Mike H wrote:
It's a music lover's dream, being able to carry your entire collection around with you.
A CD can carry about 200 mp3s on it, and a discman costs aboput $290.00 less than an iPod. Unless you're going to listen to more than 200 mp3s at a time, then a discman can really make sense!
Been there, done that. Won't ever go back.
I had a second generation MP3-CD player for almost 3 years before I got my iPod. It was a great step up from standard CDs, but I hated having to pick and choose what songs I might want to listen to for the day. And to make things worse, I had to go through all the hassle of burning a CD each time I wanted a different set of songs.
Do I know at the beginning of the day (or week) that I'll be in the mood for a little Miles Davis on the way home? No. Then it's just too bad when I get that urge but all I have is the CD I made of Joe Satriani. Doh! Or maybe something reminds me of my college years and suddenly I decide to randomize a playlist of my favorite 5 albums from that time in my life. And of course, there's the obvious example of just wanting to randomize my entire collection. Can't do that with just 200 songs.
Nothing gives you the instant flexibility of the iPod or similar products (Dell DJ, Nomad, etc). Your entire music library in the palm of your hand. No fussing about what you think you might want to listen to in 12 hours - just go wherever the flow of the music takes you, get lost in the moment.
Like I said, it's a music lover's dream. For the casual listener, it's a steep price to pay for questionable overall benefit. I do believe that most people, once they experience the flexibility, won't want to go back. But I also think that 90% or more are just casual listeners who could live without it.
I'm a music lover and I can't live without it.<nobr></Music-aholics Anonymous></nobr>
~C