Chunchu's Full Review: Apple iPod 3rd Generation White (20 GB) MP3 Player
Buying an iPod is like buying an Armani suit. Yes, a perfectly nice suit can be bought at Men¡¦s Warehouse for $200, but there¡¦s something different about putting on an Armani. When your skin comes in contact with that soft Italian wool, you feel rich, elegant, and dare I say it, powerful. And like the model in that silly shampoo commercial, you just want to shout so that the whole world would know : ¡§Yes, I am worth it!.¡¨
That¡¦s what owning an iPod is like. It has nothing to do with economic value. When it comes down to it, iPod is an MP3 player, nothing more. Apple fanatics may assign some sorta of cosmic significance to the iPod (as well as other Apple products), but take my word for it, it¡¦s an MP3 player.
So what makes an iPod so special when other equally functional devices may be bought for nearly half the price? That¡¦s easy. Brilliant design.
A 40GB iPod sells in the neighborhood of $400, while a 40GB Nomad Jukebox Zen can be had for $250. That extra $150 buys you the following things:
Let¡¦s start with industrial design. Everything about the iPod feels expensive, from the packaging material down to the smallest piece of accessory. If you have never seen an iPod in person, I strongly encourage you to go to your nearest store and take a look for yourself. Better yet, ask the sales to take it out of the display so that you may hold it in your hand. Photographs of iPod, no matter how well taken, simply don¡¦t do this product justice. To fully appreciate it, you must hold it in your hand and see how the pearly white surface glitters in ambient light. Better yet, turn on the LED so that you may see how pretty the iPod becomes when its LCD screen and touch panels light up. If you are the sort of person who value aesthetics above all else, iPod¡¦s beauty alone is worth that $150 in your wallet.
The user interface of the iPod is also head and shoulders above the competition. There¡¦s a manual that comes with the iPod, but you don¡¦t really need it. Once the music is loaded into the player, navigating the iPod is so simple, so intuitive, that even technical neophytes can operate it with perfect ease. I won¡¦t go into details about how to operate the device, but I can say this: I have no problem teaching my mother how to operate this thing. Believe me, this is no small testament of iPod¡¦s ease of use. It took my mother months of practice before she¡¦s comfortable in doing the simplest task with Windows.
And now to the brilliant accessories; simply put, the stuff that comes with the iPod itself simply boggles the mind. The earphone is by far the best bud-type earphone I¡¦ve ever had the pleasure of owning. I thought it was a given that portable audio manufacturers always include the cheapest earphone in the package to save cost. If you want superior sound, you will have to spend extra cash to buy a decent pair of earphone. Apparently, Apple disagrees. The earphone that came with the iPod has a very sweet-sounding property, and listening to music with them is a real pleasure. Every piece of music sounds, well, musical.
Also included is a remote control device that connects between the earphone and the iPod itself. This little remote control can be clipped to your shirt and provides simple functions such as play, pause, skip¡Ketc. Due to the fact that the iPod¡¦s touch panel control must often be locked (more on this later), this remote control proves to be invaluable. The fact that this remote control is included shows the thoughtfulness of the iPod¡¦s product designers. The power adapter is also a piece of work. It¡¦s a switching adapter that may be used with 110V or 220V sources, allowing you to charge the device no matter which country you go. Oh yeah, and it too looks expensive.
The tag-line of this review is ¡§Flawed Brilliance¡¨, so where¡¦s the flaw? Well, it turns out that knocking the iPod is as easy as praising it. For starters, let¡¦s talk about iTune. iTune is a piece of software that interfaces between your PC (be it Mac or Wintel) and the iPod. To load music from PC to the iPod, you must use the iTune. In addition, iTune also acts as the storefront for Apple¡¦s music delivery service. You can purchase songs from iTune for about a buck each and store it in your PC. This all sounds very nice and dandy, except for one problem: iTune drives me nuts.
To be fair, I understand where iTune¡¦s designers are coming from. iTune¡¦s UI is fairly friendly and intuitive. That¡¦s good news to newbies. Problem is, I don¡¦t want iTune¡¦s newbie features. All of my MP3 files are already perfectly sorted, and each file painstakingly named. I was hoping the iPod would function as an USB drive device, and I would simply dump all of my MP3 folders into it with the file names perfectly intact. Apparently, that¡¦s too much to ask for. Instead, I must construct ¡§playlists¡¨ and arrange them manually. Well, that¡¦s an hour I will never get back.
What¡¦s more infuriating is the fact the iTune (therefore, iPod as well) sorts the file by the file¡¦s ID3 tag, and not by its file name. Unfortunately, I sort my MP3 files not by the ID3 tag, but by the file name. This means if I want to locate a single song in the iPod, it will take me awhile to do so. Heck, who the hell takes the time to fill in those stupid ID3 tags anyways?
The other thing that can get very annoying is the touch panel controls. Yes, putting your finger on the touch panel elicit a pleasure rarely found. Unfortunately, the touch panel controls are so sensitive, if it comes in contact with anything, it will evoke a reaction. This means that if you put the iPod in your pocket, you will find that the iPod is always skipping songs or doing something funky. The only way to get around this problem is to lock the panel once you are done issuing a command. This isn¡¦t such a big deal, I guess. Regardless, this is an example of form over function.
Despite these flaws, the iPod is still a winner by any measure. When judged as a package, later generations will remember that iPod was indeed the best product of its kind, the Mercedes-Benz of MP3 players if you will.
Okay, I have a confession to make. I didn¡¦t exactly buy the iPod. I won it in a prize drawing. While I cannot help but admire the beauty of iPod¡¦s design, if you ask me whether or not I would spend my own money to buy it, the answer would be no. No doubt, Apple fanatics will curse the injustice of my judgment, but I must stress that Steve Jobs fails to get money out of my wallet not because Apple didn¡¦t deliver a superior product, but because they delivered a superior product with a premium attached. The sad fact is, I am cheap by nature, and I loathe the idea of paying more money for a piece of gear just because it¡¦s prettier. For Jobs to get extra money out of my pocket, the iPod must not only be prettier, but it must work better, too.
Guess I won¡¦t be heading to a Mercedes-Benz dealer anytime soon.
Recommended:
Yes
Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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