Thanks Apple
So I think Apple’s announcements yesterday were actually good for my under ten million iPhones sold by 2009 hypothesis/wager. The iPod Touch (which was somehow obvious, brilliant, and stupid at the same time) is going to cannibalize the iPhone. It has to.
As I’ve said 100 times, they made a product that only the BlackBerry set can afford (even still, after the price cut) but designed it in such a way that they cannot give up their BlackBerry. They’ve tethered it to a two year contract (making it ungiftable) and they’ve excluded the only other group of people who want this phone and can afford it (geeks like me) by not having 3g data. They’re selling only to fanboys, and even most of them were hesitant.
And now, on top of it all, they’ve made an iPod that has everything good about the iPhone (Wi-Fi, browsing, various iPod functionality) and none of the bad (AT&T), and threw in double the storage for good measure. Don’t get me wrong, it’s brilliant, because the BlackBerryers were all carrying an iPod anyway and they’re all going to upgrade to the Touch. But Apple had a lot of people sitting on the fence about the iPhone, and I have to think the iPod Touch went ahead and pushed them right off.
In some ways, I actually want the Touch. I’d love to have Google Reader look that sweet in my pocket at all times, and I’ll tell you right now, if they somehow make something like Google Gears for it (so I can read my RSS feeds when out of Wi-Fi range and sync when I get back in) I’m sold. Unfortunately Wi-Fi isn’t near ubiquitous enough yet for that to be useful, and by the time it is, Wi-Max will be a better option anyway.
I’d also love to have a media player with such a nifty interface and beautiful screen. I’m currently using a Zen Vision W, and while I love it, it’s just too bulky for day to day use. I can’t pocket it. And the interface is a step back from the Vision M, resorting to buttons. The multitouch screen would have to be significantly more enjoyable, even if it gets a little smudgy at times. I never leave the house without my Oakleys, so I’m never too far away from a microfiber bag to clean it with.
Unfortunately I just can’t bring myself to buy that product. There’s just too much annoyance involved. All of my music is in WMA format, so I’d have to convert it. Most of the best stuff is lossless at least, so the conversion shouldn’t be too bad, but it’s over 60 GB of tunes, which I then have to store twice. I’d have to convert it all to AAC, which is a respectable codec but useless for any other player I might own. I’m too much of an audiophile for mp3, which would require such a high bitrate that I’d have almost no music on my little 16 GB player.
Which leads me to problem number two, which is iTunes. That software is the biggest steaming pile I’ve ever encountered. Apple fan boys make fun of Microsoft and their overweight programs all the time, but iTunes is the very definition of bloatware. I’ll take Media Center over that (and WinAmp over both) any day. It took me forever to figure out how to select the songs I want out of my massive media collection and load my 4GB nano, whereas any Windows friendly player is as simple as dragging and dropping. I have a feeling iTunes’ syncing is pretty nice if you’ve got some giant 160 GB iPod and can continuously load your entire collection (and I have to give kudos to apple for pushing the storage capacity long after everyone else seems to have given up) but if you’ve got a nano and are a real music fan, you’re doomed.
And I will only buy music from iTunes when they make it DRM free and lossless, and if that did ever happen I probably still wouldn’t get it there since it would be cheaper on a competitor’s site. Until then I’d simply buy the CD and rip if some music is so compelling that I have to own it. I’m a Rhapsody guy, so I don’t really buy much music anymore, but if I did, that would be how I’d get it.
There is also the fact that all TV shows online (bittorrent is my personal cable company) come in XviD or DivX, which the iPod won’t play. So it will require massive amounts of conversion, or me also owning the Zen W. I don’t need or want two video players.
On a slightly more humorous note, I was looking around through some boxes in the basement and my office yesterday and realized I own 6 mp3 players. They are (with ratings, appropriate to when they were released):
4 gb iPod Nano (7/10)
60 gb Zen Vision W (8/10)
30 gb Zen Vision M (9/10)
5 gb iRiver h10 (2/10)
20gb iRiver H120 (10/10)
40 gb iRiver H340 (7/10)
I’ve also got a number of other items that can play mp3 files (Sony PSP, my car, a Treo650 and a Motorola Q). I’ll be visiting the local I Sold It On EBay franchise tomorrow. Think I’m tossing all but the Vision W. I’ll use my Moto Q for the little here and there music, and the Vision W for long hauls, and the rest can go towards whatever nifty player Creative comes up with next.
September 12, 2007 at 1:29 pm
The iPod Touch would seem to be the ultimate compromise, but I cannot bother carrying two “communication devices” around, especially if they're iPod/Blackberry size gadgetry.
The iPhone isn't perfect but it's a single device that does it for me and for now…
October 10, 2007 at 11:31 pm
1) iTunes may be a little slow on some machines, I know it is on my G4 Mac. As far as usability is concerned, I don't know what you're going on about. iTunes allows drag and drop as well.
2) You can buy 'DRM free' from the iTunes Music Store.
3) You aren't anywhere near becoming an audiophile if you you've got music in WMA, especially 60GBs of it.
October 11, 2007 at 9:49 am
I don't follow your logic on 3. WMA offers lossless compression. And even at 128 its way better than AAC.
Also, woohoo, overpriced DRM tracks in crappy audio quality. Hooray.