Click the "Select" botton while you're playing a song... your progress indicator will turn into a little diamond. Now, when you use the scroll wheel, you can move forward or backward in the current track. When you're done, it will return to functioning as the volume control.
Excellent tip! Is there a way to select a part of a song to repeat instead of having the whole song repeat?
Why?? You control the volume with the scroll wheel, first of all. Second, the iPod has five buttons. That's what you get. I don't think it will change anytime soon; extra buttons are no-no when it comes to the minimalist look Apple goes for. I dunno.
The whole point was you can't always control the volume with the scroll wheel. Sometimes you're an 11-second delay from being able to control the volume with the scroll wheel, with no way to get around the delay. That kind of time-dependent modality, especially with that long a delay, can be annoying to many people, myself included.
And didn't I already say earlier in this thread, "While I understand the appeal of the very minimalist set of controls on the iPod..."? I acknowledged the minimalist sensibility of the iPod, and framed what I was saying in relation to that established reality. This thread is about what people don't like about iPods. I personally would give up a little of that minimalism for better control. I never said a thing about predicting what Apple would do. I consider Apple doing anything like my suggestion unlikely in fact -- that doesn't mean I can't express what I'd personally like that would be different from what Apple is likely to do.
So what's with the "That's what you get" attitude you're giving me? You're acting as if I'm unaware of the context in which I'm making these suggestions.
Quote:
It doesn't really take all that much time for me to hit menu a couple of times and turn on shuffle... I just don't see the benefit to the extra buttons.
A whole lot of UI design is often about just these kinds of "little" details, like one click vs. two clicks, moving a cursor 20 pixels instead of 200. If you take the attitude "Well, it's not that hard to do so-and-so," and don't see the value of streamlining common tasks, you don't understand much about UI design. I'm not saying there isn't a valid debate to be had about the value of minimalist controls vs. such streamling, just that "it's not that hard" is a really miss-the-point way to look at most UI issues.
well i wish there was an easier way to turn shuffle on an off. also i have the same problem putting my 5g ipod to sleep and everyone i know with 5g ipods and 1g nanos have the same problem.
about 9 times out of 10, ipods will not respond to my touch (I think it has to do with the amount of cardboard I handle at my job).
Laptop touchpads don't work either.
I use a shuffle now, mainly.
Other gripes.. let's see.. well the HDD ipods have lower batery life than I'd like and I can't turn the thing completely off (so the battery doesn't run down).
The whole point was you can't always control the volume with the scroll wheel. Sometimes you're an 11-second delay from being able to control the volume with the scroll wheel, with no way to get around the delay.
I don't want to belittle your post or the points you made, because it was a very good post. But, saying there's no way around the delay is not true. Navigate to the main menu and then select "now playing", and the scroll wheel will become the volume control again. Navigating to the top menu and selecting "now playing" takes < 11 seconds.
Of course, it does mean you loose where you were in the menu structure.
Unfortunately, the only realistic option for you if you really want the separate volume control, is to get an in-line remote, which has a dedicated iPod volume control.
and I can't turn the thing completely off (so the battery doesn't run down).
It would be nice if there were the option of adding a "shutdown" command to the main menu. If consumers can handle the idea of shutting down a computer, surely they can handle the idea of shutting down an iPod?
Comments
Click the "Select" botton while you're playing a song... your progress indicator will turn into a little diamond. Now, when you use the scroll wheel, you can move forward or backward in the current track. When you're done, it will return to functioning as the volume control.
Excellent tip! Is there a way to select a part of a song to repeat instead of having the whole song repeat?
Excellent tip! Is there a way to select a part of a song to repeat instead of having the whole song repeat?
Not that I know of, but I imagine a few people would be interested in that. An implementation could be:
1.) activate the progress indicator
2.) scroll to the part that you want the repeat loop to start at
3.) press and hold select (middle button), marker appears below progress indicator to show entry point has been selected
4.) scroll to the part that you want the repeat loop to end.
5.) press and hold select. End point of loop is selected and the repeat loop begins playing.
Why?? You control the volume with the scroll wheel, first of all. Second, the iPod has five buttons. That's what you get. I don't think it will change anytime soon; extra buttons are no-no when it comes to the minimalist look Apple goes for. I dunno.
The whole point was you can't always control the volume with the scroll wheel. Sometimes you're an 11-second delay from being able to control the volume with the scroll wheel, with no way to get around the delay. That kind of time-dependent modality, especially with that long a delay, can be annoying to many people, myself included.
And didn't I already say earlier in this thread, "While I understand the appeal of the very minimalist set of controls on the iPod..."? I acknowledged the minimalist sensibility of the iPod, and framed what I was saying in relation to that established reality. This thread is about what people don't like about iPods. I personally would give up a little of that minimalism for better control. I never said a thing about predicting what Apple would do. I consider Apple doing anything like my suggestion unlikely in fact -- that doesn't mean I can't express what I'd personally like that would be different from what Apple is likely to do.
So what's with the "That's what you get" attitude you're giving me? You're acting as if I'm unaware of the context in which I'm making these suggestions.
It doesn't really take all that much time for me to hit menu a couple of times and turn on shuffle... I just don't see the benefit to the extra buttons.
A whole lot of UI design is often about just these kinds of "little" details, like one click vs. two clicks, moving a cursor 20 pixels instead of 200. If you take the attitude "Well, it's not that hard to do so-and-so," and don't see the value of streamlining common tasks, you don't understand much about UI design. I'm not saying there isn't a valid debate to be had about the value of minimalist controls vs. such streamling, just that "it's not that hard" is a really miss-the-point way to look at most UI issues.
Laptop touchpads don't work either.
I use a shuffle now, mainly.
Other gripes.. let's see.. well the HDD ipods have lower batery life than I'd like and I can't turn the thing completely off (so the battery doesn't run down).
iTunes 7 fixed all my other gripes
The whole point was you can't always control the volume with the scroll wheel. Sometimes you're an 11-second delay from being able to control the volume with the scroll wheel, with no way to get around the delay.
I don't want to belittle your post or the points you made, because it was a very good post. But, saying there's no way around the delay is not true. Navigate to the main menu and then select "now playing", and the scroll wheel will become the volume control again. Navigating to the top menu and selecting "now playing" takes < 11 seconds.
Of course, it does mean you loose where you were in the menu structure.
Unfortunately, the only realistic option for you if you really want the separate volume control, is to get an in-line remote, which has a dedicated iPod volume control.
and I can't turn the thing completely off (so the battery doesn't run down).
It would be nice if there were the option of adding a "shutdown" command to the main menu. If consumers can handle the idea of shutting down a computer, surely they can handle the idea of shutting down an iPod?