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For six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul

Saturday, August 07, 2004

The ugly side of Apple advocacy

iPod Garage "founder" Bill Palmer proves himself to be both clueless and tactless in a bizarrely reasoned response to a question about whether Dell's $100 iPod exchange program is a good idea. As always, he makes it too easy.

The DJ has a just a horrible, horrible user interface that is nothing like the iPod's intuitive scroll wheel.

Wrong. Actually, I've used three different iPods, dating back to the first unit's initial release, and the Dell's mechanical wheel (and buttons) were purposefully designed to prevent the problems with Apple's design. I like the new Click Wheel iPod a lot, but be fair: The DJ was designed and released during the embarassing life cycle of the over-sensitive 3G iPod, which was a dog. And Bill doesn't mention this (naturally, because he doesn't own both devices, casting further doubt on his opinion), but the DJ's software UI is actually quite superior to that of the iPod, even the new version.

any music purchased through the iTunes Music Store is useless on a DJ, unless you burn it to a CD in AIFF format...

Wrong. Arguably, any music purchased through the iTunes Music Store is useless, period, because of its low quality. Instead, you could use MusicMatch, which offers superior 160 Kbps WMA songs, or RealPlayer Music Store, which offers 192 Kbps AAC songs, with the DJ. And here's another shocker, I've tried both, Bill. They are both superior, from an audio quality standpoint, to the songs on iTunes. And they both work great with the DJ.

speaking of WMA format, it's terrible. Sounds like somebody pissing in a can. It's not just inferior to the iPod's AAC format at the same bit-rate, it's even inferior to good old MP3

Wrong. And, yes, he actually wrote, "pissing in a can." In most tests, WMA is superior or virtually identical to AAC at the same bitrates, and I've never heard anyone claim that it was inferior to the aging MP3 format. But hey, you can trust a guy from "iPod Garage," right? In any event, the beauty of non-iTunes stores, which is really the point here, is that you have choice. And with choice comes a variety of formats, and higher quality that what Apple offers. I know that's a tough concept for the Apple fanatic crowd.

the market for cases, car kits, and other peripherals, which is huge and growing for the iPod, is nearly non-existent for the DJ.

This is absolutely true. And isn't it ironic that he would cite choice in this particular aspect of the iPod, while downplaying choice where it actually matters in a music player: The actual audio? LOL.

Anyway. He's right. There are a lot more peripherals for the iPod.

Besides, the Mac user base is growing by leaps and bounds

Wrong. I mean, seriously. That's unbelievable. I assume he means "iPod," not Mac. See what happens when you're a fanatic?

The fact that Dell is already trying this desperate trade-in program means that DJ sales are falling, not rising.

Just so I have noted your opinion correctly, you believe that when a company offers a trade-in program, they're desperate, right? Right?

OK, just checking. You saw this story and this story, right? Right? I must have missed the link on "iPod Garage." I wrote about it here previously.

Just checking.

Speaking of flops, Dell is a company that is not used to failing.

I agree. Dell tends to dominate markets it enters.

a Dell DJ user can't buy his or her music from the iTunes Music Store, and instead has to pick from among a variety of losers when it comes to choosing an online music store

I think you raised this issue earlier, Bill. To reiterate, I find it ironic that you decry choice when it's convenient and tout it when it's convenient. Sorry, that's not ironic. It's hypocritical. It's the type of argument a child would make.

To put it in car terms, your argument is basically this: A Ford, Toyota, or VW owner can't get his car serviced at the Mercedes dealership but instead has to pick from among a variety of loser car company service stations (with one exception: In your world, the Mercedes you love can also only buy gas at the Mercedes dealership; I hope it's close to your house). Curious. But choice is what makes capitalism work, Bill. If it didn't exist, the iPod never would have happened. Today, we can choose which car to buy, which software to run, which stores to shop in. And all non-iPod users (all of them, Bill) can choose which online music store to use. Everyone except iPod users has a choice. That's my biggest problem with the device, which is otherwise quite nice.

I would go so far as to say that almost anyone who trades in their iPod for a Dell DJ, will then be replacing their DJ with a brand new iPod within about three months, making the whole deal a huge personal financial setback.

Curious. You're saying that buying a 20 GB Dell DJ at an effective price of $123 at today's prices, is a "huge personal financial setback"? What exactly can one buy at the Apple Store for that price? A white Monster Cable (tm) for your precious iPod?

For the record, I gave a friend my 5 GB first generation iPod (which had an almost completely dead battery) to trade in for a DJ. He's not a computer geek, or a snob, and loves the DJ, and it works great with the many music stores he's been trying (he ended up sticking with RealPlayer Music Store). Shocking, eh? And though I own both a DJ and a Click Wheel iPod, I still think the DJ is a better buy for most people, sorry.

Anyone can make a mistake writing an article. I do it more than I'd like to permit. But for the "founder" of a site to make so many back-to-back, glaring errors in order to prove a fundamentally bogus point, promote his favorite product, and slam a competitor just proves how insane these people can be. It's sad, and it's embarassing. If you want to promote Apple's products for them, go nuts. But please back up your opinions with a few facts.

[ Posted at 8:06 AM | Permalink ]