Reader Comments

Are you supposed to report news, or make dubious judgements about new products? I thought you were rather wary about analysts and their "predictions", Paul. Either way, Microsoft's and its partner's admittedly more feature-packed products curiously still lack any significant market presence compared to the iPod. Hmmmmm. I wonder why that is?

Paul: "the Creative Zen Portable Media Center, ...also gets dramatically better battery life. MacCentral: "Apple also claims the iPod Photo sports longer battery life than previous models -- the company says iPod Photo can play music for up to 15 hours continuously, or up to 5 hours while showing photo slideshows." The website for the Creative Zen indicates "Up to 12 hour battery life." As usual, you're behind the curve, Paul. You should go back to writing about "EXCITING!" Micro$oft technologies such as watches that give you weather reports.

"Either way, Microsoft's and its partner's admittedly more feature-packed products curiously still lack any significant market presence compared to the iPod. Hmmmmm. I wonder why that is?" It's because the iPod currently has the momentum of having the 'cool factor'. The product is not the most technically superior, or cheapest product - but it's cool, it has momentum, and everyone wants one. Ultimately, coolness doesn't last forever, neither does the momentum it has generated for Apple, and so Apple has to keep the ball rolling - but the iPod Photo is a minor enhancement that will have a limited effect on keeping the iPod 'cool'. The small screen will proove a pretty poor way for people to show off their photographs. Anyway, I thought that Apple's view when it came to iPod was that it was 'All about the music'? Out come Microsoft with the feature packed portable media center and guess what! Apple do an immediate about face and _COPY_ Microsoft. Who else will be doing the about face? The Blind Apple Zealots who believe whatever Apple produces is just amazing no matter what it is; bring on the flames - Please, bring them on - I could do with a good laugh.

According to: http://www.apple.com/ipod/u2/specs.html the U2 ipod does come with a dock, it is the 4th column in the "Included accessories" row, second line - "dock". I think you should be fairer with your commentry.

Wow. The author doesn't seem to "get" that a major reason the iPod is so successful is its portability. Large gadgets such as the Creative Zen Portable Media Center don't fit in the pocket, so they're really not that portable, and their screens are still too small to view video. And, video is awfully hard to get on these devices. Presumably, U2 fans are going to be the ones purchasing the U2 iPod. And for those fans also purchasing U2's entire collection of songs, they get a $50 coupon, meaning the U2 iPod costs exactly the same as a non-U2 iPod with the same features. I wouldn't expect the U2 version of be a huge hit, but it will be popular among U2 fans and serves to raise overall awareness of the iPod product line.

what do you get paid for this dribble?

I'm kind of tired of reading articles that talk about how great every fart Steve Jobs emits smells so great. It's refreshing to read an intelligent look at an Apple product. The tiny iPod screen ain't so great for photos. My Zire 72 has a bigger screen, costs less, and not only displays pics, plays .mp3 files (at an admittedly low volume) and takes voice memos, but also takes pics and videos, plays games and videos, and does a thousand other things. Now, if only Palm would come out with one with a mini hard drive... Anyone who says that "photos are the next big thing" apparently hasn't been paying attention for the past 150 years. I think Apple really missed on that one. As for the U2 player, U2 are so 80s. Aren't people over them yet? I am. And the slick red and black iPod would look kind of bad with the white earphones -- like they don't go together.

Ahhh....the spokesperson for the Windows IT pro....not skilled enough for UNIX, not cultured enough for the Mac. Pray they don't outsource you to New Delhi.

Paul. You must be one of the loneliest, saddest people on this planet.

pfff, common guys, what a poor article. And MLomaslcomm, get a life please: if I have to sum all the copies of Microsoft in respect to Apple, THEN you have an article. Saying that Microsoft is innovative, makes me laugh out loud. I may be a "Blind Apple Zealot", but that makes you a Blind Microsoft Zealot, who believes whatever M$ copies, is just amazing, no matter what they copied. And please start looking at the quality of content, because this article is pretty poor.

Well, truth be told, you're kind of a dink.

not a dink. . paul is a complete and utter LOSER!! OMG

I guess you write what your paid to write

This is going to shock some of you, because it shocks me too, but... I agree with Paul on this. The new iPod offerings don't excite me. For some reason, IT pundits think that Apple fails if everything they put out doesn't set the world on fire. I guess that's because their track record is amazingly successful at doing just that. How many of the players from other manufacturers have been uninspiring? I'd say, ALL of them. Now I will say that my Mom and Dad, who are typical grandparents, are salivating to get the iPod photo. Not sure I'm looking forward to forced TV slideshows every time I visit, but that's not Apple's fault. Paul does, of course, take his usual ham-handed tangential shot at Apple in general (this time sarcasm about innovation) but he does need page hits and angry mac-users are the only people who even pay attention to his clueless prattle any more. That's just Paul being Paul.

Please read Apple's article on the iPod Photo first: Use the included AV cable to connect iPod Photo to a projector or TV. You can mesmerize friends and family with a glorious multimedia experience, offering them a breathtaking slideshow accompanied by the music you already have on your iPod Photo. Of course, you get to choose the songs, albums or playlists. Haha!

I'll place a little bet: Apple will license the TI-83 graphing calculator: some EVERY suburban teenager has to buy for school anyway. The they will release a version with a mini-iPod inside.

Oh i forgot to rate your useless article. They didn't have a "0" option so you get a 1.

I can't wait to have an iPod at work that displays album art. The 15 hour battery life is another reason I'll be upgrading this holiday season. This is going to be a big seller for Apple. I have to agree that the U2 thing is ho hum.

Reply to Paragraph 1 What advances from the M$ camp? WMP music players? Those things aren’t even a distant second to the iPod. Break the iPods up into individual categories (iPod 20, iPod mini, etc.) and Apple has the top 5 or so spots. Besides, by saying “fend off” you imply and admit that Apple is the leader in this product category. But Apple did not upgrade the iPod to fend off nonexistent competitors. It upgraded the iPod because that is what Apple does. They constantly introduce products that are innovative and drool-worthy for the sake of technology and to make $$ for shareholders. I won’t even argue the “tiny” screen slight because it is stupid. Look at 90% of the video cameras out there and their screen size. But more on this topic later. Reply to Paragraph 2 Here we go! The releases aren’t inspiring to you. That’s your opinion. But you phrase it as if it is a fact. Apple and U2 and thousands of customers will find it inspiring. Actually, considering the strong opposition to MP3’s, Napster, and “Rip, Mix, Burn” just a year or so ago, it is awe inspiring that a major band would not only support an MP3 player and its accompanying online music store but actually endorse it. Complaining that it is not as impressive as fans mythical mockups is stupid - and you know it. By comparison, the Zen is incompatible with the overwhelming leader in download music sales, is twice as heavy, much larger, virtually worthless video size and bit rate, and no calendar, contacts, notes capabilities (from what I could tell). I guess that extra battery life on the Zen is worth the fact that it is too large to actually be portable. Just because a electronics product is designed to be small does not mean it was for “style.” It is usually to make it portable, e.g. cell phones, music players, laptops, PDA’s, etc. P 3   iPhoto was launched years ago with slideshow, web page creation, print ordering capabilities. iTunes is integrated with iPhoto to add music to said slideshows. Apple has added photo display capabilities to its market dominant iPod line that will make the obsolete M$ on-the-go capable Media Center technology.....more obsolete? P 4 I don’t see how the U2 iPod is crippled. It is virtually the same as the current 20GB iPod model that is a market leader. It does cost more, but comes with added features like distinctive coloring, band members signatures engraved on the back, a $50 coupon for U2’s music collection, and a poster. It has already prompted accessory companies to begin to offer iPod accessories in black (see Griffin iTrip for an example). Also, the white ear buds are one of the signs you are using an iPod- it was smart to keep them white. P 5 This is obviously included to pander to the Apple / Mac / iPod users who will inevitably point out all the flaws in this article. It won’t work, because we are smarter than you think and we don’t think you are very smart.

Gee Paulie, how come those Microsoft based feature rich iPod killer devices are sitting on the shelves while the iPods are flying out the door? I guess the consumer just doesn't get it, eh?

Paul - you are a wanker.

To Mac fanatics, offering an honest criticism of a Mac product is tantamount to telling a Southern Baptist that Jesus Christ's bones have been found. Good for you for letting us know the weaknesses of the two products.

That U2 iPod is butt-ugly, but I'm sure it will be worth something someday as a collector's item. And I couldn't care less about carrying pictures around with me. My train conductor doesn't care what my relatives look like. As Paul correctly notes, the iPod is THE portable digital audio player to get, and the larger drive and longer battery life are nice, but this latest round is indeed underwhelming.

I think Apple is being very innovative. First it is the first time an MP3 player is being bundled with music. Although I am not a U2 fan, later MP3 players may have something different bundled or even collections of blues or rock. People may not like Apple's position in the digital music industry, but give them credit for creating new ideas and markets for their products.

Seriously Paul, Can you actually picture anyone using that Creative Zen Portable Media Center in public? People would point, laugh, and say "look at the nerd with the Sega Game Gear!" To which you would reply, "but it plays my videos," while proceeding to watch the Ashlee Simpson SNL slip-up for the millionth time. How enlightening.

Paul, my friend you are truly an idiot. Keep your small minded Mocrosoft IT nerd opinions to yourself.

At this point, you don't even qualify as the village idiot. Your BS article has no creditability or basis in fact. Sorry, but the iPod Photo will sell more units than all the video players combined. Consumers will not be watching video on small screens. I look forward to your next embarassing article.

At this point, you don't even qualify as the village idiot. Your BS article has no creditability or basis in fact. Sorry, but the iPod Photo will sell more units than all the video players combined. Consumers will not be watching video on small screens. I look forward to your next embarassing article.

Paul your in the wrong business. You be a huge hit if you ever decided to become a professional comedian. No one puts out more laughable and satirical writing then your sites! No one.

Well guys, you're allready obliging me with lots of Funny comments - and no substance whatsoever. Hey there 'Anonymous user' - so I need to get a life huh? I note you have not actually answered anything I've actually said other than to adapt my article to claim that Microsoft are doing all the copying. If you seriously believe that Apple NEVER copy, and that the 'copying gig' is totally one way and that Microsoft copy everything, then you are nuts. Have a look about half way down the page on http://spl.haxial.net/mac-fanatics/ for an excellent list of just SOME of the things Apple have copied from Microsoft over the years. BOTH companies copy off each other - it's common sense. As for Paul's article, I find it to be an accurate overview pointing out that Apple's latest offering just isn't that inspiring. It may be a short term win - but the competition is making far bigger strides in terms of offering better or cheaper products. From a technical standpoint, Apple don't have anything to compare to the Portable Media Centers, and from a price standpoint there are many more affordable products on the market. Apple only stay ahead because their product has momentum because it's cool. When that momentum runs out - Apple will either fall behind or be forced to totally overhall their product to stay ahead.

iPod has 92% marketshare Paul... bite it.

I can't believe I even took the time to rate this article. Apple copying MS? lmao!

Microsoft apparently agrees: The company launched photo slideshow and music software in Windows XP "Media Center three years ago, and added on-the-go support in Portable Media Center this past summer. Somehow, I suspect I'm still going to read about how Apple innovated in this area" Seriously.. are you on drugs? iPhoto's capabilities have been around for about 3 years now you tool.. you think Apple is copying MS because they've finally brought a colour screen to the iPod?! God what a moron.

To the one saying Microsoft copies everything: Keep in mind that Apple copied the GUI and the mouse from Xerox.

And I think 92% of these comments are from Mac users lmao.. the times are a-changin'

Dumb ass. The u2 iPod is 50 bucks extra because it comes with a gift certificate to the iTunes Music store for people to buy u2's back catalogue. This has to be the worst screed ever written.

How long this douchbag have used this picture? Why doesn't he put a newer picture of himself so that we see just how hideous the head that holds the tiny frustrated brain of his goes? You know dork, life is not as depressing as your thinking is

Uninspiring Article by Paul Thurrott. Give me a break! Keep trolling Paul!

a few months ago, a 40 gig ipod cost me (and a few hundred thousand other buyers) $499.... for the same amount now, i get a color screen and photo capabilities... what's dissappointing about that? the ipod is a lot more popular now than it was when i bought my $499 ipod... meaning a lot more people will be buying the ipod photo machine. hey... this author and a lot of posters here gave a worst review for the ipod mini and that sold.... this author is wrong...

To one one pointing out that Apple copied the GUI from Xerox, get your facts in order. You're not wrong, but you're only telling half the story. Apple approached Xerox first, and had permission to do what they did. Then they improved on the GUI drastically. Microsoft, on the other hand, snuck around and deceived Apple, and then turned out a pathetic version of their own 10 years later!

I think Paul is right. My next iPod will be an iPod that plays music, not one that shows photos.

"but it's cool" NO it's not just that...Anything can be made to be, or look, cool. The iPod has STYLE. "Good for you for letting us know the weaknesses of the two products." His opinions are not representative of the weeknesses of a product. They are opinions. His own opinions. Go get your own. And to MLomasIcomm - "BOTH companies copy off each other - it's common sense" Then why even bring it up??? "It may be a short term win" - Yeah, since the day they were introduced. "the competition is making far bigger strides in terms of offering better or cheaper products" That should JUST read cheaper products. Not even close to better. Hey Paul...Why not have an Average Article rating at the top of your articles??

Two extremes of technology reporting. Objective: Walt Mossberg on Wall St Journal http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20041027.html Clueless and Ignorant: Paul Thurott. Paul doesn't even read product specs to report the fact (e.g., dock is included with U2 iPod). Nor does he understand marketing 101 on branding - white ear bud headphones in a listener's ear means iPod user with 99% certainity even if you do not see the actual iPod. The real losers from this are the advertisers who pay Paul to promote their products on his site!

Man, you Apple zealots are amazing. So are the MS zealots for that matter. Look, don't you people know what a fad is? iPods are damn cool. Apple is a kick ass company that makes bitchin products. But just because something is awesome and has all the market share doesn't mean its the best product available. My phone does several things an iPod will never do including play videos, music, office docs, pdfs, browse the web, has a keyboard, holds 1gb cartridges for storage, holds my contacts, email, calendar, has vpn software, plays games and so on and so on. It does EVERYTHING the iPod does except have 20+gb onboard which I don't need. It's also smaller than the iPod. iPods make very little sense to me frankly, but I can see that they are damn cool. All this debate about which is better, product or company, is stupid. iPods offer something intangible that people love and the Windows products have way more features. Both companies innovate and both companies copy from each other, its mutually beneficial and anyone should be able to see that.

Paul, your journalistic integrity leaves much to be desired...

sad loser

Don't you guys get it by now? Paul only writes his "commentary" to raise hit counts. He gets increased hits from Apple users who he angers and Windows apologists who will read anything negative about Apple so they can regurtitate it the next time they have to defend their inferior technology choices.

The video capability in PMCs are currently practically useless. "if you have a Media Center or a PC with a TV tuner/recorder, this is a great gadget. If you don’t, a PMC most likely won’t be that fun." "We think the biggest obstacle will be the frustrating copyright laws regarding movies and DVDs, so while you can copy DVDs you own onto these devices, it’s not exactly easy and the legality of doing so is still unclear." http://www.engadget.com/entry/9377496751773606/

Your pretty underwhelming yourself.

I always find articles like this amusing because they remind me that this is a Windows fan site, and not a serious news site that incorporates concepts like "investigative journalism." Just note the (I assume) intentional lack of information to try and make the Windows options look oh-so-much-better than what Apple has just released. First, to indicate that either platform was responsible for promoting graphical slide shows is a hoot. Vendor-approved software to do this (iPhoto, etc.) appeared at about the same time, but there were many options in both camps that could do slide shows way before this. Sure, other devices have larger screens, but Paul doesn't get the point here. Watching photos and movies on a small screen is a convenience at best; that's why the new iPod has an AV out so you can watch on a real screen. Oddly, Creative's offering doesn't seem to offer any sort of video out. And in a bit of wonderful spin, these are being positioned to "fend off advances from the Microsoft camp." LOL. There's nothing in the Microsoft camp that can touch the iPod, which is probably why they are selling so well. Of course there are the Portable Media Center devices for the turbo-geek portion of the population like Paul that things everyone wants to watch movies on a tiny screen.

To MLomasIcomm: 1. With all due respect, Windows itself is a copy of the Mac OS, (and not a very good one) 2. How do you figure that the competition is catching up with the iPod when it has such a large (92% of the HD based player market, 65% of the total MP3 player market) and, more important, GROWING market share? To date, Creative's PMC isn't even a blip on the radar, and it's been out for a while now. Talk about reality distortion field...

I don't know why mac fans users have to take negative comments about a mac product so personal. Paul is correct, and apple fans know it. How do I know? Because the truth hurts and always ticks them off. So keep at it mac fans. You are most amusing to watch.

It's funny to see mac fans talk about percentages ONLY when it benefits them. How about the percentage of macs vs windows pcs out there? To be fair to both Paul and mac fans. This new product had so much hype, that it simply failed to deliver. It doesn't mean it's bad or trash. It just means it fell short from the expectation even mac sites had. now mac fans. why don't just admit it. You got less than what you hoped for. But there is no reason to be so mad lol.

No, Paul is NOT correct. Paul is rarely correct. That's the problem. I guess the reason Mac fans take anti Apple comments so personally is because they represent what can happen when someone actually enjoys their computing experience, when things work far more often than they do not work, as is the case with Windows, and has been for a long time.

Anti apple? He basically says the product failed to be as big of a step forward as the original ipod was. And he's totally correct on that. How am I anti-something just because it wasn't as good as I though it would be? Maybe I'm just not a fanatic that wags it's tail to steve jobs. Maybe the reason I don't get pissed when somebody talks anti-MS trash is because I don't wag my tail to Bill gates. What for? It's just a computer not my girlfriend! Or have apple fans become all nerdy anti-socials?

Are you ever going to get anything about Apple right? You are, as they say in baseball, o-fer.

I too agree that the iPod photo is nice, but not a "knock your socks off" type of upgrade. I am a Apple user with all the toys. But!!! what makes it very cool, is that this ability will filter down to my next iPod upgrade in a few months and it will not be as overpriced. Then I will love it more.

I think he once said that apple would never catch up to MS in user-base. If you count that one then he has.

The Mac fanatics rear their ugly heads. They're probably Bush fans too. Just like our "president", anyone who doesn't agree with their new is beneath their contempt. Too bad we can't vote them out of office.

The Mac fanatics rear their ugly heads. They're probably Bush fans too. Just like our "president", anyone who doesn't agree with their new is beneath their contempt. Too bad we can't vote them out of office.

The comments are way better than this article. Everytime Paul says anything closely negative to Apple the applets come out swinging. This is most entertaining part of this site. They dont even have the guts to register with the site. Are any of you older than 22? From the writing it looks like the avg. age is about 16.

Hey all you Mac-heads. Did you notice that the iPod popularity did not really take off until they mad it Windows compatible? Think about that for a minute.

"Anti apple? He basically says the product failed to be as big of a step forward as the original ipod was. And he's totally correct on that. How am I anti-something just because it wasn't as good as I though it would be?" Actually, Paul thought the first iPod was completely and totally unimpressive. Wrong. He thought the third and fourth generations were regressions from the second and wouldn't do well. Wrong. He thought the iPod Mini was completely unimpressive and way too expensive. Wrong. In fact, he still thinks it doesn't exist... That it isn't available. Wrong. Now he thinks this is unimpressive and underwhelming.... Great!!! Based on his past record, we can extrapolate what a huge success it will be!! "Did you notice that the iPod popularity did not really take off until they mad it Windows compatible? Think about that for a minute." Actually, you are completely wrong. It's marketshare has spiked almost exponentially but it has nothing to do with Windows. After 2 years of Windows support, Windows users still only account for 55-60% of all iPod owners. Think about that. ...And try again.

"Anti apple? He basically says the product failed to be as big of a step forward as the original ipod was. And he's totally correct on that. How am I anti-something just because it wasn't as good as I though it would be?" Actually, Paul thought the first iPod was completely and totally unimpressive. Wrong. He thought the third and fourth generations were regressions from the second and wouldn't do well. Wrong. He thought the iPod Mini was completely unimpressive and way too expensive. Wrong. In fact, he still thinks it doesn't exist... That it isn't available. Wrong. Now he thinks this is unimpressive and underwhelming.... Great!!! Based on his past record, we can extrapolate what a huge success it will be!! "Did you notice that the iPod popularity did not really take off until they mad it Windows compatible? Think about that for a minute." Actually, you are completely wrong. It's marketshare has spiked almost exponentially but it has nothing to do with Windows. After 2 years of Windows support, Windows users still only account for 55-60% of all iPod owners. Think about that. ...And try again.

The Creative's screen might be bigger, but the unit is too bulky to deserve the "Portable" tag. You might as well carry a notebook. At least the iPod can be easily carried on your person...

The irony is that MS will very soon have a market share in the MP3 player market similar to Apple PC market share, yet wrieter like Paul are still writing as if MS is going to sweep the rug out from under Apple yet again. There are ample reasons why this won't happen in this market, yet the Windows Apologists don't see it.

Meanwhile, Apple's stock is up $1.80 today. The iPod Photo is not "groundbreaking", and nobody can release "groundbreaking" products EVERY time. Adding photo capability is simply that: photo capability. Some people will want it; others will not. And, although Apple is not first with portable picture viewing -- and neither as MS (Palm PDAs were doing this before the media players), Apple's system is typical Apple: EASY, transparent and seamless. As for MS's media efforts, this is the third incarnation of their failed campaign. WHY? Poor design, both from a hardware (component clutter) and software side (although, this is the best attempt yet). But, that is one big reason why the iPod is dominant. yes, there's the cool factor (including the fact that the headphones ARE WHITE. I guess you've been missing the whole iPod where people identify a user via THE WHITE HEADPHONES), but Apple's "ecosystem" (a term used by Jobs over a year ago about the iTMS->iTunes->iPod -- and a term Gates copied two weeks ago when announcing the new Media PC version), or how everything just works so well together, is what will keep users with the iPod. And, although I commend Microsoft's efforts in the living room and frankly wish Apple would 'copy" that concept, I totally agree with Jobs about PORTABLE video viewing. It is just such a limited experience. Not just the smaller screens (that end up making these devices less portable), but also the act of WATCHING TV in a mobile scenario is not very practical. You can jog, commute, ride a bike or make love listening to music, You cannot do any of these things while watching TV. Sitting in a subway or bus? Perhaps. But the tradeoff of size and difficulty to assemble media will outweigh the limited number of occasions one can even use that media. Like Jobs' Indiana Jones reference about the Nazis “digging in the wrong place”, I also believe that personal, portable video viewing is a misguided concept, blinded by gizmo lust.

What all of Apples critics don't get is that its not about packing in as many features as possible. It's about simplicity that makes a great user experience. That also happens to be cool because we are surrounded by digital devices that jam in as many bells and whistles as possible, that they are frustrating to figure out and use. Apple is the ONLY technology company to get this. That being said, the U2 iPod is underwhelming, and the iPod Photo is very nice but too expensive (for me anyway). Oh, and Paul, your article needs substance.

Paul, I realize you feel the need to compensate for all the blindly pro-Apple sites around, but being blindly pro-MS and anti-Apple in response doesn't help your cause. Two wrongs don't make a right!

To "Hey all you Mac-heads": And your point is....what?

For all you Mac fanatics that think Paul is a Windows zealot, perhaps you should see what he uses?!?! You just might be surprised! http://www.internet-nexus.com/

"I don't know why mac fans users have to take negative comments about a mac product so personal." It's not the negative comments. It's the fact this chuckle head is spreading FUD and his own opinionated views on what he THINKS these devices are or should be. He is wrong, and he has no clue. If it was supposed to be a PMC than it wouldn't have been called an iPod*PHOTO*. And us "Mac-Heads", as you put it, are trying to let you people, who siphon up this garbage as gospel, that there are some very real misconceptions being spread around from schmucks like this.

Would you like it better if it was red, had a Ferrrari logo, and made engine-revving sounds when you turned it on? Sorry Paul, you're not any kind of arbiter of taste.

You don't get it, do you. I for one will go out and get my 4th iPod. All my kids have had at least one. So lets see that is 8 iPods - wow-good income for Apple! Get it now?

"http://www.internet-nexus.com/ " Whoop-de-do! I can copy and paste text from a corporate site also. How about some original thinking for a change from this putz.

amazingly biased diatribe from someone who pretends to be a journalist.

That's the main point that all of the Windows apologists i read fail to get. If he's personally "underwhelmed", so be it. That's his choice. The fact, though, is that Apple has really no need to "fend off" anything from Microsoft in this market, and won't need to for very long time, given the current WMA compatible offerings on the market. THERE IS A REASON PEOPLE ARE GOBBLING UP iPODS, DESPITE IT'S HIGHER PRICE, AND LACK OF FLUFF FEATURES. When you Windows Apologists finally understand that, then you'll see why what Paul often writes is pure nonsense, and you'll stop defending his "journalism".

Paul, I've watched you bash apple and apple products time and time again. You've said they would be a failure. You've been WRONG time and time again. As typical windows person you shop on PRICE. You fail t o see the advantages, that most other people see. You're sad..

jesus what a whiner.

pooooooor article.

The point of the photo pod is that it is portable. and it contains your photos. When you take it to grandma's house you connect it up to the TV with the included cable and quickly skip through your photo collection to pick out the best pictures to show her. The photo pod is perfect for this due to it's superior scan and search features.

It would be nice to know a little about the product you are reviewing...

Uninspiring? Underwhelming? OK sycophant, tell me what other company has released a product that offers the capabilities of the iPod photo? What other company can compare to the ease of use and elegance that iTunes (and now the same with photos) offers? Blatant, biased, uninformed anti-Apple propaganda. What a moron.

Paul your a Wintard.

This is one of the most unintelligently-written articles I've ever read. Are you kidding about Apple changing the color of their ear-buds? The white buds and cables are one of the most-recognizable banding images in the western world right now. It would be asinine for Apple to do as you infer and change the ear pieces to black. Also, there are several black accessories already for the iPod and probably more to come -- check the iPod store. And what's "crippled" about the U2 iPod? I think it looks ugly but it has the same function as the regular 20GB iPod. As for screen size -- are you singularly immune to the laws of physics? To increase screen size, one would have to increase the size of the device. Period. Apple chose to keep the device small. You can complain that they should have made a bigger iPod (though I bet you'd find several million opposing opinions) but you can't complain that the screen itself isn't larger. Jobs clearly stated Apple feels the device needs to fit comfortably in a pocket. Finally, as for the slideshow -- the iPod plugs into your TV. That's uninspiring to you? I think it's great. I get color album art for my music, a zillion color photos, and at the drop of a hat I can show them off on any TV or projector -- all in the same size as a regular iPod.

OMMGGGG, Its amazing what a bit of opinion can do to the magnitude of feedback. Whats wrong with a journalest giving his opinion on a product? He's just reviewing a product. And if this is the volume of feedback generated by such opinion then I think he should give some more.

Come on, folks. Paul writes this way to get hits. It works . . .

"Whats wrong with a journalest giving his opinion on a product? He's just reviewing a product" No, he's not. He's writing an opinion on a press release. he has not seen these devices to review as they have not been released yet. Nor has he even read the entire specs of the products that he's complaining about since many of his claims were wrong (like the Dock on the U2 iPod). And this "journalest"(sic) is basing his underwhelm-ness to a bunch of rumors that no one, much less Apple, ever said or hinted at being released. I wonder how you all will react to the stripped down version of Longhorn when it's released in 2006 or 7 or 8 or who cares now. VERY underwhelming, indead.

Regarding the (lack of) dock for the U2 iPod, Paul is right. Take a gander at Apple's U2 iPod website and you'll see that a dock isn't even mentioned. It's an accessory, meaning it's a seperate purchase. On the spec page, it says it has a dock PORT, meaning it can attach to a dock. But if you scroll down a little bit and get to the Included accessories, again the dock is absent. Meaning that there IS NOT AN INCLUDED DOCK with the U2 iPod. Paul was right, you were wrong. Now about the iPod. The iPod isn't perfect. But it sells. Just because it sells doesn't mean it's a great product. Look at Enter The Matrix for the PS2, it recieved horrible reviews but it still sold over one million copies. Apple is the king with its iPod, but with advancing technologies, it won't reign for much longer. So all you Apple and Microsoft enthusiasts, just calm down. He's only one man with apparently enough power to send you crashing down. And one more thing, typing Microsoft with a $ makes you look like you're nine.

Regarding the (lack of) dock for the U2 iPod, Paul is right. Take a gander at Apple's U2 iPod website and you'll see that a dock isn't even mentioned. It's an accessory, meaning it's a seperate purchase. On the spec page, it says it has a dock PORT, meaning it can attach to a dock. But if you scroll down a little bit and get to the Included accessories, again the dock is absent. Meaning that there IS NOT AN INCLUDED DOCK with the U2 iPod. Paul was right, you were wrong. Now about the iPod. The iPod isn't perfect. But it sells. Just because it sells doesn't mean it's a great product. Look at Enter The Matrix for the PS2, it recieved horrible reviews but it still sold over one million copies. Apple is the king with its iPod, but with advancing technologies, it won't reign for much longer. So all you Apple and Microsoft enthusiasts, just calm down. He's only one man with apparently enough power to send you crashing down. And one more thing, typing Microsoft with a $ makes you look like you're nine.

no comments needed, but i'll add them ne way. first, sites like this need to realize the attacks to the articles like this are coming from iPod fans. not just mac fans, but pc & mac users that are iPod fans. when you upset 92% of the HD mp3 portable market, you upset a lot of people. the blantant baiting articles like this bring together pc & mac users to fight for a common good-Long Live iPods of any flavor. btw, haven't bought one but will probably get the iPod photo version.

Reality Check - Microsoft is doomed. They and their cronies (Creative, Rio, Dell, Sony) cannot keep up with Apple's pace of innovation. The iPods blow away the WIndows Portable Media Crud in features, design, and sales success.

"Paul writes this way to get hits. It works . . ." Yeah, but he's still a dick

I think the article was poorly written. Paul apparently did not adequately go over the product pages on Apple's website and I doubt he was at the press event or his article would/should have had more substance. That said, I cannot disagree that the products are underwhelming. But given what they are how could they not be. One is an obvious incremental advance that was long anticipated and widley reported to be coming in the last couple of months. The other is a regular iPod with cosmetic changes bundled with an exclusive poster and a cupon. The iPod Photo is an iPod with photo presenting capabilities that as a result has a color screen. This is an incremental improvement that will appeal to many for a variety of reasons. Personally I've been waiting for such a version from Apple since the original iPod debuted in October 2001. Now it's here. Good? Yes. Impressive? No. Regarding the competing Windows Media competing devices: I thought the user interfaces for most of them were more cumbersome than the iPod until just the last round of releases. That is, the last month or three. Only now would I feel comfortable going with one of the other devices instead of an iPod. As far as the PMC A/V devices, I have yet encountered one that I would want to buy. But I assume just as it took some time to get the UIs right for the music players, they will eventually get the UIs right for the AV players. Ultimately I think I will find them underwhelming too. It's hard to redefine a product category once, let alone twice. Honestly, I think being underwhelmed ought to be expected. I'd think that a technology reporter would give more attention to whether a product did what it said it did effectively, convienently and at an acceptable price point. Maybe that's expecting too much from Paul.

Ha ha, remember the Microsoft Phone? How about the Sidewinder Force Feedback joystick? How about all of their consumer network routers/switches, etc? All abandoned and discarded like last year's Christmas toys. No, I won't ever buy hardware from the "MS Camp" again.

I can tell you why the windows knock offs don't sell, they suck. sound slike the author has ipod envy. ;)

Because we all know that Dell isn't the number one computer manufacturer. Oh wait, it is.

Know-nothing wrote: "To the one saying Microsoft copies everything: Keep in mind that Apple copied the GUI and the mouse from Xerox." Wrong again, brain-trust. That is the difference between Apple and MS: Apple LICENSED the theoretical work done at Xerox PARC, where they created all this neat stuff that was NEVER GOING TO BE USED. Apple paid Xerox in SHARES OF APPLE and Xerox profited hugely. Microsoft just takes and claims they "innovated" it. Or they announce that "it" will be coming in the next version of Windows for FREE, driving the venture funding from the innovating company so they can pick the company's corpse after they go bankrupt, like a stinkin' buzzard. High business ethics at work there. Learn what you are babbling about or shut up. Article? Ummm, an incremental upgrade to a hugely successful product is termed "uninspired." Ummm, OK. So, maybe Apple should produce a video player with a 3 inch screen that doesn't sell and a tablet PC that doesn't sell and a blended big-screen TV and computer that doesn't sell, then you will think that they are innovative, as you cheer their bankruptcy. iPod is not number one because (as one commenter thinks) people are STUPID and SHALLOW and TRENDY. It became trendy and cool because, unlike a lot of their competitors, IT DOES WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO DO. It does what it promises and people enjoy using it. Not something that applies to most of the iPod clones according to reviewers and the actual owners of those clones.

if a U.S. presidential candidate could unite the country like the iPod has united mac & pc users, we might have a chance for change. iPod for president!

Yes the iPod's are underwhelming but as usual I wish Paul would get his facts straight. 1. The iPod Photo gets 3 hours longer battery life than the Zen. 2. The iTrip comes in black to match the black iPod. 3. The earbuds are white because they're supposed to be white. If they were black then they'd look like all the other earbuds and people wouldn't know you're using an iPod. To the guy that said the screen is too small to view pictures. How exactly would you know this without seeing one?

"Because we all know that Dell isn't the number one computer manufacturer. Oh wait, it is." What does that have to do with the iPod and the MP3 market and journalistic integrity? Dell barely sells more MP3 players than Microsoft......Oh wait, Microsoft doesn't make MP3 players. So I guess Dell is dead ass last in this market. Go figure. Bigger doesn't make you better.

Speaking of What Happened to.... What about Bob? Remember the OS Microsoft came out with that lasted about 30 seconds because they had no idea what consumers really were looking for.

When word got out that you could flame Paul by calling yourself Anonymous User, the hits started going off the charts.. and that's the truth.

another bitter MS-hugger...

Get with the times! Being Anti-Apple is soooo 80's

Lets keep in mind that the iPod actually may become the next PowerPoint presentation device. I mean, Keynote... When Steve walks out onto stage with a Bluetooth adapated iPod Photo that transmits his MacWorld presentation, I surely will not be 'uninspired.'

LOL This is getting better and better. I made a few comments about how the competition had better products, and that Microsoft and Apple copy off each other, and we had I think a couple of replies selectively sniping at me. Firstly, the competition DOES have better products. There are products out there with video support, radio support, video support, products with flash based storage (I myself only listen to a little music most of the time - so don't need GB of storage), to name but a few - there are plenty of products that are technically superior, on paper, to the iPod. Of course, these products don't have the same momentum as the iPod because the iPod is cool and has (duh) style. This won't keep the iPod gravey train going forever though. More and more long-established players are going to want a piece of the market, and you can bet that they'll be willing to pour ALLOT of cash into products with better design, better features, or cheaper, or a combination of the above. Maybe not overnight as some manufacturers might wish, but slowly, Apple's market share of digital music players would be eroded away. WOULD BE, but for the fact that Apple are going to keep on making the iPod better and better right? Well, if the iPod photo is the 'norm' for Apple's 'innovative' improvements that we should be getting used to, then sorry, - but uninspiring is DEFINATELY the word here. Also, the comment about Windows being a copy of MacOS is kind of irrelavant. The original copying that most people rant about (intertwined with the notorious Xerox tale) happened years ago. Since then, BOTH companies have copied features off each other. Secondly, the PMC hasn't got the market share for many reasons, first, the product may have been out for a while - but not a long while, and the product will take time before the price comes down into most people's price range. Second, the market is getting more and more crowded as competitors try to steal share from the iPod, so the PMC isn't suddenly going to dazzle us all with double figure percentage-share any time soon. Apple are on a roll now - but this is basically just the same product with a colour screen, and the firmware to store and display pictures. It's surely not something that was hard for them to do. Meanwhile the competition is not only on a totally different platform, but is working on players to suit all sorts of different people, which a wide range of varying features, capacitys and prices. Apple need to licence fairplay, and bring out a wider range of products - then they'll have the market locked up for many, many years - but I suspect that day will coincide with the day satan skates to work.

Typical dribble from the yapping lacky of M$. How predictable!!!

Paul, you just don't get it. The value of the color screen is twofold. First, it adds color to all of the other apps, like iCal. Second, if you take digital photos as you travel about, you've now got a convenient alternative to carrying around a laptop. The iPod Photo isn't intended as a serious photo presentation tool--unless you use the AV port to use a TV. The color screen basically adds value to an already versatile handheld device and all its apps. Crappy little MP3 players don't do nearly as much nearly as well. As for the U2 model, only serious U2 fans go for it. Me, I ran into Bono twice yesterday (really) and I hardly cared. Fans will buy it, others will choose among the other elegant iPods. Apple makes elegant and functional devices and apps, not the clumsy schlock to which you've apparently become accustomed.

Paul, aren't you really Karl Rove (Schrub's campaign manager) moonlighting as a tech journalistI think I recognize a certain style of argument and persuasion... lavrentii

Wintel Fans: Mac cooked one thing right: simplicity. It may be easy enough for a monkey to operate, but sometimes you have monkey IQ consumers. It doesn't mean that you HAVE to have 2,356 different functions on one device. iPod is simplicity in a little white box. It may not have recording, radio, video, etc, but consumers mostly just want their music and pictures. And Mac fans: Sometimes the Wintel camp feels that they need the Swiss army knife portable device. Let them be. If they feel they need quantity of information, just let them have their tables, pie charts, figues, and percentages. They won't kill you. You can continue to cuddle your iPod and say "mine". To Paul: Paul, isn't this "About Microsoft and Windows. No fluff."? How did a Macintosh item make Windows and Microsoft news??? Your comments can be good. But just be careful whose toes you stomp on. E.G. *nix, Apple, etc. If you feel the need to discuss an Apple product, find a website to complain on, like Pro-Networks.org or Neowin.net, not a commentary on Windows. I've said my say so now I'll let you guys battle it out over PMC's and iPod photo or U2 iPod.

"Firstly, the competition DOES have better products. There are products out there with video support, radio support, video support, products with flash based storage (I myself only listen to a little music most of the time - so don't need GB of storage), to name but a few - there are plenty of products that are technically superior, on paper, to the iPod." It's all relative. For one, you mention video twice. Most implementations of video so far have poor screens with bulky cases. Also, most users don't have Media Centers to get content to them. You mention radio and most players with radios have poor tuners. Most of these devices have inept and confusing UIs. Apple creates a focused simple product. Sometimes less features are more desireable than more features. Consider a car: are the best cars automatically the ones with the most features? No. "Of course, these products don't have the same momentum as the iPod because the iPod is cool and has (duh) style." Keep repeating this. I love it. For one, you acknowledge it is cool (implying the others aren't), but also act as if this is not a good selling point and/or one that doesn't appeal to you. Whatever. It is a real selling point, and somehow, despite over 3 three years of copying, no one else has gotten close to it. And style. Same applies. But you are clearly missing something: the iPod has other advantages. It is focused on what is does and it does it the best. It can offer other features and not compromise its UI or form factor. Can you name another device that has games, contacts, calendars, photos, and other apps developed by thrid parties? Some times a focused, simple product is better than one that bundles the kitchen sink. "This won't keep the iPod gravey train going forever though. More and more long-established players are going to want a piece of the market, and you can bet that they'll be willing to pour ALLOT of cash into products with better design, better features, or cheaper, or a combination of the above." Who? Dell has been trying for over two years. Sony is completely lost. Who are these bigger players that can do it better? Who can throw more money at this than Apple? Dell isn't going to spend the marketing money that Apple has. Dell isn't even going to spend the money HP has. Also, hasn't this already been achieved? You said there are better players that are cheaper. They've existed for YEARS now. They are still losing. "WOULD BE, but for the fact that Apple are going to keep on making the iPod better and better right? Well, if the iPod photo is the 'norm' for Apple's 'innovative' improvements that we should be getting used to, then sorry, - but uninspiring is DEFINATELY the word here." You are ignoring a lot here. First off, the high end has color, numerous features, and 6x the capacity of the original iPod offered at the same price. Apple is dominating the market, and I mean DOMINATING. They account for 92% of America's HD market, and over 60% of the overall US market. If they introduce a flash player, they will have the market covered from bottom to top. But most importantly, who is going to produce an integrated jukebox, store, and app. Who is going to produce a standard dock connector that is going to get buy-in from Bose, JBL, Belkin, Alpine, BMW, and others. Who is going to produce an SDK for the player app and device to develop other applications? Who else is going to foster an ecosystem of hundreds of cases and peripherals? Apple is leading in many more ways then you've considered. No one has the complete solution in the same way as they do. No one else has developed a third-party ecosystem of apps, peripherals, and connectors. "Secondly, the PMC hasn't got the market share for many reasons, first, the product may have been out for a while - but not a long while, and the product will take time before the price comes down into most people's price range. Second, the market is getting more and more crowded as competitors try to steal share from the iPod, so the PMC isn't suddenly going to dazzle us all with double figure percentage-share any time soon." First, they are only slightly more expensive than mp3 players. Cost isn't the issue. The issue is: people aren't subscribing to video content yet, people aren't buying Media Centers to record content yet, adn they are bulky devices that are only useful 2% of a person's down time. As for market segmentation, EXACTLY. Same with music players. Clearly Creative and iRiver are the next best, but they only account for 22% of the total market. And that's while producing tons of different models. Higher costs to create product differentiation and the differentiation plays against them... even being the biggest. How long will my device be supported? Will it be nonstandard in a year? There is no room to create a third-party ecosystem around Creative and iRiver's devices. And the same is true of PMCs. There is no distinction and lasting branding... One year it'll be the YP-100MXP, the next year the MC-999XYT. Who cares? Who thinks these are lasting products. And I haven't even mentioned the Dell's and Samsung's and 300 different other manufacturers. Why would I buy from them? Are they going to be making the device in 2 years? Are they going to support it? Are they even going to exist? That's a big problem. "Meanwhile the competition is not only on a totally different platform, but is working on players to suit all sorts of different people, which a wide range of varying features, capacitys and prices." And despite being able to cater to every type of user, despite being cheaper, despite having more features, despite having 300 different manufacturers, not a single one has been able to connect with the audience at remotely the same level as Apple has in over three years.

"Firstly, the competition DOES have better products. There are products out there with video support, radio support, video support, products with flash based storage (I myself only listen to a little music most of the time - so don't need GB of storage), to name but a few - there are plenty of products that are technically superior, on paper, to the iPod." It's all relative. For one, you mention video twice. Most implementations of video so far have poor screens with bulky cases. Also, most users don't have Media Centers to get content to them. You mention radio and most players with radios have poor tuners. Most of these devices have inept and confusing UIs. Apple creates a focused simple product. Sometimes less features are more desireable than more features. Consider a car: are the best cars automatically the ones with the most features? No. "Of course, these products don't have the same momentum as the iPod because the iPod is cool and has (duh) style." Keep repeating this. I love it. For one, you acknowledge it is cool (implying the others aren't), but also act as if this is not a good selling point and/or one that doesn't appeal to you. Whatever. It is a real selling point, and somehow, despite over 3 three years of copying, no one else has gotten close to it. And style. Same applies. But you are clearly missing something: the iPod has other advantages. It is focused on what is does and it does it the best. It can offer other features and not compromise its UI or form factor. Can you name another device that has games, contacts, calendars, photos, and other apps developed by thrid parties? Some times a focused, simple product is better than one that bundles the kitchen sink. "This won't keep the iPod gravey train going forever though. More and more long-established players are going to want a piece of the market, and you can bet that they'll be willing to pour ALLOT of cash into products with better design, better features, or cheaper, or a combination of the above." Who? Dell has been trying for over two years. Sony is completely lost. Who are these bigger players that can do it better? Who can throw more money at this than Apple? Dell isn't going to spend the marketing money that Apple has. Dell isn't even going to spend the money HP has. Also, hasn't this already been achieved? You said there are better players that are cheaper. They've existed for YEARS now. They are still losing. "WOULD BE, but for the fact that Apple are going to keep on making the iPod better and better right? Well, if the iPod photo is the 'norm' for Apple's 'innovative' improvements that we should be getting used to, then sorry, - but uninspiring is DEFINATELY the word here." You are ignoring a lot here. First off, the high end has color, numerous features, and 6x the capacity of the original iPod offered at the same price. Apple is dominating the market, and I mean DOMINATING. They account for 92% of America's HD market, and over 60% of the overall US market. If they introduce a flash player, they will have the market covered from bottom to top. But most importantly, who is going to produce an integrated jukebox, store, and app. Who is going to produce a standard dock connector that is going to get buy-in from Bose, JBL, Belkin, Alpine, BMW, and others. Who is going to produce an SDK for the player app and device to develop other applications? Who else is going to foster an ecosystem of hundreds of cases and peripherals? Apple is leading in many more ways then you've considered. No one has the complete solution in the same way as they do. No one else has developed a third-party ecosystem of apps, peripherals, and connectors. "Secondly, the PMC hasn't got the market share for many reasons, first, the product may have been out for a while - but not a long while, and the product will take time before the price comes down into most people's price range. Second, the market is getting more and more crowded as competitors try to steal share from the iPod, so the PMC isn't suddenly going to dazzle us all with double figure percentage-share any time soon." First, they are only slightly more expensive than mp3 players. Cost isn't the issue. The issue is: people aren't subscribing to video content yet, people aren't buying Media Centers to record content yet, adn they are bulky devices that are only useful 2% of a person's down time. As for market segmentation, EXACTLY. Same with music players. Clearly Creative and iRiver are the next best, but they only account for 22% of the total market. And that's while producing tons of different models. Higher costs to create product differentiation and the differentiation plays against them... even being the biggest. How long will my device be supported? Will it be nonstandard in a year? There is no room to create a third-party ecosystem around Creative and iRiver's devices. And the same is true of PMCs. There is no distinction and lasting branding... One year it'll be the YP-100MXP, the next year the MC-999XYT. Who cares? Who thinks these are lasting products. And I haven't even mentioned the Dell's and Samsung's and 300 different other manufacturers. Why would I buy from them? Are they going to be making the device in 2 years? Are they going to support it? Are they even going to exist? That's a big problem. "Meanwhile the competition is not only on a totally different platform, but is working on players to suit all sorts of different people, which a wide range of varying features, capacitys and prices." And despite being able to cater to every type of user, despite being cheaper, despite having more features, despite having 300 different manufacturers, not a single one has been able to connect with the audience at remotely the same level as Apple has in over three years.

"Firstly, the competition DOES have better products. There are products out there with video support, radio support, video support, products with flash based storage (I myself only listen to a little music most of the time - so don't need GB of storage), to name but a few - there are plenty of products that are technically superior, on paper, to the iPod." It's all relative. For one, you mention video twice. Most implementations of video so far have poor screens with bulky cases. Also, most users don't have Media Centers to get content to them. You mention radio and most players with radios have poor tuners. Most of these devices have inept and confusing UIs. Apple creates a focused simple product. Sometimes less features are more desireable than more features. Consider a car: are the best cars automatically the ones with the most features? No. "Of course, these products don't have the same momentum as the iPod because the iPod is cool and has (duh) style." Keep repeating this. I love it. For one, you acknowledge it is cool (implying the others aren't), but also act as if this is not a good selling point and/or one that doesn't appeal to you. Whatever. It is a real selling point, and somehow, despite over 3 three years of copying, no one else has gotten close to it. And style. Same applies. But you are clearly missing something: the iPod has other advantages. It is focused on what is does and it does it the best. It can offer other features and not compromise its UI or form factor. Can you name another device that has games, contacts, calendars, photos, and other apps developed by thrid parties? Some times a focused, simple product is better than one that bundles the kitchen sink. "This won't keep the iPod gravey train going forever though. More and more long-established players are going to want a piece of the market, and you can bet that they'll be willing to pour ALLOT of cash into products with better design, better features, or cheaper, or a combination of the above." Who? Dell has been trying for over two years. Sony is completely lost. Who are these bigger players that can do it better? Who can throw more money at this than Apple? Dell isn't going to spend the marketing money that Apple has. Dell isn't even going to spend the money HP has. Also, hasn't this already been achieved? You said there are better players that are cheaper. They've existed for YEARS now. They are still losing. "WOULD BE, but for the fact that Apple are going to keep on making the iPod better and better right? Well, if the iPod photo is the 'norm' for Apple's 'innovative' improvements that we should be getting used to, then sorry, - but uninspiring is DEFINATELY the word here." You are ignoring a lot here. First off, the high end has color, numerous features, and 6x the capacity of the original iPod offered at the same price. Apple is dominating the market, and I mean DOMINATING. They account for 92% of America's HD market, and over 60% of the overall US market. If they introduce a flash player, they will have the market covered from bottom to top. But most importantly, who is going to produce an integrated jukebox, store, and app. Who is going to produce a standard dock connector that is going to get buy-in from Bose, JBL, Belkin, Alpine, BMW, and others. Who is going to produce an SDK for the player app and device to develop other applications? Who else is going to foster an ecosystem of hundreds of cases and peripherals? Apple is leading in many more ways then you've considered. No one has the complete solution in the same way as they do. No one else has developed a third-party ecosystem of apps, peripherals, and connectors. "Secondly, the PMC hasn't got the market share for many reasons, first, the product may have been out for a while - but not a long while, and the product will take time before the price comes down into most people's price range. Second, the market is getting more and more crowded as competitors try to steal share from the iPod, so the PMC isn't suddenly going to dazzle us all with double figure percentage-share any time soon." First, they are only slightly more expensive than mp3 players. Cost isn't the issue. The issue is: people aren't subscribing to video content yet, people aren't buying Media Centers to record content yet, adn they are bulky devices that are only useful 2% of a person's down time. As for market segmentation, EXACTLY. Same with music players. Clearly Creative and iRiver are the next best, but they only account for 22% of the total market. And that's while producing tons of different models. Higher costs to create product differentiation and the differentiation plays against them... even being the biggest. How long will my device be supported? Will it be nonstandard in a year? There is no room to create a third-party ecosystem around Creative and iRiver's devices. And the same is true of PMCs. There is no distinction and lasting branding... One year it'll be the YP-100MXP, the next year the MC-999XYT. Who cares? Who thinks these are lasting products. And I haven't even mentioned the Dell's and Samsung's and 300 different other manufacturers. Why would I buy from them? Are they going to be making the device in 2 years? Are they going to support it? Are they even going to exist? That's a big problem. "Meanwhile the competition is not only on a totally different platform, but is working on players to suit all sorts of different people, which a wide range of varying features, capacitys and prices." And despite being able to cater to every type of user, despite being cheaper, despite having more features, despite having 300 different manufacturers, not a single one has been able to connect with the audience at remotely the same level as Apple has in over three years.

"What does that have to do with the iPod and the MP3 market and journalistic integrity?" It was simply brought up before. I was just stating that Dell and its PC sales don't need to worry about something like a portable media device. "Second, if you take digital photos as you travel about, you've now got a convenient alternative to carrying around a laptop." You do realize that most, if not all, digital cameras can view its own photos, right? There are digital cameras that are just as small as the iPod and they can show pictures too. You can even upload photos onto a memory stick or other type of portable storage and get the same thing. Apple is introducing something that Sony, Canon, and other camera companies have been doing for years. Except you can't take pictures with the iPod.

I agree that the U2 ipod is stupid, but that doesn't stop your article from being a piece of worthless flamebait.

"Firstly, the competition DOES have better products." If feature count, specs and price are your measure, maybe. If ease of use and quality of overall experience matters most, sorry, you are WRONG. Check out the new Walt Mossberg, WSJ review of the iPod mini competitors. Again, the competition fails. AGAIN

YAY! Someone ripping my post apart again! :) The car comparison is irrelavant. If you look at a range of cars from a features standpoint, you get more features as you go up the range, catering for people who are prepared to pay more for the 'luxary extras'. If your claiming that no-one wants 'extras' in a digital music player, then your ignoring the users that would be comparable to executive car users. Some people want more, some people want less. Of course the coolness factor is a selling point. I've not said it isn't - i've just said you can't rely on it forever without overhauling the product line to keep things fresh, and the photo feature isn't exaclty a major improvement that will really keep things fresh. You keep banging on about third party ecosystem as if it's somehow really important. The third part products only crop up when said third partys know their is a long-running bandwagon to jump on. Take for example, digital cameras. Other than the obvious consumable that is media, there are all sorts of different third party products that could spring up if there was one, massively dominant digital camera on the market, that was going to stick around for ages. This isn't the case, but digital cameras don't suffer from it because the manufacturer often produces a variety of accesories for the product anyway. It's the same with digital media players - these third party products don't make or break a product. If I buy a music player - I might want some accessories with it - and If they are important to me I'll check to see if the manufacturer produces them in advance - but otherwise it's not a big factor. You also keep banging on about how the competition hasn't made a dent. I never said that the competition has made a dent. What I've been TRYING to say is that they WILL make dents in the FUTURE. As for the argument over whether the products are going to still be 'available' or 'supported' well, we're talking about consumer electronics here. Products are designed, produced, and then after a while go EOL - happens with all sorts of products, DVD players, TVs, printers, scanners, digital cameras. Products going EOL isn't important as long as the consumer doesn't face annoying compatibility problems if they buy a new model. As for support well, those manufacturers that don't support their products well and don't fix problems will/should just loose out in a competetive marketplace. All I'm trying to say, is that the iPod's big selling point over other manufacturers is it's style and coolness - giving it a momentum in the market that you just can't buy. Momentum runs out, coolness goes out of fashion, and sooner or later you have to come up with something newer, and fresher to keep that momentum going. If Apple don't, the competition will _in the future_ steal big market share - as they allready have the other ingredients (including ease of use and elegance for some of the better players IMHO) sorted. If Apple do keep things fresh, then of course, the iPod will stay the majorly dominant force for some time, but the iPod photo enhancement is not a major improvement - and can't go a very long way to keeping that market momentum.

Correct Hed should read: Paul Thurrott Releases Uninspiring Inacurate iPod/Apple Article on windowsitpro.com. Come on, you call this journalism? Actually sounds more boring MS dribble to get a few page counts from Mac faithful to meet your monthly pathetic banner ad quotas. If Apple and the iPod are such a loser bunch why in gods name do you continue to write about them? Lol, Paul why don't YOU try to actually create something, or better yet take a few classes on how to produce truthful/accurate articles. Here, i'll help you out, please start with: http://www.journalism.org/resources/tools/reporting/accuracy/default.asp Some people must really like to waste what little time we have on this planet with such foolish dribble, now where is my remote control ;-)

<< "Don't you guys get it by now? Paul only writes his "commentary" to raise hit counts. He gets increased hits from Apple users who he angers and Windows apologists who will read anything negative about Apple so they can regurtitate it the next time they have to defend their inferior technology choices." >> well said! However, it is fun to watch MSFT and Dull Dell share holders sit sadly in the gutter while Apple Computer AAPL holders zoom by on the way to the bank... What goes around,comes around. Payback is a bitch, billy. Ha, ha, ha... hee, hee, hee... xklbrr

I have taken dumps that read better then what you just wrote. Paul, you suck.

"The car comparison is irrelavant. If you look at a range of cars from a features standpoint, you get more features as you go up the range, catering for people who are prepared to pay more for the 'luxary extras'." No, it isn't. Price and features aren't always connected. Some higher end cars have fewer luxury items. Some low end cars have lots of extras. Consider for example the mini: sparse features, big appeal. Consider numerous sports cars that minimize the luxury features, etc... " If your claiming that no-one wants 'extras' in a digital music player, then your ignoring the users that would be comparable to executive car users. Some people want more, some people want less." No, I never said people don't want more. I believe the vast majority of users prefer the simple focsued solution, but I hadn't made a big point of it. However, I did want you to acknowledge that many people want fewer features done better rather than more features done poorly. You've been skirting around that, but obviously people do prefer the iPod. "Of course the coolness factor is a selling point. I've not said it isn't - i've just said you can't rely on it forever without overhauling the product line to keep things fresh" Two things: why can't Apple maintain the cool factor. Arguing against the cool factor requires that you point to some evidence that they will lose it. They have updated the iPod 4 times in 3 years and have differentiated the product line with the Mini, regular, and Photo, with possibly a Flash version coming soon. Secondly, suggesting that Apple will lose this factor and other companies will gain it requires evidence that other companies will gain it. Show me. Point to a company. Sony is certainly not getting it. Creative and iRiver have zero ad budget.... or at least a miniscule one in comparison to Apple. Who is going to become "cool"? "You keep banging on about third party ecosystem as if it's somehow really important. The third part products only crop up when said third partys know their is a long-running bandwagon to jump on." The Music Player market is going to disappear? Of course, there is a long standing market. All the extra features you talk about aren't desireable to all, but can be added by all to the iPod if they desire it. Of course, music players will need to interface with home networks, cars, stereos, voice recorders, cameras, media readers, headphones, microphones, battery chargers, car adaptors, radio transmitters, etc... Of course, these devices "need" cases and peripherals. The third party market isn't going away. This market IS REALLY important!... I haven't even mentioned apps yet... "Take for example, digital cameras. Other than the obvious consumable that is media, there are all sorts of different third party products that could spring up if there was one, massively dominant digital camera on the market, that was going to stick around for ages." I disagree. What peripherals? Lenses, media, and media connectors. Lenses are proprietary... Media and media connectors are standardized and are available. Cases and other niceties are subject to the manufacturers design whims and generally don't develop into a market because of rapid change. This is the limitation of the many, many devices not produced by Apple, but Apple has the advantage: the devices are numerous and standard so there are hudnreds of manufacturers of these peripherals. "This isn't the case, but digital cameras don't suffer from it because the manufacturer often produces a variety of accesories for the product anyway." Exactly, it is not the case. And secondly, who produces Creative or iRiver or Samsung or Dell DJ peripherals? Not many if any at all. And, yes, they don't produce an ecosystem... they are forced to produce the peripherals themselves if they want to. "It's the same with digital media players - these third party products don't make or break a product. If I buy a music player - I might want some accessories with it - and If they are important to me I'll check to see if the manufacturer produces them in advance - but otherwise it's not a big factor." This is your opinion. I would disagree. I'm sure the fact that people can find hundreds of different cases, 5 different docks, 5 different speaker systems, 30 different car adaptors, an Alpine interface, a BMW interface, and numerous useful accesories like voice recorders and media readers and FM transmitters quite useful and appealing. "You also keep banging on about how the competition hasn't made a dent. I never said that the competition has made a dent. What I've been TRYING to say is that they WILL make dents in the FUTURE." I'm "banging my head" because you've provided ZERO evidence of this. By your logic, Creative and iRiver have been ahead of Apple for over a year, Apple's success continues to grow. Where is the evidence that others will make a dent? So far, all I see is more and more players getting in the market, making it more difficult for anything to survive but the iPod. Hell, Creative and iRiver have so many devices their competing with themselves, never mind the 200 other manufacturers. You have no basis for saying that others "definitely" WILL eat into the iPod without any evidence. And you have ZERO evidence of this. "As for the argument over whether the products are going to still be 'available' or 'supported' well, we're talking about consumer electronics here. Products are designed, produced, and then after a while go EOL - happens with all sorts of products, DVD players, TVs, printers, scanners, digital cameras. Products going EOL isn't important as long as the consumer doesn't face annoying compatibility problems if they buy a new model." And there are compatibility problems. There is no way to produce a hardware peripheral for any of these devices unless it is USB dependent only. Apple has a standard dock connector that companies like Alpine, BMW, Belkin, Bose, JBL, and others are developing off of. All of the devices you mentioned DO have established standards: DVD players, TVs, printers, scanners, cameras (less so). These competing products up against Apple do not when you discuss anything interesting in terms of connectivity and device support. "All I'm trying to say, is that the iPod's big selling point over other manufacturers is it's style and coolness - giving it a momentum in the market that you just can't buy." And I'm telling you there is more than that. "Momentum runs out, coolness goes out of fashion, and sooner or later you have to come up with something newer, and fresher to keep that momentum going." You have shown NO EVIDENCE that the momentum is running out, that the coolness is disappearing, that something newer and better will replace it (hell, part of your argument is that there are things already that are cooler and better), and you haven't explained why Apple can't keep progressing. "If Apple don't, the competition will _in the future_ steal big market share - as they allready have the other ingredients (including ease of use and elegance for some of the better players IMHO) sorted." Again, why will Apple stop? Provide a logical argument or evidence. Why "WILL" the competition steal marketshare? Provide a logical argument or evidence. Please reconcile the inherent conflict in saying that they are already being beaten on ease of use and elegance (and I'll throw in price) yet all others are losing.

"All I'm trying to say, is that the iPod's big selling point over other manufacturers is it's style and coolness - giving it a momentum in the market that you just can't buy. Momentum runs out, coolness goes out of fashion, and sooner or later you have to come up with something newer, and fresher to keep that momentum going. If Apple don't, the competition will _in the future_ steal big market share - as they allready have the other ingredients (including ease of use and elegance for some of the better players IMHO) sorted." Your HO is off-base. They aren't as easy and elegant, for lots of reasons but let's take just one: no scroll wheel. It's patented, so they are out of luck. Beyond that, no one else makes the whole package: portable player, jukebox software, online store, and airport express type device. One provider means more consistent experience, fewer glitches, faster innovation. Again, read the WSJ report on the iPod mini competitors. There were glitches transfering songs. So much for "Plays For Sure."

i find paul underwhelming. his religious downplaying of apple accomplishments seriously dents his credibility in my opinion. i am still wondering why i wasted my time reading his incoherent drivel.

Its sad when I have to look at all these ugly Dell Notebooks on campus, being used by people who don't know better but only bought the Wintel crap because they can't afford a Mac. So then why is it so expensive? Because they're worth it. And $999 for a brand new iBook is not at all expensive for most students with an Educational Discount price.... Same goes for the iPod. It is the epitome of coolness. Its beyond cool, its more than a fashion statement, its a jewelery, its a necessity, like a cellphone, an avantgarde tech device thats slowly taking over the world by storm. And people are finally noticing. 1. Uber-neutralness of the iPod makes it appealing to a lot of people 2. Size 3. Size in Storage 4. Color factor (Stunningly white, ever so fashionable color) 5. Form factor- Is it anyways possible, ANYWAYS possible for any company other than Apple to come up with a design like they did with the iPod? Not in the next 100 years. 6. Third Party Products- Are they dumb? All those companies are making money and going public BECAUSE of the iPod. It was a wise decision to go with Apple, and it was a very money making decision too. 7. BMW? Why do you think one of the oldest and greatest German car makers went together with Apple's iPod? Because its the best time of the day for those who drive their BMW, and its the best time of the day for those who listen to their iPods. Combination = Magic 8. Is it no wonder that a multi-continental band like U2 co-joins with iPod? Madonna? P Diddy? Why would they do that? Would they ever go with a hideous Creative Monster? Never. 9. Reason for 2 Million iPods sold last quarter? People are seeing the value of the iPod. The superiority it holds over the rest of junk in the MP3 market. Of course it holds 90% of the market, I'm not even sure about that actually, isn't it more like 100? Soon as the iPod micro comes out with the flash, MP3 market will be iPodominated. And precisely what Jobs wants. Well earned prize. 10. Apple Shareholders are screaming. Go figure. 11. Innovation by Steve Jobs, this man is a consumer's CEO. He gets paid $1 a year (plus his Gulfstream and Stocks, which he so well deserves), and he is always talking to masses. Keynote presentations, conferences...when was the last time you say Gates on a stage with a major band? 12. Sony fails, Creative sux, Dell can't make, No body is in the competition. Look what Hewlett-Packard did. They thought better of trying to imitate iPod, and instead went on to SELL the iPods themselves. Now thats when you know, thats when you KNOW, that there's something up with this product. I mean, what would you say if Mercedes started to sell the BMWs themselves? You'd say that BMW must be the greatest car ever made! And of course, the iPod is the greatest MP3 ever made. All thanx to the wonderful team at Cupertino, Calif, headed by our Great Leader, Steven Paul Jobs. Hail Apple! (Comments on new releases: Not happy with the way they increased thickness of the 40GB Photo iPod, not AT ALL impressed with the way they increased price to $500. However, impressed with U2 version of iPod, I was preparing for the worst. ;) No matter, I will be buying the iPod Photo soon.)

Paul, next time why don't you take a blank sheet of paper and spurt your jizz all over it and post it up on the net as a tech article. It will be about as interesting.

I just blew huge fart that was much more enjoyable then reading this tripe.

Another Turdrott mind fart.

You really are a geek. You just don't get it! The reason why the iPod has done so well is because it is a simple device which 90% of the population gets. The Microsoft Media PCs are overly complicated in comparison; people don't want PCs in their living room and my $200 Sky+ box does enough of what I need out of a PVR. As with Windows XP, Microsoft provide overly complicated human interface and gadgets. I have been involved with PCs since 1986 and Macs from 2002. Mac OSX is a simple to use interface whilst Windows XP is a mass of confusion. Back to the PhotoiPod - It is obvious to me that Apple have carefully evaluated the markets and come up with an iPod which can display photos on it's small screen and on a TV. You talk about the Microsoft variants with a slightly bigger screen. So what! I use my Windows laptop or my Powerbook to view movies not tiny screens. It never took off in smart phones or PDAs so what the hell makes you think it will work in these new devices. Microsoft try to create markets simply because they have the might to pull together the industry to it's way of thinking instead of listening to consumers.

Thurotard. You suck ass

In other news, President Bush claims John Kerry's latest speech is uninspiring, and that he never liked Bruce Springsteen. He also states criticism of the administration's failure to secure 380tons of high explosives is a criticism of our troops. The troops reply: "Yeah, whatever. Can we have reinforcements, or at least some body armor now, Mr. President?" People around the nation fail to hear Mr. Bush's words, as they are all grooving to their iPods.

Me thinks someone has Apple envy and can't stand the fact that Apple has once again shown it's creative ways. Why else would everyone else being scrambling to catch up..Guess you'll have to live with it!!!

Has anyone noted the for extra $50 you not only get a black iPod but every song U2 has ever recorded? That's about 12 cents a song.

"Has anyone noted the for extra $50 you not only get a black iPod but every song U2 has ever recorded? That's about 12 cents a song." No, you don't. For an extra $50, you get a %50 gift certificate towards the Box Set which costs $149.

So many people get it so wrong: iPod Photo is just an updated iPod with a colour screen and the ability to do basic photo stuff. You're not impressed by the photo thing? Don't use it. Some day you will, or not. A lot of people will. And that's because Apple made it right. The concept is RIGHT: Make the iPod a carrier of your photo library. Make use of that library on someone's TV. Simple as that. Personally, I don't care about the photo ability at the moment. I'm happy about the bigger hard drive, the better battery life (15 hours!!!) and the colour screen which will now let me view album art. I think the iPod is so cool because it really is a music player, and as such it is the absolutely best music player as well.. but it also a hard drive where I keep my system backups and other important stuff. It's just there as a real hard drive, made for real hard drive use. That's added value! Synching with calendar - added value! With this new photo capability, the way to look at it should be the same. An addition of a simple but very USEFUL function that could change every day life for a lot of people. OK, that was a little drastic... but what do we do with all our digital photos? There is always an obstacle involved in viewing digital photos in a relaxed manner... this can actually change that. Or we can forget about it and just listen to more music for a longer time without recharging and view everything in colour, including the graphic art. Nothing wrong with that..

I find it strange you compare the iPod Photo to Windows Media Center. Windows Media Center is PC software, not a portable media device. If you want to compare Media Center's photo/slideshow functionality, you should compare it to Apple's iPhoto, which came out in late 2001 or early 2002, I believe. Overall, I believe the iLife suite is superior to the Media Center bundle, and you can run it without buying a high-end PC. The only thing missing is PVR/TV functions, which aren't deal-breakers. Concerning the "crippled" U2 iPod... how do you feel it is "crippled"? Maybe you don't like the color or the extra $50 for a "U2" iPod, but I'm sure there are some people that will pay extra for something like that. Look at how many special editions of video games that offer very little above the basic game are sold! I am kind of surprised by this article, but now that I've found a link to your blog, I'm not surprised by it at all.

Hey ... music is a sphere for fan(atic)s ... autographs, special editions (colors et al), music collections from favorite bands or eras (ie verve story sort of thingies) are as much (if not more) value adders for music lovers as are technology and ergonomics!! Marketing wise and customer (read fan) wise, doing music tech like this is pretty smart! Wait until u see a bob dylan ipodPhoto with full dylan catalog, and photos (album cover, tours, backstage, unreleased, and other) ... you get the picture music and photos are not (just) about technology ... they are to be experienced cheers

[OT] my son recently bought an iPod with some money he earned over the holidays and the shop assistant called it a Microsoft iPod! We looked at him a bit funny but decided not to clue him in.

"So many people get it so wrong: iPod Photo is just an updated iPod with a colour screen..." Yes! (to your whole post) It will be kind of cool to be able to watch slide shows on TV using the iPod as a sort of remote. Or plug it into an LCD picture frame when its in the dock and just get it to put on a slide show of all those photos we never seem to get around to ever looking at.

Wow, you Apple fans are so easy to dupe into sending flames to anybody writing negative comments about your beloved products. Just like dangling a carrot in front of a mindless rabbit... Go ahead an flame me now.

Wow, you Apple fans are so easy to dupe into sending flames to anybody writing negative comments about your beloved products. Just like dangling a carrot in front of a mindless rabbit... Go ahead an flame me now.

Dog drive!

SmallMindedGuy says:"There are products out there with video support, radio support, video support, products with flash based storage" YEAH, just no SALES SUPPORT. HeHe! Also-rans. Boring, dull, confusing, eeech.

"What advances from the M$ camp? WMP music players? " Um, for starters, there's the iRiver iHP-3xx series. It supports many audio formats (mp3, WMA, Ogg), has a color display with PHOTO support (sound familiar)? And comes in 20GB and 40GB sizes for less than the iPod. And it has a 16+ hour battery. The best *music* player on the market now, in my opinion, is the Rio Carbon. It's a 5GB player, smaller than the iPod Mini, supports more/better formats, has a more comfortable feel and slips much more easily into your pocket. It has higher audio quality, a 24 hour battery (Rio says 20 conservatively), and looks hot.

i like pizza with buffalo mozarella. sometimes my b00bs hurt when i wake up in the morning. BU$H is the greatest wordsmith! I'm going to pet my goatbear now. Goodnight

b1lly gates is so satanic. he has a fiery red muff dangling from his rich chins and 666 tatooed on his head sprouting out of his apple-computer designed mind. intel inside... pentium MMMMMX.

Vulnerability in Microsoft Excel Could Allow Remote Code Execution (886836) Issued: October 12, 2004 Version: 1.0 Vulnerability in Microsoft Excel Could Allow Code Remote Execution Who should read this document: Customers who use Microsoft Excel 2000, Microsoft Excel 2002, Microsoft Excel 2001 for Mac, or Microsoft Excel v. X for Mac Impact of Vulnerability:  Remote Code Execution Maximum Severity Rating: Critical

Man, You guys are harsh! :) The iPod U2 Special Edition was reported on New Zealand TV as coming preloaded with the U2 backcatalog. Is this not the case? I also have to question the rational of the included gift certificate. Surely if you are a U2 fan (must be a few out there) then you will already own most of their tracks on CD? And if not, it must be cheaper to go down to K-Mart and buy their CD's from the bargain bin? But good on Apple for trying something a little different, here's hoping their next release is an iPod Photo Hustler Special Edition. ;) And why couldn't the headphone be red to go with the scroll wheel? In central London earlier this year muggers alarmingly began targeting citizens with white headphones on. Perhaps black aint all that bad an idea. I enjoy reading Paul's articles, have done for the past five years. Keep going Paul.

If Paulie was accurate in his reporting, then possibly his opinion could be believable. But his article has so many easy-to-check errors, you'd have to believe he didn't do any research and just wrote this article because he hates Apple. Article gets a zero.

10 months after the iPod mini was introduced, Walt Mossberg still thinks the iPod beats the Rio Carbon - see ptech.wsj.com. And Walt's much more objective than Paulie and he actually has tested the product. Remember it's not the features alone that count; it's how usable it really is.

There has been no dock included with the regular white 20GB iPod since they lowered the price to $299. That's been true now for three months. Where's Paul been? So the U2 iPod is not crippled. And it does not cost more as you get the $50-off coupon for the Collection. Just check your facts before you write. Then you could write whatever opinion you want. But admit it, when your predictions are wrong. Which, by the way, NPD says that the iPod mini is about 33% of the iPod sales. Which given that the iPod is 65%, means that the iPod mini is about 22%. So Paul, your continued prediction that the iPod mini isn't selling well is WRONG.

The iPod Photo and U2 iPod are not intended to be groundbreaking; they are simply enhancements to the line-up. I agree with Jobs that MOST people are not interested in watching video on a portable device; portable DVD players have been around for years- ever seen anyone USING one? I own a 1st gen iPod and the iPod Photo is the product I've been waiting for.

MLomasIcomm, Do you read anything that Walt Mossberg writes? Being cool doesn't matter to him. Having something that works intuitively and simply does. He's objective: he slammed Apple's Airport Express for a lack of remote control and he was right. But he has yet to find anything better than an iPod. Do you realize how long these other "technically superior" products (with more features that you're touting) have existed on the market? They were there before the iPod was cool, before it was a cultural icon, before it was available for the PC. But they didn't sell then, and don't sell well now. Not even Dell's prowess could help them.

Why would I register on this site and give him any of my info, which he'd just use to spam me...

MLomasIcomm: Don't mean this to be demeaning, but just wanted to let you know that Apple, as a company, should be referred to as singular, not plural. So it should be Apple does, not Apple do. Apple is, not Apple are. Hope this helps you to speak English properly in the future.

What a tool.

Just to add more to the bull crap, this website is review many different protable music players, calling them "iPod Killers for Christams." Y'all should check it out. http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/2004/xmasplayers.html

This site is sloooooooow. It MUST run on a Windows server.

ow, you sorry retard, did you realize that iphoto and itunes were released years ago? or did you just notice these now? wow, guess all those burgers went to your head, fat man.

You folks are paying to much attention to this guy. It's obvious that he's biased. No matter what Apple turns out, he's allways disapointed and knows for sure that MS a far better alternative or is working on one right at this moment. It's a waste of time.

This article would have maybe 10 comments if it wasn't linked on macsurfer.com. Paul's opinion might be worth considering if he got his facts right. I wonder if he's this inaccurate when writing about M$? Eh, probably so... how else could he find positive stuff to say about 'em? PS Buck Fush!

I'd like to see an intelligent article on this subject, and a review, NOT JUST OPINION TRYING TO PASS ITSELF OFF AS JOURNALISM ... I realize you have columns to write Paul, but how about getting an iPod Photo and checking out the screen and the new features before writing it off(?) This opinion piece seems rather ill-informed to say the least. Because you seem sold on the Creative Zen Portable Media Center, you could do an in depth review of both including hooking the devices up to play back on televisions - I've heard that the Zen sucks in this regard ... rather than read more CRAP, it would be nice to see an actual comparison.

If you're not optimistic about the prospects of the iPod photo you simply haven't thought it through. What made the home video market take off? Porn. What brought the interned into homes? Porn. What make digital cameras so compelling? Do it yourself porn. What do Windows people do all day long on their computers? Download porn. The iPod Photo will let you keep your entire porn collection in your pocket! Apple will sell a gazillion of these things.

If it's uninspiring, why cover it with an article? It is clear theat Mr. Thurrott does not understand why 2-5% of IT buyers choose not to follow the M$ sheep Overall, a poor article. PS: I saw a longhorn preview video touting how wonderful the Graphical compositing system is, and yes, that's been in OS X for years now...

I remember 2 things from this article: - microsoft invented the slideshow - the iPod wants to be a Portable Media Center-killer can it get any funnier? and about the specs being totally wrong and the features he 'forgot': great 'journalism' Paul.

Come on PPl... Mac is just an OS and so is Windows... as far as ease of use and user experience goes... I find XP's experience to be really marvellous and the app database for the same to be nothing short of incredible... And I quite agree with Paul's rating of the iPod. no matter how hurt the mac fans may feel, the new upgrades are jus tnot worth the money (especially considering the non colour offerings). not worth the extra $) regs...

Come on , Paul. We know you can troll better than this!

Paul is always right. Narcissistic to the soul. Did you guys know he was the first to have DSL in America? Shut your cake hole Paul and stick to what you know. Construction.

Paul Your ignorance on this subject is deafening The old Apple news templates of the 90's no longer apply paul -

Paul it's not the cool folks at apple fault that no one will suck your dick!!! Sick to writing on PC products cause those users can relate to you.

I really had no interest in this article, since I have a MP3 player that I have no interest in upgrading anytime soon, but I wanted to see the so-called iPodophiles reaction to such a blasphemous statement of "uninspiring" to describe their precious devices. And sure enough, it is funny to see all of these comments about a simple box that plays music. People, it is only an MP3 player. I'll plug along with my mortal MP3 player, and use the demon-seed operating system known as Windows, thank you very much. All I have to say is, lighten up people!

As usual, Paul gets almost everything wrong. Let's take a look, shall we? "In a bid to fend off advances from the Microsoft camp...." That's opinion, not news. "Yeah, these releases aren't that inspiring. The reality of the long-expected iPod Photo was far less impressive than the mock-ups fan sites had created in the days leading up to the launch, featuring the standard but tiny 2-inch screen that adorns other iPods." Again, opinion. Isn't this a news site? "By comparison, the Creative Zen Portable Media Center,,,also gets dramatically better battery life." Not true. According to Creative's own website, it gets "up to" 12 hours. Apple claims 15 for the new photo iPod. You also failed to mention the Creative Zen's puny 20GB Hard Drive, compared to the massive 60GB Drive in the iPod Photo. "We think photos plus photos is the next big thing," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. No he didn't. Get your quote right, Paul. He said "MUSIC plus photos". Damn, you need an editor. "(indeed, the iPod U2 Special Edition doesn't even come with a dock, black or white)." Not true, according to Apple's website. "Actually, there are a few other amenities included with this most painful of iPods:" Again, editorializing "It comes with a U2 poster, and a $50 coupon off the purchase of "The Complete U2," a collection of over 400 U2 songs you must download in Protected AAC format" Ah yes, the STANDARD format for legally-purchased online music. You did get one thing right, though: "...the iPod is still the portable digital audio player to get."

This whole "Media Center" sideshow is simply to DIVERT attention away from the fact that there is NOTHING to deliver in terms of Longhorn.

Paul, The Apple fanatics are just that - fanatics! And they're afraid their closed, proprietary system will one day no longer be the de-facto. In fact, the writing is on the wall but they're in denial! Poor little softheaded Apple fan-boys.

Paul, The Apple fanatics are just that - fanatics! And they're afraid their closed, proprietary system will one day no longer be the de-facto. In fact, the writing is on the wall but they're in denial! Poor little softheaded Apple fan-boys.

Paul, The Apple fanatics are just that - fanatics! And they're afraid their closed, proprietary system will one day no longer be the de-facto. In fact, the writing is on the wall but they're in denial! Poor little softheaded Apple fan-boys.

"'(indeed, the iPod U2 Special Edition doesn't even come with a dock, black or white).' Not true, according to Apple's website." According the Apple's website, which you seem to have not visited, does not state that the U2 iPod comes with a dock. That's a seperate item.

Who really gives a flying f u c k about this guy's opinion? If I was Thurott, I would be worried about the sheer ammount of people that call him a hack. There seems to be a lot of validity to that opinion.

"I did want you to acknowledge that many people want fewer features done better rather than more features done poorly. You've been skirting around that, but obviously people do prefer the iPod." A sweeping generalisation that implies that you've somehow got experience of every player on the market and know that they are all poor. "Two things: why can't Apple maintain the cool factor" You can't stay 'cool' forever without working hard at it - it can't exactly have taken a huge amount of hard work to put a colour screen in and make it display photos. "Secondly, suggesting that Apple will lose this factor and other companies will gain it requires evidence that other companies will gain it." Sure, and the PMCs may only be in first gerneration - but if you had the cash to buy one - it's a cool product with the 'gadget' factor. The Samsung for example is a damn shiney product. "The Music Player market is going to disappear?" I did not say that - the bandwagon I was referring to was the iPod bandwagon - not digital music players as a whole. I disagree that the third part market has the importance you place on it. Third parties will take oppurtunities to make cash out of someone elses big selling product if it's going to stick around for a while - if it isn't leave it to the manufacturer to make their own proprietry accessories. As for networking connectivity - this is a standards thing. If your home media device has an ethernet port - where's the problem? If it doesn't, a third party "ecosystem" isn't _required_ - the manufacturer can just as easly create accessories for a product that will have a shorter lifecycle "I disagree. What peripherals?" Example: camera dock, or a camera dock with integrated printer, or a dock that shows pictures on your TV? "Exactly, it is not the case. And secondly, who produces Creative or iRiver or Samsung or Dell DJ peripherals? Not many if any at all. And, yes, they don't produce an ecosystem... they are forced to produce the peripherals themselves if they want to." How does this cause the product to in any way suffer in the market? How many people are desperate to adorn their product with all sorts of add-ons which add features that you claim are unecessary to the iPods sucess? "I'm "banging my head" because you've provided ZERO evidence of this. By your logic, Creative and iRiver have been ahead of Apple for over a year" I'm making a prediction - how can I provide evidence for something I'm saying will happen in the future, other than to make assumptions. The assumptions I'm making, are based on the example of Apple's latest 'innovation' which is a minor update. "There is no way to produce a hardware peripheral for any of these devices unless it is USB dependent only. Apple has a standard dock connector that companies like Alpine, BMW, Belkin, Bose, JBL, and others are developing off of. All of the devices you mentioned DO have established standards: DVD players, TVs, printers, scanners, cameras (less so). These competing products up against Apple do not when you discuss anything interesting in terms of connectivity and device support." Again, we're over emphasising here aren't we? When we talk about a digital media player they typically interface through something standard like USB or firewire - and even if they plug into a dock, that dock will have standard connectivity to plug it into a PC or Mac. Besides - the iPod isn't the only device that can be said to be fostering a healthy ecosystem. Microsoft are licencing their platform to other manufacturers, so we have a range of products, and products coming on stream that all talk the same language. For example - I have a collection of music I've bought online in WMA format. I can play it on my PC. If I wanted I could play that music in my car just fine through HighMAT, or on my TV or hi-fi through windows media connect. The devices merely need to have a standard ethernet adapter to get to my music source. "You have shown NO EVIDENCE that the momentum is running out" Again, I didn't say that, I made a prediction that it will. "Again, why will Apple stop?" Oh they probably won't - why would they they are making money - but in my opinion they need to do more than just throw in a new screen and a firmware update. -- "Your HO is off-base. They aren't as easy and elegant, for lots of reasons but let's take just one: no scroll wheel. It's patented" So any player that is any good MUST have a scroll wheel, at all costs? er, I don't think so. "read the WSJ report on the iPod mini competitors." And what makes them so much more creduble than anyone else? oh, sorry, my mistake - because they've praised Apple of course. -- "Do you read anything that Walt Mossberg writes?" No, I have a limited amount of time in my day - and at the risk of ridicule from the 'objective' people on this list, I read Paul Thurrots sites - he too has used both products, and indeed works with both Apple and PC kit on a regular basis. -- And to the guy bashing my use of the English language of all things: do you really think I CARE that much about technology to spend ages double-checking my spelling and grammer. I'm in the UK, it's 18:46 - and I'm more concerned with getting myself some food right now than spending ages labouring over this.

""Do you read anything that Walt Mossberg writes?" No, I have a limited amount of time in my day - and at the risk of ridicule from the 'objective' people on this list, I read Paul Thurrots sites - he too has used both products, and indeed works with both Apple and PC kit on a regular basis." Dude, if you think a guy who runs a Windows-focused website, authors windows books and constantly bashes Apple is as objective as Walt Mossberg of the WSJ, you are hopeless clueless. Just completely gone, hang it up.

EEEK. My apologies about Paul "misreporting" the facts about the dock-less U2 iPod. Indeed, it does not come with a dock. But since the standard 20GB iPod does not come with a dock, the U2Pod is not, as Mr. Thurrott claims, "crippled". But hey, I'll give Paul his due. Even a broken watch is right twice a day.

"A sweeping generalisation that implies that you've somehow got experience of every player on the market and know that they are all poor." No, it's not. It's a matter of fact: Apple has over 60% of the entire market in the US. They have 92% of the HD market in the US. They have 55% of the entire worldwide market. And I have used all of the leading products from Creative and iRiver. I've even tried the Samsung and Dell. Again, can you admit that people are currently preferring simplicity over feature-glut? Yes or No. "You can't stay 'cool' forever without working hard at it" That's not an answer. You've claimed that Apple will lose the cool factor. You say this happens because ... what? Apple has stopped working at it? I don't think anyone buys that idea. "Sure, and the PMCs may only be in first gerneration - but if you had the cash to buy one - it's a cool product with the 'gadget' factor. The Samsung for example is a damn shiney product." I don't think you have any idea what cool is? Shiny? You can't even name it. Want to know it's name? It's the YEPP YH-999. Can you imagine a day, any day ever, when people are saying: "yeah, you've got to get a YH-999, they're uber-cool"? I can't. I know lots of "cool" people, wealthy people, geeky people, bleeding edge people... Not a single one wants a PMC. Cool doesn't take several iterations to get. You've either got it, or you don't. "I did not say that - the bandwagon I was referring to was the iPod bandwagon - not digital music players as a whole." What you said is there is no need for... and/or there is nothing significant about... and/or there is nothing lasting about... a third party device, peripheral, accesory, and application market. That's a ludicrous statement. Several companies are doing quite well making peripherals for iPods, and this market is sure to stay around for quite a long time. And as I have stated, you think the iPod will die out, but other music players will survive. What I have said is that the iPod is the only device capable of creating a third party ecosystem and that other generic devices will die out. I've said this third party market is a big selling point for people. Etc... "I disagree that the third part market has the importance you place on it. Third parties will take oppurtunities to make cash out of someone elses big selling product if it's going to stick around for a while - if it isn't leave it to the manufacturer to make their own proprietry accessories." Your objection is based on the fallacy that the iPod is going to disappear. Once again, you've provided ZERO evidence of this. You haven't even presented a logical argument about it. Also, it is significant. Individual manufacturers cannot produce enough of a market. That's an inherit quality of a peripheral market: having choice. If I can only get a case or a device add-on or a speaker connection kit from the manufacturer then that's undesirable. By the way, are Creative, iRiver, Dell, Samsung producing cases, peripherals, and applications to add on to these devices? No. So your arguement fails based on a nonexistent hypothetical. Peripherals are not being produced and are not a draw for non-iPod devices. "As for networking connectivity - this is a standards thing. If your home media device has an ethernet port - where's the problem? If it doesn't, a third party "ecosystem" isn't _required_ - the manufacturer can just as easly create accessories for a product that will have a shorter lifecycle" Not necessarily. If I connect to a stereo, how do I control the music? Is there an interface to do this? If I connect to a car stereo system, how do I interact with the music device? How many non-iPods have ethernet ports? "Example: camera dock, or a camera dock with integrated printer, or a dock that shows pictures on your TV?" You just named the same peripheral 3 times. And as I said, it's not analogous to the music device peripheral market the iPod has created. I think this is clear. "How does this cause the product to in any way suffer in the market? How many people are desperate to adorn their product with all sorts of add-ons which add features that you claim are unecessary to the iPods sucess?" Desperate? Few. How many want to and do choose it because of the options? Many, I'm sure. "I'm making a prediction - how can I provide evidence for something I'm saying will happen in the future, other than to make assumptions." This is exactly my point. They aren't even predictions: predictions certainly are based on evidence. What you are providing is what you want to see happen. This has nothing to do with logic, evidence, or reality. Even assumptions and predictions can exhibit logic and be based on evidence and reality. "The assumptions I'm making, are based on the example of Apple's latest 'innovation' which is a minor update." This is personal opinion and a poor assumption. Here's an assumption: over three years ago Apple introduced a product that was considered over-priced, a copy of existing technology (and in many ways less feature rich than others), and nothing revolutionary or innovative, it took the market by storm... Apple hasn't sat on its laurels, they have released 4 generations of the device and have segmented the line into 3 products. Since the introduction, Apple continues to grab more and more of the market, they have released a music store which has the largest selection and the broadest audience, it too dominates the market. Around this hugely popular device, a huge third party market has been created. This device has also seen the most integration into cars, home stereos, and in the future cellphones. With each new generation it has garnered more success despite cheaper or more feature rich options. It is simple to assume this will continue unless a new player enters the market with something that is not only cheap, feature-rich, simple, elegant but is also going to be the center piece of a broad strategy involving numerous partners, software, a music store, and a marketing campaign to rival all marketing camapaigns. This "rival" is not going to be Dell, Samsung, Sony, Creative, or iRiver. Microsoft is going to stay out of the device end so it will not be them. That is a prediction based on assumptions, evidence, and logic. Please refute it. Don't provide me with your personal wishes. "Again, we're over emphasising here aren't we? When we talk about a digital media player they typically interface through something standard like USB or firewire - and even if they plug into a dock, that dock will have standard connectivity to plug it into a PC or Mac." No, I'm not. Does any other device have a portable speaker dock system that has a UI for control, power for recharging, and speakers? Does any other device have an interface for integrating with leading car stereo manufacturer's gear like Alpine? Does any other portable music device have an integration kit with leading car manufacturers like BMW and Smart? Do any other devices have a companion wireless networking device like Airport Express to connect to any stereo system? "Besides - the iPod isn't the only device that can be said to be fostering a healthy ecosystem. Microsoft are licencing their platform to other manufacturers, so we have a range of products, and products coming on stream that all talk the same language." Stop drinking the koolaid. Microsoft and Paul have said playforsure supports "hundreds" of devices... The web site reports 42. Mossberg has already shown that even the most popular of these devices DO have problems syncing WMA DRMed content. And your "ecosystem" you are talking about has always existed: PC, music device, maybe DVD player, maybe stereo. Does your car, DVD player, or stereo have ethernet though? No, hmmm.... How come? "For example - I have a collection of music I've bought online in WMA format. I can play it on my PC. If I wanted I could play that music in my car just fine through HighMAT, or on my TV or hi-fi through windows media connect. The devices merely need to have a standard ethernet adapter to get to my music source." But they don't. It's not simple. Your car doesn't have ethernet. Your DVD player doesn't. You'd have to burn a disc anyway. This isn't an "ecosystem"... It's a bunch of disparate devices with no network connection, no ability to digitally transfer the music (as yet), and no interface for centrally interacting with the music in the same way. "Again, I didn't say that, I made a prediction that it will." I except that. But predictions are based on arguments and logic too. These are your personal wishes. All evidence points to the contrary. I could care less what you think... I want to hear a logical argument. "Oh they probably won't - why would they they are making money - but in my opinion they need to do more than just throw in a new screen and a firmware update." And they will. And you did say it: you said Apple cannot sustain momentum, others will beat them. I would ask: do you think the Photo iPod will lose money? Lose Apple market share? I don't. Let's put money on the fact that next quarter and the one to follow will show greater market growth and greater revenue growth for Apple. I'll put $100 on it. Let's test your personal wishes. "I read Paul Thurrots sites - he too has used both products, and indeed works with both Apple and PC kit on a regular basis." An what he doesn't tell you while trying to bash Apple left and right is that he has bought 3 iPods. Doesn't use his Dell DJ that he recommended for a year. And that he truly does love the iPod more than other options. He's not just an idiot, he's a hypocrite.

you apple freaks are so easy to upset. if you had any pieces of brain left in your fanatically obsessed skulls, you'd realize that paul is probably bashing apple deliberately to piss you off. and with every hateful post in the comments, his laughter grows stronger. you lose.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree - I'm not giving up on this one because either of us are right - but because I'm still not, about anything you say, convinced, and you are putting words into my mouth about what I'm saying. Also, I drink beer, not koolaid. I'm MORE than happy with the choices I've made so far in digital media, choices that have included trying the Apple platform, which I just didn't like. Finally, I don't wish Apple to fail - I've acknowledged they have a good product, and acknowledge that if they keep up the good work - they'll keep the marketshare. I prefer to choose the platform from the manufacturer that has a more open licencing strategy, a platform I like, a platform that despite any reveiws to the contrary, I find just works. I shall not reply futhur.

It's funny watching these retarded Mac lovers. I wished the Mac would die already, along with its fanboys like yourselfs. The world would be a better place. In fact, why don't you just kill yourselves? You have no use in world at all. I've read many of Paul's comments, and he's dead right. Too bad someone can see think realistically, no?

You know why apple fans are so defensive? Because they have almost been pushed to extinction. The mac itself has been a total fiasco and the best example of how not to market a system to wide audiences. So finally apple gets a successful product!, the ipod. Now it's easy to see why all the mac fans defend it. It's the only product apple has ever made that is not in the single % digits of market share. Having all but lost the education market to PCs and Michel dell. Apple now only has it's freak fans and die hard photoshop fans to keep them afloat. If the ipod sinks they go back to being the "weird brand" of expensive computers.

I don’t like to pick a side or anything, but I will have to go with apple fans on this one. I don’t like MS one bit, but I'm forced to use it. But my school is slowly seeing the light and moving away from crapy products like windows and office. Let’s just say Australia is well ahead of all of you (including MS Australia). "You know why apple fans are so defensive?" Yes I do. Because they have to push their way through you Microsoft fags just to get an opinion out. PS. I am 15 years old, but can see both sides of the article. Stop being one sided u MS fans, u to Mac.

..continuum, and yes, apple's profits and shares are at an all time high. and OOH! the iMac G5 is a best seller. now what was that extinction you were talking about?

http://www.winnetmag.com/Windows/Article/ArticleID/43798/Windows_43798.html and.....here's an article on windows problems after SP2. its amazing why people actually support microsoft...

"its amazing why people actually support microsoft..." amen

Jack A$$!

Everyone is ignoring the real story...U2 selling-out!!! Bono is such a hypocrite.

Every single discussion turns into an OS battle. We don't codemn you if you like a different car than we do... yes, there are GM vs Ford vs Import debates out there that are just as heated. Every OS / vendor / competetor brings new things to the table improving our technology. Yes, let's all assimilate into the one true OS... we are borg. Cmon people... we live in a society of choices. No computing or technology choice is perfect and all have their benefits and shortcomings. Personally I have a couple flavors of MS machines, a current Apple (OSX) and various *nix machines. ALL of them have their own benefits and PROBLEMS. For the article... the iPod is a cool device and because of it's popularity what ever new versions of it they make will sell. As has been pointed out the new features are not awe inspiring but Apple already commented on why they used a smaller screen and the like. Articles are opiniated. God forbid someone in the technology industry offer an opinion on something. While the article isn't all that pro-iPod, I don't think it's all that out of line by presenting the public some other options to look at. Intelligent people do research to get a product that suits their needs. Maybe the new iPods will be just the thing they're looking for. Maybe not. Hopefully they're intelligent enough to sort through all the anti this and that symantics, market stats and actually look at the product they're getting.....

dear paul, you. are. an. idiot. love, jason

This hurts, but here goes: I couldn't agree more. The new iPod Photo is some kind of solution looking for a problem. I can already store files on my iPod, and when I wished for new features, the ability run slide shows while I listen to my iPod never came up. Unless this is leading up to some grand new features we still haven't seen yet, I have to agree with Paul.

Given Paul Thurrott's track record, it would be wise to predict the opposite of whatever he says. Paul is simply another person who has no real understanding of industrial design, interface design, and how people use these types of devices. The new photo iPod will be a huge success just like all the previous iPods have been, when people have said they would be a flop.

Paul, you are losing credibility. Lift your game

*insert UT announcer* Fl-fl-fl-fl-flame bait!

"So keep at it mac fans. You are most amusing to watch." Why do people always try to scare people and stop them from commenting like this? It makes you look like you're losing the argument, believe me. Then again, if you're out things to say...

What a prat. Sucking on BillGs dick all day long.

Mac fans = Kerry = Red Sox Win fans = Bush = Yankees

The iPod photo was just as expected, except for the larger battery. Me thinks you expect too much. Sure it's pricy. But five years ago, some people paid $1,299 for an Apple Studio Display. It's just a gadget.

Oh that's fair... comparing the iPod Photo's screen and battery to a device that's four times its size. Yes, that's right, four iPods can fit in the space occupied by a single Creative Zen Portable Media Center. Apple owns this market. They cracked it, and they've got a stranglehold on it. Don't think for a second that some video player the size of a grapefruit is gonna displace the iPod. iTunes + iPod is still the best digital music management scheme out there, by a large margin.

I am interested in seeing a full body length photo paulie as we'd all be able to see the MS info tube connected to his ass direct from Redmond. Wouldn't it be cheaper fro MS to employ a parrot as it'd eat a hell of a lot less than paulie

REPLY TO POST: "Just because something has all the market share doesn't mean it's the best product available." DUH! Isn't that what this debate is all about? M$ has all the market share, but it's not the best product available!

What a lame article, get a real life man!

get a life, buy a mac and shut up!

How are you feeling now paulie ???

paul, do you even have an ipod?? what products and software do you use for music? can you honestly say that your experience is better than apple's solution? please back up your answer with a fair side by side comparison vs. opinions.

I believe that the main reason why the iPod is so successfull, is simply it being the epitamy of simplicty. YOU CAN'T get any simpler with the interface or the controls without copying the iPod completely. With the possibility of using the iPod as an external HD for both Macs and PCs it's an added bonus, espescially if you don't have that much to back up by means of documents, pictures and files. U2 jumping on the iPod bandwagon isn't really a sell out. Sure they're promoting it, but the iPod has become more than just a "product" but more of a cultural icon, much like the band it's self. With the cost of CDs in many countries being way too high, downloading, both legal and illegal are becoming the principal distribution outlets for the music industry. U2 noticed this and simply accepted it. Though one other thing caught my eye, the comment on the "Mac Copying MS" site saying that Macs copied PCs by using PCI, AGP, IDE/ATA/UDMA, USB, PC100/PC133 RAM, DDR RAM is just crap. They're industry standard components people! NO COMPANY Designs the computer using completely propriatary hardware, that's simply suicide in the industry. Hell, not even special systems done by SGI rely 100% on custom components. Apple uses industry standards to reduce cost, and increase compatibility. Also the fact that Apple uses IBM designed processors doesn't mean that they're "sleeping with the devil". The PowerPC architecture is radically different from x86 architecture. It's simpler but faster in the way it executes code, thus resulting that lower frequency PowerPC (603, 604, G3, G4, G5) CPUs can beat their x86 counterparts quite easily in processing power. One thing to note, is that the x86 developers are starting to copy the PowerPC market by going RISC in the cores of consumer chips. Possibly the most known of these chips is the Athlon family by AMD.

So many YEARS does Apple have to utterly dominate this market before twits like you realize it goes beyond the "coolness factor"? And anyone who suggests U2 sold out is a moron.

aHaHaHaHAHA! http://daringfireball.net/2004/10/ipod_mania

First of all: I have already ordered my U2 iPod -- BUT IT DOES NOT INCLUDE THE DOCK. I specifically received a call back from Apple informing me of this after I had already ordered it and had been assured that it was included. Second: I have been a U2 fan (duh) probably since 1981, and it will be fun to have something that is unique to them from apple. So, is it worth $50 bucks? I say yes, but many may say no. Who cares, Apple and U2 will only do it as long as it sells, if it doesn't, then it goes away. Third: Media Center PC? Give me a break. The only people I have ever read about having purchased this are middle-aged upper middle class "techies" who couldn't (or weren't allowed by spouse) to put it together through *nix. Fourth: I have owned a Rio500, iRiver 314(?) and multiple minidisc players over the years, but this is the first portable music player of any kind that has proven to be worth it's weight in gold, and the fact that I can now record lectures and sermons and upload those recordings (unlike my MZ-N1) is pure icing on the cake. Paul, keep writing, I used to read religiously when I was an NT admin in the last ice age, and you were sometimes the sage. Ahhh Memphis, .... Chicago.... (by the way, the only way you could be underwhelmed by the iPod Photo is if by analogy you had watched the Lord of the Rings and thought that was good, maybe even great; then gone to see the sequel and been blown away by it; but finally when the Return of the King came out your expectations were so high that there was no possible way the director could ever have lived up to them. So what did you do, you criticize the movie for being something it was never intended to be a stand alone cinematic triumph rather than the culmination of a narrative through sucsesive [sic] iterations!) ~

All of you should get a life. And don't forget to vote!

I'm not an applefanboy, nor do I wan't to buy an iPod Photo, but PLEASE get your facts straight when writing about it....

I'm a long time windows user but I just bought a 40gb ipod as my first mac product. I bought it for the same reason I own a PC, and a Sony playstation, Market Dominance. If a product has market dominance it will be around longer. With a higher installed base, more third party companies make accessories for it. Market Dominance is a very telling factor in the viability of a product. Millions of people don't get duped into buying products for years on end. If it sucked, the product would go away. Ipod has proved to be a great product that has surpassed the cool factor, and niche market of it's computing line. There are many others on the market but none have come close to ipod numbers. All this said I'm a huge fan of the ipod, so much so I'm even entertaining the thought of purchasing a mac computer, but not likely. I will probably upgrade to the iphoto. Not for the photo capability but for the color screen and the 20 extra gb's. Apple is finally doing everything right when it comes to the ipod, from seamless integration to the BMW cars, selling their OS to HP for an even greater installed base, and marketing the hell out of it. I'll probably buy every new update as I believe it's a solid product that is here to stay.

I wish I could shoot all Ipod users who can type. It wouldn't matter if I posted facts, straight facts saying that the Ipod sucked, because you will all blindly support your product. Fair enough. Let's face it the Ipod looks great and does the job, but it certainly isn't the best at doing that job. I was close to buying an Ipod on looks and hype alone. Until I got a shot of one. No matter which way you slice it you expect more for £200. Like good sound.

That was a really crappy article, biased, uneven and difficult to read because of the bias. I am not pro-windows or pro-mac, I am pro-good journalism, and that was crappy journalism. Who cares about whether the iPod photo or U2 iPod is good or not when the poor quality of the writing distracts the reader...very pathetic stuff I must say.

"No matter which way you slice it you expect more for £200. Like good sound" Uh, good one Einstein: http://www.stereophile.com/digitalsourcereviews/934/index.html

http://daringfireball.net/2004/10/ipod_mania http://daringfireball.net/2004/10/ipod_mania http://daringfireball.net/2004/10/ipod_mania

Great article as usual Paul. I wonder how many of these "1/5" ratings are made by the same person? "Who cares about whether the iPod photo or U2 iPod is good or not" I think that just about sums up the line of the Apple Pickers.

LOL! Writing your own reviews, Paul? What a psycho...

Oh paul just Ignore them, Did you said iPod ?? hmm no clue, while, I'm going to use my superb creative Zen Xtra ... it supports wma (developed by microsoft)and let me hold a lot more songs than... what was the name??

Look, there's no question that Paul Thurrott is a twunt, but you can't blame him for being unimpressed with these gimmick iPods. The iPod Photo is a solution looking for a problem and the U2 Special Edition is from U2. Need I say any more?

It's not only the "cool" factor that makes the ipod the best selling portable mp player, but also the fact that it works. Reading over many of the comments, the negatives seem to always put down the longevity of the battery, more song storage, etc. etc. The bottom line, the ipod is a solid player that rarely has problems. Go into an Apple Store and you'll find 3-4 people getting tech support on a problem with the ipod while you look over at the register and see 20-30 being sold within an hour. Go to CompUSA and see the returns/support desk and see how many media players are sitting on the shelf or being returned by frustrated customers. People are not idiots, they buy because something is easy, works well, and does not fail. That is why the ipod is successful. The rest of those who support the "genius" of Microsoft have not talked to the many frustrated and disillusioned customers who are constantly having problems with anything having to do with PC's. If you are happy with your Creative Zen or Media Player or whatever, fine go out and enjoy, but don't blast and ipod or an ipod user just because they are happy with their product. You've made your choice, go on with your life and let the others who wish to live a Microsoft or PC free life.

Jesus Paul, this was just a poor attempt at a cheap shot at Apple that didn't succeed at all. The iPods have the best UI of any mp3 player out there, they are the "coolest" players, and they "just work" even with Windows machines. You have a dig at the Apple protected AAC files and yet Microsoft is the major player in the DRM market and wants to limit users rights even more prohibitively than Apple. Paul, take your Microsoft sunglasses off. Come out from behind your Dell Media Center and take a look out into the real world. Apple is making the right moves and has been for the past two years. Its market share continues to grow and its mindshare is growing even faster. Regardless of whether you trash the new iPods or not all that comes across in your spiel above is MS fanboiism and a disdain for Apple. If you want people to take you seriously you need to be objective. Probably the last time I read your site, I used to enjoy it but this obvious discrimination is both childish and pathetic.

You're only going to read about how Apple innovated in that area since iPhoto and iMovie are older and better than the offerings on my WinXP box. But feel free to wave your hands around and shout about the Cult of Mac.

Wow, this guy is yipping Tucker Carlson-clone of the Windows world.

it was good but there not that bad

oh yes! lets all pay 150 dollars more so we can find what song we are listening to..in color! oh my what an advancment! and looking at pictures thru a screen smaller that the camera that the picture that it was taken in..pure briliance. lets not forget that the only way you can get songs onto an ipod is through itunes..no way im converting all my wma files.. the windows based mp3 players make it much easier to put music on it along with features such as voice recording and fm radio. dont know about you but the 40 dollar, bulky voice recorder or fm radio atachment doesnt seem to good right now..

******* AWESOME. PAUL IS THE MOST GENIUS I KNOW. ARE YOU READY FOR TO DISS THE IPOD! I AM! ROCKS ON COMMANDOR IN CHIEFS (KASNSAS CITY)! I DON'T BELIEVE WE HAVE MET BEFORE - IS YOUR NAME FAT PIG? WHAT A GREAT TIME WE ALL ARE BEGINNING TO KNOW!

apple sucks. they copied the idea of the iPod directly from microsoft and we all know it. apple users are all blinded by the "cool looking" plastic crap that apple products are designed with. screw that man. give me the cheap $30.00 case from a wholesale company. that way i can have those awesome lights that react to sound put in the case and they can glow all purple. iPods are gimmicky and will soon fade out with the rest of apple. and let me guess, some apple minion will have a little something to say at that point am i right? perhaps something along the lines of - oh no where did all the awesome computers go? well they were here all along just not under the name of Mac (Mac=crap) just know that apple will fail. are you getting what i am sayoing?

macs are pieces of junk that crashe all the times and wont works correctly. if i were to use one for constructing office business and e-commerce slution i would be up the creeks. good thing they havnt ye truined the large scale view of america coproate enterpriese! ha - to what a laugh i would have to see my company using them to do business. "hey let's spend so much of our hard earns money on this one machine so it can not be working when next time we need it..." sounds like a plan? i think not.