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One foot in the future - Music on the go

At home or on the move, the iPod has revolutionised recorded sound. Is it time to plug in? Jonathan Margolis finds out

Should I give in and buy an iPod?

Well, it depends exactly how you like to listen to your music. If you are flying through the air or walking along the street accompanied by Mozart, Meatloaf or whatever, then an iPod (or one of the dozens of other portable MP3 players on the market) will improve your life immeasurably. On the other hand, if you actually prefer to listen to music in situ – and I would guess that most of you do – there is a sneaky and free way of enjoying all the benefits of the iPod revolution without actually owning one.

How’s that, then?

You can enjoy the convenience and pleasure of digitised music by using your computer, (laptop or desktop,) as your hi-fi. The wonder of the iPod is partly that it’s an incredibly neat and pocketable little gadget that can store the music from hundreds of CDs and play them to you through earphones wherever you are. But equally important is the software Apple Computer has developed to marry your iPod to your computer. The programme, iTunes, lives on your computer and is the filing cabinet and virtual hi-fi system of the gods. Best of all, it’s free, even if you don’t have an iPod, from apple.com. With iTunes, you can slot your CDs into your computer (it doesn’t have to be an Apple Mac) and it will not only record and catalogue each disc in a couple of minutes, but will even grab the track names and details from the Internet. You can also use iTunes to buy most of the music in the world (as well as thousands of audio books) online from the iTunes Store.

Is this an Apple commercial?

In the sense that iPods are the most attractive and user-friendly MP3 players, were the first to popularise the medium and have the best software, it is. It is also the case that iPod has become the generic term for MP3 player, in the same way the word hoover is synonymous with vacuum cleaners, despite Hoover’s attempt to preserve its trademark. But there are dozens of other brands around, including Creative (http://uk.europe.creative.com) which makes a beautiful and superb range of MP3 players called Zen with its own software. So does Sony with its MP3 Walkman range. Many people think Apple hardware is overpriced. In China, where they are made, iPods are practically unknown. Chinese people, ever keen on a bargain, love MP3 players but find iPods overpriced. They have a point, too. There are plenty of small MP3 players available for less than £20. The bigger ones, which have a tiny hard disk drive, can store loads more music, but they tend to cost between £100 and £200 whatever the make.

Is the whole MP3 thing just hype?

Yes and no. hi-fi buffs hate it because they say music squashed down into relatively tiny digital music files isn’t of very good quality. The earphones that come packaged with iPods and most other players aren’t fantastic. Additionally, if you’re using the computer-plus-iTunes idea as a hi-fi, as I suggest, the amplification your computer provides will never be quite up to hi-fi standards. However, if you invest in better headphones for your MP3 player, or wire you computer up to a decent hiFi amplifier and speakers, you will need to have remarkably sensitive hearing to tell the difference between music from an MP3 source and from a CD.

To read more articles by Jonathan Margolis, subscribe to Saga Magazine

This article was created: 23 November 2006.
This article was last edited: 4 January 2007.

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