Sound quality has no part in consumer interest in the new iPod. Digital encoding is no better than before, and it is no secret to many of us that the iPod never has been and is not universally compatible with most lossless formats, and even some of the compressed too.
Much of the iPod's excitement is due to a larger screen, the incorporation of a web browser(safari) & WiFi, a sleek iPhone-esque exterior design/user gui, etc.
Some of the new features on the new iPod make using alternative OS to the apple/iTunes appear less practical , but not necessarily if you are not someone who uses iTunes store, and don't even run OSX/XP for that matter.
Apple offers a very desired portable media player, but it is an expensive one.
Slashdot Mirror
Sound quality has no part in consumer interest in the new iPod. Digital encoding is no better than before, and it is no secret to many of us that the iPod never has been and is not universally compatible with most lossless formats, and even some of the compressed too. Much of the iPod's excitement is due to a larger screen, the incorporation of a web browser(safari) & WiFi, a sleek iPhone-esque exterior design/user gui, etc. Some of the new features on the new iPod make using alternative OS to the apple/iTunes appear less practical , but not necessarily if you are not someone who uses iTunes store, and don't even run OSX/XP for that matter. Apple offers a very desired portable media player, but it is an expensive one.