“If you were one of the hundreds of people who e-mailed me this time last year to tell me how wrong I was about Apple’s most fruitful invention of the past decade, you were right. My rant, er, opinion piece — which ran with the headline, ‘All I don’t want for Christmas is an iPod’ — was genuine. But I now know it was also genuinely hogwash. The iPod portable music device (as if I even need to explain what it is anymore) is the greatest gift to music lovers since Garth Brooks went into retirement. Mine hasn’t left my side for more than a day. I’ve even slept with it more than a few times,” Chris Riemenschneider writes for The Minneapolis Star Tribune.
“But my contentment isn’t good enough for Apple. No, Steve Jobs & Co. wants me and the 28 million other current iPod owners to think that in some way, the iPods we have now just aren’t good enough. For starters, they want us to spend all kinds of money on things like car-radio adapters, which go for $30 to $80… Of course, those extras are all just the side bets to the big gamble Apple is hoping we’ll make: Buying a whole other iPod. Case in point: the iPod Nano and the iPod video player, both recently launched for heavy marketing this holiday season… In all seriousness, the iPod Nanos that I’ve handled seem too small and fragile. I’m afraid I’d sneeze and break it… The iPod video player is the dumbest invention since clear beer… I know I won’t be sitting at a bus stop thinking, ‘Oh gosh, it’s been 15 minutes since I last saw Bono. Thank God I have my iPod video player with me.’ But U2 ultimately can’t be blamed for why I think the iPod video player is a bad idea. And neither can the fact that — outside of when I’m in the bathroom or outdoors trying to do something other than watch TV — there seems to be a TV set everywhere I go. You know, the bigger kind that you don’t have to hold up to your face. No, the real reason I think the video iPod is a stupid invention is, of course, that I just don’t want Apple to get me to bite. Not again. This time I mean it,” Riemenschneider writes.
Full article here.
We look forward to bringing you Riemenschneider’s annual mea culpa again next year.
Advertisements: The New iPod with Video. The ultimate music & video experience on the go. From $299. Free shipping.
Connect iPod to your television set with the iPod AV Cable. Just $19.00.
The New iMac G5. Built-in camera and remote control. From $1299. Free shipping.
Apple USB Modem. Easily connect to the Internet using your dial-up service. $49.00.
Related articles:
Thurrott: Apple’s ‘stunning’ iPod lineup fits every need and budget – December 07, 2005
Apple’s new video-capable iPod’s resplendent screen bright, sharp, and colors really pop – December 05, 2005
TV Critic: Apple iPod video strikingly bright, crisp, very fluid; TV will have to reorient itself – October 27, 2005
Thurrott: Apple iPod ‘the new standard by which all are measured – highly recommended’ – October 26, 2005
Chicago Tribune: Apple’s new iPod is a showstopper – October 26, 2005
PC Magazine review gives Apple’s new video-capable iPod 5 out of 5 stars – October 21, 2005
CBS News: New iPod shows ‘Apple will continue to dominate portable digital media player market’ – October 21, 2005
USA Today: Apple’s new iPod + video: world’s foremost portable music players have gotten only better – October 20, 2005
Comprehensive review of Apple’s iPod 5G with Video – October 20, 2005
Ars Technica reviews Apple’s new video-capable iPod – October 20, 2005
NY Times Pogue: ‘watching video on new iPod’s 2.5-inch screen is completely immersive’ – October 19, 2005
Watching episode of ABC’s ‘Lost’ on 2.5-inch iPod screen surprisingly compelling – October 13, 2005
Using QuickTime Pro to create videos for playback in new Apple iPods – October 13, 2005
Apple unveils new 5th generation iPod, now plays music, photos, and video – October 12, 2005
good for him!
What he fails to realize is, the new iPod is NOT a video iPod. It is an iPod that is capable of playing video. And for some of us that commute via the train to work, it is a joy to catch up on shows that we’ve missed.
Can’t wait to read his article next year saying how wrong he was again!
what does he have against garth? jerk.
He’s just pissed about falling for that the whole ‘Chris Gaines’ fiasco…
Weird. His criticism of iPod’s video capabilities are irrelevent when you look at whether it’s a good product for the price. There’s no down side to the new iPods. You take video out of the equation entirely and it’s still 30gb for the same price the 20gb one was the day before these were announced. I bought the 20gb very recently (to upgrade from the perfectly good 1G 5gb iPod I’ve been using since the day of the announcement.. because I’m shallow) and I’m tempted by the new ones, but admittedly that’s just because I want to be able to whip out the Europe video “The Final Countdown” for unsuspecting coworkers.
one’s choice of 80s cheeseball bands is intensely (personal)..
Small and fragile?
Hogwash
The Apple store near me has a great way of obliterating people’s perception that the Nano is somehow fragile. When people bring the topic up, they immediately fling it at the nearest wall, pick it up, and allow them to demo the unit.
I’m not making this up. I’ve seen it in action and people shut up real quick. And the Nano is not scratched “to the point where the screen is unreadable” as the class action idiots are alleging.
Garth Brooks is irritating like most country artists are. He just saturated us with it more. I, for one, celebrated his retirement as I did of the nose dive of Randy Travis’ career. My stomach hurts just thinking about them singing.
Great story hammer, which Apple Store was that at?
I was skeptical about the video enabled iPod at first, but man, after downloading an episode of Lost and actually watching it on the iPod, I have to admit, I was hooked. The iPod is the electronic equivalent of crack. Now, I can’t be apart from the thing.
There has to be a way for those nifty little iPod adapaters to pipe the video into my navigation display in the car so that I can drive and watch Lost at once.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />
Seriously, the potential of this device is limitless.
JadisOne–
As soon as the lease is up on my current Civic, I’ll be leasing another one, with navigation now that it is available. I’ve also been dreaming of what you just described.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
I guess we were lucky over this side of the pond. The standard reply to “Have you heard anything by Garth Brooks”, was “Garth who?”
Or “No”.
I love Garth !!! Riemenschneider must be a Hip Hop luvin iPod luv making nutbar.
Hilarious!
“Great story hammer, which Apple Store was that at?”
I’m changing the names to protect the innocent on this one. Since it’s probably not in the training manual at Apple retail, I wouldn’t want anyone to get in trouble. It is a very effective tool for overcoming objections though.
Gosh, you guys have no sense of humor and apparently cannot grasp simple sarcasm. Get out more! Anyway, he is NOT pissed. He is not critisizing the latest iPod. So go ahead and email him all your negative comments trying show him how wrong he is. All you’re doing is showing him how you apparently don’t understand his article.
Fragile huh?!…
Not as far as Ars Technica review sees it…
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/nano.ars/1
They rated it very highly in durability!
Gosh, just shutup and take a bite
Sad:
No kidding the article is PRO-iPod not against it. I was tongue in cheek.
People it is called sarcasm – look it up.
my favorite part of his article when when he says he can’t part with it. True story my cousin is a die hard PC user, well maybe not die hard but PC user none the less, told me about how his bag got stolen on his way back home from college for thanksgiving. He was slightly depressed about losing 3 watches, a couple of sweaters and a brand new pair of sneaker but the highlight for him was at least “I didn’t lose my iPod, it’s like my best friend, you know” and I replied gleefully “yes I know, I know”
MW: fear as is I’m in fear of ever losing my iPod!! lol
I wonder if we’ll be able to get those painful country music awards shows for the video iPod.
Country is the new Disco.
the guy calls ’em cerwin-vegas – it’s cerwin vega. not a big deal, but…