Wow that was a big gap between posts! Sorry about that.. No really I am.. The thing is I’ve had a week off work and things have lapsed a bit while I’ve been trying to relax and >shock< tried to ignore the PC for a bit..!

Anyway, that is the main reason for the delay. The second one is my purchase of a iPod Nano, so I thought I might use this post for my baptism into appledom.

If you're a regular reader you'll know that my previous audio gadget of choice has been a Windows Mobile device (an orange M500 to be exact) and I've used that device for tunes and podcasts and lots of other things, which it is really good at. But that which is always the case, you don't really know how you lived without something until you actually get it, is also the case here. If there is anybody that has any spare cash floating about and have been thinking about getting an iPod, I highly recommend you do! And here's why:

Firstly, I think this might be a bit of a secret in the Microsoft Windows fraternity, but ...iTunes is pretty damn good. There I’ve said it. To hell with the consequences! I’ve been struggling with Winamp, Windows Media Player, various other freeware and shareware alternatives and sure they all have great functionality. However, I’ve always found myself having to use more than one app to get the whole job done. For instance, the radio is excellent in Winamp, but the syncing to devices sucks (unless you have an iPod of course.) Also the syncing is excellent in Windows Media Player but the feel is a bit clunky and you have to pay for the radio! If you want to burn a CD from mp3s in Winamp it only burns at a certain speed. Now this is all with a Windows Mobile device - And I know that iTunes would also still have problems with anything but an iPod so spare me that angle. If you want to adjust EQs for different songs Winamp’s way of “adjust EQ, tick auto load EQ, select presets, save, auto load preset…” is just laughable (this needs to be done everytime you want to tweak something too.) And the EQ within Media Player, although potentially good with some nice effects, falls down because all settings are tied to the player and not the track.

However, in true apple style (so I’m learning) everything within iTunes just seems to work. As long as you know how to use a computer, everything within the player is where you would want it, and everything works predictably too. For instance, when you first fire it up it can search for tunes and categorise them for you. Nothing new there. However it will also convert any wma files you have to mp3 or aac, because iPods don’t support wma files (I’m sure that’s a rant for another occasion!) You can also burn CDs, rip CDs or re-encode songs in good quality without sacrifices. You can select a volume adjustment, or EQ preset without saving everytime. Just select and you’re done. I could go on, but I’ve already seen the size of this post already!! PHEW!

So lastly but not least, the integration with the iPod is absolutely seamless. If you listen to a song on your iPod and rate it while you’re listening, it will update your library automatically when it’s plugged back in - as will the stats regarding how many times you’ve listened to the track and the date. It also knows the difference between a podcast and a song and treats them differently. A podcast will be played once and marked as listened to, and will also not move onto the next podcast in the playlist. Kind of how things should be in my opinion.

OK so I think I’m done. And I know, most of you probably already have iPods, so this post isn’t really for your benefit (although you can exert a certain amount of smugness on the rest of the readership if you desire) - it’s really for those of us that are either thinking of moving over to an iPod or flatly think it’s the wrong thing to do.

Oh yeah, I do have one minor gripe with iTunes. Where are the damn skins guys???