My sister-in-law is visiting for Easter. Over the holidays, she got a 2GB Nano and since she's still not opened the box yet, she asked me to help her set it up.
As i've noted in the past, the only time i've actually messed around with said things was in a store, so i thought this might be an interesting experience for me. That, indeed it was.
i am now even more convinced that the people who buy these things are insane.
Starting from the top:
Figuring that i'd have to install the latest version of stuff, i grabbed a copy of the full Quicktime with iTunes from Apple last night (carefully turning off the various requests that are still there) and installed it onto my wife's laptop. Ok, so far, so good. i bring up the player, and it starts pimping iTunes Music. Fine, whatever. All the other players do that too.
So, with that installed, i await the arrival of the device.
She shows up, i unbox it (after nearly dropping it on the floor because the player is in the "lid"), remove the protective wrapping and do exactly what every electronic device requires. i plug it in. Hey, i installed the latest iTunes (the one that told me how great they work with iPods) last night, i should be good to go, right?
Nuh-uh.
After about an hour, i come in, see the iPod telling me it's charged up and completely unresponsive. Uhm? What? Sure enough, The previous download was a complete waste of time since it didn't have the USB drivers for the iPod. Way to go, Steve! That's how you make products that don't suck and can predict user behavior!
Right, so one install later (Driver files? Who needs driver files! Just Reinstall!), i plug the iPod in, and it's still not responding. A quick bit of Yahoo to find out how to reboot the damn thing, and i plug it back in. THIS time it finally responds.
Ok, minimal information, no i don't want to register since this isn't mine, i'm helping her get set up… Required Email address? Why? Ok, how's about buzzoff@example.com (heh, it took it) There, freaking finally, we're good to go.
Out of blind curiosity, i went to see if i can spot it as a drive. Nope, no surprise, but not really a big deal either.
i decided to show her how to load up songs by dragging a previously ripped CD into iTunes, the application that wants to be the one, true repository of all entertainment media. It catalogs and displays the content, along with a little grey circle arrow doogig next to each entry. i hover over them, and get… nothing. Still not quite sure what they do, and now with no feedback about what it might be, i tentatively click on it and get taken to a page that tells me "This song could not be found in iTunes". Which, i suppose would be great.
If i were to, you know, want to…
buy it again.
Or.
Something.
Ignoring that for the moment, i try selecting a few songs and dragging them onto the iPod entry. You know, like how you drag files onto devices, folders, the "Library" that learned where the music was, those "Playlist" entries, that sort of thing. Nada.
Nope, it becomes the little "Not in your lifetime, buddy" cursor, leaving me somewhat confused about how to get the music from here to there. Eventually, i try right clicking on the iPod entry and clicking Update (because, just a few minutes ago it told me that it needed to update the firmware). Instantly, it starts copying music to the iPod. All of it. Including the tracks i didn't want ON the iPod.
No sweat, i foolishly thought, i'll let it complete, open up the iPod and delete…
Owners of these little joy-toys already know what i'm about to say and can guess the frustration i feel.
Let me compare this with my Zen, a device that i plug in, and is instantly recognized by the OS, and my media programs. i can either copy stuff from YME, MediaPlayer, or heck, the file system. i can copy both music files and random files on and off the beast with nary a thought. i don't have to synchronize, mount, unmount or "eject" a device that's connected by a USB cable. i can copy music to and from the device, and i can remove songs and alter playlists while (Oh God, prepare for the shock) while unplugged from the computer. Oh yeah, and all i need to connect is a USB A to mini B cable. The same cable my camera, web-cam, and a host of other items use.
It (F'ing) Just Works.
And, it's got a radio built in, dammit.
So, all you iPod people out there? i get to laugh at you. i get to laugh and laugh and know that when you talk about how the iPod is easier to use and your able to do so much, you're simply trying to justify the horrible mistake you made of letting this device potty train on your soul. You no longer have any right to say that the iPod is a superior portable music player. You're wrong. Horribly, delusionally, wrong.
i'm sure it's fine for reading notes or showing tiny pictures of your cat, but as a usable media player, HA!
Let me again say that one of the points of frustration about this is that iPods are sold as being Insanely Easy to use. i expected more troubles using something else, and frankly the something else didn't give me that sort of problem, this did. If i handed this to my parents, they wouldn't figure it out. The person who was going to use this couldn't figure it out easily. The default options were NOT useful, and the software didn't try to adapt to help me. If i drag music onto the iPod, it should either pop up an alert telling me why i can't and what to do to solve it, allow the operation anyway, or at least give me a clue.
It didn't. That sucks in my opinion.
