I consider myself a casual music lover. For the better part of a year I've subscribed to Rhapsody, Real's online subscription service. I've used it to get exposed to all kinds of music I never would have previously, since I don't listen to the radio or club. My MP3 player of choice? A Palm Pilot with an SD card. It works fine for that. I buy hundreds of CDs, rip them, enjoy them in their entirety or in pieces. I actually don't get the how iPod is changing the world. Compressed music has certainly changed the world. And I'm a happier music lover for it. But I have no use for the iPod. I live in an alternative world, I suppose, where a good subscription music service, the willingness to buy old fashioned CDs, and a decent Palm Pilot make for a good music setup.

Manjoo is somewhat dismissive of the loss in audio quality due to compression, and he may be right that a large majority doesn't care. I guess that puts me in the "audiophile" category, but is it elitist to be concerned that a new music technology has led to a downgrading of sound-reproduction technology? Shouldn't new technologies make music sound better? And now I learn that the diffusion of these players has changed the way new recordings are mastered. I should be grateful?

I don't own an ipod. never have and i don't see one in my future.

however, i am a mac user and have been since 1985. i've spent tens of thousands of dollars on macs and related peripherals over the years. so, i'm certainly not opposed to "Big Apple", philosophically.

but, i am old school. i've also spent tens of thousands of dollars on audio equipment, speakers, amps, etc. When i listen to music, i like to FEEL the music. i just can't get that rush from a pair of digital q-tips stuck in my ears.

But, that's not the real issue for me.

i love music: i love to make it, consume it, listen to it. But, most of all, I love to discover music, not listen to stuff i already own and have already heard. which, for me, is the biggest drawback to the ipod: it's just an echo chamber.

Satellite radio is my ipod. the geniuses who created satellite radio know what people who REALLY hunger for music want: variety, surprises, serendipity. discovering new music that you never had a clue existed. and, they do it 24/7 from any spot on the planet, or at least, every spot i've been to so far. Now, an ipod with satellite radio and the ability to record what you're hearing, instantly, on-the-fly, that might get my attention, as long as it easily interfaced with conventional audio/computer equipment.

with the ipod, you hear ONLY what you've already heard.

viva variety (i guess it's a male thing).

I was thinking about this last night and remembered the old saw that (depending on which side of the Atlantic you come from) Colmans / Heinz make their money on the mustard / ketchup you leave on your plate.

On that basis, the miracle of iPod adoption for Apple is that the people who have 500 songs only on their iPod are lining up to buy the hardware equivalent of mustard.

The iPod ruins your hearing!

Actually no it doesn't, headphones ruin your hearing if you listen to them too loudly. The earbuds have been available before the iPod was even invented, so the walkman or portable CD player introduced harming your hearing. Lastly, you don't always listen to your iPod on headphones, they can be plugged into your stereo at home or in the car or you can buy speakers for them.

The iPod has ruined music!

Okay only for you snobs who are interested in every single thing, well whatever, snobs aren't attractive no matter what they are into. I'm better than you because I APPRECIATE my classical and jazz collection! Whatever. Most people who keep the music industry running are those of us who hear a cool song and buy it. So maybe an iPod isn't for you, but are you really so hostile that it's crap for everyone?

Also, I've had the same iPod for over 3 yrs. No new battery needed, no replacement. Perhaps you people don't know how to carry a hard drive around?

Also for me, I've bought a lot more music from non airwave musicians because of iTunes, Limewire, ect. It sure is a whole lot easier than going to a music store and standing at listening stations for hours to try new music out and it's a whole lot better than when I'd love love one song, but couldn't stand the rest from the artist so I'd have to wait till it came on the radio to record it and if it didn't well I'm just out of luck.

The iPod has ruined interaction with people!

What the hell is this nonsense? I've been taking public transportaion for well over 20 yrs. No one ever talked to each other on the bus unless you were friends, no one chatted up strangers, especially since it's pretty rude to just strike up a conversation with someone you've never met expecting them to respond. I get a few precious moments during the day to read or listen to music, I don't want it interrupted by some stranger's conversation because they are bored. I'm talking with people all day at work and at home, my commute is a time just for me. I still see plenty of teens and co-workers gabbing with each other during their commutes, it is people who are alone who read or listen to music as a distraction from the crowded bus or train and people were doing that before iPod came along. Plus how the fuck do you know what people are listening to on their iPods if they aren't blaring them? There are podcasts, and gasp, even audiobooks!

Also as a woman, many of my friends and I are welcome to being left alone on the train, a book or iPod is a perfect leave me the hell alone. There are plenty of weirdos who take public transportation, some have tried making conversation with me while I'm not doing anything, I don't need to placate some smelly homeless dude and his delusions or fend off "can I get your number baby" requests. Sometimes an iPod is a blessing so I don't actually hear what those guys on the street are yelling at me. Plus, I was wearing my headphones when someone in the tunnels asked to use my cell to call home, my iPod did not prevent me from helping a stranger.

As for rudeness, there are rude people and polite people. My friends and I know it's rude to be talking on your cell or listening to music while doing transactions with other people like in the coffee shop or grocery store, other people don't. So those people who use their music on nature trails, well whatever, at least they are on nature trails and there's no way to say that those same people wouldn't have been using their walkmans if the iPod had never been invented.

Technology has its good and bad points, but it's not the benign techonology that causes the problems, it's stupid or rude people. I don't use my cell every time I can, I don't listen to my iPod everywhere I go, but man was it a godsend in Europe where I didn't want to be carrying around tons of books( i read very fast, I went through 6 books on a 4 week trip) and the newspapers are in languages I can't read. So I had some podcasts, a couple of audio books and thousands of songs so when I got tired of looking out at vinyard after vinyard or when it was too dark to look out the windows or read, I could close my eyes and just listen.

Is the iPod the best MP3 player, well gosh I don't know becuase I really don't care. I have a Mac, hate PC's at work, so an iPod was just a given over other devices.

Whenever I purchase music off iTunes, I burn it onto a disk. So far I have not experienced not being able to keep my songs.