IPods suck. Sure, the click wheel is nice, the look is sexy, but the problem is that the price to feature ratio is crap. I hate the fact the tons of people think that the iPod is the best MP3, and that it's the ONLY Mp3. People need to wise up, and get a better and cheaper MP3. OMG I can't get over that. People need to wise up. The Zen Vision W is priced 350 dollars, has a four inch screen, and has 30 gigabytes. It has four times the color quality of an iPod video, and runs almost four times as many formats as an iPod. This is just half of the features of the Zen. Also, the battery is replaceable, and lasts longer than the iPod. I hate you Apple!

I remember watching or reading somewhere that an iPod's price isn't necessarily for its function, but for its status symbol and unique look. If you see someone with white earphones, you know it's an iPod. Admittedly I guess this also makes for an easy target for people to steal from you, but I don't mind. I have an iPod and I enjoy it very much. No need to hate, peeps.

I hate ipods a lot...
first of all they come up with SO many that when you buy one the next week its already out of style
the price is to expensive
i really dont know anything about them but is there a radio on them?
i have an mp3 player i think Sony.. not sure though
and it has a radio *see im a radio person XD* and its half the price
all my friends have an ipod and i really dont know whats the big craz about them is...

It's a love hate relationship. The battery is by far my greatest concern. The lifespan I hear isn't too good...about 2 yrs and less, yet for some I heard they've been lasting for quite a while.

I got my 30GB IPod Video for about $250 at Circuit City. It was used...the person who bought it returned it after a week since they couldn't figure out how to use it or connect it to their computer. Not really that used so it was alright.

You also have some problems with the software. Sometimes the Itunes doesn't recognize the IPod and you have to run the updater or reinstall a newer version of Itunes. Had to do that a couple times. Didn't back up a number of songs so they got deleted (with the updater the IPod reformats itself so all songs need to be reuploaded).

And the fact that they, said before, come up with new ones basically every month it's crazy. You buy one and a newer one comes out for the same price. Then all the additions and peripherals...I keep it simple. Don't need a Bose speaker port.

Apart from that, it's useful, sleek and portable.

IPods are more about style than function... and yes, I hate them too. My iRiver plays everything an iPod does and more for half the price. And I don't have to worry about using iTunes or some other bullcrap to download my songs to the player.

The iPod is for pretentious art-snobs who don't know jack about sh*t and are all flash with no substance... much like Macs.

I agree, more style than function. The Itunes isn't so bad for organization. Sort out and all that stuff than direct dwload, but it can be a pain. Depends on how each person likes to organize their music.

No offense, but watch yourself on your comments Jkoop. Be a bit more considerate. Hate the IPod, don't generalize it to the buyers.

I've had my iPod for over 2 and a half years now, and haven't had any problems with battery life or anything for that matter, even though I've dropped it quite a few times. It's one of the older models; it has a click wheel and black and white screen.

As for features, I really DON'T want 80,000 features, because I'll never use most of them. MP3 and AAC are the only two formats I'll ever need - while they may be nice in some cases, I don't need OGG or FLAC and NEVER EVER EVER WMA (THE crappiest audio format of them all). I don't need a color screen either. Radio tuner? Yeah, you really think I'm gonna listen to that archaic technology? Ha!

It's not really a status symbol for me, either. I use a pair of black non-Apple earbuds with my iPod because they sound better.

What makes it sell so well is the iPod's interface and its seamless integration with iTunes. I have yet to find a different music player that allows so much function for so few buttons. As for the integration I spoke of, I carry my iPod around with me in the day, and in the evening if it needs charged, I'll plug it into my computer. While it's charging, it syncs up any changes I've made to my Library without needing me to even tell it to, along with any new addresses added to my Address Book and any new text notes (handy for studying for tests, as well as holding lyrics and a host of other things).

iTunes itself adds some value too; it excels at organizing large amounts of music, which is much better than manually fumbling around with hundreds of folders that you manually copy to the music player (it seems a lot of players have you do this).

So basically, what most people like about the iPod is what you seem to hate: its simplicity. It's not supposed to be a super-crazy-apocolyptic-nutzo HD media center for the palm of your hand, it's supposed to be a music player that can handle video as an extra. And that it does very well.

JKoopman

The iPod is for pretentious art-snobs who don't know jack about sh*t and are all flash with no substance... much like Macs.

I love your blanket statement here. So even though I'm quite adept with Photoshop and Blender 3D and the *NIX and DOS commandline as well as the PHP, HTML, CSS, and Objective-C programming languages to a lesser extent, I know nothing because I use a Mac and an iPod? I fail to see how this logic works.

Sorry, but that's what Apple's annoying "I'm a Mac! And I'm a PC!" commercials make it seem like. "Oh, look at me! I use a Mac. I'm so hip and cool blah blah blah." Every Mac commercial I've ever seen has just made me hate Apple users even more.

I to think ipods are silly to waist too much money on since their are cheaper and better mp3 players out their. But what I really hate about ipods are their so many...many...many costly add-ons, alot of it looks like junk or useless.

Whats up with everyone hating the ipod\'s? Most complaints are: too expensive, not that much features and itunes.
If you dont like the ipod and what features it gives then fine dont buy it. But why hate it, as said before its a status symbol and i dont see any complaints about any other status symbols (fashion etc.).

People only need mp3 and thats precisely what an ipod offers. Itunes works fine and even if it gives some problems, the apple support will fix it within 2 days for you (even if your warranty is expired, and yes I heard it happened). The only thing that i think is screwed up is the video capabilities. My father was playing with the video functionality and finally told me it was crap because options for full screen stretching aren\'t there (there was an option but it didnt help) and you could only use movies downloaded with itunes or convert your own which is too hard to do for the average man. I agree that this could be improved but as of now music functions are rock solid. Photo and video can be improved but this isn\'t something that you should be looking for in an ipod, instead go find an Archos or a pda. I rather watch a movie on my 3.7 inch screen of my axim x51v then on a 2 inch screen, then again it doesnt have a 60gb hdd.

And of course itunes. Personally i like to have it\'s functionality. It\'s very simple to use and even my father said it was great. If you dont like it then use winamp or anything else. Winamp even has a portable version that works with the ipod so you could use it on any computer, providing disk mode is activated. Linux has amarok+gtkpod or out of the box rythmbox with ubuntu. The ipod isnt limited to itunes and amarok/rythmbox have great functionality (i\'m a dualbooter so i use them both).

Lastly price, ah well thats a point where i am complaining. Zune and Zen have great prices but not the accessoires and support of apple (<-- it\'s great, i accidentally let my ipod video drop while it was photo syncing (wires - -\') and apple replaced it within 2 days). But i have 2 ipods now, so a message for those who cant afford one, get a job.

I own 2 ipods, the ipod video and the ipod mini which i, strangely enough, find better than the video. Both live out their purposes, I\'ve got the mini for 1.5 years now and it still works like a charm except it comes with an error message about battery empty after i disconnect it from the pc but it works fine after that. The video is also great. I got the iskin evo3 so i could get a belt clip and it still works fine after a couple of weeks after going through some rides with me and my bicycle. My point being, they work and there\'s nothing wrong with them. I\'m not missing functionality, if i am then it would be internet radio but none of the mp3 players offer that (i mainly listen to jpop and we don\'t have any radio stations in the country that offer it). I don\'t care about ogg or anything else, i encode my cd\'s properly without problems to mp3 or aac.

And people don\'t have to try and act all *look who i am, a nobody who is trying to be somebody with an opinion (but i try to hide arguments to make me look cooler)*

The iPod is for pretentious art-snobs who don\'t know jack about sh*t and are all flash with no substance... much like Macs.

I find this very offensive. You probably hate black people right? If there wasn\'t such a thing as an ipod then you would be saying the Zen\'s for racist asians who don\'t know jack about sh*t. I use ipods and im going to university but not only that i also happen to use linux (gentoo, ubuntu) and windows. Not only that but i happen to know photoshop, visual basic, java, (x)html and css. I don\'t view myself as an artist, unless building sites makes you one.
My father has an ipod, he runs a successful mortgage company he started 4 years ago but you say he knows sh*t. My uncle has an ipod, he is a chemistrist yet you say he knows sh*t. I now hate you for the fact that you want attention and I\'m giving it.

mcz928

And the fact that they, said before, come up with new ones basically every month it's crazy.

Apple doesn't release a new iPod every month, far from it. Here's the release dates for all iPods:

2001
iPod 1G - 23rd October

2002
iPod 2G - 17th July

2003
iPod 3G - 28th April

2004
iPod Mini 1G - 6th January
iPod 4G - July

2005
iPod Shuffle 1G - 11th January
iPod Mini 2G - 22nd February
iPod Nano 1G - 7th September
iPod 5G - 12th October

2006
iPod 5.5G - September
iPod Nano 2G - 12th September
iPod Shuffle 2G - October

JKoopman

Sorry, but that's what Apple's annoying "I'm a Mac! And I'm a PC!" commercials make it seem like. "Oh, look at me! I use a Mac. I'm so hip and cool blah blah blah." Every Mac commercial I've ever seen has just made me hate Apple users even more.

So you hate Apple users, because Apple made some stupid adverts. I happen to use an Apple Mac and I don't like the adverts at all, and I know that many users of Apple equipment feel the same.

Yes, iPod is not the only and best mp3 player out there, I agree. Price is outrageous... but since I work I can save a little money, put it to the side, and get myself one, video iPod actually, 80GB, just because it's 80GB. But yeah that Zen one isn't too bad... but yeah, the iPod is liked by many already, so it can't be helped...

Flame fest w00t.

i don't like iPods and i don't like macs. I don't like their stupid advertising commercials either. iPod's commercial has been basically the same since it first came, very little changes.

Zen is better than iPod in most ways possible, one thing zen can't do, and thats trying to convert iPod's popularity.

iPod sucks, but hell if their marketing was good, they could make you eat your own shit.

Macs just annoy me, i don't even know why, they just DO, maybe its because every mac user that i knew was an asshole. Im not calling any of you assholes, but seriously, the people that i knew that had macs all bitched about how great mac is and how shitty windows is. To be totally honest, i just don't care.

I dont know if I hate them, but... I think they are too expensive, and that are objects that are not better than other mp3, I hate when people think they are better just for having money to waist in an iPod. the social position has nothing to do with it! ... at the end, I think I hate iPods too...

rockmanz

I find this very offensive. You probably hate black people right? If there wasn't such a thing as an ipod then you would be saying the Zen's for racist asians who don't know jack about sh*t. I use ipods and im going to university but not only that i also happen to use linux (gentoo, ubuntu) and windows. Not only that but i happen to know photoshop, visual basic, java, (x)html and css. I don't view myself as an artist, unless building sites makes you one.
My father has an ipod, he runs a successful mortgage company he started 4 years ago but you say he knows sh*t. My uncle has an ipod, he is a chemistrist yet you say he knows sh*t. I now hate you for the fact that you want attention and I'm giving it.

What does hating iPods have to do with hating black people? o_O

By "don't know jack about sh*t" I meant in regards to hardware. Hence the "all flash and no substance" comment, since both the iPod and Mac are marketed towards people who care more about what their hardware looks like than about how well it actually performs.

And yes, pretty much every Mac user I've ever met or talked with has been a pretentious dick about how iPods/Macs/anything-made-by-Apple are cooler and hipper than PCs.