SmartMoney.com’s Noah Rothbaum has penned a complete collection of iPod FUD all in one convenient article. We’ll pick them off one-by one.
Rothbaum covers the following in his “10 Things Your iPod Won’t Tell You” article:
1. iPod’s reign may be coming to an end (MacDailyNews Take: 2006 edition. See previous 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, and 2001 editions. According to Rothbaum, the end is near supposedly because of the proprietary iPod+iTunes symbiotic relationship that, by the way, continues to gain market share. Remember, in FUD-land, Apple’s solution that works on both Macs and Windows PCs is “proprietary,” but all other stores and players that use Microsoft’s Windows-only WMA format aren’t.)
2. Customer Service isn’t what it used to be (MacDailyNews Take: If you don’t pay Apple — consistently rated tops in consumer satisfaction by leading purveyors of such surveys — $59 for the AppleCare Protection Plan which allows you two years of unlimited calls, you have to pay $49 per call after getting one free in the first 90 days. Yeah, so?
3. If you drop the iPod it might break (MacDailyNews Take: As opposed to those also-ran players from Sony, Creative, etc. that just Bumble bounce right back up into your hand unscathed. Oh, yeah, iPod screens scratch, too. Get a case.)
4. It’s easy to load your iPod with music, but to appease music labels, Apple’s made it difficult to get music off of iPods (MacDailyNews Take: iPodRip or any number of other similar utilities. It isn’t hard. Do also-ran players let you copy music off of them by default?)
5. iPod battery’s don’t last forever (MacDailyNews Take: But rechargeable batteries in every other device on earth never wear out.)
6. iPods will make you go deaf (MacDailyNews Take: But every other device on earth that makes sound makes it so pure that you’ll never harm your hearing, no matter how far you crank it up.)
7. iPods are updated too frequently, making them “out of date” too soon (MacDailyNews Take: Rothbaum would perhaps prefer a total lack of innovation and stagnation? He must use Windows.)
8. iPods spark crime (MacDailyNews Take: As opposed to wallets, purses, watches, vehicles, expensive sneakers, jewelry, etc. that are just the innocent victims of crime.)
9. Apple “nickel-and-dimes” you any chance they get (MacDailyNews Take: Apple charges separately for accessories that people might want instead of charging everyone more by including them all in every box – even though many don’t want or need them. If your iPod fails out of warranty, it’ll cost a lot to fix – again, supposedly unlike those from the also-ran player makers or the makers of any product of any sort that comes with a warranty.)
10. Once you go iPod, you’re locked in for life (MacDailyNews Take: That’s fine with us. This is how locked in we are: we can play iTunes Music Store-purchased songs on Macs, Windows PCs, iPod models for every budget, and burn them to CDs to play in CD players or import into other computers and/or music players. If we join a subscription service or use another à la carte service (Windows-only) with some “soon-to-be-discontinued, won’t-intgrate-with-my-vehicle, has-no-accessories, parent-company-is-hemorrhaging-cash or reorganizing” digital media player, do we get less lock-in or more?)
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Arthur” for the heads up.]
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“iPods scratch. Get a case.”
The problem is that they are even scratched by cases. The case that came with my 10GB iPod 2G scratched the heck out of it. I bought a $20 timbuk2 case lined with microfiber cloth for my next iPod, and that iPod got scratched up over time as well.
iPods get scratched by cotton cloth. Keep one alone in your pocket for a while and find out.
I keep my cell phone in my pocket with my wallet, and it isn’t scratched up at all.
“Apple “nickel-and-dimes” you any chance they get” is absolutely true:
Return a defective iPod to Apple more than six months into your 1 year warranty, and they will charge you $29.95 for “shipping”. Don’t like that policy? They would be happy to sell you an additional year of coverage for $59.95, which eliminates the $29.95 “shipping” fee.
Need a protective case? Apple sells their own iPod case for $99.95.
Need an FM tuner? Apple sells theirs for $49.00.
Need a replacement battery? Apple sells it for $65.95. (http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/service/battery/)
Nick, you can be a “convenience” shopper and buy everything from Apple. Or you can be an “informed” shopper and use this thing called the internet to do some comparison shopping. Actually, you don’t have to buy from Apple at all!
Nick, you can be a “convenience” shopper and buy everything from Apple. Or you can be an “informed” shopper and use this thing called the internet to do some comparison shopping. Actually, you don’t have to buy from Apple at all!
I love PC users that complain about this. I remember when I was just starting to do tech support for Windows users back in the late ’80s, and imagine my surprise to learn that most items—printers, scanners, secondary hard drives, etc., don’t come with cables. DONT COME WITH CABLES, I screamed. These items don’t work without the cables, why O’ why would the cables be sold separately? Because they are, and no one complained about it.
I remember purchasing a HP LaserJet III for a client on Windows. It was a big massive hulk of a thing. And after removing all that packing, moving it, and otherwise getting it ready to go, the question then became—where’s the parallel cable? Sorry, separate purchase for $45. The comparable HP model for Apple did come with AppleTalk cables.
For years, and even today, numerous items from MP3 players, to cameras, scanners, and even still, some printers, don’t come with the bare basic cables required to allow them to operate. And then they complain because Apple is removing the extra cables??
No offense, I complained about Apple moving the extra cables, but I could understand the need to trim costs. But Apple has always delivered products with what you need to have them operate, out of the box; and either by requirement or example has pushed its third party vendors to do the same.
“Nick & 10”:
so basically you are agreeing with the statement that Apple “nickel and dimes” you every chance they get?
Nick,
You’re an idiot. Tires wear out on a car… Ahhh forget it. You’re a fucking idiot.