I’m hard core iPod user since the absolutely first 5 gb model was released back in 2001. The super simple step by step navigation appealed to me and syncing my complete music library was just so cool. There is a few small things that the engineers from apple havent managed to get right. The iPod sometimes suffers from acute amnesiotic seizures.
The iPod and the iTunes application have played a large role in my life. In fact, my whole interest in music was seriously awakened first after I discovered iTunes. I have always hated CD’s. The fact that the music stops every hour and the fact that you can’t just throw away a bad track on a otherwise good album. The possibility to organize and browse my music in genres, artists and albums really made it fun for me. When the iPod was released I was first in line to get it.
The one thing that always bugged me is the case of amnesia the Ipod experiences when I attach it to my computer. Whatever I’m currently listening to is just lost. For me it is obvious that if the iPod is currently playing a song and then connected to the computer, I should be asked if I want to continue playing the same song from my music library on the computer. Making the experience slick and seamless is The iTunes application is started automatically and all the information is obviously available. It cant be that hard?
You might think that this is a tiny problem in the thick and thin of things, but it is extremely annoying. When I listen to audio books for example. There are sometimes hundreds of files. Losing track of the current track makes it virtually impossible to find where I was. In order to keep track of the tracks, I had take refuge in sticking a Post It note on the player where I can write the current track and position with a pen whenever there is a risk of losing touch. As you can imagine, this method is a little bit too old school for a digital freak like me!
I recently got an iPhone. In the iPhone the iPod is created as a separate application. This is a fair enough idea but the application is actually a great disappointment. I’m sad to say that this application is not as simple and intuitive interface as the iPhone’s older brothers. It seams that they have spent a lot of effort on making it look and feel exactly like the address book application, which for me seems like a downgrade.
When it comes to the loss of the current song the iPhone is both better and worse than the iPod. On the iPhone 3GS 32GB I currently use, the iPod actually remembers where I was in terms of navigation, even if the battery runs out. This is far better then the old versions that just woke up to a new day when rebooted due to low battery. The fact that the iPhone remembers what I was listening to does not help all the way. After you reboot the iPhone and open the iPod application and press play, the little bugger actually starts playing a song completely selected at random. Exactly what the engineers at Apple were thinking is not clear, but starting to play any song except the one I want to hear is a bit over the top.
I love music, I love audio books and I hope that Apple will help me not lose touch with what’s on in the future, even when I hook up my gadgets.
/ Mårten