So spending $100 more for much lower sound quality is ok, but spending $60 more for much higher sound quality isn't? Want to tell me where in the commercials it told you that, or did you actually come up with this little gem of hypocrisy & bad money management on your own?
On apple's lossless vs. flac, I think the benefits of using a more popular & widely supported standard are self-explanatory. Suppose you get a better player? That's right, it's re-encoding time. Using iTunes, if you can get past all the bugs it has when trying to manage a large collection, doesn't result in the same sound quality & error-free music that using EAC plus a better format / encoder does.
I believe some Rios don't come with the standard cheap earbuds, but rather the less expensive Sennheiser buds, correct me if I'm wrong on that.
An ipod lover hasn't a leg to stand on concerning looks & build of the player - it doesn't get much worse than tacky white plastic & gaudy lights. The thing looks like something only a child could love. Which, of course, most do... Then you have
this problem with the minis. But hey, at least the money they save on cheap build quality gets passed on to the cust... er... oh, wait a minute...
You've still failed to answer the question of why the ipod is worth $100 more than other players which do the same thing (but with higher sound quality & better battery life) or a few bucks more than players with those qualities and other features, such as a line-in, recording capability, FM tuner, and universal mass storage standard support.
**SPOILERS**
It's because money doesn't grow on trees. I know most of you little "omgz teh ipod iz rulz!!1!1oneone" brats don't understand that, so I'll repeat it -
Money doesn't grow on trees. Apple had to make the choice between advertising on TV (expensive enough as it is) and during the baseball playoffs (just insanely, ridiculously expensive - you know how many millions of dollars 30 seconds during sports playoffs fetches?) and providing quality for a decent price. They chose the former, and seeing as how most consumers are stupid and believe everything they hear on TV, it was a good choice - as a business. The actual product, however, is a piece of siht. I like to think that, as a tech-centered community, AT is more intelligent than average and sees through advertising bullshit... Unfortunately, many posters here continue to prove me wrong. Here's another example of a company which utilizes the Apple Business Strategy -
Bose.
Last little gem - "
Why do you dress your dog?" - I don't, where'd you get that idea? He sure is adorable though, isn't he? What does my dog have to do with digital audio players, by the way? Or are you just changing the subject in an attempt to detract focus from how wrong and unknowledgeable you are concerning digital audio players and indeed, sound & electronics in general?