Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Sandwich on October 13, 2005, 07:04:07 am
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http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html
The awesome thing about it is that it's thinner than previous iPods (nano aside), and supports h.264.
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cash grab
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You mean I should grab some cash and buy one? ;)
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God damn. They're making me feel so impotent with my black-and-white screen iPod.
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I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it. Video on a screen that small is and will always be gimmicky at best.
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Apple has gambled on the awesome power of techno-fetishism and by God its paying off.
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Next they just need sunglasses that can beam movies straight into your eyeballs.
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That's even more gimmicky than movies on PSPs :p
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Maybe I'm misinterpreting people's opinions on this matter, but how is this any more gimmicky than the iRivers that play videos?
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Originally posted by Mongoose
That's even more gimmicky than movies on PSPs :p
Movies on PSPs are good for airplane rides. :nod:
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Originally posted by Ford Prefect
Maybe I'm misinterpreting people's opinions on this matter, but how is this any more gimmicky than the iRivers that play videos?
Because it's an iProduct and that instantly makes it cooler.
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You guys have it all wrong. I own an iRiver that plays video on its tiny screen, and let me tell you, it's not for movies. TV shows are the sweet spot if you have a nice long commute to work that's not self-propelled (i.e. train or bus, not car or bicycle). If not, it's loads of fun to toss all those humor video clips relatives send you (or things such as Big Ad) on there... ;)
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Video on an iPod? Useless for all the reasons mentioned. Not even TV shows can make it useful.
Thinner iPod? Excellent.
Still using iTunes? It'll stay on the store shelf.
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This prompts an "eh."
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I've sold so many dang iPods in the last 4 years that I'm adverse to actually buying one myself. I feel they have some serous disadvantages and have gotten too much to be a status symbol.
I just want a good MP3 player. Thats all. Nonetheless, I was curious to see what the annoucement was all about.
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I was actually shocked by how bad the iPod's sound quality is compared to many others. Yet it still is the market leader. Just goes to show that a slick UI and good marketing are more important than a quality product.
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You fail, Bob, to understand the market.
The "market" that the iPod appeals to is people who want a music player. Period. That's it. End of story. Note no mention of "AND who care about music quality." Most people don't care about music quality, so long as it meets or exceeds BROADCAST RADIO.
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Blue != Bob. :p
I looked at it and it looks alright...I was hoping for something a bit different. IE with more focus on screen space and less on the dial.
Of course, I wasn't planning on buying one either way. :p Anything that small doesn't seem worth it to watch much of anything on, because you won't be able to tell what's going on in anything but the closeups.
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Originally posted by mikhael
You fail, Bob, to understand the market.
The "market" that the iPod appeals to is people who want a music player. Period. That's it. End of story. Note no mention of "AND who care about music quality." Most people don't care about music quality, so long as it meets or exceeds BROADCAST RADIO.
Meh yeah. I generally put high quality .mp3s on mine. But yeah the reason for it isn't because it's actually any good but because it's one of those pick-up line sort of things:
*Sees cute blonde*
"Oh, you're iPod is just like mine but a different color."
"Wow! Cool! What do you have on yours."
*Makes out with cute blonde, finds out two weeks later she's a Scientologist. Runs away.*
Works every time.
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porto-porn :D
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Originally posted by mikhael
Video on an iPod? Useless for all the reasons mentioned. Not even TV shows can make it useful.
I'm not defending the iPod, I'm defending the "video on an MP3 HDD player" concept.
I have one such player. Having video on it is tremendous fun. I have the music videos of a friends's band, I have all sorts of cool videos from online (Come With Me - that flight sim video, I'm Still Seeing Breen, BigAd... even the Zazoo supermarket one). I also have every episode of BSG on there - which came in handy when my friend had an unexpected stay at the hospital for the weekend; I lent him my iRiver, he tore through every single episode on there.
What with h.264 playback, this could take off tremendously.
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Originally posted by WMCoolmon
Blue != Bob. :p
I looked at it and it looks alright...I was hoping for something a bit different. IE with more focus on screen space and less on the dial.
Of course, I wasn't planning on buying one either way. :p Anything that small doesn't seem worth it to watch much of anything on, because you won't be able to tell what's going on in anything but the closeups.
I swear to Dobbs that it said BOB when I replied! This is obvously a vast right wing conspiracy out to discredit me!
Or else, I was just knackered last night before bed.
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Listening to my iPod right now actually....
And I have watched 3 movies (UMD's) on the PSP, all seemed to be fine and of reasonable quality.
I think people like to :censored: :censored: :censored: :censored: :censored: about corporate success. Microsoft, Apple, pick your posion, if they succeed, they must make stupid, evil, or inferior product.
;)
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I think people like to ***** about corporate success. Microsoft, Apple, pick your posion, if they succeed, they must make stupid, evil, or inferior product.
Amen to that. I've been nothing but pleased with my iPod, (even if they're making it look old now.) Although with regards to Microsoft, Windows really does try my patience very badly.
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Originally posted by Inquisitor
I think people like to :censored: :censored: :censored: :censored: :censored: about corporate success. Microsoft, Apple, pick your posion, if they succeed, they must make stupid, evil, or inferior product.
To an extent, yes. And I think that's perfectly healthy behaviour; we distrust those who have too much power. But with the iPod specifically, I'm mostly annoyed at the hordes of mindless yuppies who wave it around like a badge of consumerist honour.
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That's as maybe Rictor, but you have to admit that - ignoring the capabilities that come in addition to its music playing abilities, it does what it's built to and it does it very very well indeed.
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Eh? We have censored smileys?
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Originally posted by Kalfireth
That's as maybe Rictor, but you have to admit that - ignoring the capabilities that come in addition to its music playing abilities, it does what it's built to and it does it very very well indeed.
That's the problem. It doesn't serve the function of playing music as well as it should. It excells at UI and design, but those are not as important as sound quality in an MP3 player are they?
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What's the sound quality like then? (At this point I feel inclined to say I've seen someone elses in action, and have played a little. But I've not really used it much. So if it sounds :censored: :censored: :censored: :censored: e- I don't know about it. I've certainly not heard anyone say it does).
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It depends on the quality you expect, and your headphones. You'll only notice cheaper DACs if your speakers have a better capability.
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Originally posted by Inquisitor
And I have watched 3 movies (UMD's) on the PSP, all seemed to be fine and of reasonable quality.
I watched House of Flying Daggers on a PSP. I was very impressed with its video capabilities. It is, however, the smallest useable screen for video, in my opinion.
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when I'm listening to my mp3 player, its in my pocket, I don't give a damn what it looks like so I'd say sound quality is more important than looks. I also think its stupid how Apple keeps selling the same !!!! only smaller every few months, although the consumers are ultimately more stupid for buying it. iPods are nothing more than a poser gimmick.
EDIT: This word filter is !!!!ing gay.
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Get over the word filter. It's been discussed, and we got rid of the stupid smilies. Enjoy what you have, not whine about what you want.
And smaller is a good thing. I'm honestly waiting and seeing how well iRiver and Creative do with large flash memory based players. Until then, I have foobar...
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Originally posted by Deepblue
That's the problem. It doesn't serve the function of playing music as well as it should. It excells at UI and design, but those are not as important as sound quality in an MP3 player are they?
I would guess that the majority of the people who own iPods are playing 128 bit mp3s or AAC files and listening to them through the headphones that came with the music player.
If these are the people that Apple wants to sell the iPod too, would spending money to improve the sound quality be a wise decision? Are Apple's target customers even going to notice a better sound quality(as opposed to increasing the number of features or making it look better)?
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iPod headphones are actually pretty good.
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Not fairly good, just not really bad.
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Waste. Of. Money.
iPod = starbucks for the technophiles
People just trying to be trendy. :ick:
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For earbuds, at least, they're up to par. I haven't listened to them much (Haven't got an iPod, since I can listen to the radio. That being said, I actually prefer radio to iPod because I've heard most of my music already :p the radio ocassionally has some new songs.)
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ipods are nothing but over-expensive, over-glorified toys for the filthy rich. I bet they wouldn't even last too long.
I've had an Ennyah Digi sound that was ultimately 5 times cheaper than any ipod, has lasted me two years, and carries more than enough songs to entertain me for most journeys, not to mention has withstood significant number of droppings, hard whacks and other things that would normally damage hard-drive based mp3 players....
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Originally posted by Singh
ipods are nothing but over-expensive, over-glorified toys for the filthy rich. I bet they wouldn't even last too long.
I've had an Ennyah Digi sound that was ultimately 5 times cheaper than any ipod, has lasted me two years, and carries more than enough songs to entertain me for most journeys, not to mention has withstood significant number of droppings, hard whacks and other things that would normally damage hard-drive based mp3 players....
I agree except they aren't necessarily for the filthy rich. I worked at a campus bookstore for 4 years in their computer department. The vast majority of buyers were students. Alot of students. The same ones that eat KD all the time...
I just managed to pick up a MP3 player myself (not a iPod, a Zen instead)...the prices aren't too bad and the usefulness of said device can be around. It depends on what you want and how much you're willing to spend.
I think the video thing is nuts...but portable music is not. Discmans have been around for a while and have their uses...MP3 players are so much smaller and more flexible.
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Originally posted by Raa
Waste. Of. Money.
iPod = starbucks for the technophiles
People just trying to be trendy. :ick:
Amen.
Though I wouldn't say technophiles. "Trendy bastards" is a better term, I feel...
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I am neither filthy rich, nor am I stupid. I MAY be a yuppie (but I expect I am too old for that description).
I did not buy it to be trendy, and maybe I am simply deaf, but I find the sound quality to be excellent.
I re-submit that you are *****ing to *****, not because you actually have a substative comment to make about the device. I have one, I know exactly what it is, and is not capable of, and I find it to be an excellent piece of technology that actually has made an impact on my life (I now actually LISTEN to all the music I oown, rather than let the CD's collect dust).
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The point is there are better and cheaper options out there. Yet the iPod gets all the love because it IS trendy.
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It couldn't be because of iTunes, or the fact that it was the first non-geeky mp3 player (ie it doesn't look like a PDA, calculator, whatever).
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Well firstly, in all seriousness, it couldn't be iTunes. I've used it on my mate's PC (his g/f has an iPod, he has a zen) and I couldn't stand it.
As for the non-geeky part, does that fall under the trendy issue?
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I hate it too. But my wife, who is as non geeky as you can get, loves iTunes. You're making the same mistake most techie sorts make: not everyone is a geek. Not everyone judges something on its technical merit. Being trendy is not the same as being non-geeky. After all, a Ford Thunderbird is neither petrolhead nor trendy.
Yes the iPod is trendy, but its trendy because it was the first MP3 player to appeal to the eyes of Joe Average Consumer as well as his ears.
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I have nothing against iPods, I used to love using my ex-girlfriends, it was a very cool piece of kit. Although that's the only mp3 player I've ever used, so I don't have anything to compare it against, I had no problems whatsoever. The Click-Wheel is very cool...it's a very good piece of design on Apple's part. When you use the iPod, it's almost like you're carressing it. It's very clever.
I am tempted to get an iPod, but there's two things holding me back. One, iTunes. I don't have a lot of disk space, and I don't like the idea of having my entire CD collection on my computer eating up the precious memory I have left. Two, the fact that whenever they bring a new iPod out, a few months later they bring out a new, updated version. I'd be super-pissed if I'd bought a Nano when they first came out, and saw this new video iPod.
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Have to give apple props for the Nano. Apart from iTunes, the easy scratching, an outrageous price, and the lack of an FM radio, its actually okay.
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Originally posted by Raiden
I have nothing against iPods, I used to love using my ex-girlfriends, it was a very cool piece of kit. Although that's the only mp3 player I've ever used, so I don't have anything to compare it against, I had no problems whatsoever. The Click-Wheel is very cool...it's a very good piece of design on Apple's part. When you use the iPod, it's almost like you're carressing it. It's very clever.
That wheel makes me wish someone would buy Apple and iRiver and put out the iRiver iHP-120 out with the Ipod scroll wheel. Its the finest human interface device I've seen yet on an MP3 player.
I am tempted to get an iPod, but there's two things holding me back. One, iTunes. I don't have a lot of disk space, and I don't like the idea of having my entire CD collection on my computer eating up the precious memory I have left. [snip]
Actually, you don't HAVE to keep your collection on your computer. My wife pulls her MP3s off my fileserver or off CDRom as she needs them. Admittedly, this is very much NOT the way iTunes is intended to be used (and one of the reasons I hate iTunes).
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There's actually a Winamp plugin that allows for file transfer to iPods. I don't have any reports on how well it works, though.
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Originally posted by mikhael
That wheel makes me wish someone would buy Apple and iRiver and put out the iRiver iHP-120 out with the Ipod scroll wheel. Its the finest human interface device I've seen yet on an MP3 player.
Amen. If only Apple hadn't patented the wheel.
Wow, that sounds weird. :p
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Damn Steve Jobs! I have to pay royalties every time I open the garage door and drive my car! Same with that scrolling wheel on my mouse!
Curses!
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Apple failed the wheel patent, AFAIK. Its only the threat of a patent that kept everyone else from using it, and that was just the original wheel (mechanical) anyway. The patent for the touch wheel is owned by Synaptics, because it just uses the same tech as all the touchpads on all the laptops in the world.
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So wait, what is preventing, say, iRiver from coming out with a player that has a similar wheel?
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Looking bad in the marketplace, I guess. The problem there is that right now Apple has the Synaptics contract tied up. S isn't going make the wheel pad for anyone else until that contract expires and fails to renew.
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I can't believe all this whinging about iPods and iTunes - get over it already!
For the average punter iTunes is the best software ever invented - it's logical, easy to use, and reliable, so what's the big deal?...
Same for the iPod - true there are technically better players around, but they look like crap, so what do you think the average person is going to buy?
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iTunes lacks the ability for me to conveninently control it from my keyboard, and I'm intensely against v.5.0. The 4.x line wasn't bad though.
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Originally posted by Clave
I can't believe all this whinging about iPods and iTunes - get over it already!
For the average punter iTunes is the best software ever invented - it's logical, easy to use, and reliable, so what's the big deal?...
My wife is the average computer user and it drove her nuts last night trying rip an audiobook to her iPod.
I'm a rather advanced computer user and I have trouble with iTunes because it manages to turn a simple concept (COPY FILE FROM SOURCE TO DESTINATION) into something hideously contrived (ADD FILE TO LIBRARY THEN WAIT UNTIL YOU HOOK UP DESTINATION AND SOURCE WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE COPIED). Dude. What was wrong with drag and drop?