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• kjkrameryah – December 18 2006

  check out the apple ipod video at http://ipod--video.blogspot.com

• kjkrameryah – December 18 2006

  check out the apple video at http://www.ipod--video.blogspot.com

• tommygarland – December 16 2006

  Sorry forgot to add the link!!
  
  
  
  http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html

• tommygarland – December 16 2006

  Hello,
  
  
  
  This is another reason to hate apple really iTunes compatibilty. Please register your concern with apple by following this link and pasting this text into the feed back form.
  
  
  
  "I would just like to ask whether in the next version/update of "iTunes" you will allow compatibility for other devices e.g Creative e.t.c. I believe that this would make sense for you as "iPods" have the market for portable music playing but "iTunes" is generally only used with "iPods" but if it were to be used with devices other than iPods then this great piece of software would be moved into the market for music downloads. At the moment I have downloaded around three or four albums from "iTunes Store" and can only play them on my cd player or computer. As I don't have an iPod but a name brand MP3 player I would like to be able to play my music on my MP3 player. There are many people around on the internet that would like to be able to use this feature.
  
  
  
  The advantages of this for you as a company?
  
  >Increased status as a great company who respect their customers
  
  >More purchases through iTunes Store
  
  >More people using Apple products
  
  >Respect from people who are beginning to think of Apple as "the new microsoft"
  
  
  
  Currently on the internet many people are clamouring for your attention on this issue here is the link to one such website: http://www.connectedhomemag.com/Audio/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=47801
  
  
  
  I searched various phrases, in google,containing the phrase "I hate ". Here are the results of these searches:
  
  
  
  Results 1 - 10 of about 3,780,000 for I hate apple. (0.26 seconds)
  
  Results 1 - 10 of about 2,760,000 for I hate ipod. (0.28 seconds)
  
  Results 1 - 10 of about 2,250,000 for I hate itunes. (0.28 seconds)
  
  Results 1 - 10 of about 2,250,000 for I hate iTunes. (0.16 seconds)
  
  Results 1 - 10 of about 2,760,000 for I hate iPod. (0.12 seconds)
  
  Results 1 - 10 of about 1,530,000 for I hate iTunes Store. (0.21 seconds)
  
  
  
  Whereas I searched similar phrases with your competitors’ brands you still are comparitively less hated than some of your competitors but some of your products are more hated than products from your competitors:
  
  
  
  Results 1 - 10 of about 4,910,000 for I hate windows. (0.28 seconds)
  
  Results 1 - 10 of about 2,290,000 for I hate linux. (0.28 seconds)
  
  Results 1 - 10 of about 1,550,000 for I hate windows media player. (0.18 seconds
  
  
  
  On the other hand if you search for some other products you come up. In this example I searched I hate walkmans and ipods come up:
  
  
  
  
  
  Web Images Groups News Froogle more »
  
  Advanced Search
  
  Preferences
  
  Search: the web pages from the UK
  
  Web Results 1 - 10 of about 38,600 for I hate Walkmans. (0.21 seconds)
  
  
  
  Sponsored Links
  
  I hate Players
  
  Learn How To Understand Men -
  
  And Beat Them At their Own Game!
  
  www.DatingWithoutDrama.com
  
  Sponsored Link
  
  
  
  pricerunner.co.uk/cassetteplayers/ Great Prices on over 30 Walkmans on UK comparison site!
  
  TED Blog: 10 Reasons to Hate Your iPod
  
  Listed below are links to weblogs that reference 10 Reasons to Hate Your iPod: ... You know, a Walkman. That's it... and if they sucked, they wouldn't have ...
  
  tedblog.typepad.com/tedblog/2005/11/10_reasons_to_h.html - 68k - Cached - Similar pages
  
  
  
  I think that you have some serious making up to do to your customers as they will leave you if you don't get your act together. I for one will not buy any music off iTunes store as it doesn't offer the compatibility that I need.
  
  
  
  Please take note of this
  
  
  
  Regards
  
  
  
  "

• Redrider736 – November 4 2006

  I have gone through 2 Nanos up to this point. The first one was my fault ...I managed to crush it ,so not apples fault.
  
  My second one I wore out the batteries with in a 2yrs. I went to apple about it,and got no were with my concerns.
  
  So stupid me just went out and bought a new 80g model yesterday. I get it home download it ,and it locks up on me ?? I am in the process of returning it now for a new one. I will follow up when I her back from Apple.

• Neil Young – October 24 2006

  I totally agree with Chris. I bought a 20GB iPod and had consistent problems in that when I got my first iPod would not come on after charging it in the mains. This happened to about another three iPods after, that Apple sent.
  
  
  
  When I asked for a refund they refused saying it is 'not company policy' so after I kicked up a stink (threatening to go to trading standards) they compromised by sending me a 40GB iPod which they promised would work. This worked for about 10 months and so I immediately brought the Apple protective case but predictably failed again on me. When I phoned up to try and sort the problem I had a rude Apple representative tell me that I was now out of warranty (as this counted the two months of getting iPod after iPod with charging problems) and that I needed to pay £180 to get the battery fixed - which I did not do as I might as well buy another iPod (perish the thought). Even during the months when it worked I was having to reset regularly because the screen kept freezing! What I found unbelievable is that my brother phoned me a month later and said he had the same problem and had to buy a Creative Zen.
  
  
  
  I now have a Sony NWA3000 and it is fantastic. I have had this for over 8 months now and the screen has never frozen, it has a simple to use interface and is a lot cheaper than the iPod.
  
  
  
  I would never even consider iPods again as I would rather have a piece or expensive machinery that works and not an expensive door stop !

• kelsey – August 19 2006

  oh one last thing i found this picture of yours on google. thats not really your ipod.

• kelsey – August 19 2006

  your insane if you did that to your ipod. im a rough rough ROUGH person try 3 cells in not 11 months about 15 cd players in a couple years and yet my ipod nano is FINE. when you go for a jog why dont you buy one of those things for around ur arm? or a leather protecter for it? my boyfriend and i both have leather protecters and we both snowboard with them, he has fallen on his SERVERAL times ((i dont normal have it snowboarding beccause its hard with head phones but his helmate has them in it)) his has not one scratch on it and looks amazing. if ipods dont work for you then maybe they just dont work, but personally mine works great for inschool and everywhere else i go. i mean i no plunty of people who would rather get other brands.
  
  oh by the way my battery yeah who listens to music for 6 hours straight? mine holds up for maybe 6 hours, i went on a 2 hour trip and didnt charge it once and i listened to it the hole way up that night and the hole way back the next morning so i wonder whats wrong with yours.

• Richard Mulholland – December 4 2005

  Actually "Tom Lord" that's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying that when I weigh up the pros and cons, they weigh in favour of the iPod because it interacts better with my lifestyle (due to the available add-ons). You see pal, I'm not making a socio-economic statement or starting a movement, I'm simply listening to music.
  
  
  
  Enjoy your castle though...!

• Arch Meredith – December 1 2005

  Yes, everyone on the planet raves about the Apple iPod, and with good reasons! The new iPod nano, in particular, is impossibly thin and cool… AND it sounds and performs great, IF you have a clue how to use it!
  
  
  
  1) Unless you skip songs all the time, you should be getting much better battery life from your iPod(s)… I’m regularly getting at least 9 hours battery life with my new iPod Nano. If I didn’t skip songs as often as I do, I’m sure I’d be getting close to the advertised, uninterrupted 14 hours! I can confirm that Apple has greatly improved battery performance on these players… And yes, the battery life seeps during non-use, but I’ve never seen an electronic device where that wasn’t the case!
  
  
  
  2) In all the years I’ve owned an iPod, I can recall once, maybe twice when the click wheel “adjusted” unintentionally during use… And that includes while skiing, mountain biking, rollerblading, and hiking! So leave the lock on when not using (to prevent inadvertent turn-on), and OFF when using iPod! Which takes us to #3…
  
  
  
  3) A non-issue if the lock is off anyway... Simply reach into pocket, hit FF button, and you’re good to go!
  
  
  
  4) Yes, you do have to wait a few seconds to regain volume control after making other adjustments… If this is a problem for you, why not simply turn on Sound Check, so you never (or rarely) have to adjust volume anyway?!
  
  
  
  5) Just leave Shuffle ON, as most do! You still can limit playback to a specific album or artist, as you know… I grant you, however, if you must turn Shuffle off for some reason, it IS a bit of a hassle. Personally, I can’t remember the last time I turned it off. I simply leave it on.
  
  
  
  6) If most of your music library is encoded with any reasonably high-quality codec (e.g., AAC at 192 kbps, or even 128 kbps), then you don’t need or want to use any EQ anyway! Listen to what the artist recorded… And set the EQ to flat or, better, simply turn the damn thing off! On the other hand, if you’re still listening primarily to 128 kbps mp3 files, I can’t help you much… And neither can EQ!
  
  
  
  7) No comment at this time… A question, however: Do you generally leave your earbuds plugged in when you are transferring songs or charging your iPod? If so, why?
  
  
  
  8) Sounds like Apple’s stock earbuds are too big for your baby ears! New phones (see below) should help a lot with the foam-covers-sticking-in-ears issue, as most models are slightly smaller than Apple's. The Etymotics, among others, have nothing that can fall off anyway!
  
  
  
  9) If you believe you’re hearing a preponderance of bass, AND you’ve turned off the bloody EQ, I suggest you consider a modest investment in new headphones… The returns can be substantial. For example, for a mere $10, you can get the truly remarkable Sennheiser MX 500 earbuds or, if you want to splurge a bit and eliminate a lot more external noise, consider any of the Etymotic phones, some of which are optimized for iPod use. If you’re still hearing too much bass, the problem ain’t with your equipment!
  
  
  
  10) What the h___ are you doing to your iPod? It looks like you’ve attacked it with a ski pole, pummeled it into submission with a mountain bike, and/or thrown it into a rocky ravine from a height of at least 40 feet! My two-year-old 20GB iPod has very few scratches, and I’ve never even used a protective case… I just throw it in my pocket and go! If you care about scratches, why not simply buy one of the innumerable protective cases? I say, if the thing is working perfectly and sounds great, I don’t give a damn about any scratches anyway!
  
  
  
  So, if you still want to use your massive, old PJB-100 player (don’t get me wrong; it was a great player, once given to me by a close friend, and we constituted at least a third of the installed base), and it works well for you, then bully to me! I believe I’ve shown, however, that with a few small tweaks, you can greatly enhance the experience with your new Nano… Give it another try, chap.

• Tom Lord – December 1 2005

  So, "Rich...!", you're basically saying that you reward and celebrate the artificial creation of scarcity of choices resulting from corporate choices not to create very obvious standards.
  
  
  
  So you have something that you can plug your iFoo into -- why can't you plug in anything else? MP3s are MP3s.
  
  
  
  So much of the tech industry has turned into a game of making progress on simple things as slowly and inefficiently as possible, turning each step into huge profit for a small number of players who are selected on the basis of their social connections. This only works because it includes actively surpressing third parties who would otherwise do the same thing better. (That suppression is fractal-like, ranging from oddly preferential access to financing to inappropriate application of trade-secret laws to excessive politicization of standards processes. The "invisible hand" here is dominated by a total control freak surrounded by the equivalent of a mercenary guard.)
  
  
  
  Hurray! We've returned to feudalism! Let's go buy a castle!
  
  
  
  -t

• Richard Mulholland – December 1 2005

  I also get extremely frustrated with some of the iPod's design features, specifically the shuffle bit you mentioned above.
  
  
  
  I also find the scroll wheel to be pretty inefficient when you have a lot of artists to browse.
  
  
  
  Yet, I haven't switched or even contemplated switching. The primary reason for this in my case is the peripheries, no other mp3 platform has the choice that iPod has.
  
  
  
  I have an ice-link integrated car kit, a sound dock in my home and office, I've just ordered the iH5 alarm clock, and well, I confess there's an idog on the way too. Not to mention all the cases and skins.
  
  
  
  At this time, iPod simply offers the user far more choice, I use mine with earphones probably less than 25% of the time.
  
  
  
  I do wish apple would sort out the issues you mentioned though...!

• Tom Lord – November 30 2005

  My 20-or-so-year-old HP-41-family calculator, treated with modest but far from fetishistic care, is physically in fantastic shape. The UI, of course, is timeless. If it had the bandwidth and were just slightly slimmed (no, it doesn't have to fit in my watch pocket) it'd make a *fine* player. And imagine what could fit in there if it *wasn't* slimmed down -- the mind boggles.
  
  
  
  Anyway, this iPod thing repeats the pattern with (at least first-few-years) Palm Pilots. How many serious pilot users from those years *didn't*, at one point or another, wind up invoking the replacement policy of the warranty?
  
  
  
  Jobs is clearly distracted.
  
  
  
  "90% of everything is crud" -- Sturgeon
  
  -t

• William Shipley – November 30 2005

  Don:
  
  
  
  

  As Apple well knows, most users ... ." Chris's points would be valid if his statement were true about most users. But is it?

  
  
  
  
  I think Apple themselves actually said that shuffle is the most-used feature during the rollout of the iPod Shuffle. Don't know if they researched this.
  
  
  
  Chris:
  
  
  
  I don't like to hear people picking on Apple, but you raise a ton of valid points. On the other hand, a bunch of your points make me think you need an iPod Shuffle that actually works. (That is, one with a decent battery life.)
  
  
  
  My Shuffle doesn't "leak" when it's off (I've left it in my car for literally months unused, then played it for hours), and does have a battery life of 10+ hours. So, there are some that work. If yours does not, please return it! Don't stick with something that is broken. It's a disservice to you and Apple. (They need to know about the defects to fix them.)
  
  
  
  I've returned 4 iPods so far for various friends who had problems, in and out of warranty, and in every case I got a new iPod, immediately.
  
  
  
  Also, seriously, although they may look lickable, iPods are NOT a snack food. (Hee!)
  
  
  
  -Wil

• metin – November 30 2005

  treat the ipod as you would a maserati. use it to show off others like you would a brand new book that has never been opened. then buy a MP3 player for the everyday transportation or exploration. the ipod is just a status symbol of 'hey, i got one too' syndromers (is that a word?).

• Milkman Dan – November 30 2005

  Alas, Chris brings up very valid points about the UI here. When you are using a portable player for hours every day, any little annoyance with the interface grows to be a major problem in a short time. I've also had a PJB-100 for just over 5 years, and I've yet to see or hear about a UI that can come close.
  
  I tried a 20 GB Dell Digital Jukebox, and it has the absolute worst interface ever conceived--everything about it is counterintuitive and it is horribly slow. From what I just read about the Sony NW-HD5, it has similar problems.
  
  The best player I've found since the PJB-100 was the 20 GB Rio Karma, but the hard drive in mine ground itself to a permanent halt after one year of use, and Rio has discontinued the Karma. It was also difficult to search for specific tracks on the Karma, as you can only search by title, not by artist/album--a limitation shared with the crappy Dell, the Sony, and apparently the iPods.
  
  I think one of the major problems with recent mp3 players is the insistence of the manufacturers on storing the mp3's relationally (think database) rather than heirarchically (think filesystem)...personally, I don't need the additional complexity and overhead (and annoying occasional "Database Rebuilds") just so that unneccessary information like Genre and Year can be stored along with each song.
  
  My number one gripe with all mp3 players (and not just portable devices) is the lack of randomness when using Shuffle. I'm not just talking about the player remembering what it has played in the Shuffle--that is obviously an absolute MUST so that you don't keep hearing the same track over and over (hello, Dell, you idiots!)--I'm talking about how players get into a rut and seem to play the same sequence of songs as in a previous shuffle (even the PJB-100 is guilty here). How much further development effort would it take to re-seed the random number generator occasionally, or even just on bootup?
  
  So anyway, after the recent death of my Rio Karma, I have now resorted back to my trusty old PJB-100, and I'm planning on replacing the old reliable 6 GB notebook drive in it with a Toshiba 40 GB drive to overcome the old PJB's low capacity.
  
  As for battery life, we just took a roadtrip and even with some song skips and several power cycles, the battery lasted for the entire trip (13 hours).
  
  They just don't make 'em like they used to!

• Richard – November 30 2005

  The nano pic comes form an Ars Technica article in which the iPod is subjected to a series of drops from various heights and speeds onto asphalt. I can't imagine you'd see those kind of scratches from normal use.
  
  
  
  Here's the link to the article:
  
  http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/nano.ars/3

• Josh J – November 30 2005

  Hmmm, you weren't supposed to say negative things about the iPod or even notice anything wrong with it. The Steve Jobs reality distortion field must have some kind of small hole. Please step a little to the left, feel the awesome power of Steve, and then reconsider your words.

• Jan Koomans – November 30 2005

  Buy a Sony NW-HD5.............
  
  Ok, a little bigger, but 20Gb (or even 30Gb).
  
  It plays 192Kb MP3's for more then 23 hours (when you leave the player alone) Normal use (skip some tracks, find an album, set volume) 12 hours is NO PROBLEM. When your battery is weared, you can replace it. No "touchpad", but normal buttons, seperate volume buttons and even an (optional) remotecontrol. And (one of the best) gapless play, just like the PJB100.

• Chris Anderson – November 30 2005

  Thanks, Don. I think. The only thing is... some of the peeves aren't trade-offs. They just could have been done better.
  
  
  
  As for the earlier comments, nice to see the Mac mafia moving in. And no, that isn't my iPod. It's from here... should have linked earlier;
  
  http://www.mopo.ca/2005/10/apple-sued-over-scratched-ipod-nano.html
  
  
  
  Shows you how a picture outweighs a 1000 words. The post makes clear that the scratches are the least of my peeves.

• Stein X Leikanger – November 30 2005

  The Nano scratches easily, and though the above example is indicative of carelessness, it's still a product you're supposed to wear in your pocket, which scratches too easily.
  
  
  
  But the greatest problem with the iPods is the battery life. I have owned several - none have ever performed to the extent of promised battery life. And after a year's use you're lucky to get 35% of the promised playing time.
  
  The class action suit brought against Apple by people furious after finding they couldn't replace the batteries when they go flat, seems to indicate that you're supposed to use it and loose it after a while. And then buy another - that's not environmentally friendly.
  
  
  
  I love the interface. I love the manner in which my music is sorted in iTunes. I dislike the fact that Apple wants to push me and my music into the ACC compression format, which is Apple proprietary (Reset to MP3 compression in Preferences. Something you have to redo every time you download an update - so it's clear that Apple wants to lock you into ACC).
  
  
  
  Apple will have to get rid of their harddisk based iPods, eventually - they suck too much juice.
  
  But overall it's a great product that's outperformed the competition because of the player, iTunes, portability synergies.
  
  
  
  However, the competition is catching up.

• Don Norman – November 30 2005

  Chris has asked me to respond given that I am known to have strong opinions.
  
  
  
  Hmm. I have an "on the one hand ... on the other" opinion. Caveats: I have two iPods, a Mini and a Shuffle. I have no current relationship with Apple, except I was once VP of Apple's Advanced Technology Group. I've written a lot about the iPod. Here are some instances:
  
  http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/why_do_you_like.html
  
  http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/ppvmtdo_the_con.html
  
  http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/do_companies_fa.html
  
  http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/apple_ipod_musi.html
  
  
  
  
  
  So what do I think about Chris's ten pet peeves. Some are silly. Others are valid. It's a design tradeoff. Apple went for style and elegance. Moreover, they do pack in an amazing number of functions in that small package. But tradeoffs mean that there are many awkward parts. No competing product does as well. So, even granting all of Chris's complaints, what are the alternatives?
  
  
  
  Chris says, well, if Apple would study the most common uses, then it could optimize for them,, and he gives his usage patterns as examples, but generalizing (without any evidence) to state "As Apple well knows, most users ... ." Chris's points would be valid if his statement were true about most users. But is it? My experience is that in many products with large numbers of features, each feature set has its own proponents who wish it had been optimized for them, but because there are so many competing claims, optimization is simply not possible. I don't know if this is the case with the iPod: to know the answer requires collecting the data. Maybe Apple has those data, but I don't, nor do I think does Chris.
  
  
  
  I do believe, however, that some things could be done better, a lot better. Chris’s complaints about using the iPod while jogging are correct. Indeed, I bought the Shuffle just for jogging. I liked it so much that my Mini-iPod is now relegated to the Living Room Audio system, where I work it with a remote IR control, never actually touching the unit itself. The Shuffle is perfect for jogging.
  
  
  
  But now let me tell you my pet peeve: the on-off switch of both the regular iPods and the Shuffle. Historically, one thing Apple has always gotten wrong – on all products, big and small -- is the power switch (I even wrote a book chapter about this once). The iPod on-off is a mystery to behold, a mystery to explain to others. The Shuffle is even worse. You have to slide a very-difficult-to-slide slider down some unknown amount. It has two settings, but no marking to let you know where you are. Actually, it has markings but they have zero correspondence to the switch setting. You know, this is NOT a tradeoff. Having a little mark on the sliding part and corresponding labeled terms on the fixed case would be trivial to do. Make usage smoother and easier. Cost no money. Bah.
  
  
  
  Why is the slider so hard to slide? Their Industrial Designers seem not to have heard of friction -- the fingers slip over the nice smooth surface, while the switch remains stationary. Finally when I finally squeeze really hard, the slider does move, but too far, to the wrong position. And those blinking lights. Secret codes that mean who-knows-what. It sometimes takes me 5 minutes to get my Shuffle to start playing, me continually sliding the switch up and down, pushing various buttons, watching lights go on, blink on, flash, turn various colors. All meaningless.
  
  
  
  Still, all products have imperfections. Most products iterate gradual improvements. If I had to buy something again today, it would be an iPod. Life is a series of tradeoffs, Chris. Get used to it.
  
  
  
  Don Norman

• Mathias Jantz – November 30 2005

  Call me strange but if I buy something nice worth several hundreds of dollars I don’t put it in my pocket with my change and car keys. I bought a little pouch for my nano and I put it in that before it goes into my pocket. Mine looks fine with no scratches.
  
  
  
  If that truly is a picture of your nano, and not just one googled from the web, then perhaps you need to learn how to take better care of your things.
  
  
  
  If people expect Apple to build something that is impervious to other metal objects in their pockets, they really have no clue.
  
  
  
  Mathias

• Michael B – November 30 2005

  All that you're saying is that you are pretty inept. Dude, chill out. It's just an iPod.... You know, a Walkman. That's it... and if they sucked, they wouldn't have 80% of the market... Maybe you need one of those old school walkmans.......

• Killervibe – November 30 2005

  Chris - How in the world does normal wear and tear make your iPod look like its gone through a tree chipper? That thing is completely mangled. Do you gnaw on it while you jog? :)
  
  
  
  I couldn’t agree more about the battery life. I have the 4gig non-nano iPod that was bought about a year ago. I get MAYBE 6 hours of life out of it. And what’s even worse, the battery life seeps even during non-use. It’s incredibly frustrating to have it sit in your gym back for a week un-used (and locked) only to find out its dead just before you embark on 30 minutes of life-sucking lifecycle. So when I saw the nano for the first time I knew Apple hadn’t improved the life of the battery in something that small. I passed.
  
  
  
  That said, with a little added diligence, I find myself enjoying my iPod more than previous MP3 players. Of course I typically bring snacks along so I’m not tempted to chew on it as I work out.
  
  
  
  My hope is Apple partners with Sirius or XM sometime in the future so I can catch my games (NFL, college football/basketball, NBA, etc) during the week when I’m not at home.