Two Weeks with the Newest iPod

I broke down and bought one of the new Apple iPods with video. I’ve been getting more into podcasting and was tired of moving files back and forth from iPodder to my iRiver mp3 player. I was hoping that iTunes would make the process easier as well as allow me to view video. Plus, it just looks so dang cool.

After two weeks with the new iPod, I’m so confident that I made the right decision that I sold my iRiver H-120 on Craigslist. The new iPod and iTunes are not perfect but the sum of their parts more than make up for a few shortcomings. Here are my thoughts on both iTunes and iPod:

The color screen is very nice looking. I ripped and encoded Batman Begins and The Office and then moved them over to the iPod and have been watching both on my commute each morning. I can’t see myself watching hours of video at a single setting, but it’s a great solution for catching the video podcast of Rocketboom each morning. If you’re interested in encoding your own video for iPod playback checkout DVD Decrypter and Videora. If you have kids, make sure to grab the Pixar short called “Boundin” off iTunes. My three kids have watched it about ten times and can’t stop laughing.

ITunes works well as an mp3 organizer, not so great for mp3 playback. I’ve been spoiled with the Izotope Ozone DSP plug-in for Q-player. I haven’t been able to find many DSP plug-ins for iTunes on the PC. But playlist creation is straightforward and the way in which it works with the iPod is a huge time saver. I’m no longer spending 30 to 40 minutes a night orgainzing and uploading my podcasts.

ITunes and Podcasting go hand in hand. Compared to dealing with iPodder, iTunes makes it much easier to find and download your favorite podcasts to the iPod. Apple has added several small touches that make for an excellent user experience in this area. I especially enjoy how easy it is to see all available downloads for a specific show and chose only those that I wish to download to my PC and upload to my iPod. I can’t imagine there is a better solution for those managing lots of podcasts. The iPod even organizes your video podcasts into a folder automatically.

The iPod just feels right in my hand. I know some will discount this but Apple seems to have taken great pains to ensure the device just feels right. From its rounded underside to the gorgeous clean lines, Apple makes everything else feel pedestrian. Nothing on the iPod feels out of place or tacked on.

Only a few areas for improvement I’ve found so far. Video playback within iTunes for Pixar shorts I purchased was terrible. I had to cut and paste the videos and use QuickTime Pro to get each video working properly. A remote would be a nice. Included headphones are still embarrassing. Just toss them and grab a pair of Sennheiser PX100s. Can’t get it to sync contacts with Outlook 2003.

Overall experience with both iTunes and the iPod has been very good. I keep reading about Microsoft releasing an “iPod killer” anytime to get them back in the game. What they don’t seem to understand is that it’s not a single product that makes the Apple experience so enjoyable. Rather it’s the combination of the various iPods, iTunes software and music store. Chris Pirillo is right that the software included in all other mp3 player is worse than terrible. But Microsoft is going to have to put out something a whole lot better than Media Player. I just don’t see Microsoft making much headway against Apple for the foreseeable future. As much as I enjoyed my iRiver player, it feels old compared to my new iPod even though I’m giving up some features. The iPod doesn’t do quite as much as it did, but the iPod does the most important tasks so much better that it’s hard not to admire what Apple has done. OK, I’ll lay off the Apple flavored Kool-Aid for a few days.