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In Defense Of IPods

Posted by X-2000R (A) on February 20, 2007 at 09:39:11

In Reply to: Great Display! And ipod lovers please don't respond. posted by Keith H on February 20, 2007 at 08:24:40:

Don't let my subject line lead you to believe that I think Ipods are as good as analog. But just hear me out for a second.

If you put your emotions aside for a second and think it through, comparing Ipods and their ilk to a top shelf analog system is in all aspects a total apples-to-oranges comparison. Each item represents a very different target audience.

A top shelf component system should pretty much speak for itself as a home based quality focused system intended for high fidelity listening. Few of us who have such systems are concerned with mobility or even how much room they take up.

An Ipod on the other hand is meant to provide the user with as much music in as little space as possible. 9 times out of 10 they are listened to through headphones and usually when "on the go" (think while on an airplane, a car, jogging on the beach, exercising at the gym, etc.) and that environment is just not conducive to good sound. As such, file compression to where approximately 90% of the bitstream is removed is what allows the mass storage ability (Ipods are available up to 200gb and boast of 8000 song ability. See how many bit-for-bit *ORIGINAL* UNCOMPRESSED CD's you can fit on one-the answer will stun even the most avid of Ipod users. You could probably fit 4, maybe 5 full length 70 minute CD's. About 50 songs.). Of course, with that much "program" lost, the sound is compromised, but taking into account the environment they are typically used in as well as the tradeoff for large capacity storage and to those people, it's worth it. They are not so much concerned about quality as they are with convenience. It's always been the case with that.

Does anyone remember cassette Walkmans and CD Discmans?

How about those "all-in-one" systems that, for about $200, you got an AM/FM tuner, a CD player and/or turntable, a dual-well tape deck, and speakers? Do brands such as Yorx, Goldstar, and GPX ring a bell with any of you?

Surely none of you would've even LOOKED at such devices, let alone consider purchasing one.

Ipods are simply modern day descendents of those "components". Culture progresses. Technology progresses. And Ipods are a manifestation of that inevitable forward motion in terms of music. They have achieved a long sought after goal: mass storage ability with zero mechanical parts on a device not much larger than a credit card. We never complained about them before. We still stuck with our high end gear. Now granted, good quality components are a lot scarcer now as opposed to 10, 15, and 20 years ago, but there are still a handful of them out there. But they aren't cheap. But then....QUALITY never has been. Besides, if we've all spent hundreds or thousands on our good systems, it stands to reason that we would take care of them and treat them well. So they should last many years if not a lifetime.

Ipods and MP3's: love 'em or hate 'em. You simply cannot compare them to a classic component system.

Now if you want to try and lug around a home theater system in a car or try and DJ a wedding reception with an Ipod, then and ONLY then would all bets be off and Open Season begin.

Now as for me?

I think I'll go dub one of my reel to reel tapes onto a CD so I can listen to it in the car.

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