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New iPod Owner Onslaught Overwhelms iTunes

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the drowning-in-white-plastic dept.

Billosaur writes "In the post-Christmas rush to power up and use their new iPods, an onslaught of downloaders brought iTunes to its knees, according to CNN. Monday and Tuesday saw users posting message after message about slow downloads and the iTunes site denying them entry. The heavy traffic was apparently more than the system could bear, what with the large numbers of people receiving iPods and iTunes gift cards. Perhaps Apple was underestimating just how successful they were going to be?"

8 of 395 comments (clear)

  1. Apple and iPod... by Praedon · · Score: 0, Troll

    I never invested money in an ipod, due to some of the rantings and ravings about it. What would be its best competition out there on the market? Also, is the ipod store as populated with songs as they say it is?

    --
    Just me
  2. Re:I helped with this by Professor_UNIX · · Score: -1, Troll
    2/3rds of the gifts I bought this year were iPods and iTunes music gift cards.

    If someone bought me an iTunes gift card I'd slap them in the head with it. Why not get them something useful like a Best Buy gift card so at least they can go pick up the CDs at the store instead of settling for the low-quality DRM-encumbered stuff that iTunes shackles you with in the form of their protected-AAC files? Don't get me wrong, I think some day online music sales will be the wave of the future, but until Apple starts selling their expensive tracks encoded in the Apple Lossless codec or FLAC they won't be seeing another dime of my money. It's fantastic that they let you burn a copy of YOUR music that you purchased to a regular audio CD, but the fact of the matter is that what you're burning is sub-CD-quality sound and yet costs the same as the CD would if you had bought it in the store. $10-$12 is the going rate for popular CDs in brick and mortar shops.
  3. Re:It's Win/Win for Apple by CDarklock · · Score: -1, Troll

    Bigger screen is better. Same resolution is the same. Verdict: Zune.

    Bulkier to carry because of bigger screen. Verdict: no points awarded.

    Less efficient interface: oh, come on, it's Apple. Who *doesn't* have a less efficient interface than Apple? Verdict: iPod.

    No options other than color: the iPod didn't even start with a color option. Verdict: Zune.

    Winner: Zune, beating iPod 2-1.

    I'm just sayin'.

    --
    Microsoft cheerleader, blue flag waving, you got a problem with that?
  4. Re:Yes by Rix · · Score: 0, Troll

    Normal people don't involve themselves emotionally with a consumer product. Get over it.

  5. I feel sorry for Best Buy etc by ILuvRamen · · Score: -1, Troll

    This was just the beginning, like an earthquake and the tsunami is still on its way. I feel sorry for the people at retailers such as Best Buy and Circuit City who work the customer service area in a few weeks cuz about half those iPods are going to break :P How did such a fragile, unstable player get so popular?! And in case you think I'm exagerating or just hatin, I know some people who work at those places and they said last Christmas was hell on earth with about a third of the overall problems people had being related to broken iPods. Apple should stop worrying about their inadaquite servers and worry about those people who are going after Nintendo for breaking Wiimote straps cuz the iPod sure has enough problems to get sued over.

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    Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
  6. Re:Yes by FuzzyDaddy · · Score: -1, Troll

    How do you sit on a website? On second thought, don't answer that.

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    It's not wasting time, I'm educating myself.
  7. Re:I helped with this by TheRaven64 · · Score: 0, Troll
    Given the choice, I'd rather have the socks. I own both socks and a few tracks purchased from iTMS. The socks keep my feet warm until they start to wear out. The music I can listen to on one of the computers I own (the others all run unsupported operating systems), and one third of portable devices I typically carry around with me that can play AACs; specifically the one I am most likely to leave at home.

    A sock will never tell me when I can wear it (although good taste might), and won't ever cause an error if I decide I want to use it as a cloth (or some other use not envisaged by the seller). A sock will always be compatible with my shoes, even if the shoes are made by competitors.

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    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  8. Re:It's Win/Win for Apple by dtfarmer · · Score: 0, Troll

    What I was referring to is the fact that you couldn't do that when the iPod first came out. The iPod came in one style, one size, and one color. The Zune comes in three colors. That's more than Apple had.

    Damn, man why stop your comparison there.

    2001 iPod: 5GB, Zune: 30GB - winner: Zune
    2001 iPod: ~.8 in thick, Zune: ~.5 in thick - winner: Zune
    2001 iPod: 10hr battery, Zune: 14 hr battery - winner: Zune
    2001 iPod: 1.8" b/w screen, Zune: 3" color screen - winner: Zune
    2001 iPod: plays music, Zune: plays music, videos, photos - winner: Zune
    2001 iPod: firewire only, Zune: USB2 only - winner: Zune
    2001 iPod: $399.00, Zune: $249.99 - winner: Zune

    Fuck, man, that Zune kicks all kinds of ass. I gotta get me one of those!

    In fact, I'd be tempted to say "No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame." about the 2001 iPod while buying a sexy brown Zune.