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This thread is to promote and dispel common rumors and misconceptions about the Apple iPod digital music player, and spread awareness about it's functions and abilities. I've come up with a handy-dandy list of comments I have heard, and have followed them up with facts, as well as adding other information.

This is an informative topic, so please, use this fire extinguisher in case you feel a flame coming on. *points* Also, in respect to this:



This thread is considered by some the official iPod thread; As such, feel free to ask any questions, comments or opinions, as long as you read my little ramble below.

For tech help, you may get a quicker response in the main Computers and tech forum, and I would prefer not to turn this into tech support.

The purpose of this thread is to educate. Thats the whole point here. This thread is not meant to force my, or others, opinions onto others that post. If you don't like Macs, hey, thats fine by me. I just hope you read the first post at least, and at least feel a little more educated.

This is not a "OMG iPods are so Cool! Hooray!" thread. It is an Information Resource topic. You are free to post FACTUAL drawbacks if you feel the need to. Opinion is not Fact. Please make sure if you are posting what you consider factual information, it is indeed factual.

The Above comes down to this:Trolling, Spamming, or flaming will not be tolerated, and a moderator will be contacted. This is your one and ONLY warning.

If in doubt, either PM me or a Tech talk Moderator personally, or use Google.





Rumors and Lies
Myth 1: iPods can only play Music purchased from iTunes. All my current mp3's can't be put on it.
Actually, in addition to the iTunes Music store, the iPod can play a variety of audio formats, ripped directly from CD. iTunes Music store membership not required. Each model supports slightly different formats, but the most up to date list can be found on According to Apple's Tech Specs Page.

In addition, you can use other apps than iTunes to put music on the iPod as well.


Myth 2: The iPod Batttery lasts 18 months, and you have to buy a new one after that
This has been largely spread throughout the internet by these guys. But, the info is wrong. Yes, some iPods batteries last only 18 months. It's a Lithium Ion battery. Rechargeable Batteries after a while can no longer hold a charge. This particular battery is high end, but like most, can only go through 300-500 charging cycles before it dies. The guy in the video rode his bike to work every day, and put it on the charge almost every day. In this scenario, it lasted as long as it could.

As for the price, Apple announced 4 days before ipodsdirtysecret.com was registered as a domain, that there would be a $100 (roughly) service for battery exchanges on out of warranty iPods. Their price has now come down to $59 dollars, plus shipping. You can also get a battery, and install it yourself for $30 from places like http://www.ipodbattery.com/

Also, more yummy battery info

Oh, by the way... some other players use similar batteries. It isnt just the ipod. The Dell DJ has a lithium Ion battery as well, and they as well request you send it in for battery replacement.

Myth 3: iPods only run on Macs
They run on both Mac and Windows, although uploading a music on a Mac formatted iPod from a Windows Machine is not possible. A Mac formated iPod can have music uploaded from either, but you still can only be synced with one library, otherwise iTunes will want to format your iPod, which will make you loose all your music.

Myth 4: You can't get music off the iPod.

How to get songs off the iPod (Windows & Mac)

Myth 5: This player that just came out is better than the iPod for such and such a reason.
It may be. It may not be. "Better" tends to be more personal opinion than fact anymore. What is good for one person, may not be for another. The iPod may be for you. It may not be. At least try it before you blindly hate it, or because product (dis)loyalty is blinding you.

Im not here to try to convice you to get an iPod. I'm here to give information about it, as there is alot of mis-information on it. The digital audio player market is booming right now, and lots of companies are trying to get a foothold in it. Best way to do that is by making competing products, which is what is going on. Its Marketing, its business. People capitolize on other peoples success.

The iPod may not be the device for you. Another player may suit your needs better. Some people need a small little car, others need a pickup truck. It's up to you to make an informed decision on what to get.

Myth 6: It only plays music.
Nope, it can also be used for a portable Firewire drive, for any files. Videos, your homework, even the pirated Anime you got last night and want to share can be put on it. Thing is, when you do that, that data is just that: data. Its like when you put it on another hard drive, and carry it around. You cant access or view it on the iPod screen, because the iPod software doesn't know its there. Once at a computer again, you can snag the files off of it. Keep in mind, if you transfer music files to it in this way, the iPod will not be able to see or play them, cause it sees them as data.

The iPod makes a great emergency boot drive too. I have a stripped down version of Mac OS X on mine (fewer data files=more drive space for music), and its gotten me out of binds more times than I expected in the past few months. The internal drive on my laptop went out, and I used my iPod as my main drive for nearly a month. That’s multitasking at it’s best.



Myth 7: The iPod is the only thing keeping Apple alive right now.
The iPod is currently outnumbering Macintosh sales by a farily wide margin, but both have been going up.


Myth 8: freeipods.com is good/bad/etc
Many people have gotten free iPods through them. The way it works, is you sign up for some subscription service, and then get 5 friends to do the same. The sell things from AOL subscriptions to magazines. Yes it does work, but its hard to find 5 friends that will do this to help you get a free iPod.

Myth 9: The iPod is a fashion statement
Well, for some people, I am sure it is. For me, and many others, it has become a very valuable device, and I'm glad I have one.

Myth 10: The iPod Shuffle can only play songs in a random order, you cant choose what to play.

Quite wrong. The iPod Shuffle has 2 modes of play. It can either play your playlist you made in order or shuffle it, which is the equivilent of randomizeing it. There is a Slider Switch on the back to set what it does.

Also, you can select what song you want to play, as long as you know where it lies in your playlist. In all honesty, this is no different than the way older cd players worked, as they had no screen either, or even cassette tapes. If it did have a screen, it would be much more expensive.

Other stuff and Links



Great iPod resource: http://www.ipodlounge.com
Great iPod FAQ: http://www.ipodlounge.com/faqs.php
iPod Battery FAQ: http://ipodbatteryfaq.com/
Apples own iPod FAQ: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60920
Mac Awareness: http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6530520
iPod Linux: http://ipodlinux.sourceforge.net/
Syncing: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/ipod_itunes/ipodit.html
Official Apple FAQ's: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60920

Help Files
How to get songs off the iPod (Windows & Mac)
Apple's Basic Troubleshooting (try this list first!)
How to reset the iPod if it acts silly


Feel free to comment, and feel free to make suggestions on things that should be added.

Yays for teh sweetie!

You did it again!

*snog* *cuddle*

Of course, if I really wanted to show support...I'd go splurge on an iPod. But I'm saving up for a new computer for my brother, so...my 32MB Rio 600 will have to do for now.

But...mmmmmm, iPod...

you can make it play other file types, the only reason people havnt gotten it to play .ogg as i hear is that it isnt powerfull enough

oh fun gonk i would love a ipod but most of my collection is in .ogg... how i love my ogg heart but i just might have too use .mp3 or .acc(if thats right sweatdrop ). Well ill have to check it out later once i get my linux on my xbox project complete

Thanks ^^

Just added a Link: http://ipodlinux.sourceforge.net/

iPod: Pros are that it plays MP3, Au, WAV, and other popular audio format files (Sorry, no codec installed for Vorbiss OGGs). It includes a 1.5 to 2 year average runtime rechargeable battery, whose replacement cost is tolerable; you can also use a spare cable to rig an external battery pack. It behaves like an external hard drive, so it doesn't need special software to load up, and does so on any USB 1.1 or 2.x port or on IEEE 1394 (Firewire) port. It runs on Windows, Mac (of course), or UNIX/Linux systems. Its only seeming cons are that it won't play Vorbiss compressed music files (though it will accept them as data and transfer them to another computer), it ticks off Apple-haters, and the battery replacement requires a modicum of dexterity. A Win9x machine without a previously installed application to detect removable storage on USB, or any Win95 or Win98 1st edition (USB 1.0 only) machine, cannot communicate with the iPod.

Sony HD-based Walkman: Cheaper than iPod. Cons are that it ONLY plays Sony ATRAC format music, a minidisc compression format that panders to the RIAA goon squads and produces poor-quality compressed music. Can ONLY run on PC Windows platforms. Does not function as a portable storage device.

Creative Nomad series HD-based music player: Plays WAV, AU, and MP3 at least. Works as portable storage and supposedly works on Mac and PC USB ports. Battery is more easily replaced than iPod ones. Cheaper than iPod. Cons are that the proprietary software suite $u¢k$, and that they are flimsier than iPods. The Diamond Multimedia Rio devices are similar...

CD-based music players: Cheap, easy to feed standard batteries to, easy to find devices. Cons are that you have to get skip buffering to avoid having every movement knock the laser off track like a phonograph stylus, you should look for both MP3 and CDRW (Multiread) compatibility so you can do more than just play CDA-format CDRs and commercial CDs on it, and you have to have a CDRW drive on your computer to make the CDs it will play.

I tried to be objective. I favour the CD player or the iPod...