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Review: What was the biggest must-have item of 2004? Yep, the Apple iPod MP3 player. Sales of Apple's mini-phenomenon currently stand at around 20 million worldwide, and this number is set to triple over the next couple of years. That's a lot of money Apple are making from a very powerful, influential and trendy product. But is it worth all the hype? Well reviewing a product like this is definitely complicated, because do I rate my personal connotation on it? Or simply rate its performance in relation to other products? There's no two ways about it, I have been less than impressed with my own iPod 20 GB since it arrived two weeks ago. However, having said that, this could just be because I haven't really had enough time to experience it in its entirety. I rarely get drawn in by mass-commercialism, but something about the iPod made me say, in the words of Lou and Andy, "I WANT THAT ONE!" I was willing to shell out £240 for my 20 GB iPod, and I won't deny that part of this was because of the incredible fashion accessory it had become over 2004. I looked at the other side of owning an iPod as well, and realised that this indeed would be a very wise purchase because I listen to music every single day without question. I am constantly surrounded by music and listen it for hours on end at home whilst I do my coursework. Be it Madonna, Britney, Bjork, Radiohead, the Chili Peppers, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, The Chemical Brothers, Nirvana or Tori Amos. You name it, I'm in love with music. So I ordered my iPod off to Apple site, and it arrived within four days. No problems there. 5-star delivery and very quick considering the UK demand. Upon opening the box you'll find the iPod Dock Connector to FireWire Cable, the iPod Dock Connector to USB 2.0 Cable, iPod Power Adapter, Apple Earphone, the iPod Dock (with some models) and of course, the beloved iPod itself. Setting the product up is simple with the help of iTunes, and within about 15 minutes you can already be transferring music to iTunes ready to update to your iPod. Now iTunes is where the shine started to crack and peel off the glamorous exterior of this product in my opinion. I had major problems getting my music (from Windows Media Player) to transfer to iTunes, because all the music was Copyright Protected. So what did I have to do? Copy all my music, using Media Player, to my hard drive once again. Then, open up my browser, find the file, cut and paste it to My Music, before opening the file in iTunes from My Music. Very tricky, but I soon got the hang of it. So in two weeks since I got my iPod, the song-count on my iPod stands at 2895. I consider this quite an achievement, since I have had to copy every single song to my computer again, and in many cases, name the songs correctly. I'm a perfectionist, you see, and every word of every song must begin with a capital letter. I know it's sad, but that's just me! My iPod is now working fine, but I am a little concerned about the battery life. It is supposed to last around 9-13 hours, but I'd say that mine only lasts a couple of hours, as the battery bar seems to deplete rather rapidly as I'm getting my groove on to Miss Jackson or feeling the melancholy drone of Thom Yorke's cracked voice. I do have the Backlight on all the time, and the volume on maximum, and am constantly flicking between song or album. This probably has something to do with it. My earphones are also damaged. God, the complaints never stop coming do they?! Hehe. I'm aware that it's my own fault as the right earphone must have got bashed around in my coat pocket at college, but I can no longer use my iPod with the earphones provided because the sound is all gritty and grungy in correspondence with the beat and bass. I simply have to use another set of earphones which I had stored away. Besides, if you're walking down the road in the middle of the night listening to your iPod (I never would, I'm not a total idiot) then it's probably best to use a pair of black earphones, because thieves automatically know that a set of white earphones just screams iPod. Apart from these minor quibbles (most of which are through my own clumsy doing) the iPod is fine. When I actually get some time to truly listen to it I'm sure my love for the iPod will grow and grow. I currently spend every day at art college, listening to teachers and talking to mates, so the iPod is best assigned to those times when I'm away from my friends and engrossed in coursework. I'm just afraid that if I walk down the street listening to it that I'll subconsciously start dancing to the funky beat of some old skool choons! It happens all the time, I can't help it. So all in all, I'm very pleased with the iPod. I don't know how useful this review was to you (probably not at all) because you'll already know if you want to buy one or not if you're reading this. You don't need me telling you all the technical information because it's been said in hundreds of other reviews, so I'm just here to offer my alternative perspective on it. I say buy one, and get a warranty on it. I didn't and it will probably conk out on me in about 12 months, but ah well, I'll enjoy it while I can. Overall a superb product which has proved to be the most successful thing Apple have released in quite some time! |
Audio HiFi
