How to Improve My Favorite Apple iPod Touch MP3 Player

I'm going to say straight out, I'm a fan of the Apple iPod. I'm not an Apple person in general. I don't like all of their products or think that they are superior to others. With this background in mind, I can easily say that I love the Apple iPod. I've always been a fan, and have purchased quite a few different iPods for myself or friends and family. My favorite is the iPod Touch.

I can't say that I've only owned iPods. I'm an MP3 player enthusiast and am always trying to stay on the cutting edge of technology. I have owned several Microsoft Zune players, a Creative Zen, a Sony, and quite a few other no-name brands. I always come back to the iPod.

Although I love Apple iPods in general, I see a few flaws with the player, which is why I've bought other players. One of the big flaws that I have is iTunes. I see many positives with Apple iTunes software. I see how I can quickly and easy buy songs, videos, music videos, movies, audio books or even rent movies through their software. Although there is a cost, I see the timeliness of it all and can appreciate it. What I can't appreciate about iTunes is how it's not easy to use. I work in the computer software field, and find that syncing my iPod through iTunes is cumbersome and confusing. Often times I think I've added new media, when I haven't. I understand rights management, and how Apple wants to sell you their media and only you can use it, but what if you can't even use the media yourself? This is where I get frustrated. There are menus and menus of options. Just the other day I connected a new iPod Touch that I purchased that's larger than my previous model, and received an error message when I started the software. The error was a message about my iPod Touch being an iPhone when it wasn't an iPhone. I proceeded to reset my iPod, to search the Internet for answers and finally figured out I had to disable all my networking in order to get my iPod to recognize and sync, straight out of the box. I couldn't believe this, and wondered how a home user could manage.

This wasn't the only time I've had problems with iTunes software. I really wish that there was a way to use your iPod in a disc mode that automatically happened. To my knowledge there is no quick and easy way to load your media to the iPod through navigation, without iTunes, or a third-party program. I don't know if that has changed, but I know it's something I've constantly struggled with.

Of all the wonderful design work that Apple has done with each and every design of iPod, I can't understand why they overlook the headphones. Each model I keep hoping that there is a quick and easy way to store them in or around the iPod for convenient storage. I do use the headphones that the iPod comes with, so to have to wrap the cord around the iPod after each use, only to get tangled cords, seems as though it's a poor design. Apple is on the cutting edge with design, why not stay that way by designing better headphone storage.

If you have never owned an iPod, don't let these two items deter you from buying. iPods are built with new consumers in mind that are not computer savvy, and may not know how to load their own music, or organize their own collection. This item is still my MP3 player of choice.