Apparently talking smack about the iPod on a science/politics/atheism blog will get me more traffic/comments than my average post, here’s a list of why the iPod sucks (and to be fair I will follow with a list of things that suck about the Zune as well):
- iTunes – Why should I have to download firmware cracks to use a device to its full potential? Perhaps I don’t want to give Steve Jobs any more money than I already did for the iPod. Finally, why can’t iTunes at least just turn off and not want to sit in my tray hogging resources that don’t belong to it?
- Overpriced – Still $50 more than Zunes on average, and roughly double what any other competitor charges.
- The fanboys/girls – Seriously, it’s just a freaking piece of plastic and electronics. Let’s not all be tools to a “hip” marketing campaign. Apple didn’t invent the mp3 player anymore than Microsoft invented the GUI operating system.
- AAC – Maybe, just maybe, I want a useful format that the rest of the world uses to listen to music with.
- Standards? – Why screw the entire MP3 accessory market the same way that cell phone accessories are screwed by making your plug proprietary? I shouldn’t expect more from the company that likes to control every aspect of its computer line, but still, imagine if one stereo dock ran Zunes, iPods and other less common brands, and all with one plug. This is your fault Apple, being the company that launched the MP3 player to primetime
DRM almost made the list, and is an honourable mention since it took until March of this year for Apple to cut it out of iTunes. Another honourable mention is the lack of card expandability, some flash mp3 players offer SD card expansion, it’s rare though, so I won’t hold it against Apple.
And to be fair, some of these points are shared with other mp3 players, but Apple receives far more credit and good press than it likely deserves.
Just remember: What’s popular is not always what’s best or what’s right – look at Islam/Christianity (or all religions), or the numbers that vote Conservative (or don’t vote at all).
(Don’t worry, a return to regularly-scheduled blogging topics is coming).