| Thursday, May 2, 2002 |
20:30 - iPod envy
http://www.sunspot.net/technology/pluggedin/bal-pl.hot02may02.story?coll=bal%2Dpe%2D
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It seems that the iPod, expensive and comparatively low-capacity and Mac-only as it is, has managed to become the de facto archetypical MP3 player, the gold standard against which all others are measured. It's displaced the old Rios, the ones with the weird asymmetrical hand-held design, in the psyche of all reviewers. And now, reviews about the Rio Riot by SonicBlue seem unable to talk about the Riot without comparing it to the iPod.
Even better, they can't seem to bring themselves ever to award the win to the iPod's challenger.
Unfortunately, the RioRiot lacks the iPod's elegant design and glistening good looks. It has the feel of a prototype that was rushed into production, with control buttons that aren't as intuitive as the iPod's wheel-and-button combination. The Rio-Riot's power and earphone jacks look so much alike and are placed so close together that I nearly shorted out the device.
The company says the rechargeable lithium-ion battery is good for more than 10 hours, but mine conked out at closer to seven. Still, more than enough for jogging or most flights.
True, the Riot has more capacity. True, it's Windows-compatible. True, it has an FM tuner and funky software. But, well, it's no iPod-killer.
Seems Apple's made a universally accepted winner, for the first time in a long time. At the risk of sounding too sycophantic... Well done.
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