“When Max Roosevelt wanted to rebel, he got a Dell laptop and a SanDisk Sansa MP3 player. It was not a rebellion against his parents, who had been buying Dells for years. It was a rebellion against his peers, Mac-toting iPod addicts one and all,” Wilson Rothman reports for The New York Times.
“’I just didn’t want to have the same MP3 player as everybody else, and felt that there had to be equivalent or better players out there,’ Mr. Roosevelt, an 18-year-old native of Chappaqua, N.Y., said recently from his freshman dorm room at the University of Maryland. ‘It’s not that I don’t like it; I just don’t like the whole cult mentality towards Apple. I don’t like how everyone gravitates toward it immediately,'” Rothman reports.
“The iPod Nano may represent an irresistible combination of enticing design, futuristic technology and sledgehammer marketing, but does Mr. Roosevelt have a point? Are there other players that are more advanced or more fun to use? An examination of four non-Nanos suggests there are praises to be sung outside of Apple’s realm,” Rothman reports.
Rothman reports, “Each player is compatible with online music subscription services like Rhapsody, Napster and the new Urge, though none are compatible with files downloaded from the Apple iTunes Music Store… None of the players are compatible with Macs… None of the players are as slender as the Nano… At first, similarities were more apparent than differences, but that changed after some testing. Take, for instance, those built-in radio tuners… the Sansa generated too much static… The Zen also generated annoying static… Radio troubles were only the start for the spunky little Zen… it is the least user-friendly… it also reacted slowly to the push of buttons… Though the Clix is the best of the bunch… it has mysteriously been a poor performer in sales. Among the four, it is the one that least resembles the Nano, and perhaps that is the explanation: do those who buy a non-Nano secretly want a Nano?”
Rothman reports, “Max Roosevelt says no. When the Carbon broke down, he learned that its manufacturer had left the business, unable to compete with Apple. Determined to steer clear of Apple, he bought his six-gigabyte Sansa last June. ‘It may look a great deal like an iPod Nano, but it isn’t one,’ he said, ‘which is all that I really cared about.'”
Full article here.
Cutting off your nose to spite your face does not a rebel make; you’ll just be a noseless fool with a soon-to-be-defunct MP3 player and access to really bad, struggling online media outfits. While we’ll give Max a break – he’s only 18 after all, sounds quite confused, and he’ll eventually grow up – Apple is the rebel, Max, certainly not Microsoft and a bunch of also-ran device makers:
Related articles:
Study reveals Apple continues to gain share in music markets – October 04, 2006
More blood on Apple iPod’s Click Wheel: Dell’s ‘DJ Ditty’ flash-based MP3 player is dead – August 22, 2006
More blood on Apple iTunes Music Store’s play button: MyCokeMusic is dead – June 20, 2006
More blood on Apple iPod’s Click Wheel: iRiver gives up on digital media player market – May 23, 2006
More blood on Apple iPod’s Click Wheel: Sony’s Walkman Bean is cooked – February 13, 2006
More blood on Apple iPod’s Click Wheel: Dell dumps ‘DJ’ hard-drive MP3 player line – February 04, 2006
More blood on Apple iPod’s Click Wheel: iRiver pulling out of Europe? – February 01, 2006
More blood on Apple iPod’s Click Wheel: Thomson gives up on MP3 player, CE markets – December 12, 2005
More blood on Apple iPod’s Click Wheel: BenQ withdraws from MP3 player markets – November 28, 2005
More blood on Apple iPod’s Click Wheel: Olympus halts production of portable digital music players – November 09, 2005
More blood on Apple iPod’s Click Wheel: Rio is dead – August 26, 2005
Apple’s iPod has blood on its Click Wheel: Virgin Electronics is dead – March 08, 2005
Apple’s iTunes Music Store has blood on its play button: BuyMusic.com is dead – March 28, 2004
Computerworld review: ‘Apple’s new iPods are better than ever’ – September 27, 2006
PC Magazine’s 19th Annual Readers’ Choice Awards for MP3 players: Apple iPod line – September 25, 2006
USA Today reviews new Apple iPod nanos, updated iPods, iTunes 7 (each earns 4 stars out of 4) – September 21, 2006
Time Magazine’s Gadget of the Week: Apple iPod 80GB – September 21, 2006
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Disney’s remarkable 1st week iTunes movies sales should have studios clambering aboard Apple train – September 20, 2006
Disney sells 125,000 movie downloads via Apple’s iTunes Store in first week – September 19, 2006
PC Magazine review: iTunes 7 ‘Apple’s best effort yet’ (4 stars out of 5) – September 15, 2006
CNET Editor’s Pick: Apple’s new 2G iPod nano – ‘sure to be top choice among wide range of users’ – September 14, 2006
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A rebel or outsider doesn´t follow the crowd.
The crowd is buying iPods.
MDN: “…he’s only 18 after all, sounds quite confused, and he’ll eventually grow up”
Well you just pissed off all the 18 year olds, MDN.
Showing your age. You are out of it – something a 40+ person would say to his teenage son.
So what.
jay,
I’ve always liked that ‘saying’ from G.B.Shaw, and the older I get (58 now), the better it get’s.
To get this straight, one single student decides not to buy an iPod, and this is good for an article in The New York Times?
In related news, a man from Queens took a subscription of the Washington Post, because he does not want to read the same newspaper as the rest of the neighbourhood. He figured there must be a better or equally good newspaper.
Who gives a flying f*ck??
I was just speaking to a friend last night that recently got the 60gb iPod, his very first. His exact words were “If I weren’t already married, I’d marry my iPod!” This from a person that previously held similar beliefs to Max.
And it’s not that rare. Two young people in my family said the exact same thing about the iPod being “too popular” and ended up getting some also-ran players to be, different. They’re content with them, but I’ve never heard them act excited enough to say they’d marry the things…
MicroLemming™
“whole cult mentality towards Apple”?? What about the “blinkered philistine pig-ignorance” towards Microsoft. (credit to Monty Python for phrasing)
Oooooo, I’m going to “rebel” by making the same choices as my parents!
Livin’ life on the edge, this guy…
lol! What a hypocrite this kid is. He buys a Dell so he can stand out and be different?!? Way to “stick it to the man” Max!
What a tool. Unfortunately, there are plenty of adults that are exactly like Max. The more positive things they hear about Apple, the more they dislike it. It’s like a smoker who only increases their habit when exposed to more smoking kills awareness advertising.
MDN’s take hit the nail on the head.
question du jour: who made this rule that one MUST HAVE a portable music device?
I came to America because here, you have a choice.
just my 2p.
I was thinking “Cutting off your nose to spite your face” way before reaching MDNs take. It’s exactly what he’s done.
Oh, and are they all incompatible with Macs, or can you just drag MP3 files onto them ?
This isn’t a news story…
It’s an Apple hit piece by Mr. Rothman disguised to look like a story about Max Roosevelt.
Here’s a news flash for you Mr. Rothman: Many people have chosen the Apple iPod because Apple provides the best customer experience in terms of thier choice of portable listening devices and the software used to manage thier music libraries.
Many consumers have made a *conscious decision* to buy an iPod, and for once, have chosen the best product on the market. I’m sorry if you don’t like the choice we’ve made, but stop griping about it.
And, you can quote me on that.
MW: ‘death’. As in, ‘Death to all non-Apple mp3 players’… lol
Anything that a lot of people do or like or say will create detractors, based simply on the fact that the majority of people are doing it. Normal human nature. Not everyone has to use an iPod.
Hopefully, Apple will always produce and iPod+iTunes+iTS experience that will make it the obvious choice for 75% of people. The other 25% can keep Apple from having a monopoly.
I really don’t buy this.
Why is it, that when Apple (at last) get a glimmer of success, do the media suddenly report PR spin like this.
” I just don’t like the whole cult mentality towards Apple. I don’t like how everyone gravitates toward it immediately”
Look around you Max; everyone is using Windows – why don’t you rebel against that? Oh yeah, you don’t because your an MS stooge, placed there by Microsoft’s PR company.
Why would the New York Times interview a nobody 18-year old in his dorm room?
He’s got a Dell, enough said.
“Apple is the rebel”
In every case EXCEPT the portable media player market, that is.
The “cult” of Mac is a myth perpatrated by another cult, a real cult hell bent on world domination for no better purpose than to be in control of everything. Us long time Mac users simply do not want to use anything made by MS if we can at all help it – And of course we really like the Macintosh.
And regarding the comment about “everyone” “gravitating” toward Apple… Well I guess if you’re 18 it might seem that way, but the truth is that Apple has worked long and hard to get to a place where everyone, not just Mac fanatics, is interested in getting Apple products, and not just iPods.
If you don’t want to use an iPod, then cool – don’t. Thank the Good Lord you have a choice, (all subjective feelings about your choices aside). And Max, thing about this: Having real choices in the computing/peripheral market place has been a fairly recent development. Up to now the world has been dictated to, but thankfully that’s chaning.
Just some fodder for thought.
Another article paid for by Ballmer?
He’s 18. He hasn’t been around long enough to realize that the rebel has finally come out on top, and he just thinks its “bad” because it’s “popular”
A terrible association, and invalid argument. Perhaps he should have actually done some research before hopping on the Mafiasoft bandwagon.
Boy, talk about a rebel without a cause.
In another news, Luke Skywalker decided to join Darth Vader because the Rebels are finally winning. He is determined to be on the losing side, who cares about good and bad?
Chris wrote: “Another article paid for by Ballmer?”
——–
I’m kinda doubting it. Ballmer’s a sales dude. He’s all about the bottom line. I don’t think he’d pay for it.
Gates, on the other hand: he’s the “philanthropist.” He’s far more likely to have sponsored this piece.
A rebel without a clue.
By this logic, we can assume this guy uses Macs so that his PC is different from all those dull, Windows-based boxes out there.
However, he’s probably not smart enough to realize the irony.