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The Seven Phases of Owning an iPod - An Illustrated Journey

drivl.com — Every iPod owner passes through seven distinct phases, this illustrated guide depicts the journey all iPod owners must undertake (and does it through funny little stick figures)

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  • monticello, on 10/12/2007, -1/+66Coming from someone that loves his iPod... this is painfully accurate
  • autoy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7I had a good laugh with that, thanx :)
  • daigakuinsei, on 10/12/2007, -6/+82Article overlooks the part where it breaks and you have to ship it back to Apple to get it fixed.
    • bpapa, on 10/12/2007, -7/+31Even an Apple fanboy like myself has got to agree with this comment.

      Thank god for Apple care.
    • clinko, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12I was thinking this same thing. I'm on my 4th ipod (still only bought 1)
    • nblsavage, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15I don't have to agree - I've got an iPod Photo that hasn't given me a second of trouble. I'd still be using my old 4G if I hadn't dropped it while the drive was being accessed. (Head crashes are not a pretty thing)

    • anillop, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3I have bought 1 ipod but have had 4 so far because of disk problems. But I will say this apple tech support is awesome and they sent me out replacements within days. I would be much more pissed if they went so damn nice. At least the last one they sent me has worked great for over a year. Next time it breaks I am due for an upgrade.
    • stylerm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6So you know, you should not jog with hard-drive based players or they will die in a few months. If you want an iPod (or any mp3 player) for jogging get a flash based one. I don't know what you are doing with it, but they really should be more open about that when people buy it.
    • shosterman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Or what about the phase where it gets stolen (as mine did on Friday)? Now do I open the Nano from Ameritrade or sell it and buy a Zune? Hmm...
    • dignick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I've also had an iPod photo for well over a year now, heading towards two, with some pretty rough and heavy use. Absolutely no problems at all. Not even with the headphones (which I still use :p).
    • inkswamp, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6And yet, iPod sales are still skyrocketing. Apparently people love to keep buying things that break down or can't play anything except iTunes music or blow up or turn your children into communists (sorry, I'm trying to cover all known iPod FUD. It's hard to keep up.)
    • Araya213, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I've had the same 5g since a few weeks after launch and it still works like a champ.
    • callit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@stylerm

      While I agree with the concept of your statement (that hard drives generally can't or shouldn't take the abuse), I have to point out that my 4g ipod color has handled jogging and plenty of other abuse with no problem at all thus far, and I've had it for over a year.
  • fit4130, on 10/12/2007, -73/+11god I hate Ipods.
  • bombadier337, on 10/12/2007, -30/+14http://www.duggmirror.com
  • bennomatic, on 10/12/2007, -3/+39Don't forget about the heartbreaking time you grab your MacBook remote instead of your 1st gen shuffle and find that you're going to be stuck without music during your jog. Sigh.
    • Sartori, on 10/12/2007, -16/+3Handy hint - the Shuffle is the one with headphones attached! :P

      Unless you disconnect them every time you take it off, I suppose...
    • DharmaTurtle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Hehehe speaking of which, the 2nd Gen Shuffle just went live today. Just bought myself one... looks around guiltily....

      (Before, it was announced, but not available to consumers.)
    • altcountryman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1But you can control macbooks as you run by. Perhaps fun for pranksterism in trendy sections of large cities or if you run by the Apple store.
    • t3hX, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1... and they are two distinct shapes - the frontrow remote is a lot flatter.
  • Heretushi, on 10/12/2007, -86/+4I don't own an iPod, I don't want an iPod and I won't recommend it to anyone anytime soon. Still, buried as lame.
    • jkoke, on 10/12/2007, -1/+48Yet, you still find the time and energy to read and comment on an iPod story. How's that sublimated envy working out for you?
    • dan537, on 10/12/2007, -4/+51I don't own a Heretushi, I don't want a Heretushi and I won't recommend it to anyone anytime soon. Still, buried as lame.
    • ginty, on 10/12/2007, -3/+22@Dan

      You may not want a Heretushi and not recommend it to anyone anytime soon, but you do pwn Heretushi.
  • Kbennett, on 10/12/2007, -4/+36The iPod will go down as one of the greatest marketing triumphs in modern history; and deservedly so.
    • JustinPM, on 10/12/2007, -4/+45Well, then so does the Walkman, the Gameboy, the PS2, the washer and dryer, the can opener, the keyboard, the mouse, LCDs, the Internet, MP3, underwear, overwear, and Dr. Seuss.
    • haggie, on 10/12/2007, -27/+5Saturn did a great job at marketing ***** cars and a bunch of morons snapped them up too.

      Newsflash: Marketing sells crap to idiots.
    • RadiantBeing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+25Don't forget diamonds or the DVD.
    • mandarin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2I remember seeing a comic strip with elevator signs that point.... Heaven =>
    • ggko, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Most of what JustinPM mentions are hardly marketing triumphs.

      Walkman, Gameboy: spawned their product categories (yea, I know about the Microvision) They allowed people to take something normally enjoyed at home on the road.

      PS2: hardly a "marketing success," the original Playstation perhaps, because like Apple, Sony was a newcomer that took over the market and became the yardstick by which followers were measured. PS2 buyers were largely carryovers from the PSX.

      washer and dryer, can opener, the Internet: conveniences that are worth their cost.

      keyboard, mouse: *nobody* needs a keyboard, right?

      LCDs, MP3: "next iterations" of existing technologies

      Dr. Seuss: I'll allow you Mr Geisel, since I can't think of a good rebuttal offhand ... or a witty rhyme.

      underwear, overwear: remind us to not sit on your furniture.
  • digitallysick, on 10/12/2007, -21/+9Im at the phase where i wished i wouldnt of bought an ipod because i hate itunes, i think its lame. I should of bought an mp3 player that was non ipod, so i wouldnt be forced to use itunes, i wish i could just drag and drop my music , as if it were a harddrive/jumpdrive, and manage my music on the actual device itself. (not in some hidden cryptic folders like the ipod)
    • messs, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15http://www.rockbox.org/

      http://www.rockbox.org/download/
    • somerandomnerd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5There are plenty of alternatives to iTunes- Wikipedia even has a list of them.

      However, if you've got a bunch of music that you've bought from the iTunes Music Shop, and over the course of the last 2 years or so have gone through all your music collection rating each song out of five stars, then creating an intricate network of smart playlists to give you a high rotation of the tracks you like, play songs you haven't heard for a while rather than ones you've heard recently and so on (like me), then you're *****.

      My iPod has locked me into iTunes, and ironically, iTunes has in turn locked me into Windows.

      (Oh yeah, and try checking the "enable disk use". Might help you.)
    • opnickc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Winamp supports iPods as well.

      My only complaint about iPod/iTunes is that you can't purchase music on iTunes to use on other devices.
    • TruthElixirX, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Couldn't someone figure out a way to use the "Export Library" feature to hack into iTunes to grab all this information?
    • austindkelly, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2you all apparently do not read the news or havent been on DIGG in like a month.

      for all of you that wish to use iTunes on a different device:

      http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&tab=wn&q=dvd+jon+itunes&btnG=Search+News
    • lane.montgomery, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5You can also change the options on iTunes to let you manually manage your music on your iPod or pretty much any other mp3 player. That means drag-n-drop.
    • nofxjunkee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I don't see why dragging and dropping tracks in iTunes is harder than doing it to your device directly. It's basically the same thing, no?

      ---

      wouldn't have
      shouldn't have

      not "wouldnt of"
      /nazi
    • NoNom, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The difference is that a person has to install iTunes (or whatever program) first. With a mass storage mp3 player you don't have to worry about programs or the OS.
  • ajwitte, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15Any mirrors that aren't "Article not found"?
  • jonj, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1085 diggs and site's already down. gotta love it.
    • robotsongs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Umm... digg is a bookmarking site. When a site is down I digg it so that I can come back to it later after the torrent of diggers has subsided.

      Use it like a bookmark folder, not a HotorNot listing.
    • masterofsw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is a feature I wish I could add. It would be nice if I could bookmark an article instead of digging it to save for later. I often digg article that I might not like later just to save it until I am at home.
    • superkendall, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The problem is that many of us are annoyed those of you that use Digg as a bookmarking site. I really wish they had a way to digg for bookmark vs. voting a story on the merits. I only digg when I like a story and want OTHERS to see it.
    • billymachine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Don't forget to Undigg if you end up not liking the story!
    • dextrocardia, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I used to do the digg/undigg, too. After a while though, there would be so many dugg items that I'd never actually go back to read. Solution: use an RSS aggregator, and then you can mark the item as unread and come back to it later.
  • mandarin, on 10/12/2007, -10/+5Im starting to hate Ipods....
  • Pie_Man, on 10/12/2007, -6/+28Same list...but not from a fanboy perspective
    -----------------------------------------------------

    Phase 1 - Buy Ipod because after weighing all of the options...it is still the best deal

    Phase 2 - Buy different headphones so that you are not an immediate mugging target

    Phase 3 - Spend time trying to use the thing without touching stupid, bloated, and cumbersome ITunes software. Amarok works just fine.

    Phase 4 - Enjoy until technology changes to where memory, form factor, or battery life warrants another music device.
    • cazabam, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4I completely agree. Buy what's best at the time, use it until you need to change. Thassit.

      I have a Creative NOMAD Zen jukebox thing. I didn't buy it because it's easy to use (it isn't), or because it's compatible with a range of machines (it isn't - oddly, my Ubuntu box is the only one that doesn't have issues, and WinXP is can't even find the device) or even because it's small and sexy. It's a great hulking metal box with a 60GB 2.5" hard disk (yes, like in a laptop), and the beauty is that if (when) I drop it, it just bounces and keeps on truckin'.
    • pathy, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2You know what I used? A 4GB knock off iPod I got from eBay for £50. Worked perfectly well, and played Ogg to boot. Was a dandy little thing, although it heated up a lot. Still, the battery lasted a long time, and it still works, despite that I've stood on it twice nad destroyed the screen.

      Still, it works fine. I charge it, turn it on, plug it in to my PC, pop, it's there as 4GB of USBgoodness. I go to play tracks, hurrah, it works! I just... can't see which one I'm selecting.

      (Oh, it's been replaced recently by my PSP, but that's it.)
    • fbeecher, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Check out Songbird (http://www.songbirdnest.com) as an alternative to iTunes (and way more). I discovered it yesterday and I think it's great...
  • MiniMac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Are we getting article not found because DuggMirror hadn't cached a copy of the article before it got dugg? So it's taking us to the article page thats linked to, but not having any content to display?
  • inkubux, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3Phase 1: Yeah i like it, it works really well
    Phase 2: Damn this is the 2nd one that break in 2 years I'm never buying an Ipod again
    • inkubux, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3Digg me down but this is a real story ... The Ipods are as Cheap (material wise).
  • NoSpaceForRent, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1046 people have dugg this article since it went unavailable. I know we all have our favorite topics, but I'm kinda for reading the article before we digg it. I mean, people can do what they want, it just seems to me unless they have ESP or some super ISP that is so fast they can read articles from the past, people are diggin who aren't reading. I'm not too sure what ESP is, I just like the contradiction between ESP and ISP.
    • atgunning, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20Some people digg the articles for future reading - you know, like bookmarking.
    • osbjmg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@NoSpaceForRent

      Maybe they used a mirror?
    • DungeonMaster99, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17I Digg articles for future reading because Digg is a "Social BOOKMARKING" website.

      After I've read the article I either leave it Dugg (if it was good) or I un-Digg it (if it was bad)...
    • Worktruck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Um yeah, see if it's unreadable now in the future it could be readable so I don't want to have to sift through digg to find this article later on today when I get home. So, I digg it now and hope that later I can read it. At that time if I find that it wasn't worth a Digg I can undigg it.
    • NoSpaceForRent, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0Do you honestly think 113 bookmarked with intent to read it later?

      And if somone could provide a functional mirror I'd be happy cuz I haven't read the article myself yet either.
    • austindkelly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I am going to DIGG this because right now i cant get to it because the server is down. So I will try later.

      Untill then I will continue to read and judge all of you based soley on your comments.
    • SuburbanDave, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Sometimes I digg an article for the great comment thread. I'd be shocked if I was the only one who did that.
  • scoyndizzle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Hahaha. I love it. Gave me a good laugh this morning.
  • gwayne, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Its funny how its trendy to buy iPods and trendy to hate them all at the same time. I have had a 5g iPod for over a year, used it every day, and not had a single problem with it. Is it the player for everyone? No, obviously not. But if you want a decent player and dont care if it doesnt play anything but mp3s (which is all I have) then its definitely a viable option.
  • JMaelstrom, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2Apple makes pretty crap...

    Come and get it fanboys!
  • waxprod, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Mirrorlink anyone ? Cheers
  • axel2k, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0I understand that people buy iPods and they love them. I understand that they like the aesthetic appeal and they feel that it has a superior UI. But isn't writing an article about the ownership process of an iPod taking it a little far?

    It serves no practical value other than to reinforce that the sum of money you laid down for an audio/video player buys your way into a group of people who also own said hardware.

    I own an iPod, but I don't go around the Web looking for people who also own one to make me feel good about the ownership process.
  • 1421, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6As for iPods being crap -- I thought i might weigh in.

    I'm still on my first iPod, a 3G 10GB refurbished (from the time when those cost $200 on eBay :-?)

    It's scratched and dented, but still going strong, performance and power-wise.
  • lcmatt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Article not found!

    Looks like the owner has removed it, and duggmirror never got hold of it either.
  • waz67, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I loved my iPod until the wheel stopped responding. No matter what I tried, resets, running down the battery, etc, nothing worked. So I left it alone for a week, tried it again, and it worked perfectly, and has worked fine ever since. Except for the part where the response is sluggish every time I plug it into the car charger for some reason. Now I love it again, but not quite as much as before.
  • Skinner72, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I just got a new nano which I like very much in terms of how it sounds and how it categorizes music. What I don't like is the process for moving files onto the system. Itunes is okay software but I'd rather be able to drag and drop files of my own choosing from any computer rather than being tied to a single itunes installation.
  • tuxidomasx, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1my ipod sits on my counter collecting dust

    it was cool for like 3 months. i'd listen to it on my way between classes in college
  • bh1nd3r, on 10/12/2007, -11/+0--deleted-- bury this please :P
  • Oatmeal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15Sorry everyone, our crappy hosting tanked after a few hundred visitors. We'll have it back up shortly.
  • JaneMDC, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Drivl lives again :)
  • Llanowar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1hehe, shouldn't have too many windows open when replying...

    digg down..
  • superkendall, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1That's quality writing there - you can tell they hired a screenwriter from Hollywood to work on the storyline, as it starts out great but then has absolutely no ending.
  • gwayne, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Now that its back up the article is funny and fairly accurate imo. :-)
  • Samputer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Awwww..... thanks for reminding me my ipod not new any more :( (5th gen)
  • philipbowman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I'm still on my first iPod - a 4Gb mini, which I use for a couple of hours each day (mostly listening to podcasts and podiobooks in the car on the way to/from work). When the 6Gs come out, it will be "dead to me", but I'll probably still keep it around for use in the gym or something. It just works, which is what I want from a player, despite some serious knocks, scratches (must not keep in pocket with keys...) etc.
  • nigel502, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1HA- you didn't include dropping the ipod - crying over the shattering of the screen
  • ericesque, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2My journey

    1) gets glorious new ipod

    2) listens to music on ipod for a few months

    3) realizes my glorious new ipod is really just a glorious 30gb external hdd.

    4) my external hdd has a click wheel... why?
    • zbeast, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I did just about the same thing.
      The reason for buying my ipod is that it made the
      perfect stealth 40 usb and firewire hard drive I could carry into and out of work.
      Using it as a music player was just frosting on the cake.


  • eatasandwich, on 10/12/2007, -4/+31. Buy iPod
    2. Reset iPod after two days because it froze.
    3. What's that weird clicking noise and why won't the music play any more?
    4. Resolve to go back to not following the crowd. Return iPod. Buy something else.
    5. Realise that electronic devices these days are manufactured in such a way that they will ALL break within a very short period of time.
    6. Get mad and twitch with surpressed violence every time some brainwashed twit bangs on and on about how great something is. Hide sharp objects just in case you have to hear about how someone has owned something for ages and never had a problem.
    • automan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I've owned mine for ages and never had a problem.
    • eatasandwich, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2For me, "ages" describes a period of time longer than any model of iPod has been around.
    • automan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I would think that "ages" are temporal periods in the life of a product or item. An age of the Earth would not be equal to an age in the life cycle of an ipod, but they relate in the same way.
    • robert94087, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I have a Samsung "Sampod" and a SanDisk

      1. I can plug it into Windows and it "just works". I don't have to install gay Quicktime.
      2. I can play OGG/Vorbis on the sampod
  • eatasandwich, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3ugh...bury me
  • prabesh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1lol 6 out of 7 happened to me. they haven't come out with the touch screen ipod yet! so 30 gb video is pretty uptodate
  • Velveteen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If I lose my iPod this week, I am holding the writer responsible.
  • jellygraph, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1meh, not so funny, but accurate for some I suppose. I expecting to see something more like...

    stage 1: wow!
    stage 2: im so cool
    stage 3: i use it all the time
    stage 4: ipod fills up, arg
    stage 5: dammit, all my music from itunes is encrypted
    stage 6: apathy... whatever, its just another gadget... a scratched up looking gadget as well
    stage 7: its broken... erg... time to deal with Apple support *shudders*
  • Chexee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1lmao, that's so true.
  • robert94087, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1STAGE 8:

    PERMANENT HEARING LOSS
  • PhrosTT, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0what about the 5 replacement iPods you go through and the hours you waste sitting at the genius bar.
  • saxodan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That made me chuckle! Good little sketches there! Have a Digg
  • rrobster, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Does it run Windows?
  • DeezKnots, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've been careful with my ipod levels, no hearing loss here. Also, I've never lost my iPod either, but... I do have a large 4Gen 40gb iPod though. Funny / Dugg.
  • stray, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The article forgets the part where a year after you buy it, the battery won't hold a charge and you have to replace it.
  • chrisrcary, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I had a 40GB 4G and a 4GB Green mini, but then the 4G's hard drive crashed on me. It's in my attic, but my mom bought a refurbished 20GB 4G, and got one for free, so she gave me the free one, but until then I was fine with either the mini or the 20GB, even though all the new colour screens, etc., came out.

    I guess I'm more about getting use out of what you buy; not having the LATEST and GREATEST.

    Same with my Core Duo MBP, now that the new ones are out, I'm no less happy with my laptop now than I was then.

    No envy at all. Seriously. They do what I want them to.
  • shiftt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1http://www.duggmirror.com
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