Today I was doing a little online shopping (or should I say browsing, for I didn’t buy a thing), so you will understand if I have the urge to engage in a little product placement in today’s article. My subject does not concern anything that I was shopping for, but it does have to do with a fierce debate that my sister and I have had on the subject of MP3 players.
To me this debate is already settled, and it will seem that way as well to anyone who reads this analysis. However, my sister still sticks to her guns on the matter, and she has yet to be moved from her position. She got an MP3 player before I ever did, and it was an iPod. Some time after that, I made my choice of an MP3 player, and it was a Creative Zen. There is no doubt in my mind that the Creative Zen is worlds better than the iPod, and I will proceed with my analysis as to why.
My player has 30 gigabytes of storage capacity, and my sister’s new one has 16; but I don’t make too much of this because iPods are now available with very large capacities as well, if you are willing to pay the money. To me, one of the very biggest differences between the two (one you notice right away) is that the Zen has a built-in FM radio while the iPod has no such thing. What’s more, the Zen’s built-in FM radio has recording capability – thus, if I hear that my favorite piece of music is coming on, or if the President is making a big speech, or if there is a major news event, I can simply record it and later make my own MP3 file of it for no charge.* The iPod, of course, cannot even sniff at that.
Then there is the drawback of the way the iPod is set up. It is made to sync with the “iTunes” software, which is kept on your computer’s hard drive. If when you plug in your iPod there is something wrong with iTunes or the program is empty of files – oops, your entire iPod is erased, and all that music you paid for is gone. The Zen has none of these problems. I can plug my Zen player into my computer, and a screen will come up showing me everything that’s already on my player. It doesn’t have to “sync” with anything.
My Zen also has a calendar, a clock, and a place for a contacts list. It comes handy with a voice recorder, too. The iPod cannot match that – it just plays music, photos, and videos. In the face of these overwhelming facts, what is my sister’s response in this woefully one-sided debate?
Her only response is that my Zen is not “cool”. Whenever you feel forced to play the “coolness card”, you know that you have been defeated on the battlefield of ideas. But this is a fair-minded court of public opinion, and we shall hear the “coolness argument”.
In the first place, my sister would argue, everyone has an iPod. Why, everyone knows that if you’re going to have an MP3 player, the iPod is the people’s choice! She would say that no one has a Creative Zen unless they are a complete nerd. She would point to the variety of colors that may be chosen for one’s iPod – green, pink, black, blue, silver, etc. Why, the Zen is a dull black and white!
My sister believes that the strongest element in her “coolness argument” is that the Zen is simply too big, clumsy, and unwieldy. It is admittedly bigger than the iPod, and I will not even claim that it isn’t. But my sister protests that while you may easily fit an iPod into your pocket or some other small concealed place, the HUGE Zen might as well be on a par with computers from the 1950s or cell phones from the 1980s. The truth of the matter is that you can indeed fit your Zen into your pocket if you really wanted to, and it is quite portable should you choose to be “on the go” with it in tow.
As you can see, the “coolness argument” does not pass muster in a fair-minded court of public opinion. The question, as we all know, is not, “What does my MP3 player look and feel like?” If I wanted something to look at or feel, I would get a bobble-head doll or some kind of desktop paperweight. The real issue, as we all not only feel deeply in our hearts but also are firmly persuaded in our reasoning minds, is, “What has my MP3 player DONE for me lately?” And when it comes to pure functionality and sheer level of capability, we can all see that the Zen far outstrips the iPod, which I will not even call its rival. These, ladies and gentlemen of the court of public opinion, are the unadorned facts of the case – a case which, may I humbly insist, is open-and-shut.
*I have heard reports that the Zen is no longer made with this capability.
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