Why is the iPod so popular?

[Balthazar]

I've never been a big fan on the iPod, or apple in general for that matter. But when they announced the nano, even _I_ caved....

So I got my nano in the mail today and I've had it for less than 3 hours....but I allready want to go back to my Creative Zen.

Seriously, like alot of things about the ipod but the interface, kind blows, and let me explain why.

First, adding songs....it should NOT be this hard. At first it looked similar to my Zen in that I could goto the menu, goto library, goto artist, then sort by track or by album, if I sort by album, right then and there I could add the whole album all at once. Or I could open the album and add individual songs. With the iPod, I had to add the whole album, period. Or if I goto into "Artists" I have to add ALL the songs by that artist.

That is unless I create a playlist, on my computer.

LAME.

And here is the REAL deal breaker for me.

I got a 4GB nano.
I have a 25GB MP3 collection....no problem, I have a laptop.

Oh but WAIT....I have to have ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL my MP3's on my laptop in the EXACT same paths (nevermind I have one HDD in there vs. 3 HDD's in my pc, makes the path thing hard to do).

And even IF I manage that, I have to manually export the library and import it when I go between PC and Laptop.

If I DONT, yeah it will delet anything that was put on by the other copy of iTunes.

THIS SUCKS.

With my Zen I just loaded up Zen Explorer, drag and drop my files, DONE. I keep about 8MB worth of drivers and the Zen Explorer app on my thumbdrive and in minutes any PC will allow me to add to my library just fine.

wtf Apple....

So I know that was a long rant, but I did it because SURELY not everyone out there is retarded enough to LIKE the way this behaves, sure SOMEONE out there knows how to get around this, some 3rd party app (ephpod kept crashing at the first unexpected thing it encountered), some settings (I tried "manually manage my library" but that didnt do anything at all so far as I can tell) or SOMETHING that can make this ungodly thing just....just....WORK.

I can kind sorta almost overlook not being able to add a song at a time or create playlists on the player itself so long as I can at least synch the stupid thing up like a normal non sucky mp3 player would.

My kingdom to anyone who knows the solution to this problem!

 

[Mr Fluffles]

Why is the iPod so popular?

Because Apple says it is, and their customers believe it.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Originally posted by: Balthazar
I've never been a big fan on the iPod, or apple in general for that matter. But when they announced the nano, even _I_ caved....

So I got my nano in the mail today and I've had it for less than 3 hours....but I allready want to go back to my Creative Zen.

Seriously, like alot of things about the ipod but the interface, kind blows, and let me explain why.

First, adding songs....it should NOT be this hard. At first it looked similar to my Zen in that I could goto the menu, goto library, goto artist, then sort by track or by album, if I sort by album, right then and there I could add the whole album all at once. Or I could open the album and add individual songs. With the iPod, I had to add the whole album, period. Or if I goto into "Artists" I have to add ALL the songs by that artist.

That is unless I create a playlist, on my computer.

LAME.

And here is the REAL deal breaker for me.

I got a 4GB nano.
I have a 25GB MP3 collection....no problem, I have a laptop.

Oh but WAIT....I have to have ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL my MP3's on my laptop in the EXACT same paths (nevermind I have one HDD in there vs. 3 HDD's in my pc, makes the path thing hard to do).

And even IF I manage that, I have to manually export the library and import it when I go between PC and Laptop.

If I DONT, yeah it will delet anything that was put on by the other copy of iTunes.

THIS SUCKS.

With my Zen I just loaded up Zen Explorer, drag and drop my files, DONE. I keep about 8MB worth of drivers and the Zen Explorer app on my thumbdrive and in minutes any PC will allow me to add to my library just fine.

wtf Apple....

So I know that was a long rant, but I did it because SURELY not everyone out there is retarded enough to LIKE the way this behaves, sure SOMEONE out there knows how to get around this, some 3rd party app (ephpod kept crashing at the first unexpected thing it encountered), some settings (I tried "manually manage my library" but that didnt do anything at all so far as I can tell) or SOMETHING that can make this ungodly thing just....just....WORK.

I can kind sorta almost overlook not being able to add a song at a time or create playlists on the player itself so long as I can at least synch the stupid thing up like a normal non sucky mp3 player would.

My kingdom to anyone who knows the solution to this problem!

Let me enlighten you on how to fvcking use iTunes
DON'T CLICK AUTOMATICALLY SYNC MY LIBRARY! My laptop and desktop have pretty much everything in the same path, so all I do is move the little .itl and .xml files over the network using a little script I wrote to copy it over before leaving, and I'm fine. Obviously your case is not the same, so just don't use that feature, use manually manage my library, and wipe the iPod clean and copy over only the songs you want, simple.

 

[DaveSimmons]

You're having problems because it's different from what you learned first, and because you don't want the hand-holding itunes does.

I personally agree, and filled my Zen Xtra using Windows Explorer.

Most "normal" people prefer the handholding and ease of iTunes, just like they don't build their own computers.

 

[ShadowBlade]

<maddox>
iPod: This is one of those inventions that makes people say: "why didn't I think of that?" On news shows anyway. One of the anchors on FOX News said "now the music industry is waiting for someone to come along and invent the next iPod." Wow, if only I had thought of the bright idea of putting an mp3 player on a portable hard drive. Damn that's brilliant. I had that idea years ago. I also have another idea: a car that can fly. I will sue anyone who makes it.

iPodder: A pompous a** who thinks he's eclectic. Wake up a**hole: you're not living in an iPod commercial. You can't dance. Everything you listen to sucks. Get a job.

Podcast: Someone had the revolutionary idea of taking a compressed audio file and putting it online. Yeah, doesn't sound so sexy when I describe it for what it is, does it you morons? It would have been a great idea if streaming audio wasn't already around for over a decade before the word "podcast" entered the lexicon. Man, I can't stand the word "lexicon." Talking about all these sh*tty words has made me start using sh*tty words. I'm so pissed, I just slammed the door shut on some kid's nuts.

Podcasting: It's snob for "streaming audio."

Podcatcher: Any idiot with an iPod, web browser, or ears.

</maddox>

 

[HN]

there's an autosync setting somewhere that you need to uncheck. then enjoy your new player.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Oh, and as far as adding a song at a time, its as easy as dragging the MP3 right into "Library", or even right onto your iPod if its set to "Manually manage....."

And as for why the iPod is popular, I honestly don't know. I bought mine because it was slim (Creative only recently achieved that with the Zen Sleek) and had all the accessory support I could wish for, around 10 db SNR between the iPod and other DAPs (if I remember how much it was correctly) don't bother me in the least bit, I'm only driving Shure E2Cs with this thing, not UE10s.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Because people like it

 

[yourdeardaniel]

it's the hip thing

 

[Baked]

One word - Marketing.

 

[TallBill]

holy crap those are expensive.. i dont know anyone thats owned an ipod for a year and hasn't had to replace it.

 

[sniperruff]

first, you can add individual songs by going further into "album" (at least i can do that with a mini)
second, it's FLASH-BASED... go find out how much a 4gb compact flash costs. never skip or destroy your hard drive again...
third, the creative is a hunky brick IMO.

i don't personally really LOVE apple's products... they skim on the parts included (no AC adapter), and the sound quality isn't that good IMO. but hey, it's the smallest, not that expensive, and it won't skip.

 

[PatboyX]

they are cute.
but too expensive.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: sniperruff
first, you can add individual songs by going further into "album" (at least i can do that with a mini)
second, it's FLASH-BASED... go find out how much a 4gb compact flash costs. never skip or destroy your hard drive again...
third, the creative is a hunky brick IMO.

i don't personally really LOVE apple's products... they skim on the parts included (no AC adapter), and the sound quality isn't that good IMO. but hey, it's the smallest, not that expensive, and it won't skip.

Why is being the smallest so good?

To me that means,

1. Way better chance to lose the thing, either temporarily or permanently.
2. Much more expensive to get repaired.

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: sniperruff
first, you can add individual songs by going further into "album" (at least i can do that with a mini)
second, it's FLASH-BASED... go find out how much a 4gb compact flash costs. never skip or destroy your hard drive again...
third, the creative is a hunky brick IMO.

i don't personally really LOVE apple's products... they skim on the parts included (no AC adapter), and the sound quality isn't that good IMO. but hey, it's the smallest, not that expensive, and it won't skip.

Why is being the smallest so good?

To me that means,

1. Way better chance to lose the thing, either temporarily or permanently.
2. Much more expensive to get repaired.

because i can fit it in my shirt pocket or jeans pocket. that means i can listen to music while im working! i think most people like ipod's because they are small. if i don't care for size i would have just gotten a mp3 cd player.

 

[Balthazar]

Originally posted by: sheik124

Originally posted by: Balthazar
I've never been a big fan on the iPod, or apple in general for that matter. But when they announced the nano, even _I_ caved....<snip>

My kingdom to anyone who knows the solution to this problem!

Let me enlighten you on how to fvcking use iTunes
DON'T CLICK AUTOMATICALLY SYNC MY LIBRARY! My laptop and desktop have pretty much everything in the same path, so all I do is move the little .itl and .xml files over the network using a little script I wrote to copy it over before leaving, and I'm fine. Obviously your case is not the same, so just don't use that feature, use manually manage my library, and wipe the iPod clean and copy over only the songs you want, simple.

I DIDNT CLICK IT, you jerk....this is very similar to the response I got from a "friend" who uses iTunes.

I didnt ASK it to do this, and the setting that SEEMED, at least to people who speak ENLGISH, to do what I want, didnt really actually appear to do a damned thing. And as the below poster says:

Originally posted by: HN
there's an autosync setting somewhere that you need to uncheck. then enjoy your new player.

SOMEWHERE....yay, so what SHOULD be f'ing simple and, oh, I dunno, DEFAULT, I have to go hunting for, because it sure as hell isn't on the tab that says "iPod" in the prefs.

And you just proved my point that this is a retarded application that you had to write a SCRIPT to copy your library back and forth.

So answer me this. How come when I import the exported library it FAILS to load it right? Because the MP3's dont all exist in both places, I dont generally keep 24GB worth of stuff (that some other devices on the network use) in two stupid places.

So what happens when I manually synch my iPod like this? Is it going to delete the songs that dont exist on my laptop (or vice versa) because it couldn't find them and therefore could not import them into the library?

Also can you please not answer my post acting like I called youw mother a hoe?
I'd appreciate it. I'm annoyed, iu'm trying to get your beloved iTunes to work, and I get one more jerky answer from some elitist apple fanboi I'm going to put thie thing under the rear wheels of my Z and do a burnout.

 

[IAteYourMother]

Originally posted by: TallBill
holy crap those are expensive.. i dont know anyone thats owned an ipod for a year and hasn't had to replace it.

how many people do you know with an ipod?

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: Balthazar

Originally posted by: sheik124

Originally posted by: Balthazar
I've never been a big fan on the iPod, or apple in general for that matter. But when they announced the nano, even _I_ caved....<snip>

My kingdom to anyone who knows the solution to this problem!

Let me enlighten you on how to fvcking use iTunes
DON'T CLICK AUTOMATICALLY SYNC MY LIBRARY! My laptop and desktop have pretty much everything in the same path, so all I do is move the little .itl and .xml files over the network using a little script I wrote to copy it over before leaving, and I'm fine. Obviously your case is not the same, so just don't use that feature, use manually manage my library, and wipe the iPod clean and copy over only the songs you want, simple.

I DIDNT CLICK IT, you jerk....this is very similar to the response I got from a "friend" who uses iTunes.

I didnt ASK it to do this, and the setting that SEEMED, at least to people who speak ENLGISH, to do what I want, didnt really actually appear to do a damned thing. And as the below poster says:

Originally posted by: HN
there's an autosync setting somewhere that you need to uncheck. then enjoy your new player.

SOMEWHERE....yay, so what SHOULD be f'ing simple and, oh, I dunno, DEFAULT, I have to go hunting for, because it sure as hell isn't on the tab that says "iPod" in the prefs.

And you just proved my point that this is a retarded application that you had to write a SCRIPT to copy your library back and forth.

So answer me this. How come when I import the exported library it FAILS to load it right? Because the MP3's dont all exist in both places, I dont generally keep 24GB worth of stuff (that some other devices on the network use) in two stupid places.

So what happens when I manually synch my iPod like this? Is it going to delete the songs that dont exist on my laptop (or vice versa) because it couldn't find them and therefore could not import them into the library?

Also can you please not answer my post acting like I called youw mother a hoe?
I'd appreciate it. I'm annoyed, iu'm trying to get your beloved iTunes to work, and I get one more jerky answer from some elitist apple fanboi I'm going to put thie thing under the rear wheels of my Z and do a burnout.

really, it's not that hard. just don't let the software do anything automatically for you. choose everything manual.

 

[Anubis]

use ephpod or the plugin for winamp

 

[Pabster]

No, it is going to warn you that some of the songs weren't copied to your iPod because they couldn't be located. They'll be in the library, denoted with a ! encapsulated in a circle in the left tab.

iTunes is the best music manager.

 

[Balthazar]

Originally posted by: sniperruff
first, you can add individual songs by going further into "album" (at least i can do that with a mini)
second, it's FLASH-BASED... go find out how much a 4gb compact flash costs. never skip or destroy your hard drive again...
third, the creative is a hunky brick IMO.

i don't personally really LOVE apple's products... they skim on the parts included (no AC adapter), and the sound quality isn't that good IMO. but hey, it's the smallest, not that expensive, and it won't skip.

Going further into "Albums" doesnt help, if you hit play on one (or click the center button) it adds them all. The trick is, and I didn't read this anywhere, I just happened to wander into playlists and clicked on "on the go" you HOLD the center button until the highlighted song flashes.

This fixes ONE problem, and honestly if I could get the stupid f'ing thing to JUST let me send song over, no sync, no deleting songs without asking JUST "hey, send this f'ing song over, NOTHING else", I would actually be VERY happy.

Second, I dunno why exactly I should go price 4GB CF cards, I don't recall complaining about the price. And I am very well aware its flash based, one of the reasons I bought it.

However, at the time of doing so I figured, no biggy, so what if I have over 20GB of MP3's, I can keep most of them on my laptop so that if I want to swap some out, no problem.

Thats not the case.

 

[HN]

Originally posted by: Balthazar

Also can you please not answer my post acting like I called youw mother a hoe?
I'd appreciate it. I'm annoyed, iu'm trying to get your beloved iTunes to work, and I get one more jerky answer from some elitist apple fanboi I'm going to put thie thing under the rear wheels of my Z and do a burnout.

whoa. i didn't think i replied with any harshness or "fanboi"-ism.

 

[Balthazar]

Originally posted by: sniperruff

Originally posted by: Balthazar

Originally posted by: sheik124

Originally posted by: Balthazar
I've never been a big fan on the iPod, or apple in general for that matter. But when they announced the nano, even _I_ caved....<snip>

My kingdom to anyone who knows the solution to this problem!

Let me enlighten you on how to fvcking use iTunes
DON'T CLICK AUTOMATICALLY SYNC MY LIBRARY! My laptop and desktop have pretty much everything in the same path, so all I do is move the little .itl and .xml files over the network using a little script I wrote to copy it over before leaving, and I'm fine. Obviously your case is not the same, so just don't use that feature, use manually manage my library, and wipe the iPod clean and copy over only the songs you want, simple.

I DIDNT CLICK IT, you jerk....this is very similar to the response I got from a "friend" who uses iTunes.

I didnt ASK it to do this, and the setting that SEEMED, at least to people who speak ENLGISH, to do what I want, didnt really actually appear to do a damned thing. And as the below poster says:

Originally posted by: HN
there's an autosync setting somewhere that you need to uncheck. then enjoy your new player.

SOMEWHERE....yay, so what SHOULD be f'ing simple and, oh, I dunno, DEFAULT, I have to go hunting for, because it sure as hell isn't on the tab that says "iPod" in the prefs.

And you just proved my point that this is a retarded application that you had to write a SCRIPT to copy your library back and forth.

So answer me this. How come when I import the exported library it FAILS to load it right? Because the MP3's dont all exist in both places, I dont generally keep 24GB worth of stuff (that some other devices on the network use) in two stupid places.

So what happens when I manually synch my iPod like this? Is it going to delete the songs that dont exist on my laptop (or vice versa) because it couldn't find them and therefore could not import them into the library?

Also can you please not answer my post acting like I called youw mother a hoe?
I'd appreciate it. I'm annoyed, iu'm trying to get your beloved iTunes to work, and I get one more jerky answer from some elitist apple fanboi I'm going to put thie thing under the rear wheels of my Z and do a burnout.

really, it's not that hard. just don't let the software do anything automatically for you. choose everything manual.

Thats what I thought, it cant be that hard, but I told it to do it manually, it gave me some message saying I would have to manually eject it before each disconnect (uhhhhh, oook, doesnt tell me wtf that means so I can only assume it means stopping the device via windows, which, I don't really get WHY it would need me to do that, but whatever).

But as I mentioned, I set both copies of iTunes to manual, went to the laptop, copied songs, hooked it up to the desktop, boom, automatically updated it and the songs were gone.

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: Balthazar

Originally posted by: sniperruff
first, you can add individual songs by going further into "album" (at least i can do that with a mini)
second, it's FLASH-BASED... go find out how much a 4gb compact flash costs. never skip or destroy your hard drive again...
third, the creative is a hunky brick IMO.

i don't personally really LOVE apple's products... they skim on the parts included (no AC adapter), and the sound quality isn't that good IMO. but hey, it's the smallest, not that expensive, and it won't skip.

Going further into "Albums" doesnt help, if you hit play on one (or click the center button) it adds them all. The trick is, and I didn't read this anywhere, I just happened to wander into playlists and clicked on "on the go" you HOLD the center button until the highlighted song flashes.

This fixes ONE problem, and honestly if I could get the stupid f'ing thing to JUST let me send song over, no sync, no deleting songs without asking JUST "hey, send this f'ing song over, NOTHING else", I would actually be VERY happy.

Second, I dunno why exactly I should go price 4GB CF cards, I don't recall complaining about the price. And I am very well aware its flash based, one of the reasons I bought it.

However, at the time of doing so I figured, no biggy, so what if I have over 20GB of MP3's, I can keep most of them on my laptop so that if I want to swap some out, no problem.

Thats not the case.

sorry to hear that. in my mini i can just go into "album" and click on the song to play it. as for upload songs... it's drag-n-drop for me too.

heh wanna trade your nano for my much better and user-friendly 2nd gen mini?

and as i can see, it's just itune's problem. itunes only let you plug in your ipod on ONE computer (retarded, i know). so use ephpod or some other software.

as for manually eject it, it means you just have to press the "eject ipod" button on the lower right of itunes. no biggie.

 

[Balthazar]

Originally posted by: HN

Originally posted by: Balthazar

Also can you please not answer my post acting like I called youw mother a hoe?
I'd appreciate it. I'm annoyed, iu'm trying to get your beloved iTunes to work, and I get one more jerky answer from some elitist apple fanboi I'm going to put thie thing under the rear wheels of my Z and do a burnout.

whoa. i didn't think i replied with any harshness or "fanboi"-ism.

Not you, I quoted you in response to the other guy, I appreciated your comment, but his "let me show you how to f'ing use itunes" was a bit on the reagged side of my nerves.

Sorry for the confusion.