Never Buy an iPod Again
Never is a bit extreme, but hear me out. I often hear people buying the latest and greatest iPod simply because it’s new. Perhaps it has some niche feature that they think they will use, but in the grand scheme of things an iPod is an iPod is an iPod.
If you are like me and you use your iPod to play music and nothing else there is simply no good reason to ever buy another iPod unless yours is stolen or is no longer working. If you clicked the link above, what I find interesting is that other than the introduction of video on iPods and the iPod touch there have been no major changes to the functionality. Let me state this clearly, you can rock out to your favorite tunes on the original October 2001 release of the iPod Classic just as well as you can on the brand new (September 2008) iPod Classic.
The first rebuttal will surely be something regarding memory so I’ll address that. I’m not advocating that you should limit yourself to only 5GB’s (original iPod Classic size) of music - I mean that would only be around 1500 songs - what would you do? But what I am suggesting is that you should only buy an iPod when you have a valid reason too (ie: something other than it looks cool).
Although this is one specific example this type of thinking can be applied to so many things around us. Sticking to the electronics space, think of this same mentality applied to laptops, mobile phones and TV’s. Another one that seems to jump out at me is a car. Cars are often bought or replaced simply due to looks.
The flip-side which I like about this mentality is that it should force you to be extremely picky when making any initial purchases. Lets take a digital camera for example. If you buy the perfect digital camera right now, it should last you for several years. If you simply pick out the coolest one you see you’re sure to be left wanting when the next slick design comes out.
Where are some other areas that we can extend the life of purchased goods in order to save money while still having the same functionality?
Don’t underestimate the importance of memory. My first IPod that I got freshman year was 15 GB. I filled that rather quickly. Luckily I bought the Best Buy replacement plan at the time when all you had to do was tell them it randomly shut off on you and they would replace your ipod with the newest version. So my original black and white screened 15 GB 2 years later turned into a brand new color 30 GB IPod with video for the cost of a $30 best buy replacement plan. Eventually I filled that 30 GB IPod as well. I was planning on getting another one and then I lost the 30 GB one forcing me to buy a new one, but I would have upgraded anyway. The new IPod classic is 120 GB for the same cost as my old 30 GB. I listen to music for at the very least probably 5-6 hrs a day. 4 times the space for someone who enjoys music and has a diverse musical taste totally justifies upgrading from a 30 GB to 120 GB. I currently have over 12,000 songs on my IPod and have plenty of room leftover for videos, photos, or whatever else I want…mostly for more songs. You make it sound like 1500 songs is plenty of music. Well maybe it is for some people but for those who enjoy music and listen on the train twice a day, at work, at the gym, and at home 1500 songs get old pretty fast.
Good point Mike. My main focus was simply on not buying a new iPod simply based on looks or because its the ‘hot new product’. I agree with you that size can be important, but if you’ve purchased an iPod in the last 3 years, you should have plenty of space. This opens up a whole new can of worms, but I personally don’t think its necessary to have every song known to man with you at all times.
I have about 50GB’s of music which I have on my iPod classic and never ever use. I also have an 8GB iPod Nano which I use everyday. I put the 8GB’s of music (2000ish songs = 14, 10 hour days of music without ever listening to the same song twice) that I am currently listening to on my nano and I’m good to go.
Bottom-line, if you want to have all of your music on one iPod, memory is a factor, but aesthetics are not.
I agree that buying something purely based on aesthetics is not a wise idea, i.e. wasted money. However, in my case, I had a 40GB iPod Photo (the first color screen) that I bought in 2004. I listen to music at least 4 hours a day, usually more, and I would say that I definitely got my money’s worth out of it. This year, I upgraded to the 120GB iPod Classic - mainly because I was running out of space, and the iPod Photo would not work with my car’s built-in iPod control. Now - this is a ploy by manufacturers - to release accessories that are not backward compatible.. shame shame shame.
I also have a shuffle that I take to the gym with me, loaded with a few good playlists. However, when I’m not at the gym, I do prefer to have all of my music with me all the time, because I usually have my iPod Classic on “Random”.. call it the element of surprise, laziness.. maybe a little of both, but I prefer to just cruise through my songs at random.
The moral of the story is that I think it comes down to usage. If it’s something you use all the time, replace it when you feel like it’s necessary, but I agree not just because it looks pretty! Something like the iPod touch is really “cool” but it has much less storage space than an iPod classic. Another suggestion… I gave my old iPod to my brother as a gift, because he’s in college and could only afford a nano at the time .. but had I not done that, I would have sold the old on on eBay and at least recoup some of my investment.
Will, I side with you. The fact that Apple is able to get so many people to part with their disposable income on THE SAME THING over and over again is worthy of a book and award.
I see the memory issue only valid in the early stages. It’s not like songs have grown in size. Contrary to computers, the demand for space has only increased due to the desire to hold more songs, not based on the need due to larger apps, more complex functions, etc.
Maybe I just hate on Apple because they embraced the one-button mouse for SO LONG, or maybe I am just write.
It all comes back to the need/want issue, as do so many things in life. Yet some people have trouble distinguishing what is a NEED and what is a WANT. Ben makes a great point… songs have not grown in size, the space issue is a DESIRE to hold more songs. Before they came out with an ipod that had a million GB you did what you could. Now because you CAN, i repeat CAN, put a million songs on your ipod it becomes a need? Why? As anyone who knows me can tell you I have an expansive music library and currently my ipod is as full as can be. But I dont NEED to buy a new ipod just b/c now I can put every song i own (I use that term loosely when discussing itunes) on it. I was doing fine before with only a third of my library. I think I can manage just a bit longer.
I missed one key point. I NEED an Ipod in BRIGHT PINK. It’s not about storage, its about colors. Apple knows all.
Hi,
Super post, Need to mark it on Digg
Thank you
Hi Charlie,
If you would like to ‘digg it’, please use the ShareThis tool found right underneath the article.
Thanks,
Will
Loved this post, and totally agree with it. I was just having this conversation yesterday with a co-worker about yet another piece of technology - dive computers. It doesn’t matter if a company runs out of technological creativity - just change the casing, make it prettier, and people will still spend money. Especially if it starts with an ‘i’.
I may never understand the need to carry around a months worth of music. I have never owned an iPod with more than 8GB of memory. I started out with a 4GB nano (the original) and now have an iPod Touch. With the Touch I can check email, update facebook, twitter, surf the web, check news, all while listening to podcasts and music.
My b/f bought me a 2GB Nano in December ‘05 and it still works. At first I thought it didn’t hold enough songs, but I don’t listen to my Nano so often that I get bored of the songs (and besides, I always listen to the same stuff over and over, delete, and then add other songs). Meanwhile, he bought an iPhone the first day it came out in ‘07 and when the 3G iPhone came out last year, he ditched his old one (by giving it to me) and upgraded to the new one. I found it wasteful, but I am the beneficiary so I can’t complain. The odd thing is that I still use my Nano more often, probably out of habit.