Apple iPod C or D?

If Creative address their idiotic cock-ups in future firmware upgrades (no line level indicators for the record function!), it could be *the* MP3 player to beat.

I have had no problems with my batteries so far. I listen to it about 10 hours a day, everyday, and I've yet to run out of batteries. It takes maybe an hour or two to recharge it.

The iPod comes with earbud headphones, which I normally don't like. But since it means the entire iPod and headphones can fit in my pocket, I'm down.

This should be helpful Ned.

I'd e-mail Apple and ask.

What good is a cult if people aren't True Believers? Join us...

I think the reason that no one who bought one dislikes it is that most of its negatives (no recording, unreplaceable battery, high price, ect ect) are clear beforehand.

Of course, whenever you get 20GB of data all in one place, it's easy to misplace things. I can't count the number of times I've ripped 10 albums, planning to listen to them all in the near future, and "misplace" a couple of them for a while, because they're buried in the list of albums. No matter how good your interface I think this will tend to happen. The Rio Riot has probably the best user interface out there, because it has a larger LCD window that allows you to bring up your albums in alphabetical groups, making it really...REALLY easy to sort through for what you're looking for. I'd go so far as to say that the Riot has the BEST firmware, but it's a USB 1.1 device and it just takes forEVER to upload 20 gigs to it. I've only been looking at the Riot for a short period now, though, so I reserve the right to change my mind.

As for the question itself, the iPod is a sweet little player, whether you like Mac or not. I downloaded the XPlay software from Mediafour and it works great, just as advertised, though if you store your albums in folders, you have to open up each folder to transfer the individual MP3 files, I think. I may be wrong, but since it's a drag-and-drop window-to-window solution, I don't see how it would work otherwise. I'll explore more and if I notice any different, I'll post again.

The biggest problem with the iPod is the damn price: sure it's well- designed (brilliantly, in fact) and it's really small, but there's a serious price premium per gigabyte for that luxury. (Typical Apple modus operadi though.) If you really need something that'll fit 10 gigs in your shirt pocket, it's definitely the one to get, but the price difference is sure an awful lot of CDs.)

Yeah. I listen to music every day and not buying the 7 if no jack.

Not sure why this is on the iPod thread though. I was expecting talk about how awesome the old iPods are.

Do they not make ipods anymore? Is it only iphones?

Aside from Tarfumes' point about performing music/art, I really don't see what the big deal is.

Xp the future is PONO, dude

That was a very good article Doc - Apple have pulled this kind of garbage in the past but yeah their intentions are pretty well laid out

I'm kind of in a bad spot with this - I don't want to go to any streaming service, since so much of the music I listen to straight up isn't on any of them. And ye

Do they not make ipods anymore? Is it only iphones?

― Robert Adam Gilmour

when they stopped making the hard drive based ipods the remaining ipods were basically iphones that don't make phone calls.

my hard drive-based ipod died after many years of service six months after they announced the discontinuation of hard drive-based models. since my old one had served me so well i paid a premium price for a refurbed one. it died after six months. ever since then i've been listening to music on my phone- specifically got one with a smaller screen and longer battery life. i've pondered one of those fiio things since they have really good dacs, but i've been scared off by complaints about the ui and observations that it does very poorly when handling large numbers of files, and since my ultimate desire is to carry my very large music library around with me it seems like it wouldn't be the best idea.

they've finally come out with 256 gb microsd cards, so i may do that. i really need to revise my software- i'm still using pc itunes, which is just a garbage piece of software, and i use google play on my phone, which isn't much better. the thing i liked about itunes is that it could downsample my 320 mp3s to 128 aac for syncing to my ipod. you wouldn't think that would be necessary, but like i said, my music library is very large. the combination of weak dacs and my old ears means that i don't notice much difference between 320 mp3 and 128 aac. does media monkey or whatever do anything like that?

i'm sure the 90% of y'all who have switched to streaming are laughing at me at this point, but i am paranoid and really do not trust the streaming model, even if spotify does recommendations better than youtube, who when they are not recommending me videos i have already seen will randomly draw conclusions like that i am a south american conservative.

I sympathize. I have an iPod classic which has lasted me many years but it kind of makes grinding noises at times so I'm basically waiting for the old warhorse to finally give up the ghost. I've backed up all my songs and I also bought a new iPod classic just before they discontinued them which is still lying in a drawer unused at this point. So I'll be ready. Anyway this discussion really belongs in the digital music thread but I totally agree that streaming is not for me.

I had an ipod classic that I used daily since 2007. It was only protected with a $5 plastic case that I bought on clearance. Lost it somewhere in my house last December and it was such a bummer. Still hasn't turned up.

I probably couldn't reliably stream music even if I wanted to (I don't want to). It's not like I live in some remote place, so I'm surprised internet service is still so shaky for a lot of people.

A lot of the hardware and management for digital music sounds really shitty, so I'll be sticking to cds for a long time. Keeping my fingers crossed that particular Art Zoyd and Trance To The Sun albums come out on disc so I can postpone digital music for another few years.

Actually bought two cds last night that I thought for a long time I might have to resort to digital files to hear.

i'm sure the 90% of y'all who have switched to streaming are laughing at me at this point, but i am paranoid and really do not trust the streaming model, even if spotify does recommendations better than youtube, who when they are not recommending me videos i have already seen will randomly draw conclusions like that i am a south american conservative.

― a confederacy of lampreys (rushomancy), Thursday, August 18, 2016 6:40 AM (48 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Not laughing at all. My iPod classic is on life support at the moment (can't go even an hour off the charger) but I have another one sealed up and ready to go when this one finally kicks it. Hopefully that will give me enough time to figure out an alternate but similar solution. I'm honestly surprised that someone else hasn't swooped in to take over the clearly-existent (if possibly limited) market for hard drive-based iPods. I'd honestly even buy one that was the size of a Walkman if it existed.

Getting rid of headphone jacks is so fucking stupid. Do none of these people ride public transit? There are plenty of people who are already disinclined to use headphones, why disincentivize them further? Ugh.

ya dude - I don't know what I'm going to do when my Classic dies. probably shell out $400 for another one. I just need something that syncs with iTunes since (sadly) that's where all my music is. unless there's a better way to do it, but I want to keep all the playlists/play counts and junk. oh Apple, you got me good.

Getting rid of headphone jacks is so fucking stupid. Do none of these people ride public transit? There are plenty of people who are already disinclined to use headphones, why disincentivize them further? Ugh.

oh fuck i hadn't even thought of this. a grim vision of things to come

I'm honestly surprised that someone else hasn't swooped in to take over the clearly-existent (if possibly limited) market for hard drive-based iPods. I'd honestly even buy one that was the size of a Walkman if it existed.

― Going Down On The Anals Of History (Old Lunch), Thursday, 18 August 2016

What do ipods do that other digital music hard drive players can't?

if anyone finds a decent alternative to the iPod can they let me know pls because my iPod classic is wheezy and the play button doesn't work and I am not a streamer no siree bob

xp RAG my little research to date hasn't suggested anything comparable to iPod out there for storage sizeand price; sony mp3 walkmans seem to have either paltry HDs or are £££££££s

One thing they can't do (as frogs points out) is sync to iTunes. If a competitor offered capacity comparable to the bigger iPod classics (even at a scaled-up size), affordability, and the ability to sync up with...I dunno, maybe not iTunes but like software that one could import iTunes playlists into? I'm ready to shower them with my bitcoins.

I've been maintaining and adding to and modifying the same iTunes library for over a decade. Eff Apple for locking me into that shit and then pulling the rug out from under me.

I stream to my phone (from google music, uploaded from iTunes) all the time but I still love the 16gb nano. It's perfect for running, has a super-long battery life, and it does it's one thing really well: playing music (and radio). I have the little square one from a few years ago which looks like a proto-apple watch. The current model's not that much bigger, but i love how tiny the square one is for running.

Do none of these people ride public transit?

Heston.gif

Won't you still be able to use Bluetooth headphones? I don't see the big deal here. Headphone jacks and cords are worst and most fragile part of headphones.

Didn't they say there'd be compatibility issues?

Why are playlists so important? As long as album tracks are in the right order shouldn't that be enough?

From what I can glean, you will have to either use wireless headphones or phones with a proprietary jack that fits into that particular iPhone port. Thus, anyone who doesn't own either of those and isn't inclined to buy either of those is going to be jamming to their shit at top volume on the 6 AM train and I'm going to have a shitty morning. Nobody wants that.

Um they'll probably use the headphones that come with the phone. I doubt the other scenario will occur.

Where are the headphones that came with your current phone? I'm certainly don't know where mine are.

And dude, that scenario already occurs several times a week. U nuts.

'I'm certainly' = 'I certainly' = I need more coffee

Isn't it usually kids who want everyone to hear their rave music?

Nope. People of all stripes have shown themselves to be inconsiderate cretins wrt phone etiquette. Y'all need to ride around Chicago for a while, clearly.

I ride transit twice a day at least every day. Other than the odd rude kids (or train dancers) doing this I don't see it super frequently (admittedly I ride commuter hours so older crowd). I think chances everyone starts doing this are pretty slim.

We don't know where our phone headphones are cuz we don't use them. If we did then I'm sure we'd know.

If the ebay isn't flooded with cheap, working adapters for conventional headphones then things are going to get depressing

Even then that shit gonna get lost all the time :(

Why are playlists so important? As long as album tracks are in the right order shouldn't that be enough?

Do... do you know what playlists are?

Why are playlists so important? As long as album tracks are in the right order shouldn't that be enough?

― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, August 18, 2016 10:12 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I make playlists like I used to make mixtapes. It's a nice option to have. It's particularly handy when breaking albums out of boxed sets. If I want to listen to John Coltrane's Soultrane, I just go to the playlist I made for Soultrane rather than scrolling through the 16 discs of the Coltrane Prestige box -- and iTunes treats each disc as its own album -- to find the tracks and the correct running order.

We don't know where our phone headphones are cuz we don't use them. If we did then I'm sure we'd know.

Don't you see any contradiction btwn this and your "what's the big deal?" question? If you currently have one pair of headphones at work, one for commuting, one for reading in bed, and say one spare, that's four brand new pairs of bluetooth headphones you're going to buy when you don't use the ones that come with your phone.

Why are playlists so important? As long as album tracks are in the right order shouldn't that be enough?

― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, August 18, 2016 10:12 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh, wow, I missed that question. I don't even know how to answer that. If you don't understand playlists, you're likely engaging with music on an entirely different level than the one I'm on. There's probably a thread (or threads) on the art of the playlist. The advent of iTunes was the first time music media synced up with what I always wanted it to be.

http://i.imgur.com/QnmOQ7f.jpg

Don't you see any contradiction btwn this and your "what's the big deal?" question? If you currently have one pair of headphones at work, one for commuting, one for reading in bed, and say one spare, that's four brand new pairs of bluetooth headphones you're going to buy when you don't use the ones that come with your phone.

If you currently have four pairs of headphones that you are using all to listen to music on your iPhone then I'd definitely say wtf is the big deal.

I have a playlist that's just every song I've listened to 15 or more times. That's pretty useful.

for my phone i have a pair of heavy-duty earphones for sedentary listening and another one for listening on the go. i can't go for a walk with the big heavy headphones on, but i don't want to listen to music in earbud quality when i'm at my desk.

The ones at work get used for desktop, iPod or phone. The bed ones get used for iPod or video stuff on laptop or phone. Commuting ones (more compact and as non-leaking as possible) get used far more for phone than anything else.

Oh yeah, I have another pair for the beach, too.

I own an iPhone 5s and an iPod Classic. I've had the iPhone repaired cheaply at this place in NYC:
http://manhattaniphonerepair.com/

$80 for a new battery and headphone jack is a steal imho since my iPhone can't hold all the music I want to have with me when "on the go". I dread the day when my iPod is no more.

Playlists and mixtapes just never appealed to me.

If you currently have one pair of headphones at work, one for commuting, one for reading in bed, and say one spare, that's four brand new pairs of bluetooth headphones you're going to buy when you don't use the ones that come with your phone.

why do you have this many headphones

you're all just complaining for the sake of it

ilxmail me if you want to donate some headphones

why would you take $160 open headphones with plush padding that touches your skin to the beach

why would i go to the beach