Better Than An IPod?

I'm miffed. No I'm really miffed. You see having watched the development of mp3 players over the last 5 years or so I cannot believe that manufactures such as Sony and Samsung have not managed to produce a product that can compete with the ubiquitous iPod.

All I ever hear is iPod this or iPod that. Now we have the iPod Touch and some say, the iPhone which have slayed the competition further. How can Apple be so far ahead of the chasing pack? In this day and age that is quite extraordinary to say the least.

Now don't get me wrong. I own an iPod and I love my iPod. It's easy to use, has great functionality and holds 12500 of my favourite tracks. I can use it in the car, on the street and in the home. Even manufactures of audiophile equipment such as Roksan produce iPod docks to help get the most from this tiny device to take the home listening experience on to a different plane.

Never has a single device dominated its market sector so completely.

Returning to the source of my miffiness (I know that's not a word); how long will it be before the iPod, iTouch, iPhone actually has some decent competition. Is there actually anything out there that can rival these devices in any way shape or form?

Well maybe there is. You see, whilst it's hard to better Apples devices themselves it's not hard to better their services. I am no fan of iTunes and I am certainly not going to buy something that restricts my rights to ownership i.e is tied exclusively to an iPod.

One service the iPod cannot make use of is the absolutely brilliant Napster on Demand music service. If there is one reason to buy an mp3 player other than an iPod this is it. For just the price of a couple of CDs per month (14.95) you can access more than 6,000,000 songs including virtually every new release. In fact one has to question whether there is ever a need to buy a CD again.

Not only does the service cater for any (non Ipod) mp3 player but the files can also be played via your PC or if you have one, the brilliant Sonos entertainment system. And man, that Sonos is a highly desirable device and one that tops my current wish list.

Now Apple could easily bring my miffiness to an end by allowing me to take advantage of the Napster service but until they do I have to purchase another MP3 player to take advantage of the Napster service. One day, such problems will be a thing of the past. What ever happened to the free market economy?

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