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Steve Wozniak Predicts Death of the IPod
Slatterz writes "Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, better known in the industry as 'Woz,' believes that the iPod is on its way out and has revealed his discomfort with some aspects of the iPhone. Wozniak said that the iPod has had a long time as the world's most popular media player, and that it will fall from grace due to oversupply. Wozniak also commented on the iPhone's proprietary nature and locked service provider, and compared it to Google's open Android platform. 'Consumers are not getting all they want when companies are very proprietary and lock their products down,' he said. 'I would like to write some more powerful apps than what you're allowed.'"
I can't understand the appear of iXXXX's either. Locked proprietary technology with limited scope for a geek to truly enjoy.
What I've noticed though is that the people who buy them don't seem to care...
Sure they'll die, but I doubt they'll die just because there's something better on the market.
And as for open alternatives? I've had a Symbian phone for years. Lots of free apps and developer tools, built in GPS and great touch screen, been around for years... That didn't stop the iPhone coming out either.
GrpA
Enjoy science fiction? "Turing Evolved" - AI, Mecha, Androids and rail-gun battles. What more could you want?
Really? So a new iPod costs less than $40 like the battery replacement kits? They're not that tough to do. Heck, if you're worried, mail it into Blue Raven for $70 and let them do it. They'll replace it with a higher capacity battery and ship it back to you within three days. Still cheaper than a new one.
iTunes works well on Macs, where people want, and expect, things to 'just work'.
On windows platforms, where many users have been forced to learn more than they'd like to about the technical aspects, I agree that iTunes is a pain. It renames your mp3 files, reformats iPods if you try to connect to another PC, limits your ability to share file whatever.
Typical closed architecture, (reminds me of the old IBM days). Products work reasonably well within one manufacturer's range, don't play well with others.
Since all my kids have PCs and iPods, we use Mediamonkey.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediamonkey
Works as advertised. Free version enough for most people.
Recommended. (c)Pournelle.
I bought a Sansa E280 the other day (at woot) for 59 dollars.
It's got 8gig RAM, plus a microSD slot. Once I put Rockbox (!) on it, I can play flac, ogg, avi.
I'm loading last night's South Park on it right now, in fact.
It cost me 59 dollars.
I'm not so sure the iPod is "safe".
You are welcome on my lawn.
Not to be a prick, but I've used a Sansa (previously) and an iPod video (now) regularly, and:
1. iPod has better UI;
2. iPod has better sound quality;
3. iPod has longer battery life;
4. If I want to run Linux or develop my own infinitely configurable embedded system I have access to a dozen laptops, desktops, PDAs, phones, calculators, etc - and I do. But I use my iPod to listen to music and talk ("podcasts") and occasionally watch videos;
5. In particular, I don't use it to "play games";
6. I don't have any reason to care what detailed format the video is stored in on the iPod, since it's on there to watch, not to edit. I can resize for space before transfer if necessary;
7. Database+metadata+synchronisation are more powerful concepts than straight hierarchical filesystems, i.e. iTunes is actually quite lovely once you get used to it;
8. Finally, good luck with carrying around 80GB (per GP post) of MicroSD cards.
An average user treats an electronic device as a tool which must do one or more particular things well. An average geek treats a tool as something which can be made to do as many things as imaginable. An elitist geek treats a tool as something which must do as many things as imaginable. You appear to fit in this third category.
You're welcome to argue that you aren't interested in an iPod's particular benefits, but most people are.
what the hell is hoovering?
We don't use this much in the United States, but in the UK it means using a vacuum cleaner. Hoover is a brand name that (in the UK) became as synonymous with vacuum cleaners as Band-Aid did with bandages here.
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
Your daughter sees the difference, and it's a difference many of us don't "get".
iPod isn't a technology play. That ended around the time the first iPod Mini came out.
iPod is a FASHION show play.
Your daughter wants to SHOW OFF her iPod, not listen to music.
Just wait, soon she'll be asking to buy all sorts of pairs of shoes. :-)
+++OK ATH