iPonder

So, enticed by this blog entry, I decide to go out and buy an iPod (ca-ching$) as a birthday present for someone who loves music. We're excited as we open the box. From here on out... Well, let me just say the consumer experience was less than optimal:

• First off, I now realize what "included Firewire cable" really means - it only works with a special type of socket/plug/port/"whatever you call these things" that appears to be something that Macs support (but no one else does, or more specifically, the IBM thinkpad my friend has).
• No problem, looking around on the net we see that you can buy a cable that has Firewire on one end and USB on the other. Forty bucks later (ca-ching$) we hurry back to the apartment to give it a whirl. Nope - no sign of life from the iPod. At this stage I'm thinking I may have to (*gasp*) Read The Fuzzy (Socks) Manual. Oh wait, where's the manual? There is no manual. No manual? - What's up with that! Oh well, back to the web to see what can be gleaned from the online help at Apple
• Well, it turns out we need to make sure we are using USB 2.0. I spend considerable time trying to figure out if this laptop has that, but at the end of the day I give up and go back to the store. At this stage buyer's remorse is starting to kick in, and I'm thinking "should of just bought it from Apple..."
• I'm back at the shop and at the service desk now. Funny how I'm noticing the signs posted everywhere saying "Absolutely No Refunds" now. The guy who looks like he is 12 years old at the back of the store plugs the iPod into the desktop PC on his workbench. The Apple logo appears on the iPod. Sheez... Hate it when that happens! Must of been the USB port on the Thinkpad after all right?
• I'd seen this PCMIA card that you can plug into your laptop to give it a Firewire port, so I figure I'll give that a shot. Another sixty bucks (ca-ching$) later I'm on my way back to the office, and telling my friend that I had indeed seen the iPod work, so there is hope yet.
• A little smarter this time, I decide to try out the card at work first before embarrasing myself in front of my friend again. (Funny how, since I'm a software developer, I'm supposed to know about all this "computer" stuff, yet continually get caught up with hardware problems. I wonder if hardware guys have the same problems with software that I do with hardware.).
• I plug the card in and via the wonders of "plug and pray" it loads its own driver.  It goes through its machinations of asking me seemingly inane questions about installing it (probably something important, but I just clicked Ok anyway). So far so good, I plug in the iPod and it starts flashing "don't disconnect cable" in what seems to me to be a cry for help - Ok little buddy, don't you fret now, I won't disconnect the cable.
• Watching the iPod flash its urgent message is like watching the heart monitor machine. Beep, beep, beep, beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep - it has flatlined. It is now resolutely displaying the low battery icon. That is it. No amout of re-installing, or re-plugging in can conjole the iPod back to life.
• Back to the store. This time I take the laptop with me. Ok, we agree the PCMIA card is a dud (what was that thing about refunds? Oh right, absolutely none).
• We don't agree the iPod is a dud. Much as I hate conflict, this was really too much. I have effectively got a $200 (after rebate) paperweight, so I say to the guy "What am I supposed to do with it?", holding up the iPod forlornly. Thankfully he relented, and I get a credit note for both the dodgy card and surly iPod. <opinion type="cynical">Great, I can now look forward to buying another piece of dodgy hardware that probably won't work...</opinion>

Moral of the story time:

1. As the popular saying goes, "The great thing about standards is there are so many to choose from". In other words, make sure you have a Firewire port if you try to buy an iPod "with Firewire cable included".
2. Absolutely No Refund sucks.
3. Sometimes you get what you pay for, but sometimes you just feel ripped off.

Comments

[K]

It possibly could've been clearer in the packaging (there is a very thin manual in both the 4G iPod and iPod mini boxes that I have), but the first step is to fully charge the iPod before you connect it to a computer. Hopefully a future improvement could be for the "boot" software to check the battery as its first step and stop the installation/sync process if battery is low, and charge the battery up (switch display to charging) before proceeding any further. BTW, why did you agree that the Firewire PCMCIA card was a dud?

[swissfondue]

AFAIK USB 2.0 is backward compatible with USB 1. Of course, it is much slower but should still work. So if you really want to benefit from fast transfers, you need FW or USB 2. Apple states clearly what HD is required and what is in the iPod package. Good for you that you were able to return both. But don't blame it on Apple.

[BBG]

Hmmmm.... I fear I may have incurred the wrath of the Mac enthusiasts:

Apple states clearly what HD is required and what is in the iPod package.

I'm not sure what HD means, but in any case there was no manual. The only paper that came with it was three or four pages of legalese. I should point out that this was a refurbished iPod, so possibly that had something to do with it.

But don't blame it on Apple.

Oh, I'm not. In fact, I'm going to get another one - just not from this particular retailer.

why did you agree that the Firewire PCMCIA card was a dud?

It was broken - even the young guy at the service desk wasn't able to get it working. The packaging on this card was also a bit suspicious - it had already been openened and there was no installation guide, legalese or anything. It was almost like someone else had returned it before me.

One other thing - yes, I did try to soft reboot the iPod several times throughout the process.

[Matt]

This is an interesting article. I have had 2 PC friends buy iPods. A friend of mine bought one for her son. She did not have USB2 or FireWire on her computer and could not get it to work. Fortunately, her son had a computer with USB2 and it works for him. Not sure what this says about USB2 backwards compatibility.

Then, my brother bought one. He loves it, but found out the hard way that his laptop (Dell Inspiron 8200) has a 4 pin FireWire port rather than a 6 pin FireWire port (which all Macs have). As a result, his iPod drains the battery while syncing. He has to charge & sync separately. After the initial sync, the deltas aren't so bad, so it's certainly liveable (and he's an audio geek). SiK has a handy little device to remedy this situation (http://www.sik.com/firejuice.php).

I think this says less about the iPod and more and computers in general. People want plug-and-play to work. They want computers to be as easy to use as appliances (myself included). And it sucks when this isn't the reality. Windows is touted as being "so expandable" that it's better. Well, it's easy to fix this situation, go out and buy a USB2 or FireWire interface for your computer. Try to get that installed and working. Then 2 days later, try the iPod again. Yes, you could do this, but it sucks (as this article clearly states), but it should make all PC users rejoice at their smart decision to buy a computer that's "expandable".

This is a key reason I've been a Mac user for so long, sure there are problems, but for the most part "It Just Works". I've seen this scenario with every device that comes along far too often with Windows. Modem doesn't work, printer doesn't work, digital camera doesn't work, DV camera doesn't work, soundcard doesn't work. Sure, you could fix it, but wouldn't it be better if "It Just Worked"?

Gavin, good luck with your iPod journey. Fortunately there's a healthy third party market to make the iPod work really well with Windows. I'll tell you the same thing I told my PC-using brother, "A PowerBook is the ultimate iPod accessory." ;-)