While I can see real advantages of fitting thousands of songs in a small amount of space rather than having tons of CDs to manage, I have not yet purchased an iPod for the following reasons:
1.) STATIC–My friends that have iPods broadcast their tunes onto a FM radio station so they can listen to music in their cars. Despite using unused radio channels, I notice occasional static negatively impacting audio quality. Therefore, I will likely hold off purchasing an iPod until I purchase a new car with a stereo offering an auxiliary-in port.
2.) TIME–Converting all of my existing CDs to digital files and loading them onto an iPod would require a lot of work, probably taking up evenings for several weeks to complete.
3.) COST—iPods are not cheap. Apple reported $8.3 billion in revenues from iPod sales for fiscal year 2007. It is difficult for me to justify the expense when my CD players still work just fine.
4.) LOSS OF LINER NOTES—While this is something most people can live without, I believe there is some value to having the lyrics, musician rosters, and artwork that typically come in CD booklets, but are omitted in digital downloads.
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While I fully understand point 2, the other points are unfair.
Point 1 is the FM transmitter, not the iPod. Plus there are other options out there, if you look for them hard enough. My 2005 Mazda 3 doesn’t have an Aux jack, but they make units that hook up to the stock stereo.
Point 3 is missing a step. How does Apple’s revenues translate into the product being too expensive. The entire point of an mp3 product costing more than a CD player (besides the length of time the CD player has been around) is convenience. Many are willing to pay a little more for something that holds up to an approximate 4,000 CDs (160GB iPod classic assuming an average of 10 tracks per CD). So while price can be an issue for many of us (I don’t have an iPod partially because of this), saying that your CD player still works fine does not take in to account the purpose of an mp3 player.
Point 4 is understandable to an extent. However, you have to understand there are MANY websites with lyrics, which are accessible directly from the iPod Touch by the way. Also, while some of the art is lost on an iPod, they do also have the cover art. This cover art, incedintally, is free to be downloaded via iTunes.
To recap, I do understand how long it can take to rip all of your CDs to your computer and then load them into iTunes. However, using the cost of the product as a deterrant without approaching it’s purpose, losing the album art and lyris when they are still readily available online, and placing blame on another product that has nothing to do with the iPod is unfair to the product. Again, I don’t have one yet because of cost, but not because Apple’s reported earnings on the product.
John, I stand corrected on point 3. You are absolutely right. McDonalds makes a lot of money, but that certainly doesn’t mean their cheeseburgers are too expensive. Instead of Apple’s impressive iPod revenue, I should’ve referenced the current price of about $150 for a new ipod Nano. While I hear you that a CD player doesn’t have the same storage capacity or convenience to switch between artists that an mp3 product offers, their principle function is still the same… to play music.
Regarding point 1, yes the static is not originating with the iPod device itself… but I very often listen to music while driving, and the lack of an easy solution for listening cleanly to an iPod (or any other mp3 player) in my car is a major factor for me in holding off for now.
Regarding point 4, I agree there are a lot of lyrics and art online, but it’s nice to have them without having to search. And some things, like who played mandolin on track 8, might not be online at all.
Thank you very much for your feedback!
P.S. Regarding point 4, I agree there are a lot of lyrics and art online, but it’s nice to have them without having to search. And some things, like who played mandolin on track 8, might not be online at all.
Thanks again for your comments.
One more obvious reason that is the overwhelming reason for me: when I leave my home and go for a drive, in the “old days” I would take one or two or even half a dozen CDs with me. Realistically and generally, I took ONE cd with me. On a planned trip sometimes a boxful. Today, when I go even for a walk to the grocery store, let alone on a trip, my iPod contains THOUSANDS of cds to choose from. In fact, every cd I own. No more having to think, “now what am I going to be in the mood for?”. The quality, cost, convenience, are all secondary to this point. I now have ALL my music ALL the time!
Steve ush: Your are definitely not alone in your appreciation of the iPod. It does seem like it would be nice to have it all together and not have to worry about CDs in the wrong cases, getting left out, scratched, etc. I’m continuing to hold off… for now.
Just curious, was it easy to learn how to use the iPod, finding the track you’re looking for among the thousands of songs, etc.?
Thanks for your comment.
Why buy an iPod Nano when you can buy a superior Sansa e200 series or a Creative Zen?
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