Apple - U2

[Roland of Gilead]

calling the apple store in my area to see when the new IPOD will arrive...

They said this Friday!!

So new album will be available by this friday.


artdirector

Maybe so, but the digital u2 box set will have to wait until sometime in November. Which means in U2 lingo, the end of November at the earliest.

But seriously, did they say the U2 ipod? This Friday? wow.

 

[artdirector]

Ahh, I see the new album comes with the coupon/box set released at the end of the month. So all you buy now is the IPOD and when ITunes Store releases the box set you can purchase that which by then you would have all the songs already.

bummer.

 

[artdirector]

yeah they said they would receive the U2 IPOD and the other color screen IPOD this Friday for sale.

 

[PowerSurge]

I think some people are missing the point of this whole U2 ipod/itunes deal. It is NOT about what you already own. It is about convenience. There is a certain degree of freedom in moving around with the entire U2 collection in the palm of your hand as opposed to moving the shelves of U2 cds you own. This really has nothing to do with new U2 songs and everthing to do with how you wish to enjoy U2 songs.

I agree but I might add the MOST important thing here....


a MAJOR...I repeat MAJOR band is fully backing LEGAL downloading so much so they will release their album early (or so I got from this forum) This is most important, and quite honestly perpetuates a possible major trend.

 

[artdirector]

You know that now Apple has a copy of the album. Anyone know someone at Apple to shoot us some snippets since U2.com has had none so far.

 

[Foxxern]

The Sony is WAY smaller and has 30hr battery life. It plays back in ATRAC format so if you have a huge mp3 collection, it will take a long time to load it. But on the flip side, ATRAC compression allows for as much songs as the ipod 40gig.

Um, not to sound like I work for Apple or anything, but the Sony is only about 10% smaller by volume. While battery life has always been an issue on iPods, the 30 hour figure given by Sony is generally going to be higher than in real life. Also if you want advanced compression Apple already has the AAC format.

Sony has been talking about theirs being an iPod-killer, but so far its failed to live up to their expectations, even in Japan where consumers are notoriously loyal to companies in their own country.

Just saying, cause I do a lot of reading on this stuff. The iPod is still about the best deal out there as an mp3 player.

 

[Roland of Gilead]

Yes, but you can just burn the songs onto your computer and transfer them to the ipod. I am all for buying the ipod (I don't have one already) but not the digital box set, unless I really can't live without the unreleased stuff.

I guess we'll see what this "unreleased" stuff is exactly. Fast Cars anyone?

 

[neutral]

I'm tired of you people complaining. Just stop it already OK? If there's one kind of person I can't stand it's someone who just keeps complaining.

It's really starting to get on my nerves how much negativity is going on between you people. I'm just glad I'm not negative like everyone else in here.

Pot, meet kettle.

This is a joke right?

 

[Foxxern]

I think some people are missing the point of this whole U2 ipod/itunes deal. It is NOT about what you already own. It is about convenience. There is a certain degree of freedom in moving around with the entire U2 collection in the palm of your hand as opposed to moving the shelves of U2 cds you own. This really has nothing to do with new U2 songs and everthing to do with how you wish to enjoy U2 songs.

Done and done. Every album I own resides on my computer and I can transfer them easily between there and my iPod mini. Takes roughly 10 minutes to transfer an album to MP3 or AAC format. If you already own the music, no sense in paying for it again.

 

[ADecentMelody]

Can someone explain this lossless format?

 

[Foxxern]

Can someone explain this lossless format?

File formats such as mp3, aac, atrac (Sony) are all "lossy" formats. They are so small because they cut out certain parts of the music. They can do this because the parts they cut are all but inaudible to human ears.

A "lossless" format would be something like FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec), which produces files that are a good amount larger but are supposed to sound identical to the CD-quality songs. It's a file format that's mostly been used by audiophiles and musicians thus far.

 

[boosterjuice]

Um, not to sound like I work for Apple or anything, but the Sony is only about 10% smaller by volume. While battery life has always been an issue on iPods, the 30 hour figure given by Sony is generally going to be higher than in real life. Also if you want advanced compression Apple already has the AAC format.

Sony has been talking about theirs being an iPod-killer, but so far its failed to live up to their expectations, even in Japan where consumers are notoriously loyal to companies in their own country.

Just saying, cause I do a lot of reading on this stuff. The iPod is still about the best deal out there as an mp3 player.

Okay Foxxern, you DO work for Apple. The ipod is a great player, no doubt about that. For me, the Sony was a better choice. And there are a whole host of other great players on the market . I also have researched this topic extensively. The is significantly smaller. I've taken an ipod and sony and held them side by side, the sony is micro tiny. For me, that works. There are a lot of people making such a huge deal of ATRAC proprietary format. It's really a non-issue for me as most of my music hasn't been pirated. Real life battery time for Sony is around 30hrs.

 

[Foxxern]

Okay Foxxern, you DO work for Apple. The ipod is a great player, no doubt about that. For me, the Sony was a better choice. And there are a whole host of other great players on the market . I also have researched this topic extensively. The is significantly smaller. I've taken an ipod and sony and held them side by side, the sony is micro tiny. For me, that works. There are a lot of people making such a huge deal of ATRAC proprietary format. It's really a non-issue for me as most of my music hasn't been pirated. Real life battery time for Sony is around 30hrs.

LOL... well maybe I come off as working for Apple, just a fan I guess.

Anyways, its your opinion. I chose the iPod partially for compatibility reasons, plus the design. Honestly I didn't think the Sony was that much smaller, but to each his own.

 

[shart1780]

Wait, so are we gonna hear the new album from Ipod next Friday?

 

[artdirector]

Maybe this Friday.

 

[tkramer]

LOL... well maybe I come off as working for Apple, just a fan I guess.

Anyways, its your opinion. I chose the iPod partially for compatibility reasons, plus the design. Honestly I didn't think the Sony was that much smaller, but to each his own.

I need a smaller MP3 player like I need a smaller phone. If these things get any smaller I won't be able to find them.

 

[atikicat]

Just saying, cause I do a lot of reading on this stuff. The iPod is still about the best deal out there as an mp3 player.

I think the iPod definitely has a cool design, but not really the best deal. Dell, Creative, iRiver, etc. have similar products for quite a bit less money. A new 40GB Zen Xtra is $250...$150 less than a 40GB iPod. As for the new color screen iPod that's coming out. I saw the same thing in the current Best Buy flyer from iRiver...20GB hard drive mp3 player with 2" color LCD displays photos and text with FM tuner and 16-hour battery life...$329.99. Don't know what the price is on the iPods with a color screen, but I'm sure it's more than that (a regular 20GB iPod is $300...the U2 iPod is $350 for nothing more than the black color and the engraved autograph reproductions).

And why do people think the new album is coming out on Friday? The U2 iPod is coming out Friday...and there is nothing preloaded on it.

 

[tkramer]

I think the iPod definitely has a cool design, but not really the best deal. Dell, Creative, iRiver, etc. have similar products for quite a bit less money.

Agreed.

No way the I-pod is the best deal out there if you're comparing $$ to $$. However for user expirence it's widely considered the best. It's the Morgan, Ferrari, etc. of portable players. Not everyone can afford one though, and if price and battery life are you #1 factors there are certainly alternatives.

 

[u2grace]

From the perspective of a somewhat older fan who has not ventured into the downloading music thing at all - this is a great way to start. Yes, I own everything there is to own of U2 on cd (and vinyl...yes, I'm that old) - but I don't have a cd burner, frankly don't care to get one, not really that interested. If I could get all the U2 stuff I love in one place, that would be pretty cool - and would beat having to decide each day which cds to drag around with me. Then, I could slowly venture into buying other songs...

 

[Bono's shades]

I wonder what previously unreleased tracks are part of the digital package, and if there will be b-sides (including the ones that are out-of-print or hard to find.) I also hope U2 will still do a big CD box set someday that includes all this unreleased material for those who would rather have them in that format and don't necessarily want digital copies of a bunch of songs they already have and can easily rip to MP3 if they want.