“In trials, Sony’s Network Walkman performed like the high-end device that it is. If you’ve never used an iPod before, then there certainly is a lot to like… While smaller is generally better, the iPod display screen is bigger and clearer, thus modestly easier to read. And its sleek white-and-stainless-steel exterior is more refreshing and exciting than the boring brushed-steel-and-black surfaces that dominate most of Sony’s consumer electronics,” Mark Hazlin reports for Forbes.
“It’s strange that Sony, which is a record company in its own right, hasn’t done a better job with its store: Its software didn’t work terribly well, gave error messages and froze when burning CDs. Of course, the same issues pop up with iTunes as well. It seems there are plenty of bugs to go around on both sides,” Hazlin writes.
“The Network Walkman’s $400 price tag gives the iPod the edge. Apple’s 40-GB iPod goes for the same price. Sony’s player should be about $100 cheaper. Overall, despite many good points, the Walkman falls short of the iPod. Sony can do better, but has yet to get its formula right. Given a choice, go with the iPod,” Hazlin reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: iTunes on Mac OS X has never given us error messages or frozen while burning CDs. Perhaps Hazlin is using iTunes on some other platform that is presenting problems not of iTunes’ making? Otherwise, good advice: get an iPod over a Sony Walkman.
The iPod rules.
The problem is that he iPod is perfect. the patented wheel makes it hard to beat. people still buy it despite shorter battery life. I don’t see how anyone can best it.
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go Apple!
If the software has a bug, the fault lies entirely on the shoulders of the software maker. Sorry, MDN, I don’t agree with you there. That said, iTunes on my PC has never given me those problems listed in the article. Same goes for iTunes on my iBook.
I think guy may be blowing smoke on this one, assuming common bugs when there are none. See what a MS centric world will do.
What bugs with iTunes? I don’t have any…. Anybody else (besides the author) have bugs with iTunes?
He must have been using a “custom made PC.”
For the countless hours I have tweaked my music library, I have NEVER seen an error message pop up. In addition, I have NEVER had iTunes for either my PowerBook or my iMac freeze on me. And my friends wonder why I switched…
Same here, MDN. Not one error or mis-burn when using iTunes, and I’ve used it a lot.
Some PC users complained of problems when iTMS was first introduced for the platform, but I think Apple addressed those.
Man is this not old news, or what?
Feature by feature comparison of iPod vs. Sony Walkman from July.
http://www.mac360.com/index.php/mac360/more/shootout_new_ipod_vs_sony_walkman/
BTW – got iTunes on 3 Macs and one Sony Vaio: NO problems ever.
Kircle –
yes, but in this case, the “software maker” is not just Apple, but Microsoft!
If these problems appear on Macs, then it’s entirely Apple’s fault. (Assuming no third party hacks, of course. But who ever mentions they have those when troubleshooting. No, never! But they go on to claim problems nonetheless.)
BUT, if these problems appear on PCs, then the fault is with both Microsoft and Apple. I don’t think MDN was saying that Apple is entirely not at fault. Rather, that given the usual mixture of hacks, unintentional modifications, etc. on a PC, it’s more than likely that his so-called problems appeared on a PC. In that case, it is certainly Microsoft’s domain.
MDN almost always react correctly with their stories. Hey, it’s their website, and they have their own opinions. But I have yet to come across a poorly reasoned byline.
There were some initial glitches in the 4.0 release but those were just for people running specific software setups. I *think* winxp users were fine. Regardless, apple had a 4.0.1 release out in record time. In contrast, there is no fix out from sony yet.
I’ve been using iTunes since the beginning. I have yet to produce one coaster while burning CDs with iTunes!
I can make iTunes freeze up every time i insert a CD for burning if I try to change the name of the CD when the system alert window asks me what I want to do (where the default name is highlighted). This also happens for inserting CDs for making backups, too. So, I don’t think it is an iTunes problem. I use an external burner because my old TiBook can’t burn CDs internally. This has been a problem for a quite a while, across several major versions of OS X. Since it isn’t iTunes that is frozen the only way I have been able to stop and start over again is to reboot my laptop.
Damning with faint praise. The writer did not catalog specific flaws with iTunes, instead making the blanket statement that there are plenty of bugs on both sides, giving the impression that iTunes and Sony’s software are on par, which they decidedly are not. I urge MDN readers to challenge him for specifics, and let’s see exactly what quantity he considers “plenty”, and if the purported bugs are as serious as he implies. Rubbishy journalism.
Am I the only one sick of the Mac360 shills in this forum? There’s gotta be a better way to drive traffic to your site. Hey, I know! Why not post some original and interesting enough that MDN picks up as an article and links to you! You know, other than the boring worthless crap you post now?
MDN…do you ever follow up with any of these reporters and try to find out any details? Would be nice to report that your users have experienced any of this. He may be blowing smoke but until questioned, one never knows.
I’ve burned hundreds of CDs over the years on iMacs, eMacs, iBooks, a G4, and have never had a bad disc come out. Its also never crashed on me.
Michael,
Sorry, I still think if there is a software bug in iTunes, that’s Apple’s problem. Microsoft provides developers with a set a API. Don’t like how a certain interface is acting up? Develop your own. If it doesn’t work, you gotta make it work. Not really fair I agree, but that’s how the world works. It’s Apple’s responsibility to make sure their software works.
And I like to repeat that I think this guy is just blowing smoke. The ONLY time iTunes freezes in Windows is when you initially plug the USB cable in to sync. And the “fix” is easy enough: if frozen unplug it and plug it back in. Other than that, not a single problem. Certainly no error messages and the such.
“Its software didn’t work terribly well, gave error messages and froze when burning CDs. Of course, the same issues pop up with iTunes as well.”
Actually, others here have commented on this but no-one has brought up an important point.
If you are having problems burning CDs with Sony’s software and you’re having similar problems burning CDs with iTunes, it could very well mean that you have a problem with your CD burner!
Duh.
Ryan, actually I like that site and the links are all on topic so someone must be doing something right. Shills are shameless promoters of stuff that doesn’t really relate. Seems to me that links to the site relate to MDN quite well, so you should be careful not to call someone a shill when they may just be sharing some good info which relates to the topic, no? If you don’t want to view it, don’t click. Otherwise, you could do well to keep your comments “on” topic, you know!
Why should ryan be the only one with freedom of speech? I like links to other sites on the same topic so I do not mind whether they are from mac360 or macbytes or macminute. What is important is that they reflect the mac culture and they are related to the topic at hand. Grumbling about some one’s link and calling names is tasteless, ryan. Please, on behalf of all MDN readers, don’t call other readers names. They have as much right to post comments, links, responses as you have. As to your comment, MDN has a habit of picking up articles that generate lots of comments, hence the Enderle Report, the Thurrott Report, and so on. If you noticed MDN doesn’t cover much from other mac sites.
I have had a problem with iTunes freezing during burning, but the problem was a bad batch of CD-R’s.
Have never seen an error message.
had an ipod 4 2 months and now i cant even access itunes Apple should really adress that issue