Interesting that the iPod is not the number one mp3 player in Asia, according to this report, which includes photos and comments on the top ten. The Creative Zen Vision:M is the market leader. I’ve been using a Creative Zen Touch for a year or two and it’s been rock solid, with extraordinary battery life and decent controls.
But there is no getting around it – the current line of iPods is so cool that nothing else comes close. Drop over to Best Buy and hold an iPod Nano or a 30Gb iPod – you’ll want to own it, simple as that. The elegant, simple packaging stands out – take a look at this hilarious video that imagines what an iPod package would look like if Microsoft designed it.
On the other hand, I want nothing to do with iTunes and expensive, restricted music files in a proprietary format. J River Media Center fully supports the iPod, as do other media managers. If you buy an iPod and begin the software installation, you can cancel at the license agreement for iTunes. After restarting, the driver for the iPod is installed for drag-and-drop operation and integration with J River Media Center without iTunes trying to take over your computer and your file associations.
