It does have an inter library loan program. It just takes forever and I have the patience of a 3 year old. Well, not that bad but it would require me thinking about it.

Remember, kids: Don't listen to these things when riding in traffic. (Unless you're using speakers)

I suggest thinking about it. My "forever" is only about two weeks on average from when I request something until my library has it on hand. And it is a good excuse to cycle the 6 mile R/T. I usully request 4 or 5 titles at a time and the loan period is usually 3 weeks which can be renewed. that is why I have never had to listen to my ripped versions cause it only takes a couple days to finish each book, though Dan Brown's Angels and Demons and Digital Domain recently took a little longer (15 CD's each, yikes.)

Thanks, Mom.

I think thats a new record, 27 posts before a nanny jumped in.

iPods sell more than all other brands of MP3 players combined. There's a reason! It isn't marketing OR stupidity - the iPod interface is superior. I'm "brand agnostic" when it comes to electronics - it just has to be simple and work! That's why I like my iPod Nano for music and my TomTom Go for GPS. Your money-your choice.

Not true. Ipod Nanos and Shuffles have flash drives. The larger Ipods, such as the Ipod Video have hard drives. They still sell those.

Another might be that the purchasers have no interest in Audio Books.

Re iPods
It's hip. AKA the in thing.
I'm not hip. It has always been a thing of mine to avoid the in thing.
That and I am cheap (at times). I sure as heck am not going to spend any more $$ on something that I more than likely will eventually drop or hurt in a crash. I am also a klutz.

I was waiting for someone to bust my balls for wanting an MP3 player in the first place

There's free software for getting music onto iPods (not to mention open-source replacements for the software the iPod itself runs), and they play MP3's just fine -- there's no obligation to use anything proprietary.

Perfect for cycling hipsters. Hipness rules among the hip crowd.

That's Mr. Mom. And go with flash drive.

If you have to ask then you probably don't deserve an iPod

But seriously, I have a three year old 3G iPod. I ride in the city with it strapped to my arm, in a sportswrap, and have never had a problem with skipping. My understanding is that when you use a playlist it loads as many songs as possible into a buffer. Also the microdrive is so wrapped in foam that the end result is no noticible effect from shaking or vibrations.

The best part is that it uses a rechargeable battery so, even if you paid as much as I did three years ago, it's still cheaper than buying AAs every week or two.

Really the only downside to an iPod is that the headphones suck but Apple will replace them under warrenty.

I'm going to rig up the Sony flat speakers on the rig this month during nice days for some Christmas music during my commutes. Looking into a nativity scene for the front rack, just put the wreath with flashing lights on this morning. Maybe a Ruldolph statue on the back, with a Superflash as his nose?

There isn't anything wrong with MP3 players.

The Zune is a "1.0" Microsoft product. I respect them for getting into the market with a decent music store, even with the glowing obvious issues the reviewers keep complaining about. Microsoft usually loses in the first iteration of something, then becomes a market staple. Windows Mobile, Xbox, heck, even Windows are examples of this. My only complaint about the Zune is the fact that they didn't just use their existing PlaysForSure market base.

I won't rag on iPods -- they are highly popular, not too expensive, and will do what you want. Like the adage in IT that nobody has gotten fired for buying Microsoft, nobody will get fired for buying an iPod. However, my main MP3 player was made before iPods were even around... an old Nomad Jukebox whose hard disk has been upgraded twice. When this thing dies, I may move to a Zen Touch.

Creative is a great player maker. The biggest thumbs up I have for them is that you can copy unprotected music *off* the player, backing it up somewhere. (You can do this with the iPod as well, but it takes renaming all the files in the hidden song directory.) Some other companies (Archos, iRiver) will allow you to just mount the player as a USB hard drive, toss the songs on, and it figures out the rest.

The MP3 players I avoid are some which require a special utility to transfer music to the player... and encrypt the files so they cannot be used ever again if you try to copy them off. Some MP3 players even transcode (yecch) the files into another format.

Lastly, I have no clue how they work, but uxcell.com sells "mp4" players whose style is "inspired by the iPod Nano." These players are generic MP3/WMA players and they are inexpensive... to the point where they cost lower than flash drives of the same capacity.

It may not be mainstream, but I really like the MS Urge music store. For $15 a month, they offer unlimited downloads, the songs painlessly sync to my phone, and are decent quality. I also picked up a 3 month sub to ye ol' Napster to get their "free" PlaysForSure MP3 player, and will try their service out to check how it compares to URGE. Of course, I'm not knocking iTunes -- you can find stuff there that you can't find anywhere, except I try Urge and Napster first so I don't have to shell out cash for individual tracks.

Who buys AAs every week? Ever hear of rechargeable AA's? My CD/Mp3 player plays fine for hours on end on a pair of NiMh AAs as well as my iAudioG3 mp3 player on a single NiMh AAAA. And there is no proprietary charger required; plus if on an extended trip there is no need to carry around the charger; either carry spare charged batteries, or buy dreaded AA batteries, cheaply anywhere.

Does the iPod require a proprietary headphone connection? Otherwise get replacements anywhere where they sell reliable equipment.

The headphone jack on any iPod is the standard 1/8" stereo that is used everywhere else (including your computer's sound-out jack). ANY headphones will work - most natively and antique ones with an adapter.

I like Yamaha & Sony phones with my iPod, although others swear by Grado or Sennheiser.

What makes the iPod so popular is its interface - much copied but never bettered (or equalled?)...

In any case, Apple stuff for audio is not just for poseurs & geeks - it works just fine for everyone else too. As to expense, you can buy cheaper MP3 players, but not better ones.

I beg to differ. I've done some research before purchasing a HD MP3 player and have comparied the similar iPod to the Vision:M.
The vision M has an FM tuner, recorder, and last but not least better color/resolution.
True the Apple is a slightly slimmer, but when dollar-for-dollar it seems that the Vision:M is ahead.

There are plenty of pretty cheap flash players that will hold decent amount of music. Some even have the possibility of using external flash cards, so you can take as much music with you as you want. I would avoid iPods in general because it's overpriced, overhyped, not very well-constructed and doesn't sound very good. If you decide on a hard-drive mp3 player, there are other ones on the market that are a better deal.

We have two mp3 players. One is a Sansa player, and mine is Coby... the Sansa is a very nice player, the Coby less so.

Both have 512 meg of memory built in, and SD card slots. I just picked up a 2 gig SD card for my wife for $30 and plan on picking up one for myself in the next few weeks. Her player integrates the extra memory very well... she essentially has a 2.5 gig player... cost me about $110 total. Mine will be $80, but I haven't had it as long.

The Coby doesn't integrate the expanded memory at all... it won't remember where you're at on the sd card, it always reverts back to the last thing you listened to in the main memory... this really sucked for audio books, so I moved the music to the card, and use the main for audio books.

I've got the memory card full of music, and I keep an audio book in the main memory.

I have several mp3 cd players... They vary widely in quality... Some ARE slow to start up... but start up faster the second or subsequent times with the same CD. Some are very fast even if you change cds. And skip resistance varies a lot. They also don't fit in the pocket of my windbreaker.

I love the Sandisk Sansa player... if it wouldn't end up in divorce, I'd swipe it from the wife. And the ear buds are the best I've found. I bought a pair of Phillips ear buds for $30 that don't come anywhere near the sound quality.

This one

Having to use ANY software (apart from the operating system, of course) to get music on your mp3 player is a PITA. If I can't just copy and paste music and any other files on and off a player, I won't be getting it. When my player (Creative Zen Nano) is hooked up to a computer, it behaves just like an external hard drive. You can use software to upload and organize your files if you want to, but you don't have to.

When it comes to sound quality, testers agree that iPods are pretty mediocre as compared to some other companies, such as Creative Labs. And what about all these iPod batteries dying after a year of use?.. And all this nonsense about severely limiting how files can get onto the things? I can't imagine that somebody would voluntarily choose something that restrictive given how many other options are available. Nah, I'll stick with other players, thank you very much.

+1

Here's my take:

I have both an iPod 5G and a flash mp3 player. I use my Pod when during those times when I'm relaxed and longing to hear good audio. On the other hand, I realize that the iPod doesn't like being jarred, as it is essentially a hard disc drive, so I bought an inexpensive SanDisk Sansa 2 GB. It's the Sansa I take when I am walking around, and I don't have to worry about it being jarred. But of course, the phonics are nothing compared to the Pod.