Say It Ain't So
I went out with my friend Rob the other night. Rob is one of the smartest guys I've ever known. He's not just book smart--he's world-smart. Anyway, while the rest of us have been sweating it out over the Michael Jackson case and watching with bated breath to see if our favorite singer was getting voted off American Idol, Rob has been building democracy in Angola.
So while I was celebrating the Red Sox World Series victory with beers and friends, Rob was celebrating for getting warring tribes together in the same room.
Anyway.... We were at Roscoes watching the U of A game Thursday night when an Apple Shuffle commercial came on. He turned to me and said, "Isn't this the greatest commercial? I need to get one."
My face blanched, my heart stopped and I think I started swallowing my tongue.
Rob-- say it ain't so. You're falling for a commercial that makes a really overpriced MP3 player look like it's the best thing since sliced bread?
This is why I hate iPods so much. They are generally 20 to 30 percent more expensive than other brands with less features and they have a horrendous battery life. Plus, they will only play MP3- and Apple-formatted music.
And Apple won't allow other MP3 players to play Apple-formatted music. So if you spend a fortune on iTunes songs, you're stuck either listening to them on your computer or you're obligated to buy an iPod.
But there's another reason why I hate the Shuffle. A year or two ago, Steve Jobs said that flash-based MP3 players (like the Shuffle) were dumb, impractical and Apple would never make one. So he decides to make one and pretend that he never said those things.
The Shuffle has no screen, so you can't skip around to find a song that you want. Apple (and all of the dumbass tech journalists who drool over everything Apple puts out) calls this design "elegant." It's not elegant if it's not useful! You just have to keep hitting forward and pray that you find the song you want. And Apple says that the Shuffle is so unique because it *gasp* shuffles music. As if this is some outrageously clever feature never thought of before.
Guess what Apple. My MP3 player has twice the storage, an LCD screen (so I know what song is playing and what is next), an FM tuner (Shuffle doesn't), a recorder so I can record conversations or music off the radio, longer battery life and costs $50 less.
People--please stop watching commercials. If something looks trendy and cool, it probably sucks.
So while I was celebrating the Red Sox World Series victory with beers and friends, Rob was celebrating for getting warring tribes together in the same room.
Anyway.... We were at Roscoes watching the U of A game Thursday night when an Apple Shuffle commercial came on. He turned to me and said, "Isn't this the greatest commercial? I need to get one."
My face blanched, my heart stopped and I think I started swallowing my tongue.
Rob-- say it ain't so. You're falling for a commercial that makes a really overpriced MP3 player look like it's the best thing since sliced bread?
This is why I hate iPods so much. They are generally 20 to 30 percent more expensive than other brands with less features and they have a horrendous battery life. Plus, they will only play MP3- and Apple-formatted music.
And Apple won't allow other MP3 players to play Apple-formatted music. So if you spend a fortune on iTunes songs, you're stuck either listening to them on your computer or you're obligated to buy an iPod.
But there's another reason why I hate the Shuffle. A year or two ago, Steve Jobs said that flash-based MP3 players (like the Shuffle) were dumb, impractical and Apple would never make one. So he decides to make one and pretend that he never said those things.
The Shuffle has no screen, so you can't skip around to find a song that you want. Apple (and all of the dumbass tech journalists who drool over everything Apple puts out) calls this design "elegant." It's not elegant if it's not useful! You just have to keep hitting forward and pray that you find the song you want. And Apple says that the Shuffle is so unique because it *gasp* shuffles music. As if this is some outrageously clever feature never thought of before.
Guess what Apple. My MP3 player has twice the storage, an LCD screen (so I know what song is playing and what is next), an FM tuner (Shuffle doesn't), a recorder so I can record conversations or music off the radio, longer battery life and costs $50 less.
People--please stop watching commercials. If something looks trendy and cool, it probably sucks.
posted by VeryApeAZ at
8:16 AM
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