the Ipod sucks, Itunes is the bane of the musical worlds existence, The_fatty is an idiot with a horrible delusion.
I, personally, have an Iriver.
This thing is like an Ipod, but actually GOOD.
First off, it holds music as files, and plays them as such. The main screen is a directory file, much like if you clicked on the "my computer' Button on a windows computer. You go from the parent directory to more sub-directories with the joystick, and the Iriver recognizes and can play a variety of different music-file formats.
This means I can just click and Drag an mp3 from my desktop monitor to the Iriver and I can listen to it. None of this pussy-footing around through Itunes, encrypting your music before its compatible with the Ipod.
This also means that the Iriver can be used as sort of an incredibly large USB key. You can just drag and drop files onto the Iriver, and while it won't be able to recognize what those files can do, you can store them and move them from computer to computer. For instance, I transfered all of Half-life from my school's computer to my home computer over my Iriver, Something which the Ipod of the time (the 3rd generation Ipod) would have been woefully unprepared to do easily.
There is also the size vs. price point. My Iriver holds 20gigs of space, which is more than enough for all of my music. It cost 250$, which was really cheap in 2003, which is the year I got it in. The Ipods which were around at that time, cost considerably more.
Finally, there is the durability of the Iriver. The_fatty is just flat out wrong when he says Ipods will stand the test of time. Its been well proven that the Ipod was made so that eventually it will break and the user will have to buy another one. My Iriver, on the other hand, has stood the test of time. I bought my Iriver at the beginning of 8th grade, and I'm a senior in highschool now, and its still going strong. Not only that, but I have treated it so badly during this time. I have gotten into a huge ski crash while having it in my pocket, I have Dropped it on the ground at least 20 times, I've had it fall out of my pocket when I was biking, I've accidently kicked it, stepped on it, fallen on it, and one time I even dropped it into the toilet, and it just won't give up.
Finally, there is the matter of the battery life. Ipods from back in 2003 could only stay alive for 10 hours, but my Iriver could play music for 20 hours nonstop on 1 battery charge. Of course, now its more like 12 hours because i've had it for so long, but that in itself is still a remarkable achievement.
I would love to see an Ipod from 2003 which has put up with as much shit as i've put my Iriver through and still be alive and functioning. It isn't possible, of course, because Ipods are just cheap, crappy, rip-offs that will break within months of you getting it.
however, the ipod's parachute game is unbearably addicting...
) than they voted for GFY, SOMIKO!!!, or Makin love to me ( 
).
