Which iPod is better?

Friday, July 06, 2007 by Dave Winer.

There's no doubt, for someone who knows how to use an iPod, the previous generation iPod is much easier to use, both when loading it at home, and when using it on the road. 

The music-playing function in the iPhone is flashy and colorful, but confusing. It's as if Apple hired a movie studio to design the user interface. They don't respect the mundane aspects of making a tool work for the user, and getting out of the our way. When you're on a walk, t's ridiculous to have to stop for 1/2 minute to move to the next song or podcast. The user interface of the new iPod, like the UI of the iPhone browser, puts the burden on the user to make up for deficiencies in the product design. 

The previous generation of the iPod is not flashy, but it works.  

DaveD says that there are three different iPods, the video iPod, the Shuffle, and iPhone, each good for different things. Maybe so, but that's a lot of money for most people. He's right that the iPhone plays movies well enough to carry it with you in place of a laptop. And get this, there's no need to do a special rip, as you had to do with iPods. The same movie you play on your desktop or laptop will play on an iPhone. How's the battery life when watching a movie? Not sure yet. One thing the laptop has that the iPhone doesn't -- a replaceable battery.