I finally got one! An iPod! Along with a Belkin Tunecast and an XtremeMac Car Charger. And you know what?

I give them all a thumbs down.

I purchased a 10gb iPod. I opted for the smaller one (instead of the 15gb or 30gb) despite my library of over 6000 mp3s because of it's upgradability. The iPod, basically, is not upgradable.

You cannot switch out the hard drive and replace it with a larger one. Once you buy a 10gb iPod, you're stuck with 10gb. You can't keep the same device and upgrade it to a 30gb—you'd have to buy a whole new device.

Same goes for the rechargeable battery. Both are built into the device.

There are ways to hack this. Several web sites exist to provide solutions for the iPod's lack of upgradability. However, it royally sucks that Apple doesn't allow this off-the-shelf.

Worse, the battery life is rumored to have a life of about two years. After that, it dies. So after two years, you'd either have to buy a new iPod or hack the device and install a new battery. Awful.

The interface is another issue. Apple is known for easy-to-use interfaces. The iPod's interface, to me, is clunky.

Perhaps for a non-technically-savvy user, it's easy. Perhaps I'm not part of the target audience for this device.

I could swear I am. But maybe this is really aimed at my grandma. Maybe it's for her to store the 128kbps—192kbps mp3 files she queries and retrieves from the shared host machines via the Internet with one of her peer-to-peer applications that she downloaded and installed on her laptop computer. Since she's not technically savvy at all, she needs a simple interface like an iPod.

One of the most confusing aspects of the interface is the "previous song" button. It looks like it would be a "back" button you could use as you traverse its hierarchal menus. It's not. The "menu" button does that. The "previous song" button simply plays the previous song.

What a shame it's placed on the far left, where you'd expect a "back" button to be.

It's not always clear when you're supposed to press the "select" button as well. For some menu choices, you hit "select" to activate a setting. For others, "select" will go back a menu.

But wait, I thought "menu" goes back a menu? Huh?

Now onto the Belkin Tunecast. This device is similar to the more popular iRock. It transmits the iPod's music onto four FM frequencies: 88.1, 88.3, 88.5, and 88.7.

Unfortunately, the problem for me stems from the frequencies to which it can broadcast. When the Tunecast broadcasts to an unused frequency, it does it fairly well; I can hear the song loud and clear.

Unused frequencies, however, are the issue. All four of those frequencies are taken by radio stations in the Bay Area. And I'm sure I'm not the only iPod user here with a Tunecast, especially with an Apple office so close to my office.

With competing frequencies, the car radio phases back and forth from iPod to radio station. Worse—inside of tunnels, where you'd expect only outside broadcasts to be interrupted, both outside and inside iPod broadcasts are interrupted.

Oddly enough, after an extended drive, the iPod display had a noticeable distortion at the top—right where the Tunecast connected to it. Does the Tunecast cause some heat damage to the iPod's display? If so, that would really suck.

Lastly, if you decide to purchase a XtremeMac Car Charger and have one of the newer, slimmer iPods, make sure you get the 30-pin connector. XtremeMac sells a car charger with an industry standard IEEE 1394 FireWire plug. Unfortunately, the new iPods don't use this; they take a 30-pin connector instead.

I am now the proud owner of a XtremeMac Car Charger with a FireWire plug that is utterly useless to me.

All in all, my first iPod experience was quite a let-down. A total thumbs down. But this is the best mp3 player on the market, according to reviews. So it'll have to do for now.

. . .

What do you think of the iPod?