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Microsoft's Tips for Buying an MP3 Player
An Anonymous Reader writes "In another extension of Microsoft's 'Plays for Sure' campaign, the company has launched a web page with six tips to help consumers purchase the 'correct' MP3 Player for them. Among the insights of the article hard drive-based players suck and a stopwatch is a useful feature to have on your player. Unsurprisingly, the iPod meets none of Microsoft's criteria. A humorous commentary is available, of course." From the article: "6. Don't get locked into one online store. Have you ever been on the hunt for a particular song? Some obscure indie rock tune or rare jazz performance you heard on the radio? You might have to shop at more than one store before you find the song you're looking for."
I heard she's the new CEO for MS's new consumer guide division.
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
So i can figure out how long the fucker takes to crash. No wait. :-)
Approximate figures based on CD-quality WMA (64 Kbps)
TSI
...from the good folks that brought you the hilarious
Parents Primer to Computer Slang.
Now you and your family can be l33t together.
W
-------------------
This is my SIG. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
I like the CARS take on it:
CARS is good stuff!
Don't you remeber in 1995 when they ran the song "Start Me Up" into the ground. They have 10 years experience with music, they might be able to do something right by now.
mnewberg.com
"what is it about fm radio that doesn't appeal to you?"
I think the reason we don't want or care about FM radio can be summed up in two words:
Clear. Channel.
Albuquerque PC
Be sure to get that FM receiver option so you can listen to higher-quality music when you get tired of your 64 Kbps WMA collection.
As if any of Microsoft's time estimates have been correct.
Case in point: try copying a file to another place on any Windows PC.
For another fine guide of theirs, check out the Parent's primer to l33t sp34k. Seems to be on par.
The United States of America: We do what we must because we can.
SIGFEH
The circuitry for
a good FM radio
is not quite that cheap.
Slashdot has changed its buffering system, by the way.
They've increased the sentence-per-paragraph allowance to 2.
Just FYI.
Why do people think this is directly targetting the ipod?
Because we read it.
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
i think the stopwatch is a great feature to have
I'm certain it would be for some joggers. Say, how's GNOME* coming along?
*I kid, I kid!
A bit over a month ago, I got back onto a dirt bike for the first time in years. I wasn't doing anything crazy, just some easy trail riding and off-road sightseeing, mostly in the same general area. I was on my way back from one of these outings, humming down the track I'd been using to get home each day, came around a corner into a narrow section only to find some kind soul had dumped a half-metre high pile of dirt across the path. I didn't have my dirt bike reflexes back by any means, and hit the pile off balance and carrying a fair bit of momentum.
The front suspension bottomed out at the same time as I pitched forward, then those big springs uncompressed and slammed the tank into my groin hard enough to crease the plastic. I'd lost a lot of speed by then and didn't so much crash as roll to a standstill and fall off. It was probably only a few minutes, but it seemed like hours before I could move enough to take a breath and turn the MP3 player off. As a result of this experience I can vouch for two things;
1. the iPod never skipped a note
2. hearing the Foo Fighters' MIA still makes my eyes water.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
Woah there! Put down the Kool-Aid, pal. You're still clinging to your Newton, aren't you?
Repeat after me: "Apple is a mindless, soulless corporation that would be just as evil as Microsoft if they had the marketshare. They do not care about me or what I do, so long as I don't 'steal' their intellectual property or post leaked pictures of their new products to the web."
Then again, I just got rid of my IIgs last year...
It's just a matter of finding the right crack-head after the fences are closed. $20 iPods, $50 notebooks... not free market, but liberated.
I furnished an apartment for less than $100.
Bacardi + slashdot = negative karma.
I furnished an apartment for less than $100.
That's nothing. I got a pretty nice mountain bike for only $39.99
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
Yeah, I can't for the life of me figure out why they're not playing any new oldies...
I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
So, making a player with no screen is doing themselves a disservice, while making a player with a color screen is lunacy.
Monochrome or bust, baby!
i forget
"then those big springs uncompressed and slammed the tank into my groin hard enough to crease the plastic"
See? There's your problem. You should always use a groin of case hardened steel, instead of cheaping out and going for plastic. Lesson learned.
I HAVE CUBIC WISDOM THAT TRANSCENDS AND CONTRADICTS ONE DAY GODS
From the article: "6. Don't get locked into one online store. Have you ever been on the hunt for a particular song? Some obscure indie rock tune or rare jazz performance you heard on the radio? You might have to shop at more than one store before you find the song you're looking for."
Ok. I call bullstuff. Show me **ONE** radio station anymore that even aspymptotically approaches indie rock songs or rare jazz performances.
Lame.
"Lawyers are for sucks."
- Doug McKenzie
Damn, there goes my idea of wearing a helmet while on a motorcycle!
I have a website. It's about Macs.
"Yes they did. They said the HD-based players skip if you move them around while they're playing."
Actually they didn't say that. They said Flash drives don't skip if you move them around. If I say that type of chocolate bar is lovely it doesn't mean all the rest are disgusting does it?
Oh hang on - I forgot. We're supposed to bash microsoft at every opportunity.
So remember kids, if you don't want your MP3 player to skip during sex, get an iPod.
I don't get it.
So you can enjoy the Blue Screen of Death!
You can match logos. When you see it on a device and on an online store you know the two will work together with a no hassle. It just works!
Plus, they didn't capitalize each word of It Just Works (tm) or add the trademark symbol.
"Radio is *not* the only way to hear no things, and is my experience, the *worst* way to hear anything new and fresh."
That's the case, but for times of extreme emergency. And event like 9/11 will go unheard by an MP3 player, but if you can tune in to ANY FM station, they'll cover the BIG stories of the day, and in some cases could alert you to incoming threats. Heaven knows Clear Channel would jump at the chance to scare Americans.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
The Shuffle is perfect and because it plays in random mode it is great that no song will be repeated too quickly.
This is the part I don't get about the iPod Shuffle. Didn't just about every MP3 player do shuffle mode both before and since?
I'm not saying it's bad, but I just don't get it as a selling point. It's like marketing the new BMW - Stearing Wheel. "It has a steering wheel so you can make turns!" um... ok. good. Anything else worth mentioning?
I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other about whether people should be buying the shuffle. I just think that if they're buying it _because_ of shuffle mode, maybe they should be made aware that there are a few other players out there that may meet their needs.
TW
No...I'm pretty sure none of them had shuffle mode before the iPod Shuffle. Maybe it came with a firmware update aftewards...but not before.....
Odd you would think tha...like you've been brainwashed or something.