h0bbel.p0ggel.org

The title is a bit misleading, I don't hate Apple, but I'm very
critical to the seemingly blind media and general fanboism Apple is
surrounded with, but after resisting the collective hive mind that is
the Apple marketing
machine I finally caved in. I got my non-Apple hands firmly gripped
around a brand new iPod Touch. Black, sleek and very shiny



I am a big music consumer, but I haven't had my own personal portable music player since the Sony Walkman WM-B52 my dad brought home from one of his US trips.
While researching (I actually do that from time to time!) for this
post, I realized something. The Walkman model I had was made available
in 1988, and now 20 years later I just got my second one.Some way to celebrate that anniversary.



Sure, we have a couple of MP3 players that the kids randomly use, but
none of them ever really appealed to me for some reason. They are
small, have a one line display and basically the sound quality on those
devices leaves a lot to be
desired. To be fair, these are very low end, cheap devices that never
promised anything besides what they actually provide.



I was even adement that if/when I were to get a proper MP3 player it
wouldn't be an iPod. The whole marketing machine that Apple employs and
the cult following of all things Steve Jobs really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But due to some rather random events I ended up with an iPod Touch a couple of weeks ago.



This is where I get into trouble and I do have a confession to make.
While I still have the same attitude towards Apple and their disciples
as before, the iPod Touch is simply amazing. There, I said it, I even
did so out in public.



I mean, look at this:






It really does look good, doesn't it?



The iPod Touch is one hell of a device, and I'm falling more in love with it every day. It has even got me actively using music in the same way I used to to when I was a teenager sporting a big yellow brick strapped to my belt wherever I went.
But there is more to it. The touchscreen is fantastic, the video and
photo quality is amazing and the display even works great outside in
the sunshine. The WiFi works great, and in general I'm surprised how
intuitive it really is.



If I had to complain about something, and I usually have to, it would
be that when I connected the iPod for the first time iTunes told me
that there were upgrades available and that I should buy the January Application Update.
I'm sorry, but I bought this in the beginning of March. Shouldn't I be
receiving the latest version? I can understand that the device might
have been manufactured before the update was available but Apple should
really provide a way for me get the updates preceeding my purchase
without expecting me to pay for the updates. After all, I don't think
it's very polite to present a new customer with a "Hi! Glad you bought
one of our products, now pay us a small fee and you'll even get the
latest version". Thats just sneaky.



As for my previous post about the iPhone, I still don't want one.I
still think that the phone components are too weak, and frankly I like
having separate multimedia and phone devices. My music is personal, my
phone is non-personal and work related.

Now all I need is to get into the whole podcasting thing. Any recommendations on what I should be subscribing to?



This post has been written under the heavy influence of Led Zeppelin.