Totally amazed by how nice my new PowerBook G4 was, I broke down and bought an iPod. The excuse I used was that while I'm traveling the backroads of Montana, Idaho, and British Columbia this summer, I'll want music to listen to in my car. Since I have an aux-in jack in my truck, I thought this would be great. And it is!
Somebody on the Industrial Design Team at Apple deserves a huge bonus. The ID on the iPod is just as slick as on the PowerBook. As you've undoubtedly heard from many different fronts, the little music box is sweet. It feels good in your hand, looks very clean, and has totally intuitive software. It integrates seamlessly with my PowerBook. I've heard that Paul Mercer, an old friend of mine from my days at Apple is responsible for the UI. I'd totally believe that; Paul was always pushing the edge on minimalist UIs for small devices. His work on the iPod is perfect. I especially enjoyed the little surprises, like the auto-downloading of my address book. I don't have a Palm or other PDA and I don't think I'll ever need one, I've been using the calendar and address book in my iPod and it's great.
I've heard some people complain about the battery life on the iPod. I can attest that I was able to listen to music on a fully charged battery for the full length of a flight from Seattle to Miami. That's enough for me.
Apple's cooking with gas these days, I really hope the public pays attention and Apple's success continues.
Posted by Bruce on March 4, 2004 1:29 AM