if connected

The iPod is a much misunderstood device. While it’s widely used, few non-owners appreciate the iPod’s benefits and drawbacks.
Over dinner recently, I had to explain that to put music onto an iPod, you didn’t have to buy all your music on iTunes or download illegal mp3′s from a file sharing network. My companion hadn’t realised that you could transfer your existing CDs to the iPod. I suspect she is not alone.
I overheard a tube conversation where the discussion went (parahrased): the new Sony is so good, there’s nothing special about the iPod…
Well there is.
I was an early adopter of the original generation one iPod. I used non-Apple software to transfer music from my PC before there was a Windows version of iTunes. When Apple’s software was launched for Windows, I tried it, suspiciously at first and then embraced it wholeheartedly for its speed and convenience and for its somewhat hidden flexibility through its (very) smart playlists and neat mp3 ID re-tagging. iTunes is the hidden jewel of the iPod, but not for the music store, for the way it helps users painlessly manage their music. Sony Connect cannot compete. Drag & drop of files directly in Windows Explorer is more cumbersome. The thirdparty software I used before iTunes — ephpod, xplay and Anapod — was simply not as good. I haven’t met an iPod owner in recent years that’s ever tried any of them; that’s quite a testament to iTunes’ design.
The availability of this third party software highlights one enormous advantage to the iPod that no one else can match today. There are so many iPods that it is gaining the Windows-ubiquity-advantage, very ironically for a company like Apple: users have the choice of cases, speaker docks, cables, alternative software tools, etc. etc. from numerous companies precisely because there is such a large installed base of iPods.
The iPod itself remains best of breed:
- It’s small and light. The Nano I use now is especially impressive.
- The interface is very fast and responsive, and the menus can be customised.
- Sound quality is good.
- The retail prices are competitive with rivals.
- Sync is automatic. Rip a CD, download a podcast, and it ends up on your iPod. Play a track on the iPod, create an on-the-go playlist and iTunes is updated with the info.
Yet there are drawbacks that rivals should exploit and potential buyers should be aware of:
1. A given iPod can only sync with one copy of iTunes at a time. So, if you like podcasts, and want to download them at work for listening on the way home, but routinely have your music collection on your home PC, you can’t do it. iTunes will offer to replace your entire iPod’s contents with whatever is on your work PC when you connect it.
2. The latest iPod Nano’s, and 5g black and white iPods, still can’t play back tracks without a pause. Yes, you can choose to rip a live, dance or prog rock album as one big track, but then you can’t shuffle the tracks or see the name of which track is playing. I’m astounded that four years after the iPod launched this hasn’t been fixed.
3. There’s no built-in radio.
4. Both the iPod and iTunes will not remember the playback position in a large track. If you stop, do something else, then re-select the track, it will play from the start. The exceptions to this are podcasts, and any individual track you alter the setting on; at the moment it’s not possible to change multiple tracks in this way (although iTunes is very capable in changing genre, album name and pretty much every other property for multiple tracks).
But for me, these drawbacks do not outweigh the iPod/iTunes’ positives.
To persuade me to switch, competitors need to:
- Create a device markedly better than an iPod, including playing back tracks without a gap (!).
- Make transferring music as easy if not better than iTunes.
- Support native AAC playback on the device (non-DRM’ed AAC would be enough), as I’ve switched to ripping my CDs in AAC and have amassed quite a collection that it would be irritating to re-rip.
- Ensure the device is as cheap as an iPod. Despite Apple’s premium brand connotations, Apple’s enormous economies of scale in component purchasing are making this ever harder for their competitors to achieve.