You know the one thing I always notice with these other companies? Their stuff just looks so cluttered, cheesy and "trying too hard".
The iPod is just a small, white rectangle. Smooth, low-key. No wild-ass curves or self-conscious "ain't we hip?" design touches.
All these other things just seem to be a big orgy of buttons, screens, ports, dials, knobs, etc.
I'm a fairly sharp guy, but I just know I'd be fiddling with that Sony thing for 20 minutes or so before I got a song to play on it. Look at it!
Same thing extends to the other hardware: compare an iBook or PowerBook to a typical, popular PC notebook. Which one, hands-down, looks the most elegant and inviting?
Everytime I'm at Best Buy, I walk through the computer aisle and just marvel at how ugly and clunky and riddled with buttons/knobs/ports all these HP laptops are. Bevels on bevels, multiple tones, jacks/buttons on every damn surface (all four sides, in many cases), latches, doors, etc.
Ugh.
These guys run about three years behind Apple. I expect them to unveil mp3 players in about 2007 that look like a small rectangle. At that point, Apple will be on to something completely different and amazing, and all these guys - hardware AND software - will be playing catch-up, and churning out third-rate, ugly knock-offs, trying to jump on whatever bandwagon Apple sets in motion in the coming years.
If Steve declared 2005 "the Year of Cereal", all these guys would be looking for ways to incorporate oats, bran fiber and sugar frosting into their designs.
Why is it that every mp3 player that comes out now is an "iPod Killer"? It was like this a couple years ago when the new iMacs came out, for about 12 months, every all in one desktop that came out was an "iMac Killer." This industry has, without a doubt, the worst case of Apple Envy I've ever seen.
I know what a user interface. 25 buttons that I think you have to "just know" which button corresponds with a part of the screen. Good thinking to have tic-tac size buttons everywhere on a device too
It was like this a couple years ago when the new iMacs came out, for about 12 months, every all in one desktop that came out was an "iMac Killer."
The iMac doesn't need a killer, it's committing suicide all on its own.
As for that Sony device, they did get one thing right -- the color screen and USB functionality.
Apple should do this to the iPod, not for movies or other such nonesense, but for photos. iPod should work with iPhoto as seamlessly as it works with iTunes. Virtually every camera I've ever tried is recognized by windows USB mass storage protocols, no special drivers required, the processing overhead is extremely minimal. You shouldn't need a card reader, it should be as simple as connecting a cable from your iPod to your camera, downloading the contents, and then reformatting the card in camera and continuing to shoot. A simple color screen not much more than on many flip phones and the appropriate firmware ought to do the trick for relatively little cost increase, yet add immeasurably to the value of the iPod.
It's still about the music but digital photography is just to big to ignore, and this would be ridiculously cheap to implement.
i am dissapointed in this design, especially from sony. they usually have the best designs, close to par with apple. this looks like any other garbage design
honestly, i dont think it looks that bad, but what will kill it will be the atrac only support. sony really needs to give up on the proprietery-format-for-everything-we-make idea. i kinda like what they did with the interface as far as the screen being divided up into 25 sections that correspond to the buttons on the right, but as far as ease of use, i could see it being a little clumsy.
OT,but the thread title reminded me of an old SNL skit where a cop pulls a black guy over and then a narrator says "Not going anywhere for a while? Grab a Sniggers"
Thing I hate most about these Sony digital walkman products is that it natively plays ONLY atrac. Everything else gets transcoded to atrac on your computer, and thus you have to use their crappy software. Like them using Memory Stick when everyone else uses CF/SD. Hate it, would never buy it. I just got an Olympus C-5060 to replace my stolen DSC-S85, which I loved, but I'm never buying another Sony camera that takes only (grossly overpriced) Memory sticks.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I want one! That piece of crap will never compete with iPod. I prefer devices that don't require a pin to press a single button. It won't sell.
Comments
The iPod is just a small, white rectangle. Smooth, low-key. No wild-ass curves or self-conscious "ain't we hip?" design touches.
All these other things just seem to be a big orgy of buttons, screens, ports, dials, knobs, etc.
I'm a fairly sharp guy, but I just know I'd be fiddling with that Sony thing for 20 minutes or so before I got a song to play on it. Look at it!
Same thing extends to the other hardware: compare an iBook or PowerBook to a typical, popular PC notebook. Which one, hands-down, looks the most elegant and inviting?
Everytime I'm at Best Buy, I walk through the computer aisle and just marvel at how ugly and clunky and riddled with buttons/knobs/ports all these HP laptops are. Bevels on bevels, multiple tones, jacks/buttons on every damn surface (all four sides, in many cases), latches, doors, etc.
Ugh.
These guys run about three years behind Apple. I expect them to unveil mp3 players in about 2007 that look like a small rectangle. At that point, Apple will be on to something completely different and amazing, and all these guys - hardware AND software - will be playing catch-up, and churning out third-rate, ugly knock-offs, trying to jump on whatever bandwagon Apple sets in motion in the coming years.
If Steve declared 2005 "the Year of Cereal", all these guys would be looking for ways to incorporate oats, bran fiber and sugar frosting into their designs.
But 25 itty bitty buttons.....
Originally posted by SledgeHammer
It was like this a couple years ago when the new iMacs came out, for about 12 months, every all in one desktop that came out was an "iMac Killer."
The iMac doesn't need a killer, it's committing suicide all on its own.
As for that Sony device, they did get one thing right -- the color screen and USB functionality.
Apple should do this to the iPod, not for movies or other such nonesense, but for photos. iPod should work with iPhoto as seamlessly as it works with iTunes. Virtually every camera I've ever tried is recognized by windows USB mass storage protocols, no special drivers required, the processing overhead is extremely minimal. You shouldn't need a card reader, it should be as simple as connecting a cable from your iPod to your camera, downloading the contents, and then reformatting the card in camera and continuing to shoot. A simple color screen not much more than on many flip phones and the appropriate firmware ought to do the trick for relatively little cost increase, yet add immeasurably to the value of the iPod.
It's still about the music but digital photography is just to big to ignore, and this would be ridiculously cheap to implement.
But 500 bucks for 20 gigs? Not bloody likely killing anything...
OT,but the thread title reminded me of an old SNL skit where a cop pulls a black guy over and then a narrator says "Not going anywhere for a while? Grab a Sniggers"
If they could come up with a design like that for their consumer mp3 player then maybe Sony could compete with the iPod.
A pair of Qualia headphones to compliment the new MD player are also available....for $2,600.
Yikes.