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50 Fun Things to Do With Your iPod
Ant writes "Jason Kottke's Web site has compiled a list of 50 fun things to do with your iPod besides listening to music with those white earbuds: From the article 'In the four years since its introduction, the iPod has proven to be a versatile little device. Despite a relatively closed architecture, hackers have found their way in. Content creators and software makers put information at your fingertips when you're on the go. Would-be designers have added to the fashionable stylings of the now-ubiquitous white ear buds. Hardware makers and enthusiasts have augmented the iPod with new add-on gadgets. Here are a few dozen things you can do with your iPod besides listen to music.'"
List 45-50 are slashdotted, so here they are:
45. Blend in with a device everyone has
46. Untangled from useless features in cheap chinese knockoff
47. Free of battery failure with compulsory annual replacement
48. Go deaf
49. Buy back from eBay the iPod you gave someone for XMas, with original receipt and no shipping cost
50. Invitation to the iPod nano class action lawsuit
Virtual Betting on Facebook for non-geeks.
This was posted in May at http://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/50-th ings-to-do-with-your-ipod-103817.php
Listen to music! Gosh its a music player for Gods sake, not second coming of a slice bread..
"There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people."--Howard Zinn
Alright the #35 one should not count. That sounds like something fun to do with an altoid box, not an iPod.
There's actually only 44 things in the list, and about half of those are duplicates of each other (perfect for /. then...)
This was posted six minutes earlier at http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=173360&c id=14423193
Actually most of those suggestions weren't particularly useful, some were repeats and #9 is patented if you follow their suggestion on how to use that particular mod. Nothing particularly earth shattering in the lot.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
iBuzz: a music-activated, iPod-powered vibrator
http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/product.cfm?id=5294
hello dear sirs my name is jamesh i are india (bihar) can u guide me install red had linux 9?
Buring an iPod effigy composed of actual iPods, preferably in front of a Starbucks.
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
That comes under #8... "Approach someone with the signature white ear buds, smile, and trade headphone jacks to get an earful of your new friend's music."
I love my ipod, and listening to music on it is great, but it has definitely made me an audiobook junky - it somehow feels like I'm pulling one over on The Man at work when I'm listening to a book that is actually interesting and possibly sucking my atention away from the job at hand.
I realize that this isn't really specific to ipods, but getting one for some reason made me willing to check them out - kind of thought they seemd like a corny idea before.
installing linux on it and playing doom was definitely fun, but the audio on the nano in linux is still [retty glitchy, so it's just kind of novel to have.
what i'm really looking forward to, or hoping for at least, is the rumored video support for nano in a possible forthcoming firmware upgrade. the nano is just small enough to sneak by veging out on videos all day at work - the laptop is a bit sore-thumbish. hooray!
Buying one for your wife... meaning you have to upgrade your home machine to play iTunes... honest dear it just won't run on this single CPU one...
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
Will it run.....It will? Awesome!!
Purple, because ice cream has no bones.
sweet! I have been looking for a replacment for the rio Karma, the last one I knew to play ogg +flac. Thanks for pointing this out, good to know there are alternatives.
One thing you won't be able to do, at least with Apple's factory setup of the iPod, is listen to radio (unless one day they charge for satellite radio). This could be so easily added as it is seen on competitors' devices but if users aren't listening to downloaded music, rather something from a source they do not control, then they are not buying things on iTunes. Am I correct to guess that this is a marketing thing and not because they can't fit a little radio on there? If so, that should be a big criticism of the device.
Im fairly sure you could swallow the nano with little effort.
-AlexC
Take the Book of God anywhere with BiblePlayer, listen to the Quran on your walk to the office, or discover the wisdom of the Torah on the train.
And you can also get meditation instruction, Dharma talks, etc... - Here ...FYI
I like to learn about Asian philosophy.
A few dozen fun things to do with your ipod? Don't you mean 4.167 dozen? Anyway, I much prefer my sony netmd because it will play for 54 hours on a single AA battery.
Get it?
Karma whore referring to a Buddhist Site!
I kill me!
Seriously, god knows how many reviews/blogs/posts/whatever complaining about whatever mp3 player not having radio. Why would I want to listen to what someone else picks and ads and stupid people when I can listen to what I want, when and where I want to listen to it!
"damnit, trolley I want in your signature." - Elburrito
I've had five media players and none of them was an iPod. Like you I dislike the marketing hype arounf the iPod, especially the Shuffle or iChav. Only Steve Jobs could tell people that not having a screen on a player is an advantage.
But like it or not the iPod is by far the easiest music player to use and that's the key to its success.
scratch to win a free iPod!
How is it that it took you a half hour? I just plugged in my iPod and it automatically transferred all my music over, no problems at all.
Traffic information.
I use my iPod for music, audiobooks, podcasting, and storing notes. But one other thing I use it for is an emergency boot drive.
I cloned my start-up disk onto my iPod minus unecessary files and use it as an emergency boot drive. If I need to repair/maintain the start-up disk, I can do it with my iPod which has all the utilities I need. I've repaired my friends' Macs this way too. It's faster and more flexible than booting from CD.
Plus, I often simply boot from my iPod when I'm using my school's Macs or friends'. (With permission, of course.) I get to run my apps with my environment which I can sync back and forth with my Mac.
Unfortunately, now that all iPods no longer support FireWire, this will be my last iPod that can be bootable.
I was at the gym this morning in what apparently was Sports Bra Sunday since a lot of women were wearing them without a shirt. One woman had an regular iPod sitting in the front middle of the sports bra while running on the treadmill. I'm not sure if that's the most practical place to put it or she was too cheap to get an arm-band or waist iPod holder.
Is their website running on an iPod? If so, i'd take it off the list now :)
today is spelling optional day.
Since it didn't make it.
iPod bartender and iPod bartender shuffle
(I think something similar did make it, but mine is free.)
concrete5: a cms made for marketing, but strong enough for geeks.
I know Apple is into the minimalist thing, but eliminating the numbers 45-50 is a whole new level.
'Every story, if continued long enough, ends in death.' --Ernest Hemingway
I put mine in the microwave. That was pretty fun for the 3 seconds that it lasted. Amazingly enough, it survived. The first time I nuked it, I left it off and put it in the mic for 1 second (I didn't want to melt the screen). The second time I nuked it, I turned it on and put it in for 3 seconds. That cooked it pretty well, however when plugging it in to the charger it would still turn on (even though it smelled of burnt electronic). The battery won't hold a charge, and the scroll wheel doesn't respond anymore, but hey the apple logo still comes up, as does the charging logo.
--untwisted
convinced me to get one
And then after the umpteenth time on Digg, it'll make the slashdot front page the next day.
Yeah, I guess I'm funny like that.
If I may be off-topic for a moment, I'm looking for another cheap MP3 player in the $40 range. I would rather spend that every couple years than $400 every couple years. Load up a 256mb SD card with music or internet radio shows and I'm perfectly happy. Anyone have some suggestions?
...is a very interesting offbeat iPod product.
Stokes' Field Guide to Bird Songs, which I've owned for a number of years, is a three-CD set of recordings of about 300 bird songs. iBirdPod "software" is nothing more than a very elaborate script--I think it's just AppleScript but I'm not sure--that loads these CDs into iTunes (and thence to your iPod), but makes extremely clever (ab)use of the title, artist, and album fields, the playlists, and the feature that allows the user to define starting and ending times for each track.
For example, the track named "Towhee, Eastern" is by "artist" "drink your teeeee, towhee," from "album" "Pipilo erythrophthalmus."
It's contained in playlists "birdPod-All-alpha" (which includes every bird alphabetically by common name), "birdPod-All-phylo" (which includes every bird alphabetically by scientific name), "birdPod-Forest" (which includes only forest birds), "birdPod-Shrub-Brush," "birdPod-Sparrows" and "birdPod-Urban."
Every track is "cued up" to start at the very beginning of the most common song... particularly useful since the Stokes CD's sometimes double up two or three songs in one track.
So, if you're in a forest setting you can call up the "birdPod-Forest" playlist and you hear a bird calling something like "Drink your tea," scroll through the "artists" until you get to "drink your tea," and play the song to confirm it. Or if you read about Pipilo erythrophthalmus you can scroll through birdPod-All-phylo, read off that it's the towhee, play the song, and make a mental note that the mnemonic for remembering the song is "Drink your teeeeee."
When I learned about it, my first reaction was what? they're charging money for that? I could do all that myself. Then I remembered why I didn't have my Stokes CD's on my iPod already... and I made a quick mental estimate of just how long it would take me to organize the songs... and decided it was money well spent.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
#51. Use your iPod for anything other than a web server.
. kottke.org/plus/50-ways-ipod/index.html
http://www.networkmirror.com/FCHBZyg5Fudct_vH/www
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
Well, I didn' t mod you a troll, but I would have if I was modding.
:)
Here's why:
1. You don't actually own, use, or appear to even like iPods, but you feel compelled to post on your second-hand experience of buying one for your girlfriend. Based on what sounds like about 20 minutes of using one, you think you're some sort of expert commentator.
2. You follow that up with some weird observation about not seeing iPods in use in major cities. Now, I'm in the bay area, but I do travel a lot. I'm not sure what you're looking for, but I personally see iPods everywhere, to the point where you'll see several people posting here about iPods being too popular or too trendy. I was at the gym last week and was amused to see that every single person on the row of elliptical trainers that I was on had an iPod of some sort.
3. You finish with a rambling observation that you don't see why people find the iPod (which you don't own) special or useful.
In summary: you're posting uninteresting, vague and uninformed observations about a product you don't even own or use, and that you appear to have a bias against. You also post vague statements about other products being better without offering any specific examples. I'm not even sure you like to listen to music. So, overall that would move you to troll in my estimation.
There you go.
- "When you want something with all your heart, the entire universe conspires to give it to you" -Paulo Coelho
51. Clean your iPod with brasso based on a slashdot comment. Take pics and post about it on your weblog. Get an amazing amount of traffic. Watch the adsense dollars flow in.
:)
I'm not saying I'm retiring soon or anything, but it was surprising to see the checks from google show up. Bonus!
- "When you want something with all your heart, the entire universe conspires to give it to you" -Paulo Coelho
Number 23 has a link to a piece of PC software for reading RSS feeds. For all us Mac users, http://www.carnglas.com/ has a free piece of software called iFeedPod which will sync RSS feeds to the iPod - very useful for those boring commutes!
Wow, do you support macintosh products over the phone by any chance?
Frankly, I'm more interested in using my ipod to, well, listen to things. Not that all of this isn't cool, but most people buy the things to use them as mp3 players. There are thousands upon thousands of podcasts out there, and the signal-to-noise ratio is better than you might think. (Meaning: there are lots of good casts).
;^) What is slashdot listening to?
That said, suggest some good podcasts
GeekNights!
Late Night Radio for Geeks!
Despite the fact that you were modded a troll, I don't think you really meant to be labeled as such -- you're just providing an honest opinion on this device. The iPod (all of them) is not a remarkable piece of hardware in any way. There are superior players out there (hardware-wise). Similarly, iTunes is not the absolute easiest thing out there to use (despite the fact that by default, iTunes will automatically load the songs onto the iPod without any problems ... I suspect that you are using the Windows version, which you only just installed), but I would say it is up there. Still, the combination of those two things (plus the large, nearly *worldwide* iTunes catalog and minimal DRM) has granted it top-dog status.
The cities that you list as being supposedly "cool" cities are also heavily populated. I know that New York advises everyone who owns an iPod to get a different (preferably black) pair of earbuds to avoid mugging, which seems to be rather consistent from my view of people in New York. Tokyo and London probably have similar advisories. Just because you can't casually see it doesn't mean that they don't have it. Or better yet, maybe you're not seeing them at the right time. I have noticed that the U.S. west coast has much more of the devices than the east coast (or at least the users don't change out the white earbuds).
The comment about the metal back to the iPod is completely correct: they are designed to scratch, making them unique. It's a design statement by one of the world's most acclaimed industrial designers.
The comment about Jobs not inventing the device is quite true, but this philosophy can be extended indefinitely. At some point, you have to draw the line as saying that this person is responsible (not unlike a person in your position) for creating the iPod. He played a heavy hand in making it easy to use, as well as providing the necessary engineering and financial support to bring it up off the ground. I don't know of a single person who actually invented the PC, the GUI, or the iPod from scratch.
The comment about visiting fancy displays seems ill-mannered: why wouldn't you want to show off your product in the best way possible? So much about products (and people, places) come from the first impression. Those stores have some of the highest revenue densities in the world, and yet, they are designed to be spacious and unintrusive. I happen to find good design (not just technical design, despite my engineering background) rare and therefore, valuable. If anything, the feeling of being a complete tool comes from the fact that you bought what you felt was an inferior product because someone else asked you to do it.
news broadcast
I'm sure you'll enjoy being the first to hear on a podcast how there how such-and-such died or so-and-so plane crashed... the day after it happened.
This applies to many things, really... don't forget that a 'podcast' is nothing more than a fancy word for easy 'subscription' to downloadable audio files. So you download the podcast, and listen to it on your way to work, etc. But once over - oh well, I guess you can listen to the same podcast again. And again. It's like having all your favorite music on there, except labeling it a 'podcast' from a 'podcast station'.
Sorry, but no - podcasts aren't radio.
#5: Listen to your mp3 collection in the car
"Griffin and Kensington (among others) sell FM transmitters for the iPod. Just tune your radio to the proper frequency and out comes your music collection."
Those FM broadcasters usually sound pretty bad. I have a standard Sony CD deck in my car, and on the back it has an "AUX" input for a CD changer I guess. I bought one of those cables that has RCA plugs on one end and a mini-headphone jack on the other from Radio Shack. So now I have a cable that just kind of comes out of my glove box which is plugged into the back side of my Sony CD deck. I get perfect sound from my iPod while in the car.
I wonder why more car stereo manufacturers don't put auxiliary inputs on the front of the deck, that'd be convenient.
There's nothing much impressing in that lot... Also, for someone who has used iPodLinux you can see the author did not try it AT ALL, he doesn't even denote most of the things you can do with it. Where it says you can play a movie I thought "Oh! iPodLinux!" and it didn't even talk about it... iPodLinux could have taken lots of space in this list if the author had tried it...
From the mentioned website:
PLEASE NOTE: This product can not be shipped to North America or Canada.
I know the yanks are a bunch wussy puritans, but whats up with the cannucks????
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
Despite the fact that there are only 44 things (with an excuse that is at least quite funny) did you notice that there are more like 20-25 things you can do with your iPod - many of them (podcasting, record stuff, use it as a mirror, read texts, disguise it in some way, broadcast radio signals) are mentioned multiple times...
but how about this one: get arrested for installing linux on it
or this one: die from age while waiting for the unbeleivalble slow software to have uploaded your music on it
and this last one: waste your time on reading the same fun things to do with your iPod over and over again
well what shall I say... thats just the effect: no matter how bad your product is - when you broadcast enough advertisements the people will buy it... MS,HP,Apple (and more I don't recall now) live from that effect ^^
cya
AlgoMan
The MAFIAA is a bunch of mindless jerks who will be the first up against the wall when the revolution comes
A mini (which had the best case, most reasonable size/capacity/price). I have had it for a year, and have replaced the battery myself just this Xmas. While it is nice and all, it is NOT a device worthy of the hordes of gibbering idiots that worship the damn thing. I have crashed the OS several time, had it freeze on me several times, had it corrupt data, had the battery not last half the expected lifetime, given up on iTunes (ml_ipod for Winamp for teh win - and yes, I prefer Winamp as a media player because the Media Library is great for dealing with hundereds of gigs of music and videos) and had other problems with it, but I still use it all the time, every day. In fact, I may have had my hands on it almost as much as on my dick. Oh, wait, I read /., nevermind.
The 'Net is a waste of time, and that's exactly what's right about it. - William Gibson
These "this was already featured on digg" comments on slashdot were lame the first few times, and still are.
"london ... i rarely see them out there on the field"
I am not sure what you imply by 'field', but if you get on any train during rush hour in London you'll see them everywhere.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Different strokes for different folks, but for my purposes, the ipod is functionally useless. I use my mp3 player (a Creative Muvo) primarily for listening to freshly downloaded music that I've never heard before. So it's an absolute must that I be able to quickly and easily delete songs I don't like while listening to them (and without having to look at the device). That's why I got the Muvo.
My rule of thumb is: new unproven music on the Muvo, good music on my computer, while the very best gets burned to CD for my car. The core idea is that I don't want the music on my computer to be a distraction when I'm working. So nothing so bad I have to stop work and skip past or delete a tune. Screening new music is best done when I'm out and about and away from my computer, and so I want an mp3 player that lets me do that.
This approach, and the Muvo, work very well for me, so I'm posting this message in case there are others who might like to do the same.
So if you can imitate the signal form the TV remotes, then you should be able to imitate the signal from car keys too?
1) Use it as a doorstop
2) Trade it in for a PSP. (Which plays games, movies, and browses the Internet.)
3) Use it as a rectal obstruction device whenever you buy mainstream music from iTunes at $.99/song.
4) Paint every room in you house off white, sell everything and refrain from any thing that could inspire thought or imagination. (Thought and Imagination are sins in the "Church of iPod" because they don't cost anything.)
5) Mark this post as flamebait and continue your consumer whore lifestyle
lol @ troll x 2
#57 - Pacemaker -- You can raise and lower you heart rate with the scroll wheel. Note: required a slight modification of the ear buds.
Some settling may occur during posting.
I listen to my nano in the car through a tape adapter. I guess it's sufficient for this curmudgeon who likes the old way of doing things...:D
Maybe I'm just jealous that I can't really afford one, but I refuse to buy an iPod or a cell until they're meshed together into one super device.
~= scwizard =~
My recipe goes like this:
- Clone DVD to get the VOB files to my hard disk.
- MergeVOB to get them into one huge file.
- Videora iPod converter to do the MP4 converting.
On my rather dated machine the process takes about an hour 40, but the movies are only 700mb and that doesn't make much dent in my 60GBOkay, now here's the kicker. I bought the movies legally on DVD and still have the case and all, why is this illegal? That's just stupid I don't care who you are. I should be able to put the disc in and iTunes should rip it for me, just like a CD.
This is not an illusion, a rip-off, or a ninja technique!
The list is what... a year old or something?
This
The metal backs and white faces on iPods isn't there 'to scratch and make them unique', it's there to make the iPod look like a bathtub, silly.
If people continue to abuse this feature, I will have to remove it. - Slashdot Comment Box, 1998
Seems a lot of the features are trying to turn an Ipod into a PDA. If some one would just make a PDA with a proper hard drive that has an Ipod style menuing system there wouldn't seem much of a fight for functionality. Ipods are still largely a single use device. I use my PDA all day long and would be lost without it. I'm guessing cost is the big factor holding it up. Personally I'm pretty happy with the 1 gig card on my PDA. I store a lot of stuff on it and have yet to use up 10% of the memory. If it breaks I can pull out the card and drop it into a new one and be up and running in minutes.
Being half deaf on the left, I wish someone would figure out a "hack" for balance control. Pretty sad such an obvious control would have to be a hack though...
"I can be self-referential if I want to," said Tom, swiftly.
I live in London, and it's pretty rare for me to sit ina tube carriage without seeing four or five other iPod users during off-peak times.
During rush-hour, naturaly, I can barely see anyone else who isn't presse dup right against me :(
James P. Barrett
51. Stick your Shuffle/Nano up your lilly a**. (Sounds more fun to _this_ reader than most of the items on the list) (P.S.: That item is _ancient_. Like last year or something.)
...this SD card player at £8.99 seems a good deal. Alternatively this (cheap-end electronics) is exactly the sort of thing to buy direct from Hong Kong/China on eBay for peanuts (just remember to factor in the shipping!)
I am so tired of hearing iPod this, iPod that -- these devices are not the first, nor the best, the portable MP3 players. I am also surprised that so many people here in slashdot, who tend to be quite reactionary about privacy and public disclosure rights, seem to blithely surrender to iTunes, that software which rules your music collection -- one which is in some ways spyware (reporting back to apple what you listen to) and is subject to the whims of Apple and its cohorts. At what point will MP3s become unsupported unless digitally signed by some Authorized Party such as Apple or the RIAA? I live my Creative MUVO much better - just drag and drop your music, no sweat, no software, no Big Brother. And, unlike the iPod shuffle which I was misguided enough to get my girlfriend for Christmas, it doesn't require software (iTunes) which caused the CD drive of her computer to no longer be recognized by the OS. I returned it to the store, and am going to buy her a MUVO.
is the one thing they didn't mention and which I think would be the most fun. Especially if it is somebody else's ipod...
Oh well, what the hell...
I don't travel so much, but here in Australia just about everyone with headphones seems to have little white headphones. This is my experience in Melbourne and (on a day trip) in Brisbane. They're everywhere!
As to the device itself, I haven't found the sort of problems you've had. In my experience it's been trivial to get music onto it. I bought one for my fiancee, and was rewarded at work with a Nano. I'd have never bought an mp3 player for myself, but after being given one, I find I use it a lot.
My fiancee is a PC user, with no particular feelings for or against Apple. She found the iPod simple to use, and now it's the source of her music collection. After opening the box, we had our entire CD collection of nearly 25GB on it in about 40mins.
The device is not particularly special in the specs, although I'd say they're competitive on price, especially the smaller units. It's just a small hard drive, reasonable audio circuitry and a very smooth interface. There are other options, but after trying them in stores I find them clunky to use. The iPod's not perfect, but it's the best of the bunch.
You say that people are giving Steve Jobs credit for something he didn't do. I've heard that he was personally involved with the project, not at a technical level, but at the design level. If that's true (and I've heard it from different sources, so I don't doubt it) then he can take fairly credit for some part of the iPod, but so also can the design team (headed by Ives, no doubt) and the technical team. It's just that we don't know their names.
Some things that aren't inluded in that list:
- Convert large text files and into notes for use on iPod
- Rip DVD Movies To Your iPod Using Free Software
- Use your iPod Photo or Nano as a Yahoo! Maps directions viewer
- How-To: Get TV shows off of your TiVo and onto your iPod
And that's just from clicking through del.icio.us search results for iPod a few times.Open rectum, place iPod centered on the opening. Move hand towards opening until the iPod has completely entered the body.
I swear, the next time a student ask me a question in a Lab while listening to an iPod, and then re-asks the same question 30 seconds later, this will be my reply. Not that it will be heard through the "doof-doof" music he is listening to anyways.
Seriously though, my professors have iPods, my supervisor is getting one, and my sister has one. How about some articles on Apple monopolising "I-can-dance-to-mp3s-because-I-have-an-iPod" market.
If I can do it, its probably not worth doing... probably
I have a theory.
Apple's iPod is a not a music player. It is a detachment device. When the world gets to be too much, you whip out your little white world and detach into your own universe. Because of this, everything on the iPod, from the pure white face to the uncluttered interface, is straightforward, clean, and unnoisy. I've owned a lot of MP3 players over the years, and the iPod is the only one I would describe as "calming." The rest of them are cluttered with features and buttons, aesthetically noisy, and generally not what you want to turn to when you want to de-stress.
That's not to say the iPod is perfect... all of the ones that I've used have had problems ranging from easy scratching to not being able to forward between songs while using the scroll wheel to adjust a song's position. It also takes far too long to figure out how to turn off the blasted thing, a problem common with a surprising number of MP3 players. But it is the least crappy of all of the current crop.
As for the cost, there are more cost-effective player out there. But your goal is de-stressing, not maximum hdd per dollar. If something costs 20% less but makes you want to throw it across the room every time you use it, it isn't a savings towards your goal. If you can get a bigger hard drive in a bigger player that is so big you can't fit it in your pocket and therefore never take it with you... what have you gotten for your money?
I know lots of New Yorkers with iPods. They all have alternative headphones. The white cords are ubiquitous on Boston subways, however, as well as on Bart/Muni in San Fransisco.
And in Job's defense, he didn't create the iPod, but he has driven a heck of a lot of technology projects through to maturation. He drove the first really end-user-centric computer, his drive brought computers from geeky grey boxes to cool centerpieces of the living room, and he made online music sales a legitimate industry. No he didn't make these things himself, but without him these things wouldn't have been made (or would have taken a lot longer to get where they were). Remember: before the MAC, mice were rare and exotic.
The ______ Agenda
Because it's perceived as special by so many people. Successful marketting. Hype leading to popularity.
I'm not attempting to downplay this. I've owned four different MP3 players over the years. Only my latest is an iPod. Why, after three significantly cheaper and perfectly capable MP3 players that I was perfectly happy with until I outgrew them (each has been bigger than the last) did I finally decide upon an iPod?
It had nothing to do with the device itself. Look at it and you'll find no clear advantage to anything else you compare it to. The hard drives aren't bigger than you can get on other devices, it doesn't really play more stuff (less, in fact, than WMA-capable players), it isn't really any easier to use than a large number of cheaper competitors.
If you don't see it, you're focused in too close. Pull back the camera a bit, so that you can see more than just the device itself. The reason I bought the iPod wasn't that it was, by itself, any better than the Creative or other players available. No, see those three aisles of iPod accessories in the store next to the iPod?
You can do more with the iPod, not because it does more, but simply because it's the one that everyone is making things for. The Creative player had three accessories I could buy. The iPod had three aisles of accessories. No matter what I wanted, I have a multitude of choices -- which style of case I wanted, what kind of speakers, specially built to both play and charge while it was docked in it, which kind, shape, and color of dash-mounting kit, etc.
The iPod is better because everyone thinks it's better, and manufacturers and sells accessories accordingly. What makes the iPod so special is that everyone thinks it's so special. It's like the proverbial self-fulfilling prophesy -- because so many people perceive it to be special, it actually is.
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
The IPod has a stellar "coolness" factor, but I tell everyone considering one to get an Ipaq instead. Maybe a bit less memory in most configurations, but WiFi, Bluetooth, Web browsing; or interface to your GPS, remote-control just about any IR device, print, use Word, Excel, read Ebooks, receive streamed video from your home server.... and of course, Solitaire. If you're not flush with extra cash, why get a less-capable device for more money?
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.
So... you're a spoiled rich kid. How's that goin' for ya?
There are two kinds of people in the world: those with loaded guns, and those who dig.
For anyone who didn't get what I meant, I was actually referring to the MPAA, which is responsible for motion pictures. Thanks to Bacchus for pointing this out!
The CB App. What's your 20?
what would the 911 call look like? Next time you think about doing something a bit... risque like that, make sure you think through the consequences.
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
Well, I live in Tokyo and I gotta disagree with you on the ubiquity of iPods here. Seems like every second person on the train during the morning commute has one.
You do know that men can use a vibrator just as easily as women, right? I'd say that vibrator sales are over 50% to men. They are popular among women, but I don't think they outsell the men. It's probably quite even demographically.
... and then they built the supercollider.
because..... I would have modded the post a troll?
:)
Too late!
- "When you want something with all your heart, the entire universe conspires to give it to you" -Paulo Coelho
Is there an mp3 player that ships with open specs and open firmware? If there were an mp3 player to be developed that shipped with open firmware, that would be quite a productive platform for development. Look how much has been done with the iPod, and all of that was reversed engineers! If a manufactorer was straightforward and released the firmware, so much more could be done. Does such a product exist?
What is special about it? That's easy: 1)At the time I purchased mine the iPod was the most compatible MP3 player with my iMac. 2) I have a large music collection and I can fit most of it on this tiny device! 3) It is virtually skip-proof! Basically, it does what it is supposed to do. You don't seem to have a need for such a device or you would understand its utility. Why complain about something you don't own, need, or use on a regular basis? Unless you have something to gain...
#41 Sell IPod on Ebay is exactly what I did or attempted to do that is. Won a 2gb nano in a drawing just before Christmas and decided 2gb doesn't cut it. My only problem is that the guy that won claims his 8 yr old son bid on it and won't pay. Now I have to wait a week and relist it. At least this gives me more time to scope out ebay for different players. Looking at either an IRiver with OGG support, or a Creative zen with great battery life and large HD.
"He's lost in a 'floyd hole"
that software which rules your music collection
Meaning it puts it in folders?
one which is in some ways spyware (reporting back to apple what you listen to)
No...it doesn't.
At what point will MP3s become unsupported unless digitally signed by some Authorized Party such as Apple or the RIAA?
Any minute now, I'm sure.
The US free market: two halves of a government-granted duopoly are free to set the market price.
I stopped reading TFA when I got to number three. " Dress up your Ipod". Okay, thats about the stupidest least fun thing you could do with an ipod. I mean you could make a nice egg costume for it and sit on it until it hatches. but with the price of gas being what it is you wouldn't be able to afford the petrolium jelly it requires to keep it alive. Its really a shame, but you have to have a firm finatial plan before you start procreating. Just because you spent over $300 on the best digital music device, doesn't mean your responsible enough to bring a new life into this world. So please, think before you knit.
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
My ipod has never seen the inside of itunes. Every single song on it was loaded with gtkpod. Breaking my old Palm address file into files 1 per address didn't take long -- awk did it in a line of code. I can put backup files on it too, though that's of limited use since my Windows machine at work can't read the Apple-formatted drive. It's still a handy 60 gig drive I can just happen to listen to music on, though.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
I know that New York advises everyone who owns an iPod to get a different (preferably black) pair of earbuds to avoid mugging, which seems to be rather consistent from my view of people in New York.
Save up and buy yourself a clue. I live in New York City. I've lived here my entire life. I know more iPod owners than I can count. I don't know of any that have replaced their earbuds for fear of being mugged. I don't know of any that have been mugged for their iPods. I don't know anyone who lives in fear of being mugged in New York. Come to think of it, I don't know anyone who's been mugged in New York the past 15 years. New York is the safest big city in America. Come visit us here in the 21st Century sometime; you might like it.
No holy war posts? C'mon people. Apple? Kottke.org? It's obvious.
- the article itself is full of repetitions. This is a "Fun, oh, 25-ish, things to do with your iPod".
"Good news, everyone!"
Well, I used my first iPod (the original one) as a hard drive for my old PowerBook G3 which internal hard drive had failed. So, the iPod was th only hard drive "in" the PowerBook. Worked great. I installed OS X from the CD to the iPod and just booted. No worries!
Only thing I had to remember was to reconnect the iPod BEFORE opening the lid of a sleeping PowerBook. OS X really doesn't like that the computer's hard drive is removed while the computer is sleeping.... =)
It was fun while it lasted (for about a week), before I got around to buying a new hard drive for the PowerBook. No point in this (OS X on iPod) really, except the fun- and just-because-you-can -factors... ...but it was worth it, I feel that I have much bigger now that I did it. =)
If all else fails, pull the plug and get out...
The Life is out there...
Indeed, I have visited the city and found it to be fantastic. I felt safe in most areas and the police even seem to be very friendly (a dramatic difference with the West Coast cities). That said, there are numerous standing advisories to replace those darn white earbuds. It is still not recommended to walk alone in Central Park at night. Pretty easy stuff to abide by. The fact that none of your iPod owning associates have been accosted is great. Still, those people may not engage in notably risky behavior (at least noted by crime stats). Even if they participate in late night solo jogs with the nearly luminescent earbuds, they will likely not be mugged. But of those mugged (and it happens in every major city, including the largest city), people can do something to reduce their visibility to reduce their chances of being mugged. Think of it this way (hypothetical situation, numbers made up): 1,000 people are mugged annually in Gotham City, out of a possible million people. Not too shabby by my account: that's a 0.1% mugging rate. Perhaps further studies were conducted on that subset of 1000 and found that 20% (200) were mugged because the assailant specifically wanted his/her iPod, easily noticing the white earbuds. It would be logical to conclude that in order to reduce that segment of the muggings, the visibility of that iPod should be reduced. Easiest and most cost-effective way would be to replace those earbuds. None of these numbers are meant to say that New York City is unsafe. It is simply about making it a bit safer (since 0% crime is the (unattainable) goal in any city). I'm sorry if I offended you -- you've got a fantastic city.
Funnily enough, Everybody loves Eric Raymond did a comic related to this on Friday... http://geekz.co.uk/lovesraymond/archive/eler-2006- prediction-outtake
- Welcome the coming of the New World Odour
When I got my iPod, I gave this a bit of thought. Then I realised that a mugger clever enough to notice the telltale white earbuds would probably be less interested in standard buds that may well be attached to a £59 512Mb Shuffle than the £129 Etymotic earbuds the guy sitting next to me has attached to an unspecified device that clearly justifies that kind of headphone expenditure.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
Seriously. That physically hurt.
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
Thank you for the information.
- "When you want something with all your heart, the entire universe conspires to give it to you" -Paulo Coelho