common complaints are that iTunes is slow, and is a resource hog. Also common are complaints about sound and video quality during playback. Although iTunes has improved slightly in the last few releases there are still many bug in it. Yet most people continue to use iTunes, why? Because they don't realize that you can still sync your iPod with programs other than iTunes.

Apple's iPod has, through all its different makes and models, had a stranglehold on the portable mp3 player marketplace almost since the day it was introduced in 2001. In fact, the iPod, by even the most basic estimates, has anywhere between 70-85 percent marketshare, in spite of last year's launch of Microsoft's Zune, which was designed, in price and capacity and features, to compete head-to-head with Apple's juggernaut.

I came late to the world of MP3 players. By the time I finally got my sleek black 4G Apple iPod Nano, the technology was already well established. Everyone I knew seemed to have gotten his or her iPod already and were moving on to cell phones with MP3 capability. So this review is directed toward those who, like me, yearn to be part of the iPod listening world but haven't gotten into the game yet. Despite the fact that it is well past half-time, an Apple iPod Nano is a thing of joy. I have to say is that, for everyone out there still wondering whether they should invest a few hundred dollars for technology that will likely be replaced tomorrow with something new and better, I say a resounding YES. This is one of the best gifts I've ever received, even though I still haven't figured out all the features yet.

Everyday, hundreds of eBay members list iPods for sale, "cheap." Same with Craigslist. Should you buy one of these refurbished iPod? NO! While some refurbished iPods can be as good as a brand-new-out-of-the-box-never-used iPod, the problems come in with "where" you buy them. Don't waste your money buying a refurbished iPod from a complete stranger!

If you ever fancied trying out the iPod +Nike kit with your Nano, but do not own a pair of the required Nike trainers this may be of interest to you.

Apple Computer has had three major marketing campaign runs that have changed the way the world looks at Apple Computer. " Think Different," "Switcher," and most recently the PC and Mac guys. With the two most recent campaigns Apple has focused on the fear that many PC users have of getting a virus, leading users to believe that using a Mac on the Internet is like living in a small country town instead of the big city. Simply put, use a Mac and you will be safe from the dangers of the scary Internet. For the most part this has always been true. As Mac users we are fairly safe from viruses and spyware, or so we are lead to believe.

While writing reviews of products I often run into new terms that aren't explained well. Acutally, I run into new terms with almost every product I wrestle out of its packaging. The i-Fusion review presented me with a new twist on batteries, the three phase lithium ion rechargeable battery. I undertook a search to discover what is different about a 3-phase battery. In my search I uncovered a nice site that actually explains in detail about the myriad of batteries we now use on a daily basis. I didn't uncover the secrets of a three phase battery, but I certainly learned a few new tricks about battery life.

Almost a year ago, Jan. 17, 2005, to be exact, I was reading about iPod Shuffles on Apple's site (http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/) and found this in the small gray type at the bottom of the page:

Two days ago I posted about an idea I'd been kicking around for a couple weeks: video podcasts. Today I read an article on Wired about the new trend in blogging: video blogging. Apparently Apple (along with several others) was way ahead of me, and iTunes 4.9 already includes support for video-casts or, as some marketing genius decided to label them, vlogs. Now I really wish I had posted when I first though of this after reading about Apple contracting with Alphamosaic for mobile video chips way back in April (linky linky).

Jon Stokes over at ArsTechnica has published an article about the future of Apple and how the switch to Intel relates to the iPod. The upshot of his article is that the future of Apple lies not with the Macintosh, but with the iPod. He claims that the current success of the iPod and the iTunes Music Store are simply part of a transition away from the personal computer and towards mobile devices, much like the transition from mainframes to personal computers that started largely due to the success of the Apple I and II. With this in mind, Stokes offers the theory that the switch from IBM to Intel had little to do with performance and a lot to do with volume, pricing, and the XScale. With Intel processors powering the entire Macintosh line and the volume discounts that Intel offers on chips, it would make sense to use as many Intel chips as possible in as many products as they can go into. And so Stokes predicts the rise of the XScale powered video iPod, a competitor for the Sony PSP.