Is an IPOD hi-fi?

I actually listen to the I-Pod over the holidays. Not for me junk in junk out. We can thank Steve Jobs once again for corrupting the music. Bottom line he has managed to sell a crap product to the masses and get even richer for it. I was hoping it was going to be much better than it was,its not, but Steve Jobs is happy camper. Caveat Emptor or something like that. But if it floats your boat and you want Apple to get bigger and bigger and bigger go for it. What I heard was akin to dragging your finger nails across a chalk board.

And Steve Jobs thanks you so very much. I am sure he is doing hand springs all the way to the bank, uttering the phrase of P.T. Barnum.(Nobody ever went broke by underestimating the intelligence or taste of the American public.)

Don't get me wrong here - I applaud the crap out of Steve Jobs. He had a vision of what to appeal the masses and has sold it to death at the expense of others. This is marketing genius at its very best. Roughly only about 1 percent or less of us can be called audiophiles, so that gave him 99 percent of music lovers go to after and he made it and big time. Hell I wish I had thought up this idea myself. Never would have thought the masses would embrace the I Pod in the numbers it has, and to think his bare bones cost in these things is about $25.00 and they sell for WHAT???? Way cool man, now thats entreprenauership at its best. He should get a Nobel prize or something.

And remember the words of Adolph Hitler: The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one.

And to Audphile1, many thanks and I am most humbled beyond my wildest expectations.

I dare say a fire storm has been ignited over the reference to the Hitler quote. I only offered that quote because in light of the so called global economy we have now. However in 1938 Time Magazine gave its man of the year award to Adolph Hitler and the following year Joseph Stalin won the award and of more recent times in 1979 the award went to Ayatullah Khomeini. History has now shown the results. No this is not to disparage Steve Jobs or Apple, the jury remains out on that one.

However I do have concerns that this is purported to be the Holy Grail of portable music delivery systems, after what I heard, but will give it another chance.

Also this product is made off shore in questionable facilities. See below.

Worker exploitation:

On 11 June 2006, a British newspaper Mail on Sunday reported that iPods are mainly manufactured by workers who earn no more than US$50 per month and work 15-hour shifts.[37]

Apple investigated the case with independent auditors and found that, while some of the plant's labor practices met Apple's Code of Conduct, others did not: employees worked over 60 hours a week 35% of the time, and employees worked more than six consecutive days about 25% of the time.[38] Apple's supplier—which initially denied the abuses—[39]has promised to disallow workers from working more hours than allowed under the Code. Apple has hired a workplace standards auditing company, Verité, and joined the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct Implementation Group to oversee these measures.

On December 31, 2006, workers at the Taiwanese factory (owned by Foxconn Technology Group) in question formed a union. The union is affiliated with the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, which is controlled by the Chinese government.[40]

First of all this should not have been allowed to happen and Apple only after the fact took some action. In my opinion this is shear profiteering at the expense of others to make yourself rich. The robber baron mentality is alive and well.

For many years now,I thorougly research individuals and the the companies they run, before I buy their product. I believe if we all did due diligence before the purchase, we as consumers would have a greater impact on the market place than we do. But instead we run out and can't wait to get the latest gizmo and fork over the funds for it, totally believing in the hype. Remember the hype is their for one reason and one reason only, and that is to sell you the product. Perhaps it was my years at CBS, that has always prompted me to do research before acting and to ask the hard questions.

As far as the piracy issues go, it is by far more prevelant in todays digital age than in the 70s and early 80s and far harder to catch and remedy.

The music business was a guaranteed sale item. If the sale did not take place it could be returned for full credit, the risk was assumed by the label. Well when you get back more of a title, than you pressed, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that piracy is at hand. Just ask Boston on their first release, that was pirated to death. I could go on and on, but you get the idea and the aftermath of the piracy on the label and artist. I would be more apt to download music, if the assurance was there that royalties were being paid. For I have seen first hand the results of piracy. Countless jazz musicians died in near poverty and some worked till they dropped to support themselves. I am long removed from the battlefield of the music industry so I do not have a first hand account on sales practices today. But sales tracking at the retail level with the UPC code, was something we only dreamed of at the time.

I for one applaud everyone that continues to support the retail chain in the music business. It is my hope that in the future downloaded music will totally support the industry and artist. I firmly believe that the music industry can be killed. If there is not an incentive to create all will be lost. This hobby which we all enjoy, to me is much more about the music than the gear that is used to reproduce it. Music is the critical element, without the music, the gear means nothing.

To:Seandtaylor99 , I have no idea what the encoding was. The units were being demonstrated at a Best Buy or Circuit City or some box store I was in. A very hot latino gal came up to me and popped the ear phones in. She had me and the sale until she turned it on, like finger nails across a chalk board man. So naturally I let her do her thing and she played everything from classical,rock,jazz,gospel, you name it,it was on the I-Pod. To bad it sounded like crap. But as far as the encoding was, I have no clue. But one would think If your trying to sell a product one would use the best format.

One thing for sure, I'll won't forget her, till they plant me 6 feet under. Hopefully I can stab out the sound of that thing in my mind, before I die.

Okay, tell you what I'll do, in the near future,will try the I-Pod again and ask them what format the files are in,using the knowledge from this thread. Yes I do understand the concept of compression as i was in the music business with CBS for many years. However I am not up to speed on compression as it relates to downloaded music.So enlightenment there is warranted.

I also have great concerns on file sharing and how it relates to the artist and record label and if the royalties are being paid. I have strong concerns about piracy and downloaded material that is copyrighted and the artist is denied his royalty. Thirty years ago I was involved in crushing a few pirate operations here in the U.S. Artist should not be ripped off and denied their royalty. Piracy hurts everyone from the casual listener to the most ardent music maven.

Thanks for the dialogue.

Okay - It is readily apparent that few if not none contributing to this thread have seen 3rd world work force exploitation first hand. To say its gut wrenching is to say the very least and to turn a blind eye to it for sake of profit is in my opinion damning. There are certainly other countries where labor is less than here. Take Rawlings for example. All of the Major Leaque Baseballs used in a season are made there, and these people are paid a decent living wage in a modern facility, and the locals love working there. Been there seen that.

No I do not hate Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, I know of them only through their dealings and what has been made public.

Even here in the U.S. we have sweat shops, that should turn the stomachs of any of us. But these are faceless workers, not worthy of consideration, because we continue to support the goods manufactured by them.

I know I am in the minority here, but I do look for goods,products and services whether made here or elsewhere where the standard of living is commensurate with their local economy. Face it $50.00 a month buys damn little anywhere in the world today.

I have no problem buying goods from Canada,UK, or most EU countries and do so. Someone made a comment about the garmet industry. Well guys very little of what I put in my closet that does not have a union label. See one sweat shop and you get the idea very quick.

Finally I don't condemn Steve Jobs, or Apple or Bill Gates, but in my opinion they can do much better. Remember there was a time when we all demanded the best from each other, sadly that appears to be dying for no other reason than pure greed.

But I am in the minority here and readily admit that. In the final analysis buy what you want,whenever you want it and turn a blind eye on the practices that brought it to you.

And back to thread itself. In my opinion the I-Pod is not HiFi by a long shot. However it appears to be an excellent storage/retrevial system for down loaded music and precious little else.

Jax 2 thanks for the lead on that DVD, will add to my list.

Also if you get the chance view the Tape or DVD of "Harvest of Shame". done in 1960 by Edward R Murrow, part of the CBS Reports series as only Murrow could do. Gut wrenching account of povertry in America at that time. Sad thing we have not come all that far in 2007. First time I saw this I was 16 and it has remained with me ever since.

Most libraries have this program, as it remains to this day as the definitive white paper on poverty in the U.S.