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Birth of the iPod
b00le writes "There's a little story over at Wired about the genesis of the iPod from the point of view of Ben Knauss, a former senior manager at PortalPlayer, the company Apple Computer approached to help develop its player.
There's some nice gossip about The Steve's involvement in the project, the extreme secrecy and so on, but for me, the kicker comes at the end: 'Knauss stayed on until near the end of the iPod's development, but quit shortly before it was released because he had no confidence it would be a success. "It was probably a mistake, but then you have to go with what you think at the time," he said.'
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Does OSDN get paid $10000 for every ipod story they publish. Times two if they publish on regular slashdot.
As you may have heard, ECFA has purchased the GNAA for an unspecified amount. Many people have had questions about the "connection" of the two associations. Thus, here's a FAQ:
Q. Why is the GNAA merging into one ECFA?
A. Because both the GNAA and ECFA share one common goal, A HAPPIER MANKIND.
Q. Will the illicit images and homosexuality continue?
A. Unfortunately, these will not be a part of the combined ECFA, as we are moving to a broader demographic.
Q. What will the ECFA stand for?
A. Euthanasia for Canus Familirous Association.
Q. Why is the ECFA right for me?
A. Have you stepped in dog doo-doo? Do you hate dogs? Want to kill dogs? The ECFA is for you!
Q. Will the GNAA "early posts" continue?
A. Yes, these will continue, but their messages will be changed.
You are correct. It's all about marketing. The one with the best hardware does not necessarily win in the marketplace. The tough part is not designing a better mp3 player or other device, but making the marketing relationships to get your product in the various channels for mass consumption, along with spending vast sums on advertisings. Believe me - it's not easy going up against an established player in an industry but it can be done.
I work too hard for my illusions just to throw them all away.
A typical Mac user will satisfy three of the following conditions:
- he owns a Carmen Miranda hat
- cites "Yentl" has his favorite movie
- has worked as a graphic designer for at least four years
- is really good at Marathon, because he owns no other games
- doesn't mind being ripped off when buying computer hardware
- is considering coming out of the closet
- may have a girlfriend, but only to have something to talk to with the cute guys from Accounting
- wears a bonet around the house
- owns a Rodin replica
Well, as "revolutionary" as you seem to think Apple is, their computer systems have a pretty marginal user base. They've been around for quite some time now, and it doesn't seem like they've made any leaps and bounds in regards to getting more and more people to use their computers. From my experience, there are two types of Apple users; those that use them because they are the best tool for the job, and those that use them out of style. The people who use them out of necessity usually could care less what kind of machine they're using; it's got the tools, fine. The people who use an Apple computer based on style seem to drool all over everything, no matter how trivial, Apple wants to release (computer or otherwise).
The userbase trend seems to only be getting worse, and as far as company longevity goes, it's probably best for Apple to concentrate on music products like the iPod. It seems that often times, people neglect the fact that Apple is a company, and thus wishe to make as much money as possible; Apple could care less about their "loyal" userbase. It's like some Apple users consider their purchase of an Apple a donation or something; Apple, like all other companies, only desire a profit and could care less about their users and their philisophical or moral reasoning for buying their machines.
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Is it me, or did it just get fatter in here?
... ripping CDs to MP3 using iTunes embeds your hardware serial into the MP3 file.
DO NOT SHARE MP3'S YOU RIP USING ITUNES!!!
If you have to pirate, rip them with LAME or something else that doesn't note your computer information.
Yes yes great design, small...easy to use. All of that is true. But the plain and simple truth is the Ipod sounds HORRENDOUS. It has one the worst signal to noise ratios of top HD players. Even a copy of a CD at 320kps still just sounds bad if you have a pair of decent headphones. I use a pair of Shure in-ear phones myself. It's even worse if you hook it up to a Good home stereo.
I took my Ipod back the following week, did some research picked up the Iriver with optical out. The two don't even compare.The Ipod just sounds BAD period. It's a fact.