I just bought a black 80GB iPod classic. I’m not having that wacky crash problem, and aside from the fact that the name implies I bought it from an antique shop, I like the thing. It’s curvy. And like every new Apple gadget I buy, I spend more time staring at it than I do using it. The curvature and the touch of the black metal makes the media monster feel like an enlarged 2G black nano. And I loved them 2G black nanos.
In fact, I decided I like the look of the device more than I like the actual software running on it. And if what I’m reading on the intertubes is any indication, I’m not the only one.
Take Kirk McElhearn, for example, who penned a piece bluntly titled “It’s Official: Apple’s Stupidest Interface Innovation Ever.” He rails against the “random album art” feature on the right side of the screen:
But the whole concept here is stupid: first, it chooses random art. Why do you want to see your album art at random? Perhaps if you could choose one album to use as a kind of wallpaper, that might be useful. But even if you could, this stuff is moving. Nothing is more distracting than a moving image, especially when you want to read text.
The part about this feature — and the new iPod software in general — that bugs me? It drags down the whole interface. The thing’s as slow as…uh, something noticeably slow. Clicking through the menus is like flipping channels on a digital cable box: Click the button. Wait a second. Click the button. Wait a second.
It’s no longer the clean, to-the-point simplicity that defined The iPod Of The Past. It’s still as functional, it still works. And there are a lot of new things I like: the name of the band under the song title, the quick-access Shuffle option…the other…cool…stuff.
But it’s getting bloated, crammed with eye-candy at the expense of performance (and apparently stability).
The interface will probably grow on me. But until then…. Well, you know. It sucks.
[via DaringFireball]
Maybe on the classic, but on the Nano the interface ROCKS!
There is absolutely none of this delay you speak of, or waiting for the interface to respond. It's absolutely gorgeous.
@Chris -- That would make sense, considering that the nano uses flash instead of a slow HD.
Are the moving visuals at all distracting for you?
I'm glad some of these user interface issues are getting a little press. I went to the Cambridge, MA Apple Store yesterday to try the Classics and I was not impressed (size isn't everything). The click wheel and the UI seemed very sluggish. I'm still using a 4G Click wheel iPod (measly 20GB) and will continue to do so until Apple does something about all of these issues.
It feels totally schizophrenic. If they want to let us see album art AS AN OPTION then feel free.
BUT LET US TURN IT OFF.
I, for one, would rather see longer song, playlist, and audiobook titles than half of a random moving album cover...
They need to let us turn that particular "feature" off. In fact I can see the menu item now:
Return to "Classic" mode.
Apple needs to realize, as much as they'd hate to admit it, people don't like change! I think the iPod Classic should have a "classic mode" (As well as the nano). If you want to shut off the eye candy and go back to the old look and feel, you should be able to turn the new stuff off.
Just like everyone is complaining about the upcoming Leopard Dock enhancements. There too should be a "classic" mode that mirrors 10.4.
Personally, I'm just really happy that I bought was seems to be the last white iPod last year when I bought an 80GB iPod. I still can't believe that the iconic white colour isn't an option anymore.
I would think the Classic's slow response versus the Nano is due more to the storage size (4/8GB vs. 80/160GB) and is probably related to the album art issues (which is again related to large library sizes).