In theory, iPods are the greatest invention ever. They are the pinnacle of human acheivement. The ability to carry practically your entire music collection on something smaller than a walkman is one step away from the ultimate goal of literally storing all your music in your brain.

The problem is, they don't work. Oh sure, they work enough to string you along, but then they wait until that critical moment - when you're stuck in traffic and bored to death, or right before the car in front of you stops short - and then they freeze up, or skip. I don't know anyone with an iPod (or any other mp3 player) that hasn't run into problems. I'm trying not to rant too much (hah!), but it is very, very frustrating. And the problem with these intermittent problems is you can't even take them in to get fixed. They'll inevitably be working fine when you bring it in and they'll just tell you to give it a reboot or make sure you have the latest software installed.

And the warranties are a racket. They always are, but for iPods it's especially obnoxious. They know their product doesn't work right, especially with the batteries, but they still make you pay extra to ensure that you won't wind up with a lemon. It's a protection scheme. Any product should continue to work properly for 3 years after you bought it without me having to pay extra. Warranties should be for those unfortunate situations where you accidentally drop a sledgehammer on it.

Plus, even assuming you have a warranty - you have to send the thing away for god knows how long. Prior to the iPod, i had two big bags full of tape mixes. They're at the bottom of a closet now, scheduled for disposal the next time we move. After that, i'm in a musical wasteland if i have to send my iPod away.

They obviously don't care. Because it's not like there's another brand out there that works better, so why should they bother? If they cared they'd take the loss and make the warranties a part of the package (aren't they expensive enough anyway?). If i were president, after i took care of all these wars and the looming energy crisis and stuff, the first thing i'd do would be to issue an executive order forcing all companies to be responsible for repairing their products for 5 years after purchase. Then they'd be forced to make sure their newer generations worked better to cut down the costs they are eating on free repairs. I demand that Apple puts out an iPod that works properly before releasing the next 120 gig iPod 3D Video with Sensoramavision and Soothing Vibrations. Ok wait, i take back the 120 gig part.

So i'm looking for a new solution. At least a back-up solution. I spent half of my unemployment period converting my CD collection to mp3, so i'm committed to that format. Maybe i'll get an mp3 disc player for my car. Any other suggestions?

The simplest solution.

oh thanks a lot. and where do i get the mule to carry around all my cds?

Ask and ye shall receive.