Jason Dunn
11-04-2004, 07:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20041103.html' target='_blank'>http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20041103.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"This week, my assistant Katie Boehret and I tested this latest addition to the iPod family, which costs $499 or $599, depending on capacity. We also tested a competing music player from iRiver America that claims to store and display photos in a similar way -- the $330, 20-gigabyte iRiver H320. This player also comes in a 40-gigabyte version for $430. Other companies are also offering players that store and show digital images, and some were doing it well before Apple. For instance, Archos has a $400 20-gigabyte player called the Gmini 400 that also stores photos. And Gateway will release its much smaller capacity four-gigabyte MP3 Photo Jukebox for $250 later this month."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/PJ-AD269_MOSSBERG_Ipod11022004192803.jpg" /> <br /><br />Walt Mossberg is a heavy hitter in the newspaper world, but he has a very specific bias towards certain brands and technologies. He's a Mac user, so is it any surprise that he has nothing but praise for the iPod? Still, his points about the iRiver seem valid - I haven't used that unit myself, but display a file tree with the word "ROOT" in it? Completely lame and not consumer friendly. Microsoft's Portable Media Center devices are rather limited in terms of functionality, but the UI is brain-dead simple...but I bet Walt still wouldn't like it. :roll: