe pausing to actually evaluate their new product would be worthwhile. 202026[/snapback]
Dan Posted January 13, 2005 Posted January 13, 2005 It's interesting. The general theme of this post has been the timeless theme of Macs versus the other guys. There's always people that site fact after fact - price, memory capacity, and so forth. And conclude that you get so much more from a non-Mac product. Then you have the Mac people talk about the interface, ease of use, style, and so forth. And the two sides of the brain never meet. What I always find interesting is the few people that have crossed over and used to own a non-Mac gadget, but for various reasons finally broke down and bought a Mac product. Now they're completely sold and "see the light". You'd think the totally progmatic fellows would see this as a sign that conversion may actually be a good thing. But the earlier analogy to buying a car, I think, is very accurate. There are lots of cars out there that will get you around. Yet, some people buy the high-priced Benz and others buy the Tercel. Believe me teh Toyota Tercel is probably about the best car you'd ever hope to own - it gets great gas mileage, almost zero maintenance, basically its reliable transportation for a good 10 years. Yet, there's so much more than just getting from point a to point b. Buying a well-made pice of computer hardeware, the iPods included, can change the way you look at your every day work. Alas, some people will never understand this and will continue to strive for the most bang for their buck. Hence they will always want to trade proven veterans because they can get more value (also trying to keep this on the Bills). And they'll always be just a little shy of seeing the big picture.
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