Yesterday I was looking at my iPod's artist listing - my preferred way to get to music - and realized something: A.C. Newman was the first artist.
This couldn't be, I thought, because forever and ever 10,000 Maniacs have been the first artist.
It seems to be a change in iTunes 7.2.5.2.1.5 though, as no matter how I choose to sort the artist column within the program, my number-based artists are now at the bottom of the heap!
So why did this change? When did this change? And more importantly, why the heck can't I tell iTunes to put my number-based artists up top again?
]]>Yesterday I got on the train and decided to listen to some music. I took my iPod out my bag, flipped the hold switch to off, and pressed the center button.
Nothing.
Slightly befuddled I reflipped the hold switch, and pressed "menu". This time I got an Apple logo screen for just a moment, then nothing.
I was starting to sweat a little. I did the little hold switch thing again and pressed "menu" and "play" simultaneously. Apple logo screen, nothing, and then something pretty awful for an electronic device: the logo screen came back but started fading from the LCD. It was really bizarre! I couldn't hear the hard drive starting up or spinning, so I feared that the drive had died.
Visions of having to replace a 14-month old iPod danced in my head. I wasn't excited by the idea and heck, it was working fine in the morning. Just fine. I even got 92/100 on the Music Quiz game.
When I arrived home last night I plugged the iPod into my iMac and hoped it would work. The screen came up: "Very low battery. Please wait." The battery?!
I let it charge per usual overnight and it's been fine today.
The only thing that could have caused this was the cold weather. It's been cold here for a good week or two, though, so I'm not sure why the weather would have killed the battery yesterday of all days.
Cold battery or not, I'm just glad the thing isn't broken.
Mr. Gruber linked to this season's iPod killers. Or, lack thereof.
I don't think the iPod is unstoppable or will be the dominant player forever. I do, however, agree with Gruber that this batch is pretty much a lost cause. I'll give you two big reasons why.
First is clutter. Outside of the Zune, nearly every player pictured on that page has a lot going on. Even the wee Sony, uh, tube player has the Sony logo and the Walkman logo taking up space. But some of these... remind me of the stickers that come on PCs. I mean, does an MP3 player with Bluetooth need a Bluetooth logo right on its fricking face? Do I need a button whose sole function is to repeat a track? Do I need an "X OK" button? (What the hell does that mean, anyway? Cancel and OK?)
Some may argue that these buttons are necessary due to the software UI. In that case, the UI is flawed. Pure and simple.
The Zune is a unique case here: it is almost too decluttered! That's a negative thing, because if you were to look at a Zune you'd have no idea what control does what. Okay, there's a back arrow button and a play/pause button. But how do I get a menu? How do I fast forward? I guess I need to try out that wheel and hope nothing bad happens. (And this may be small but when I rotate the Zune 90 degrees, the buttons don't rotate... so now I've got a down arrow and a sideways play/pause. Petty? I don't think so.) This button/control setup is in stark contrast to the Motley Crew of MP3 Players, with buttons for everything. Both approaches, frankly, stink - but the Zune's stinks for a different reason.
Another problem is these things are horribly named - again, outside of the Zune and the Disney Mix Max (that's actually a great name). But let's get real here. StormBlue A9+ Bluetooth. Sony NW-S706. OSIM iGoGo. Creative Zen V Plus. Maxfield MAX-SIN Touch. Coby PMP4230. Not a single one is compelling. I know Sony has a history of cryptic, oddball names but if you want the tube Walkman instead of the stick Walkman, will you remember the NW-S706 versus the NW-205F? Come on now.
Creative is another close but not quite one here: Creative Zen V Plus is all right, but "V"? Ambiguous. "Plus"? What's in the V that's not in the V Plus? Why am I getting less? Also, Creative Zen Neeon 2. Neeon?
Zune is, in my limited opinion, not compelling. But I give Microsoft some credit here: they obviously looked at the design of the unit and shot for the iPod.
It's unfortunate for people who dislike the iPod - for whatever reason - that the other players out there are frustrating, confusing, and ultimately alienating. They are technology for the sake of technology and that, my friends, almost never wins.