iPods holiday competition

Read this over at iLounge.com...

Microsoft says that the iPod will face increased competition from new portable devices before this year’s holiday shopping season. The company is helping electronics makers such as Philips, Samsung and Creative Technology design and test digital music players that will take direct aim at the iPod.

“Come this fall there is going to be a number of devices that get close to competing with Apple’s iPod,” said Erik Huggers, the head of Microsoft’s Digital Media Division. By the second quarter of next year “there is going to be a whole lineup of products that can compete with Apple in industrial design, usability, functionality and features.”

they forgot the most important thing. iPod isnt a marvel in industrial design and features bla bla bla... ITS STYLISH, and none of the others are!

who wants an FM radio transmitter anyway... radio sucks!

#307558

like always they're all fighting a long-lost battle against apple

#307561

yeah, i found that all the other companies are lacking the elegance.

when u look at the interfaces of all those other players, theres all these bells and whistles, little graphics on every menu that arent needed. the interface for the ipod is hypoalergenic to say, a britheny spears fan can look at an ipod and say "cool", and a coal chamber fan can look at an ipod and cay "cool". all the features on the other players look copied from ipods style, and its obvious, and nobody wants the imitator.

like to see iRiver (by far the worst named player in history) compete with that.

#307563

Pff, I don't see the hype about iPods. My Mini absolutely and truly sucks. I wish i'd have bought a Zen.

#307564

IMO the iRivers are the best mp3 players, for what they provide... and you ask who cares about radio? I sure as hell do... I may have alot of **** music on my player but there is always new crap on the radio.

http://www.iriveramerica.com/prod/hd/h10_20gb_plat.aspx

#307565

The sad truth for these guys (and Tim) is that Apple is setting standards in Industrial Design, Stepping aside and making usable objects of desire.

Don't get me wrong, competition is grand and I love it! I wish they come up with something nicer, but by nicer i mean the whole product not just a nice case for a crappily integrated UI that synchronizes to a crappy Media Management program

#307566

IMO the iRivers are the best mp3 players, for what they provide... and you ask who cares about radio? I sure as hell do... I may have alot of **** music on my player but there is always new crap on the radio.

http://www.iriveramerica.com/prod/hd/h10_20gb_plat.aspx

not on the radio where im from, we have 3 classic rock stations, and 2 country stations... only one college radio station and they repeat the top 40 hits constantly... to hear something new and different around here you definitely have to hit up bit-torrent or limewire. maybe in big cities and other countries radio doesnt suck. but small town american radio stations are definitely crap.

I have an ipod mini, great player but i wish id gotten the 20 gig one, thought id never need more than 4 gigs of music but i was wrong, but the battery life on those damn things is amazing!

...and u still gotta admit, maybe a good player that gets the job done... but 'iRiver' is still a crappy name

#307567

The sad truth for these guys (and Tim) is that Apple is setting standards in Industrial Design, Stepping aside and making usable objects of desire.

Don't get me wrong, competition is grand and I love it! I wish they come up with something nicer, but by nicer i mean the whole product not just a nice case for a crappily integrated UI that synchronizes to a crappy Media Management program

iPod shuffle... what ui?

the ipod shuffle proves people are morons, and buy the ****ty product.

#307572

just cuz a User Interface isnt visual doesnt mean its not there, for what its used for the shuffle is great, 2 buttons: 'Play' and 'Next' for a 1gb random playlist is all you need, and if u dont want a random playlist then avoid a player with the name Shuffle

the mini and regular iPods interface is seamless

you ever try working out with a full sized mp3 player of any sort... shuffle weighs nothing

while working out do you ever once look at your music players screen?... nope shuffle doesnt need one

different strokes for different ... people (i wont use folks in a sentence cuz George Bush says it alot)

#307574

they forgot the most important thing. iPod isnt a marvel in industrial design and features bla bla bla... ITS STYLISH, and none of the others are!

I live in a suburb in LA, and when I walk down the streets I see mp3 players left and right from every possible company you could thing of. I used many and some are great feature-wise but no one comes close when it comes to style...I just can't stand that choppy text on the zen micro :mad: I'll take my mini over it anyday

#307575

One hyperlink deep from the one Timan provided:

PlaysForSure

Stands to reason - The "DRM at your fingertips" or "Plug'n Pray" slogans have a new companion.

#307576

Oh God.

AS is turning into Neocrap, i mean Neowin >.<

#307599

But I thought you all knew about this! I mean, the iPod's obviously going to die because Microsoft said so. And Apple's going to go bankrupt and die too, because it's latest range of PowerBooks don't overclock to 5Ghz, take your kids to school, support FLAC audio and brush your teeth for you. And the iPod doesn't cost $100 and come with a built in FM radio, goddammit! I read this on every tech site which tries to attract visitors by being controversial, so it MUST be true.

#307624

simon, what the hell are you gibbering about?

#307632

Well the iPod does look great and all that, but I'm still baffled as to why it's selling so well. Obviously all the Apple fanboys bought one, then maybe some people that don't know much about MP3 players and got lured in, but otherwise I don't see why.

I've tried some stuff by iRiver and Olympus, and even though they don't look *quite* as good, they're two times cheaper and have more features... and support wmv. I dunno, the iPod just seems like a gigantic waste of money to me. Can anyone explain why the bought one?

#307635

Somebody hold Facist down whilst I inject the sense of humor

#307636

Somebody hold Facist down whilst I inject the sense of humor

AND...Simon wins the Quote-Of-The-Day award.

-NC

#307640

More like quote of the month

#307647

from when M$ has the right to decide which company will go bankrupt?!?!?! >_< From what i see, the creatives suck hard when compared to the iPods. Vertical scrolling, the remote control, even the look of the Zen micro are just a cheap imitation of the iPod's (mini). Sure they have more features but you don't need those...

PS: Oh, and the Zen Micro is actually more expensive than the mini here in Australia :confused: :confused:

#307659

I don't understand the mentality of Apple fans. Please no flames, this is just what I've seen from the people I've met. The Apple fans I know don't have any reason why their stuff is better other than "It's made by Apple." No facts, no reasons, just "It's Apple." I have a Dell DJ, and I bought it because it has more storage than an iPod of the same price range. See? That's a reason. But why did Mr. Mac User buy an iPod? Because it's Apple! Most Apple fans I run into look at you like you're stupid and say, "How can you not understand why Apple is better?" When you ask why Apple is better, they say "Because it's an Apple!!" And I'm thinking "You're ****ing stupid!!!" You can tell that their brain is about to lock up at the thought that you just don't get it. What am I missing? I swear if Apple started selling white poop and advertised it as "The iTerd", Apple users everywhere would have one. Then they would wear it on their arm or around their neck like an iPod mini!! And they would buy it because it's from Apple.

#307674

The only decent colored Ipod was the Black U2 one. White for christ sakes is so institutional

#307680

duyvan - you haven't answered my question. You said it looks purdy... that's not worth an extra 100$. I don't get it: the ability to record, play back wma's, have Radio, not have to use iTunes to transfer music, and the smaller price isn't worth buying another MP3 player? I personally don't care which product copies from who, because so long as the thign they copy is good, it'll be better for me.

Now, can you answer my question?

#307681

Pooky: the answer is because that's an Apple product!!! Yeah Catalyst, laugh man laugh hard lol

Look, I've had experiences with Creative, Sony and Apple products, they both are good in terms of quality and features i have no doubt about that. However in terms of the design, the price (at least for me as a student here in Australia) and the service offered by the manufacturer, other products can't beat what Apple offer to their customers. I had a minidisc player about 2 years ago, I bought it when the first generation of their NetMD came out, I was really satisfied about the product but then, suddenly it stopped working without any reason whatsoever, I rang them up complaining about the issue, hoping to get an exchange but all i got was a repair which would take me about 2 weeks. I thought the wait was worth it as i really loved it, i sent it in and 2 weeks later, i rang them up and got a negative answer, it was still at the factory and i would have to wait for another 2 weeks :confused: finally I got my minidisc player back after a month :slant: that was my SONY experience, never bought any thing from them again (even though i was employed by SONY back then lol)

With Creative it was pretty much the same but a bit better, I ordered a set of speakers from them (from their online store) they got me the wrong subwoofer :confused: and yes, waiting time again which got me frustrated.

6 months ago, I bought an iPod mini from Apple store in Sydney, and this time I got problem again (it sounds strange but i'm really unlucky with these kinda stuff). I brought it back to Apple Store and got a new one straight away, without wasting my time and money sending the machine to the factory and waiting for the return. Oh and last week i got a free earphones from Apple as mine had been broken they didn't even bother to ask me why it was broken.

#307686

AS is full of ****ed up flamers.

You don`t like Apple, go to damn WinCustomize or something.

Everyone has a right to choose and if you like your Dull DJ, use it and love it but don`t give me that preaching **** how Apple makes "purdy" ****. It's my right to choose Apple without having to justify my purchase to you, just as it's your right to choose Dell.

Why do people think they have the right to shape other people's opinions?

This thread has become a flame nest.

________________________________________

/Thread closed

Unbeliever

#307709