Three Problems with the IPod

Before you rush down to the comment section, I know, I know; the iPod's the number one digital audio player in the world and will likely stay that way for a very long time. Yes, Steve Jobs is a genius; no, I don't think that the Zune is going to beat the iPod.

In fact, I'm an iPod owner myself, and in a big way. I've had three of the things. They keep getting better with every new iPod released (which is usually immediately after I bought the earlier model).

Still, there's always room for improvement, and believe it or not, there's a lot of really simple things that Apple could do to improve the ubiquitous iPod. Here are a few suggestions; Mr. Jobs, if you're reading this, I'd like to add that I'm not above taking a large amount of money to pull this article.

1. The iPod's Video - First of all, kudos to Apple for introducing video to their iPod about a year ago. It's really fantastic. I watch a lot of movies during large road trips on the little bugger, and I have very few complaints. Those few are big 'uns, though. The restrictive amount of formats that the iPod will play is ridiculous. Throw us a bone here-at least give us a free converter that works on any movie we download. Of course, there's a lot of pressure from the TV and movie companies to try to curb pirating, but hey, I've got a lot of Divx files that were legitimately made, and if I want to watch them on my iPod, Apple should offer an easy way to do that. Secondly, could I get a break on the full movie pricing? I know, they're full length movies, but I'm watching them on a friggin' iPod. You can output to TV, but it's not DVD quality by any means, so it'd be nice if I wasn't paying a DVD price.

2. The Digital Rights Management - Also known as DRM. Apple's iTunes has very restrictive DRM, as anyone who's tried to get their downloads onto anything other than
an iPod can attest. The iPod supports very few audio formats compared to other players because Apple's trying to appease the record labels and would come under more fire than anyone else for a change in policy since they're the market leader. Still, some of their DRM seems to be a move against other companies in the field; by creating a master AAC format and not letting the iPod play much else, it seems like they're enforcing their market share. This rigidity may eventually destroy their lead over the competition if their DRM gets any more restrictive.

3. Price - At $250, the iPod is more expensive than many players on the market that offer more functions and work with more programs than just iTunes-look at Creative's Zen player series, for instance. $250 is also a bit out of most peoples' price ranges; for the technology to become really widespread, Apple will have to decrease the price further, or eventually a competitor will offer a cheaper product with a similarly famous brand name and take off with the market. If Microsoft's Zen player had more functionality than the iPod, Apple would definitely be in a two person more of a race right now.

Of course, Apple's by and far the market leader right now, but things can change at any moment and turn the digital audio player world upside down. It's happened before.

Don't believe me? Have you bought a Walkman lately?