Thanks for posting about the Vaja… a coworker just got an iPod and I’ll tell him about it.
I’m also thinking about getting an iPod (though I’ll probably forego a case). FYI, the 40GB model is on sale for $450 this week at Circuit City.
Re: Adamz:
The YP-910GS has its advantages: most notably an FM transceiver (though it transmits at low quality), line-in recording, and better battery life (10 hours vs 8 hours). But I prefer the iPod:
- The wheel-control on the iPod is simply the best interface ever designed for a consumer electronics device. It's fast, simple, and intuitive. Navigating through menus and scrolling through a list of 1000s of songs is painless.
- The iPod is smaller and lighter (not by much, but the difference is important to me).
- Audio-quality on the iPod is superb (I dunno how the YP-910GS compares).
- You can manage playlists on the device (can't do that with the YP-910GS).
- iTunes has an excellent interface. If they sold something higher than 128kbps AAC (roughly equivalent to 160kbps MP3) I’d consider buying music though it.
Possibly a controversial opinion, but if you buy an Ipod for the industrial design, doesn't it spoil things a bit to get a dark, large leather case that covers up the controls and make it undockable...
Possibly a controversial opinion, but if you buy an Ipod for the industrial design, doesn't it spoil things a bit to get a dark, large leather case that covers up the controls and make it undockable...
I love the design as is. But ID is more than just looking at the case. It's the ease of use of the buttons, the menu structure, the quality of what you get, etc. The Vaja case protects my iPod, while giving me the functionality of its design. I miss out on certain aspects of the iPod design, but get some other things (like a way to carry the iPod on my belt) in return. Choices choices. Since I also like the looks of this Vaja case since it's classic, and not intrusive, my choice is to use the iPod in this case. And at moments when I want to marvel the Apple design, I get the iPod out of the case. I can even dock it then. The inside of this case feels softer than the original case, so I wouldn't even be surprised if taking the iPod from the Vaja case would cause less scratches. I didn't perform any scientific tests to proof that suspicion though.
I'm sorry, but even though I am a Pocket PC fan, I won't let anybody dictate let alone limit the way I use my gadgets. Not Microsoft, so I won't use WMA. Not Apple, so I won't use AAC.
Hate to say this, Marlof, but in a not too distant future you won't have a choice. DRM is a fact of life, and it will rule the digital content world, like it or not. MP3 will die away. All music services are offering content in various DRM formats like WMA and AAC. Over time, the music industry will prevent CDs from being burned in any format other than the ones that support DRM. And honestly I see no problem with this. Piracy is a serious problem. As long as these DRM hooks don't interfere with my listening pleasure, I have no problem at all.
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Kent Pribbernow Elitist Snob, Contributing writer for Wired's Cult of Mac
dh: no, the iPod won't play .ogg files. But even our Janak (.ogg fan as well) couldn't resist the iPod. I don't know if he knows more about the oggability of the iPod.
In short, it's not. I reripped my CDs into multiple formats: Ogg for my computer, and MP3 for my iPod, although now I'm starting to rerip it all to AAC. Of course, after I go out and by an iPod, several Ogg-compatible hard drive players are announced, including the iRiver and a Rio unit. Oh well. The iPod is still very nice, and its integration with iTunes is very convenient.
qmrq alludes to a Linux port, but it's not available in useful form for the average consumer yet.
Quote:
Thank you for getting this back on topic. Yes, I'm talking about a case. And a nice case at that.
Indeed, it is very nice. My problem with it is that I want my iPod to be as small as possible so that it fits in my pocket, and cases increase the thickness of the device. So I'm living with scratches, which isn't too bad. Of course, its resale value goes down that way... :|
BTW, Marlof, did you consider getting the iVolution case for yours instead?
Hate to say this, Marlof, but in a not too distant future you won't have a choice. DRM is a fact of life, and it will rule the digital content world, like it or not.
Unfortunately, you're right. I don't mind the iTMS too much, though -- it's reasonably lenient -- unlimited use of the music on up to three computers, which can trivially be switched around, and unlimited iPods plus unlimited CD burns. Not like most WMA systems, like BuyMusic's, where you have a primary vs. secondary computer and a finite number of "moves" and burns, and a differing set of rules for each song. It'll be interesting to see how Napster's mechanisms work.
I must agree, from an attractiveness POV, This is alot nicer.
As to DRM, there are now so many formats available currently (WMA, AAC, whatever Rhapsody uses etc) that the only common format amongst all the services is CD, which then has to be ripped to MP3 so that you can use it on all your players (e.g. you cant play your AAC's on your pocketpc..). I suspect this will turn into the same nightmare that competing cellular standard in america caused, which will limit the functionality one standard format could have provided, e.g play your purchased music on any new generation mobile phone and in car player (the kind of things one can now do with MP3)
AdamZ: You think as a Pocket PC fan you should support the WMA format?
I was only half-joking about the Napster player and WMA format, since I wouldn't get one of those either. But WMA does work with a larger number of players (and supports DRM)... including Pocket PCs. Yeah, you can use MP3, but you can't buy music from iTunes or Napster like that. By purchasing an iPOD your are restricted to using the iTunes service for purchasing downloadable music.
As a Pocket PC fan, I wouldn't buy any portable device whose job could already be done by my Pocket PC. Nor would I buy a portable device that could not communicate with or enhance my Pocket PC's functions.
The iPOD is in no way complimentary to a Pocket PC. The only way I could recommend anyone buying an iPOD would be if they only want to listen to music. If you want to do that as well as everything else... like talk on the phone, play movies, surf the net, navigate maps, etc. then a Pocket PC is the way to go.
A friend of mine has an iPOD, and he is not impressed by it at all. Nor was I while trying to use it in the passenger seat of his car. Yeah, you can store a couple days worth of music on it, but it doesn't have half the functionality or flexibility of my Pocket PC.
I reripped my CDs into multiple formats: Ogg for my computer, and MP3 for my iPod, although now I'm starting to rerip it all to AAC. Of course, after I go out and by an iPod, several Ogg-compatible hard drive players are announced, including the iRiver and a Rio unit. Oh well. The iPod is still very nice, and its integration with iTunes is very convenient.
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