What the fuck is the use of a portable media player?

[Hanzii]

As to the iPod - the camera adapter cost me an extra $25. I plug the cable from iPod to camera, click import on the iPod, and away it goes.

This is standard with the proper portable video players like the Archos, the Zen Vision and the Epson 4000 (the last one is squarely aimed at photographers).
And they all have better screens than the dinky iPod.
(and correct me if I'm wrong - even with that adapter, you can't actually view the images, right? You'd have to import them properly through a pc/mac and the right software).
The Zen Vision just takes a CF card and the Archos AV500 is a USB host. The Epson takes a range of cards and goes all the way to 100 GB (like the Archos) - so no photographer should ever run out of space.


... oh yeah, and they play video too.

[Bunk]

If you are importing RAW files, then no, you can't view them on the iPod. Only if you are shooting jpgs or tifs. Admittedly yes, I could have gone with other portable drive solutions for the camera. It was just a case of the iPod giving me all the features I wanted, combined with the iPod interface (which I do like). The final deciding factor though was that I bought it on a business trip in San Fran, and since it was duty free going over the border (since I was down for a week) it ended up costing me $140 less than it would have up here.

I could have hunted down a non-ipod player during that trip, but I really didn't have time. So I walked in to the Apple store on my luch break and walked out with the iPod.

[stray]

Boy, I sure do miss John Candy.

[Hanzii]

If you are importing RAW files, then no, you can't view them on the iPod. Only if you are shooting jpgs or tifs. Admittedly yes, I could have gone with other portable drive solutions for the camera. It was just a case of the iPod giving me all the features I wanted, combined with the iPod interface (which I do like). The final deciding factor though was that I bought it on a business trip in San Fran, and since it was duty free going over the border (since I was down for a week) it ended up costing me $140 less than it would have up here.

I could have hunted down a non-ipod player during that trip, but I really didn't have time. So I walked in to the Apple store on my luch break and walked out with the iPod.

Well, of the ones mentioned above, only the Epson shows RAW pictures, but that is bulky as hell. I agree on the niceness of the iPod interface which nobody has beat yet, but if pictures is your main use, I'd still pick something with a better/bigger screen and less hoops required to show the pictures. Ymmw.

[Merusk]

Ueah, No reason to say why I found this 10 year old thread, but I'm bumping it for laffs because we all carry one of these now.

Fuck what a difference time makes.

[Evildrider]

Ueah, No reason to say why I found this 10 year old thread, but I'm bumping it for laffs because we all carry one of these now.

Fuck what a difference time makes.

Is it sad that I skipped this craze and waited til I got a smartphone?   

Oh yeah I still use cd's in my car.  lol

[01101010]

Ueah, No reason to say why I found this 10 year old thread, but I'm bumping it for laffs because we all carry one of these now.

Fuck what a difference time makes.

Is it sad that I skipped this craze and waited til I got a smartphone?   

Oh yeah I still use cd's in my car.  lol

I have a tape deck in mine... that I have the tape adapter for to use with my smart phone. I refuse to modify the inside.   

[MahrinSkel]

Yeah, I carry a smartphone (but never use it for watching video), my tablet gets used a lot for surfing the net but very little for video. My daughter uses her iPad for movies in preference to larger screens, but if I want to watch video, walking about doesn't seem necessary.

So we may all carry one in the sense that we have a general purpose device that makes them useless, but not usually for that purpose.

-Dave

[Strazos]

Still have an iPod. Very useful on vacation, by the pool, and especially on planes.

[Rendakor]

I've still got a functioning Zune but rarely use it; I listen to Pandora on my phone sometimes, and more rarely watch video on my tablet.

[DraconianOne]

Yeah, I carry a smartphone (but never use it for watching video), my tablet gets used a lot for surfing the net but very little for video. My daughter uses her iPad for movies in preference to larger screens, but if I want to watch video, walking about doesn't seem necessary.

So we may all carry one in the sense that we have a general purpose device that makes them useless, but not usually for that purpose.

-Dave

I have a Chromecast. I now use my smartphone or tablet to watch Netflix, Youtube, BBC iPlayer and other chromecast enabled crap on my old, non-smart TV. It also lets me stream cast video files (mp4, wkv and others) from my PC to my TV via a Chrome plugin.

I went through the whole "Why on earth would I want this?" to "Cannot live without it."  I even persuaded my boss to get one for the TV at work - nominally because it allows us to demo mobile apps on the big screen directly from a tablet but funny how the dev team are managing to find time on a Friday afternoon to watch films. 

[RhyssaFireheart]

Still have an iPod. Very useful on vacation, by the pool, and especially on planes.

Same here.  I love my iPod and use that to listen to music instead of on my phone.  Mostly because I'd have to hassle with converting stuff to put my library on the phone but also because my iPod battery lasts ages while the phone... not so much.

[lamaros]

Never use the iPad unless my phone is dead for some inexplicable reason and too lazy to hold the laptop.

[eldaec]

Core uses for a tablet that cannot be satisfied by a phone in my household:

Browsing with other people

Playing board games while travelling

Watching tv while travelling

Streaming music to the living room amp - yes I could use a phone, but then I have to fuck around taking control from the tablet, and worse, I'd have to give my phone to another human if they want to change the music (cold dead hands etc)

Sedating small children



My mp3 player is long lost. Kindle is going strong though.

[Yegolev]

Also:
Seeing things while old.

[angry.bob]

Jesus, you guys have been grown ups for way too long. It's for watching stuff at shit-level jobs and in class on the sly.

[Yegolev]

Well, most of us are out of school and many of us no longer have shit jobs.  Several of us require reading glasses now.

I found my old Moto Droid, the original one with the keyboard, and it's SUPER TINY compared to my S5.  Still plays the "sad trombone" sound but I don't want to surf the web on it.

[angry.bob]

Well, most of us are out of school and many of us no longer have shit jobs.  Several of us require reading glasses now.

Right, that's why so many people seem not see why someone would want them.

[Sky]

Jesus, you guys have been grown ups for way too long. It's for watching stuff at shit-level jobs and in class on the sly.

Pay attention in class and you might not have a shit job.

Do well at the shit job and you may not stay at the shit job.

Kids today.

[MahrinSkel]

I don't see any of the students in my classes with a Creative Labs Zen. Yes, many people, especially younger ones, use their smartphones as media playing devices, but that doesn't make their smartphones "portable media players" any more than my laptop is just because I watch movies on it sometimes. Portable media players as dedicated devices are pretty much deader than chivalry, even the portable/car DVD players are going away in favor of general-purpose tablets.

--Dave

[Viin]

I still like the iPod Shuffle for jogging. The Nano is ok too.

[01101010]

I use a Sansa 4gig micro in my car when I have to drive distance. T-Mobile, while cheap and strong in major cities, is complete shit in between them.

[apocrypha]

I'm not sure which is the least interesting thread currently active on f13, this or the car parking one.


... I have a Sony NWS that I use in the car because fuck CDs.

[Yegolev]

I use a USB stick in the car and I pull forward into spaces.