Lars-Christian.com|This is me at the intarwebs.

I like my iPod. Some might even go as far as to say that I love my iPod, and that just might be the truth. After I got my 1st generation iPod Nano 4GB, my life has taken a turn for the better. Sounds drastic? Sure, but it’s true nevertheless. Today I can’t imagine what sitting on the bus, trying to sleep, or driving would be like without a reasonable size of my music library easily available in my pocket would be like. Though I’m almost certain it would be less enjoyable!

I’ve had other MP3-players before, but none of them managed to bring music into my life to the extent that my iPod has. I can’t really explain why, but fortunately that’s really irrelevant at this point. What I want to talk about is how when something makes you feel happy, you want to share it with others, so that they can feel the same joy. Similar to how when you eat food you like, and would like others to taste it as well, I have reccomended the iPod to family and friends, because of the impact it had on myself. And guess what, this fall and holiday season it seems that my reccomendations have gone through, because all of a sudden practically everyone in my social circle has gotten an iPod one way or the other.

Unfortunately, as I will explain, this isn’t all good. Because it seems that the iPod, like I previously thought, isn’t the ideal music-device for everyone. As a result of this I have become the friendly neighbourhood iPod support and guy to go to if you have any complaints, and quite frankly it’s annoying! For all the same reasons I love the iPod, other people are complaining at it, and I’ll outline those reasons now.

iTunes. Most people who haven’t owned an iPod aren’t familiar with iTunes and how it works. The typical first-time-Windows-iTunes-user seems to find iTunes very hard to work with, and they don’t understand that an iPod isn’t just a standalone device, but a part of a package from Apple that requires the use of iTunes to function at all. All they want to do is to open Windows Explorer and cut-and-paste their songs on to their music player, and as everybody knows, that’s not a part of the iTunes experience.

To me, iTunes is the ideal tool for all the needs I have when it comes to managing my music library, and obviously the iPod as a result of this rises in the ranks for me personally. But imagine iTunes being the shoes that don’t fit, but you have to wear it to complete your outfit. It doesn’t feel great, but you use them still, mainly because you’re forced to. Unless you want to buy a new outfit with a pair of shoes that fit better to go along with it. I imagine that’s the feeling iPod owners who are uncomfortable with iTunes have, but they don’t really want to buy a new player, since this most often costs money.

Tags. This point has to do with the way Apple sets up their software, and hardware for that matter. Most of the people I know aren’t aware that the iPod doesn’t support a hierarchical system of folders like they are used to from Windows, but rather the same system of tags that iTunes sports, and it’s definately something that’s hard to adjust to for many.

Now this might make me sound like I’m the center of an organized crime syndicate, but the fact of the matter is that most people I know adds to their musical collection by using various illegal channels of acquiring it. The problem with this in relation to iTunes and the iPod is that more often than not, songs are not properly tagged. This of course makes the iPod more or less useless, since you have no way of navigating through your music unless it is tagged with the proper tags. Of course you can always spend the time necessary to rectify this, but needless to say it’s a daunting task. Or you can improvise like my sister did, who just listen to the songs, and puts them in a playlist which she transfers to her iPod. That way, she can still find the songs she wants to listen to, but it’s not an ideal solution to say the least.

Other Reasons. Those aren’t the only problems people have complained about to me when it comes to the iPod, there are a multitude of things people don’t seem to like about it, some more viable than others. For instance, some people somehow finds the iPod interface difficult to navigate with the click-wheel. I don’t really consider this a valid complaint, since for most people it takes a minute and a half to get familiar with, and after that it is only pure joy.

Also, with the first generation Nano, a few people I know had problems with scratching. As I mentioned before I have one of those myself (am I the only who who thinks it looks better than it’s younger and slightly slimmer brother?), but thanks to a marvellous silicon skin, there isn’t a single scratch in it. I like to take care of my stuff, especially the things that I use and value.

Some have also had a bad experience with the iPod, and encountered the pleasures of dealing with Apple’s support. It’s really not my place to comment on this, since I have been lucky enough to never have to make as much as a phone call to Apple, despite owning a MacBook, the most bug plagued laptop ever, I heard someone say, and an iPod which has been labelled the least durable electronic device ever made, by the same people who don’t like the MacBook. From what I’ve heard though, Apple could profit from changing the policy of their support and take a more customer-friendly approach.

Those are the main complaints I’ve been getting over the past few months about the iPod, and quite frankly, in this Windows-dominated word of ours, despite the fact that it is perfect for my own needs, I am having a hard time seeing how the iPod became one of the most successful commercial products since sliced bread. And I will also think twice before reccomending the iPod to anyone in the future, and I’ll definately have them give iTunes a go before they decide on purchasing an iPod. Because like I mentioned before, if you’re not comfortable with iTunes, there are most likely better alternatives for you out there.