Digital Home Thoughts: Apple's 10gb iPod: Does The Legend Measure Up to the Product?

Touch me, baby!
Clearly the most innovative feature of the third generation iPod is its new solid state controls which are touch sensitive. Just tap one of the controls with your finger or thumb and the iPod will react to your every motion. Slide your finger in a clockwise motion on the center wheel, and volume will increase. Slide your finger counter-clockwise, and volume decreases.

Above the control wheel are four buttons which control Back Track, Menu, Play/Pause, and Forward Track.

Navigating through the user interface shows why this product has become such a huge success the world over. Even the lowliest gadget neophyte can easily comprehend the brain-dead simple structure and layout that all but guides you through the process of accessing your music library and playlist. Hitting the Browse option allows you to drill down into your playlist, sorting by one of many specific fields; artist, song title, album, or genres, etc. It’s all right there at your fingertips. To call up the main menu, or back out of a song, just tap the Menu button once or twice and you are instantly taken back from where you came.

Very simple.

All that glitters is not gold
No audio player is perfect, and the iPod is not without its share of really annoying and quirky shortcomings. For starters, the Lucite shell and mirror-like stainless steel backing show fingerprints like crazy. I’m not talking a few little smudges here and there, I mean we’re talking McDonalds French Fries style grease smudges. You will soon find yourself suffering from what I call “iPod Hands” (I am patenting that name). An obsessive compulsive disorder which causes the user to nervously rub the iPod on their shirt sleeve in a desperate but futile attempt to keep the unit looking clean and smudge free. Family and friends will soon recommend seeing a therapist to work out your “issues”.

Another downside is the solid state controls which are sometimes more a curse than a blessing. If you so much as bump these controls inadvertently, even just a glancing touch, any number of things may happen. The song will pause, or jump to the next track, or replay, or…well you get the idea. Needless to say, you will soon become quite familiar with your new friend, the Hold button.

Then there is the issue of battery life. If you are used to audio players with 12+ hours of playback time, you’re in for a major disappointment. At best the iPod gets a few good hours of play time. After that, you’ll be looking for the nearest power source.

Another issue that I find a bit disconcerting is Apple’s refusal to support Microsoft’s WMA audio format. Yes...yes, I know. Microsoft is evil oppressor to the masses. Blah blah blah. Whatever. But let’s face facts: Nearly every legal music download site this side of the sun uses WMA as its audio format of choice. This means that while the iPod will work just fine with Apple’s own iTunes Music Store, that’s about all it will work with. And as great as iTunes is…I like competition and choice more. Being locked into one music service is no fun.

Conclusion
No matter how you may feel about the iPod (or Apple in general), one thing cannot be denied. iPod is a true cult icon, immediately recognized the world over no matter where you go. And for good reasons. More than just a pretty package, iPod is a world class product that literally sets the standard by which all audio players are judged. Offering an excellent industrial design, superb software, exceptional ease of use, and a user experience that quite simply can’t be matched.

The iPod is a winner.