Goodbye Discman days, hello iPod paradise
Date 11/18/2004 12:00 AM | Topic: FeaturesYou've seen the colorful ads of shadow people dancing to the iPod beat against a bright backdrop. Perhaps you have dreamed of frolicking with that sleek, Apple design. And many people you know already do.
What's the big deal with iPods?
Many of its users say that it's the easiest mp3 player to use on the market. The circular control pad under the display screen is the identification mark of the iPod. That little "click wheel" is all it takes to organize everything on the newer iPods. Goodbye buttons.
"It's awesome," said Kraig Schroth ('07), pulling his out of his pocket and looking at it fondly. He explained how his iPod is his calendar, date book, address book, games and, of course, music.
"It's horrible but awesome at the same time," he said, regarding how much he finds himself using his iPod.
Schroth's iPod holds 12 days worth of music and the occasional radio program. He has found that his iPod has stood to the test of daily use.
"I've done so many horrible things to this iPod, and it just keeps going," he said, after his story about dropping it into some photography chemicals.
Schroth also appreciates the fact that he doesn't have to fiddle around with memory cards that other mp3 players require.
Nick Berge ('05) is another happy iPod user.
"It has the ability to hold my entire CD collection, and more, on a machine that fits into my palm, without even being half full," said Berge.
iTunes, a free software program that downloads and organizes music, allows downloads for 99 cents per track. Even if you download a whole CD, it's usually cheaper than buying the CD itself. It is also easier to locate less popular music.
However, there are some downsides to an iPod. Schroth has to charge his every night.
Berge said, "The battery kind of putters out after using the iPod a year or two."
The Apple Web site points out that the chargeable batteries do need eventual replacing, but also states that if the iPod was charged by Alkaline batteries instead, "after two years you would have spent over $200 and piled up 400 dead batteries for your local recycling center."
Despite all the iPod hype, the iPod is not considered to be the top mp3 player on the market, according to mp3.about.com.
The winner is the Creative Labs NOMAD Zen Xtra, which boasts more memory than the iPod at a lower price.
Buying a 30GB iPod runs you about $300. You can find a new NOMAD with the same amount of memory priced at around $200.
Many people use mp3 players simply for working out. A lot of players feature an armband, which makes it easy to run without holding your music in your sweaty palm.
Laura Meixell ('07) has an mp3 player by a company called MPIO, and has had good experiences with it.
"It's small enough to strap to my arm while I work out, and it holds enough songs that I get a good variety," Meixell said.
Even if you don't buy an mp3 player with tons of memory, they can still cost quite a bit more than those good old CD players.
But most users of mp3 players find that acquiring music can be cheaper, even if it may often be illegal.
Since sharing copyrighted music is illegal, many sites do charge users for music, like the aforementioned iTunes. Many other download sites charge a monthly membership fee and then unlimited, "free" downloads.
These include sites like and . More information about free and legal sites can be found at .
Other entirely free download sites are still readily available on the Internet, and many of them claim to be legal, but the music industry has been cracking down on many of these sites, including the ever-popular Kazaa.
Regardless of whether or not iPod and other mp3 player owners are downloading music legally or not, the introduction of mobile music is changing the music industry.
According to BBC news online, it has been predicted that "people will buy more than 10 million players this year to listen to music on the move," and that "sales of Apple's iPod could make up a sizable proportion of these sales."
They predict that "more than 21 million mobile music players will be in use around the world by the end of 2004."
Are iPods really the wave of the future? Apparently. iPod sold more than 860,000 iPods in three months earlier this year.
At this rate, about a fifth of the mp3 players around the world by the end of this year will be those little sleek iPods.
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Kendra Swanson
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