I was reading an article on the bus today about the Itunes new thingy-majig, the Iphone. I had heard about it weeks ago, said "Hey I'll be getting that...NOT!" to myself and changed the channel to Jon Stewart. But reading the article made me curious about what the heck is the deal with this infernal racket that is nearly a year away from release in Canada.
Ladies and germs, the Iphone (tm.) It's your Ipod and your phone all rolled into one so you don't have to, like, have more gadgets. But what if I LIKE gadgets?
(Which is kind of what cell phones are doing right now. Rogers Wireless in Canada recently released a 4gb phone along with all the annoying texting, crappy digital photos, slow email downloads...oh and it also makes and receives telephone calls. Almost forgot to mention that.)
And I don't care. Why? Because, dammit, there's nothing wrong with having your phone and MP3 player as two separate things. I never grew up thinking "Man, if only this portable CD player had a phone attached to it!" There's an MP3 player in my Motorola cell phone (don't call me a hypocrite, let me finish), yet I never use it (see?)...the headphone jack is a different size than your usual headphones and they sound like garbage.
And besides...why in god's name would anyone want to fiddle with an Ipod, Itunes and all their propietary content when you can have something beautiful, compatible and user friendly like the Creative Labs Zen Vision M? From my Xmas bonus last year, I had no qualms about plunking down $300 to be the proud owner of an MP3 player is everything that the Ipod Video is not.
Let's run down the list on why you're stupid for buying an Ipod:
- Creative lets you easily transfer MP3's or WMA files even from a backed up DVD-R, so no worries about having to leave a copy on your hard drive. Just drag and drop the files. Easy peasy. Also, you can rip CD's in only a few minutes, which is groovy. Ipod makes sure that all your files are MP3 files and they have to stay on your computer, in the same folder, otherwise Itunes gets angry and explodes.
Creavite:1, Ipod: 0.
- Creative allows you to store XVID's, wmv video and various other video formats on your player, and they play back at a pretty colorful and clean 640x480 resolution. Ipod only does 320x240, has a washed out screen and only supports .mp4 video, so have fun on converting.
Creative: 2, Ipod: 0.
- My Creative has a wallpaper of my dog Fergus (and if Fergus isn't your thing -- how dare you! -- how about one of their 10 colorful skins?)while Ipod's screen stays the same from when you purchase it. Boo to the Pod!Creative: 3, Ipod. 0
- Buying cases and screen protectors for the Zen M are a bit harder to come by, but once you hit Ebay you'll be amazed at how reasonably priced they are. Apple doesn't do cheap.
Creative: 4, Ipod: 0.
- Creative's a bit heavier but is less prone to snapping than the newer, slimmer Ipod Nano's. The 80gb 'pods are quite durable though and with a good case, should stay that way.
Zen M: 4, Ipod: 1
Tip: once you make the switch to the Zen Vision M (and you will), you may want to keep Itunes for their Podcats. Simply open up the directory file where you keep your Podcast files and drag and drop them into the Zen. Zen'll let you. It's cool like that.
(Before you yak at me by saying my Zen Vision is 60gb and your Ipod Video is 80gb, think about the fact that for a full onslaught of music and the occasional video...that's no difference. I'll never run out of space and neither will you.)
That is all. Earth's still weird.
Jason
efilmcritic.com
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