XPlay: iPod with Windows

meanie writes "Mediafour, a company which specializes in cross-platform software introduced the XPlay software to link up your iPod with Windows. Looks like a solid product, but since I didn't buy an iPod due to lack of a Mac, I haven't been able to check out the software. Anyone try this yet? I might just buy an iPod now."

Comments

2nd or 3rd

[nachoman]

That is the second or third time this has been posted... One on XPlay, another on that other one. Let pudge do his job Jamie; post apple articles to the apple section. You can still have them come up on the main page.

Try this one

or this one

And now this word from Real User!

[PhysicsGenius]

When I got my iPod I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread! With its innovative design and sleek styling, it brought me to the forefront of MP3 technology! Unfortunately, I don't own a Mac, due to budget constraints. Then I discovered XPlay and my life was changed forever! Just by following a few simple steps I was able to connect my iPod to Windows and download hundreds of my favorite hits from Celine Dion, N'Sync and many more!

Thanks XPlay!

Slashdot: Nobody has fewer commercial breaks and gets you back to the technical article faster!

Re:Why bother?... and wait...and wait...and wait..

[Uncertain Bohr]

And you can keep waiting while you attempt to load your latest album on your mp3 player before catching your plane or bus... Oh wait... your winbox just crashed too... well, maybe saving a few bucks was not really worth it in the end...

I just love my ipod. Never failed, always fast and reliable... always! :-))

Re:Works pretty well (in beta, anyway)

[Zeinfeld]

Thank you for the insight, Elmer FUD. Apple is doing just fine at the moment.

Apple made a loss last year and in its previous year only made 750 million, that is not so good for a computer company, Dell made $1.2 billion and $2.2 billion in the same periods. More importantly the long term trend in AAPL revenues has been to climb for a few years then collapse. OK so AAPL revenues grew from 1998 to 2000, but they crashed in 2001 and in 1998. Now most companies revenues in the computer industry were off last year, but most computer companies grew in 1998.

I'd bet the profit margin on the iPod is very slim, whereas the profit margin on a PowerMac is larger than the retail price of the iPod (in any case, much larger).

On the contrary, the iPod can sell for a much higher percentage markup for good design than a computer can. The iPod retails for $500 which is about $200 higher than competing products from the likes of Archos - and the price differential is maintained after inevitable retail discounts. I don't think that even Apple could sustain a 66% premium in the notebook market.

In 5 years time the benchmark price for all PCs is likely to have dropped to $500. Bargain basement pieces of crap will probably be available for $200. Cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players and the like will still be available for $50, but designer labels will be able to charge $300 to $500 for genuinely better products.

The only good reason I have heard to buy an Apple computer is that their high end G4 laptops are pretty much the best portable arround to run UNIX on out of the box. If like myself you absolutely loathe Mac look and feel you can even run Gnome on top.