I feel dirty

Toddled into the Apple shop in Brum last night to pick up the "His &
Hers Ipods" and really had to restrain myself from buying a PowerBook.

Regardless of the merits of Windows v MacOS, Apple certainly know how
to come up with kit that just screams "Use Me!" and looks gorgeous.
The rest of the PC world really needs to do some catching up.

And Apple Stores really are bling aren't they?

 

The one on Regent Street gives me the creeps, actually - it's like some sort
of cult-temple

 

Next time I'm in London I think I'll go in and ask them where I can find
Windows Media Center 2005.

 

Are you sure? I went in the one in the Trafford Centre last week and
it looked quite bargain-basement. I think they were going for
minimalistic, but it came across as "we ran out of budget after we'd
paid the lease".

I didn't feel comfortable at all - "Loads of gear, no idea!" sums it up
quite well. I'd gone in to gawp at the cinema displays and see what
the picture is like. Asked the bloke who was standing near them what
the specs for the apple panel were so I could match them to the Dell
panel.

I got "I don't know - it's 23", and it's apple so it's sure to be the
best you can get!".
"Uh-huh. What are they though?" He fiddles with websites for a few
minutes, then falls back on "they're brilliant, just look at the
picture!".

What would I get if apple made a car? "Never mind the performance or
the economy sir, it's got 4, count 'em, 4 wheels! And they're all
circular!"
"Does it have doors?"
"I'll have to check."

What are the nano's like? Any good?

 

Yeah, that's what it was like. There were more people there playing
with stuff and standing around chatting at the bar, than actually
buying stuff.

I felt odd asking to buy things.

 

Well, this one is in the new Bull Ring so like most of the shops it's
really been done up flash.

It did seem that Apple kit is the in thing with the yound Asian crowd.
Bling.

So far, I like it. Definately needs one of those skin cases I think,
and I see what Sweller was getting at with his iTunes issues, but on
the whole it's very nice. Certainly a different league to the 20 quid
unknown brand flash-based mp3 players.

 

iTunes does seem pretty quirky on Windows, probably because nothing else on
the desktop really works like it. It does make a lot more sense in the
context of a Mac, though, where it just seems more similar to the other
apps.

 

After re-ripping around 20 cd's I've got the hang of it now. Only
thing I've found a pain is that it insists on auto-detecting if you've
inserted a cd. I normally have auto-run turned off and it'd be nice
to just be able to tell it you've put a cd in.

 

The lights are all on the inside, because only Appleites have found
illumination, the rest of the heathens can stay in the dark.

There is no steering wheel, just a single ergonomically moulded piece of
plastic, with one (yes just one) button.

It doesn't use petrol, because petrol isn't locked in to Apple's own
marketing policy. You need iFuel, which is available online using
Apple's iFillUp technology. (Currently only available in the US).

 

I'm considering a Creative Zen Nano Plus 1GB (there's a catchy name for
you) - no iTunes, and includes an FM radio. Hard to go wrong, I think...

 

Re enable the auto-detect registry key, then disable autorun for CD's
only with

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies
\Explorer]
"NoDriveTypeAutoRun"=dword:000000b5


This gives you the best of both worlds.

 

I've got the previous model - the Creative Muvo Micro - same spec. I'm
very happy with it.

 

I switch from a Creative, admittedly mine is around 3 years old and
pre-dates Creative ripping off the iPod interface.

Not sure I see the point to a 1Gb device though. The 4 of the Nano is
about as small as I think you can go and still have a usable device,
otherwise you'll be permanently adding and removing stuff to it. May
as well use a Discman.

 

This would be the one Argos were knocking out at £50? Missed the boat I
think

 

Got one for SWMBO and opened it up to sneak on some choons and check
the engraving. Everything should be like this: it is beautifully
packaged; the battery is charged so you can switch it on through the
film cover; all components present and correct in something the size
of a double CD case. It just works.

 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/09/creative_patent_threat/

Think you may find, from a patent POV if nothing else, it's the other way
round.

 

I picked up one of those when they were on offer at Argos a couple of
weeks ago. I mostly use it when at the gym and to be honest it's a bit
too small and fiddly for that, but for general "around town" use it's
great.

 

I meant the click-wheel/front buttons thing rather than the menus.
The Creative I have uses a little wheel on the side that you use to
scroll up and down the menus and then you push it in to select stuff.

It's crap.

 

I'm not sure that was the Plus, with the FM radio built in. Either way,
I couldn't find any Argos store in the tri-county area which had it in
stock.

But it's my birthday in a month's time, so what do I care how much it
costs?

 

If you can find me a discman that small which will hold a gig of MP3s,
I'll have your babies.

And of course I'll be adding stuff to it, unless you know a way of
pre-populating an MP3 player with albums that haven't yet been recorded.