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Shel Holtz
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Going Apple-free: Progress report

As I reported a while back, I’ve made the decision to go Apple-free. You can read my original post for an explanation, although I’ll reiterate that this is a personal decision. I’m not trying to start a movement or convince anybody else to join the cause.

Here’s how it’s going so far:

iPod

imageI’m on the road a lot, so having an extensive music collection is important, not only for airports and planes, but for hotel rooms as well; I carry a JBL travel speaker with me that pumps out great sound. The iTouch was never an option for me because of the limited storage. I opted instead for the 160GB iPod Classic.

There’s not a huge selection of MP3 players with that kind of storage. When I put out a call via Twitter for ideas, several people recommended the Zune. I thought, “Really? The Zune? That widely ridiculed Microsoft product?” So I asked a more pointed question of Zune owners about how they like their device. The response was overwhelmingly positive, including replies from a number of people who praised it as superior to the iPod.

The highest-capacity Zune is 120 GB and Microsoft no longer offers it; the company is shifting to the Zune HD, with higher- and higher-capacity devices being rolled out over time. But I was able to find a brand-spanking-new 120 GB Zune from Amazon.com.

I’ve been using it for a couple weeks now. From an industrial design standpont, the Zune 120 isn’t much to look at compared to the iPod. Its angles are sharp and it’s a bit thicker and heavier. The earbuds packaged with the Zune, however, are much higher-quality than the ubiquitous white pieces of crap that come with the iPod.

Start using the Zune and the differences quickly become evident. The screen is bigger and the controls easier to use than the iPod. I couldn’t detect any difference in audio quality between the Zune and the iPod, and so far the battery life seems similar, too. It’s also worth pointing to the WiFi feature of the Zune, something the iPod Classic has never had. The Zune offers FM radio, too.

The Zune desktop interface far superior to iTunes. What’s lacking is the ability to find podcasts (although it’s easy enough to subscribe if you have the URL for the podcast feed).

Shel Holtz

The killer difference, though, is the Zune Marketplace. It costs $14.99 per month, but that fee gives you access to millions of songs, any of which you can stream from the Zune interface or synch to the Zune MP3 player. When you consider that two CDs from the iTunes store will set you back $20, $14.99 per month for hundreds of thousands of albums is beyond a bargain. On top of that, Zune lets you pick 10 songs per month to keep, even if you don’t renew the subscription. That’s the quivalent of one album, which means the actual cost for the subscription is $4.99 per month.

I never seriously considered music subscription before, but now that I’ve been using it, I can’t imagine going back to simply buying music (although there will be exceptions, I’m sure). It has been easy to try bands my friends and family recommend, listen to albums I haven’t heard in decades, just once for nostalgia purposes (The Guess Who’s “Share the Land,” for example), and swap out albums by prolific bands.

All in all, I’m delighted at the switch from iPod to Zune. It’s intriguing to me how many people dismiss it simply because it’s from Microsoft and refuse to judge it on its merits.

iTunes

For a while, I thought I’d be stuck with iTunes no matter what, the Zune tool notwithstanding. I keep a copy of iTunes on my laptop strictly for podcasts and audio clips I play into my podcast, “For Immediate Release. I don’t want to keep my music on my laptop—too much for the smaller hard drive—so I keep a separate installation of iTunes on the laptop just for these non-musical purposes. Synching podcasts and audio clips to the HTC Evo is a breeze using a tool called iTunes Agent, but it still requires iTunes.

Then I discovered SongBird, an open-source iTunes replacement from Mozilla, the wonderful folks behind Firefox. I created a Smart Playlist in SongBird that pulls podcasts downloaded in the last 12 days. SongBird recognizes the Evo when it’s synched to the laptop and automatically puts the podcast files in the directory I’ve specified—not that it matters, since the Evo finds audio files wherever they’re stored and makes them available through the audio player.

Problem solved.

Shel Holtz

Airport Express

The Airport Express always came in handy in hotels that didn’t offer WiFi. I jacked the Express into a socket, plugged in the Ethernet cable, and just like that, my room was WiFi enabled.

It’s been years, though, since I’ve been in a hotel that didn’t offer WiFi in the rooms—in fact, it’s now more common to find hotels with only WiFi and no Ethernet. But that’s academic, since the HTC Evo can become a WiFi hotspot for up to eight devices. I plug the phone’s power adapter in, activate the WiFi feature and the need for the Airport Express vanishes, along with the exorbidant fees many hotels charge for their WiFi.

iPhone

imageMy iPhone 3GS remains the one Apple product I can’t discard. I’ve had the 3GS for a year and find the Evo to be a clearly superior product.The 8 megapixel camera is better than the iPhone 4’s 5 megapixel camera and the Evo comes with a dual-LED flash (compared to the iPhone 4’s single LED). The WiFi hotspot feature and the ability to have a video chat or use other bandwidth-intensive features (like uStream and Google Voice) without having to connect to a WiFi hotspot are clear advantages.

Then there’s the fact that I can actually use it as a phone. I haven’t had dropped call yet, except when I travel over the hill near my house; there’s a spot there where all cell phone signals go to die.

However, international data packages aren’t available for the Evo. I had a $40 international data package on my last Sprint phone and assumed it carried over when I migrated to the Evo, but four days in Canada produced nearly $3,000 in data charges (which Sprint happily refunded, minus the $40, although I was cautioned that the same charges would apply the next time I traveled outside the US). This has forced me to keep the iPhone, albeit turned off and in a drawer. I maintain the account at the lowest possible rate, then activate the international features just before heading out of the country.

Once the two-year contract is up, I’ll dump the iPhone and probably go with a T*Mobile Android account for international travel, assuming they offer international data plans; if not, it’ll be another AT&T phone. I have another year on the contract before I have to make that decision.

Laptop

I dumped my Apple notebook a few years back. You can read the reason here. In the meantime, my beloved Sony VAIO bit the dust last week. I’ve replaced it with an Acer Aspire TimelineX which, so far, is shaping up to be a delightful machine, plenty powerful, for about half the cost of the cheapest Macbook.

iPad

Don’t have one. Don’t want one. I just can’t see the utility without Flash (I’m a Hulu fan). I’m waiting for a solid Android tablet to hit the market.

I’m really not missing Apple at all, which makes it a lot easier to stand by my conviction to live Apple-free based on my opposition to the company’s business practices.

07/22/10 | 4 Comments | Going Apple-free: Progress report

Comments
  • 1.You make some dubious conclusions Mr. Holtz with respect to the iPhone 4. For example, "The 8 megapixel camera is better than the iPhone 4?s 5 megapixel camera..." Not true! Yes, the Evo has more megapixels but multiple reviewers and gadget sites have indicated that the video and photo capture on the iPhone 4 are superior to any Android device. I won't litter the comments with the links but Computerworld and PC World are two major outlets that have come to that conclusion.

    I also think that your wait for a "solid" Android tablet with Flash support is going to be a long one. They can't get video working with Flash on those low power processors. That's why it's taking so long for these products to be launched. Having tried to watch Flash video on a netbook with its limited processor and RAM I know that it just doesn't fly. The resulting quality is too poor and the battery gets drained too quickly.

    Rob Safuto | July 2010 | Albany, NY

  • 2.Just read the other post about why you are going Apple free, have to say that I agree with you. I was an Apple fan-boy way back in the 90's (a Performa 630!) but then I went in to the business world and found that actually a PC is better for the office than a Mac and a Blackberry is more suited for execs than an iPhone.

    I also really don't like Apple harping on about openness when they are one of the most closed companies in the world!

    Regarding reliability, unfortunately my boss is an Apple fan, but he's had 3 MacBook Pro's in the last three years (all broke) and he finally swallowed his pride and replaced it with a Blackberry :)

    For iTunes, it looks like Google are going to launch their own music service:

    http://techcrunch.com/2009/10/21/new-google-music-service-launch-imminent/

    But to be honest, Google are another company that I'm becoming more wary of, they are beginning to infiltrate *everything*!

    Peter | July 2010 | Chennai, India

  • 3.I agree the Zune 120 is a tough piece of equipment.
    I decided to go Apple free years ago. I forgot and left my Zune out in a heavy rain storm and unbelievably it still worked fine.

    Apple seems to be more worried about rolling out the products than making sure they are working properly first.

    Here is another article on their recent problems:
    Mobile Technology - Droid vs Apple

    Technology Guru | July 2010 | NC,USA

  • 4.This article is AWESOME! I have a personal vendetta against Apple users who brag about the security measures or ingenuity or how Pixar uses them, some such nonsense that is fed from the simple BRANDING and MARKETING tactics that Apple used. I am a marketer, so I get it and I'm impressed by the comeback Apple made. They effectively brainwashed millions of people that use to tease Mac users 15 years ago and trained them to be brand loyal to a company that started their comeback with an MP3 player.

    Amanda | July 2010

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