Everyone raves about the iPod’s design. Call me cranky, but I think it could be massively improved. Here are my top peeves:

1)  Battery life.  On every iPod mini, Shuffle and Nano that I’ve owned, it has been atrocious. Less than 4 hours.  My five-year-old 6-gig PJB-100 MP3 player comfortably delivered 10.  Apple advertises 14 hours. Maybe my stressed life is sucking the energy out of the damn thing.  But Googling around a little, I don’t think I’m alone.

2) The click wheel is prone to (possibly dangerous) unintended effects. eg. I’m out jogging with the nano in my pocket. The side of my pocket brushes against the wheel suddenly… BOOM… I’m being blasted. You do not want this to happen while crossing a busy street.

3) So to fix that problem you have to put on the lock. So now what was supposed to be a simple one-handed operation becomes… "need to change track… remove ipod from pocket… release lock (probably takes both hands)…  change track… reset lock… reinsert in pocket."  On my old PJB-100, it’s "reach into pocket, press FF."

4) Another problem with the wheel is its dual function as volume control and menu selector. If you’re working on a menu, then want to adjust volume on a song you have to WAIT five seconds to get your volume control back. Someone will tell me there’s a shortcut or setting to fix this, but if there is, it’s well hidden.

5) The vaunted UI requires numerous clicks to adjust the single most common function. I’m referring to Shuffle. As Apple well knows, most users listen in Shuffle mode much of the time.   To switch between Shuffle on and off, you have to back through FIVE menu levels, then hit Shuffle. But it’s not a toggle. To get OUT of Shuffle mode you have to back through all those menu levels, THEN click on Settings, and set Shuffle to off…  about 8 clicks. Not nice.  Especially when you first have to pull the damn thing out of your pocket, and switch off the lock. While jogging.

6) The EQ controls are unintuitive. You have a Bass Boost and Treble Boost. But there’s no visual feedback to indicate whether it’s a toggle, whether you can use it repeatedly, whether you’re close to maximum or minimum.  Result: lots of random presses to try to find the right sound.  There was a lot to be said for an old-fashioned analog slider.

7) On the Nano, the USB connector and the ear-buds connector are right next to each other. You have to squeeze the sides of the USB connector to remove it. This can’t physically be done when the ear-buds are plugged in.  Hardly a big deal, but it’s not slick.

8) And speaking of the ear-buds, does anyone else find that the foam-covers stay in your ears every other time you remove them? 

9) I swear I get significant bass distortion on my iPod nano. The same file sounds different coming off the Mac and certainly   Same ear-buds, same volume.  Maybe this is just a psychosomatic reaction driven by 1-8 above…

10) And I didn’t even mention the notorious scratches.

Even though it’s beautiful and tiny and sexy (provided you cover up those scratches), I find myself leaving my Nano at home in favor of my clunky old PJB-100, literally 12 times the size. It treats me nicely, and unlike all those iPods I’ve contributed to the universe, this one will never be stolen, lost or get me mugged.

(Conflict alert: I own shares in Apple. Ooops.)
(OK, smart TEDsters, explain to me why I have it all wrong!)