that everything with a docking station is proprietary

[BlaqueKatt]

I do not own an ipod, neither does my husband-we don't like them or their software(sorry forcing me to have both QT and itunes for either one to work-um no)-we are not the only ones I'm sure(no one I know has an ipod either).

So why is it every damn stereo system, HD radio receiver(with itunes tagging built in yay...), alarm clock, etc only has an ipod dock-why are they not giving a consumer any kind of choice? Isn't that what a "free market" is supposed to do? Not force you to buy one company's overpriced product in order to have compatibility?

And I really don't want to hear the "well they have a large market share"-if that logically made any kind of sense there would be no third party effort to make anything for Macs.

Can't get an adapter because the dock is also proprietary, so basically if you want to be able to have a dockable mp3 player apple is forcing you to buy their product....wait don't they accuse other companies of doing the same thing....


for the record I have a creative mp3 player-the first company(june 1999) to come out with portable mp3 players, the company apple stole the "incredible user interface" from

At least creative doesn't limit their users on storage space, and never have, all their mp3 players including the "cheap" ones have exandable memory, and all of them have had the software on board to protect your hearing...you know the stuff apple made a huge deal about adding....

[AdminAssistant]

I have a Sanza and know exactly what you're talking about. Actually, the primary reason I refuse to buy any Mac product is the attitude of Mac users. *sheesh*

[Boozy]

And I really don't want to hear the "well they have a large market share"-if that logically made any kind of sense there would be no third party effort to make anything for Macs.

I don't understand this. Why would a company not take advantage of the huge popularity of Apple products and manufacture companion products? I don't understand how this is illogical.

[the_std]

I work in an electronics store, and I can tell you that I sell ten iPods to one any-other-brand mp3 player. Plus all iPods (except the Shuffle) have the same docking connector in it, in roughly the same location on the unit, which makes it easy to produce docks that are compatible to all iPods. I've never seen another brand name which has so much continuity through their product line. Plus, with most docks, you can still use off-brand mp3 players. All you need is an auxiliary cable.

[BlaqueKatt]

I don't understand this. Why would a company not take advantage of the huge popularity of Apple products and manufacture companion products? I don't understand how this is illogical.

ipods are I believe 70% of the portable mp3 player market-so there's 30% of the mp3 players out there that are not ipods and won't work-so those of us that don't have ipods are either forced to buy one or can't connect it.

There are zero options other than ipod docking-80% of computers are non mac-yet third party companies make software and accessories for mac computers-but no third party accessories for non apple mp3 players-that's what's not logical.

Creative which is the number 2 mp3 player uses mini usb-which is non proprietary(heck I use the same data cable for my creative, my digital camera, and my cell phone)

and at $100 more for an ipod with less features.....um no thank you.

[AdminAssistant]

and at $100 more for an ipod with less features.....um no thank you.

Exactly.

My Sanza was a Christmas present, and it cost around $150. Has 8G of memory and can do video, pictures, etc. I only use it for music, though. Oh, and, I don't have to use ITunes. I can use my WMP and not subject all of my music to Apple's DRM.

I have thought about getting a docking station, but it's such a big pain in the ass to find something that would be compatible. I think Sanza actually makes their own, but I'd have to look into it.

[BlaqueKatt]

I've never seen another brand name which has so much continuity through their product line.

all creative products use mini usb, and don't limit what software/file type used-heck they support FLAC-only mp3 player that does...

[Arcade Man D]

I can use my WMP and not subject all of my music to Apple's DRM.

Except iTunes doesn't add DRM to any music you play/import in it, and the iTunes store has been DRM free for about a year now. *boggles*

[AdminAssistant]

hm...I dunno. All I know is that my friends who use ITunes will occasionally notice that some of their music has 'disappeared'. That never happens with my WMP.

Again, for many it's just preference. I do not want to use Apple anything. I like my PC, I like Windows, I really like my off-brand MP3 player. I just wish other companies would make accessories that could work with it.

[Dreamstalker]

I just can't stand the Apple "attitude" (of both the company and some of the more rabid fans). So I don't want to be trendy, big deal.

for the record I have a creative mp3 player-the first company(june 1999) to come out with portable mp3 players, the company apple stole the "incredible user interface" from

I bought myself a Zen two years ago and love the hell out of it (I was a Creative fangirl with their first sound cards). 2x the memory of an ipod for less than half the price, I can put my videos on an SD card, etc.

The things I've been trying to find are portable speakers and/or a dock so I don't have to daisy-chain USB cables together to reach a computer to charge iit...I can find docks that I like, but then I'd have to futz around finding an adapter that actually works.

My mom has an ipod (not exactly by choice) and absolutely HATES iTunes. One day as an experiment I tried to put some of her music on my player...for some reason iTunes wanted to convert everything already on my player and "import" it (um, NO).

[powerboy]

I have a Sansa MP3 player that I use for my music that I have on CD. Also have an iPod that came on my iPhone 3G. For the record, I had the MP3 player before I got the iPhone. Yes I am aware that I can upload songs from the CD's onto iTunes. Done that already. Also none of my songs disapearred from iTunes

[BlaqueKatt]

and the iTunes store has been DRM free for about a year now.

wow so you can burn a song purchased off itunes more than 5 times now...if not it's still DRM-and amazon has never had any kind of DRM-so...wow let's applaud a company for finally doing what everyone else has been doing for years-that's supposed to somehow help their cause....

plus I don't see any ipod with an fm radio or instant messaging capabilities-or the ability to customize the menu/interface-those are all available on creative models.....as well as SD card memory expansion....

[HYHYBT]

Can't get an adapter because the dock is also proprietary, so basically if you want to be able to have a dockable mp3 player apple is forcing you to buy their product....wait don't they accuse other companies of doing the same thing....

*Apple* is forcing nothing of the kind. The manufacturer of whatever you want to dock your player with is.

[Dreamstalker]

It's Apple's proprietary interface though; so in a way they are.

I'd like to see a truly universal MP3 player dock.

[lupo pazzesco]

I'm another Creative mp3 player. First I ever had was a Creative, and the only reason I still don't have it is because some jackass essentially was playing keep away and managed to drop it down 3 flights of stairs. Wasn't much of it left. I have a Zen, 32 gb right now, and have had it for years. It's wonderful, and I love how I can use the same cable for it, my cell phone, my external hdd, etc, etc.

Mom has an ipod, and itunes and all that other i-stuff. And just yesterday she was talking about how itunes songs she'd downloaded had disappeared. she tried to get them back, and was told she'd purchased them already, and when she clicked the link to accept the song back, she was going to be charged again.

I'm with Dreamstalker and the OP. While it's other companies that are putting out the itoems with ipod docking stations, ultimately apple is in a way forcing it because they are in possession of so much of the market. I quite frankly hate ipods, and will probably never, ever own one, much to family and friends' shock and dismay. Sorry, guess I'll remain "uncool" that way.. just my two cents, though.