Unhinged rants

One of the quickest ways to make me nostalgic is to talk about the pre-iPhone days--the days when MP3 players still mattered.

While today's biggest forum battles all seem to revolve around Android versus iOS, there was a time when the mere mention of iPod earbuds would send us all into frothy fits of anger. Everyone, it seemed, cared deeply about the audio quality of a preferred MP3 player and would evangelize the merits of the latest iPod-killers from Sony, Cowon, Creative, and SanDisk.

Those were fun days. As a self-described audio geek, I took comfort in the thought that so many people cared so passionately about their music experience.

But then, like two alien mother ships dropping from the sky, the arrival of the iPhone and the iPad dwarfed these audio quarrels and offered dissenting and opinionated geeks a far more worthy subject to rally around. Amid this frenzy of iClouds, Ice Cream Sandwiches, and Kindle Fires, concerns over music playback and audio quality often feel as antiquated as discussions of the VCR.

But for those music lovers who have felt lost in this era of OS-fixation, Sony's Walkman Z ($249) is an Android-based portable media player that elevates the audio experience above all other concerns.… Read more

The iPod Touch has always played second fiddle to the iPhone. Most people can't even get the name right. More often than not I hear it referred to as the "iTouch." When asked to describe it, though, the explanation is invariably the same: "It's an iPhone without the phone."

The truth is that the iPod Touch lacks much more than just the iPhone's ability to dial phone numbers. It's missing a GPS receiver, a high-quality camera, a native text messaging app, and most of all, it's missing a cellular data connection. Still, considering that the device sells for as little as $200 with no contract and offers 90 percent of the iPhone's features, it seems inevitable that Apple would close the gap some day by integrating 3G.

We've seen products like the ZTE Peel attempt to address the iPod's lack of 3G, but the result is bulky and still burdens you with a two-year contract. The same goes for MiFi-style 3G/4G puck solutions. They're inelegant, require separate charging, and always come with a contract attached.

Will 2011 be the year Apple integrates 3G into the iPod Touch? The skeptic in me thinks that no carrier would agree to it and that Apple wouldn't cannibalize iPhone sales to make a 3G iPod Touch happen. But then again, the steps the company has made with the iPad's data plan, and the advancements it has shown for iOS 5, set the stage perfectly for just such a product.… Read more

The iPad is to tablets what the iPod was to MP3 players. I think that's safe to say now, right? I mean, here we are again with Apple churning out a runaway hit that defies logical, practical buying habits and ranks up there with cultural phenomena like Beanie Babies and Snuggies.

Still, when I hear people compare the iPad's success with the iPod's, something doesn't sit quite right with me. As someone who lived through the iPod wars and spent an unhealthy amount of time analyzing them, I feel obligated to drill past the superficial similarities of the iPod and iPad eras, and really see if they're as similar as we think.

So let's take a trip down memory lane, look at the iPod wars for what they really were, and see if history is really repeating itself.

As many of you know, Apple wasn't the first company to make an MP3 player or a tablet. By the time the iPod came on the scene in 2001, products like the MPman had already been on the market for three years. The market was small, though, and only early adopters and die-hard music nuts were scooping them up. To Apple's credit, it was the first large company to really step into the MP3 player space (far ahead of its biggest competitor at the time, Microsoft).

When the iPod arrived, it didn't offer the most features or the best price, but it did include what was then an enviable 5GB capacity. It also featured a design that was so unlike anything else out there (including portable CD players, which still defined the era), that it felt like some precious gift from the future.… Read more

As you may have noted from my final Crave podcast yesterday, it is ever-so-unlike me to oh, say, create a video playlist completely dedicated to me. (Who, me? Self involved? Never!) But, hey--what can I say? Today is my very last day at CNET, and I wanted to give one final bit of love to the company that helped to sprout me from a wet-behind-the-ears 23-year-old straight out of college into the relatively mature and knowledgeable individual I like to pretend I am today. More importantly, I wanted to take a moment to thank you--the readers--for letting my reviews and … Read more

According to a survey of users on goal-setting Web site 43 Things, the most popular New Year's resolution for 2011 is to lose weight. (This is Jasmine's utter lack of surprise.) Indeed, many of the top resolutions year after year are health-related. Drink less, get fit, quit smoking, manage stress, be happy, and run a marathon all continually rank high on the list.

Luckily, there is plenty of technology available to help you reach any of those goals. Of course, it would be irresponsible of me to attempt to cover it all in one article; after all, carpal … Read more

With the new year upon us, there are no doubt plenty of plans in place for changes both big and small. For precisely this reason, January's Tech Dos & Don'ts column will be focused on helping you through the necessary transitions--at least as far as technology is concerned. First up: out with the old, in with the new.

Certainly, both the holidays and the Consumer Electronics Show have inspired a lot of dough-dropping in the gadget space. Many of you probably have a new device or two lying around, which raises the question: what to do with the … Read more

Now that the holiday season has us in its clutches is well under way, it's the perfect time to bring my well-rested Dos & Don'ts column out of hibernation. And while I count myself among the lucky few who don't have to do much traveling to visit family, I know many of you have some lengthy treks ahead of you.

Whether the mode of transport is plane, train, or automobile, one of the best ways to counter the tedium and annoyances of travel is with some video entertainment. What follows are some tips on the best ways … Read more

Today, online music retailer eMusic announced a deal with Universal Music Group that will bring 250,000 new songs to its catalog starting in November. Along with the expanded catalog, the retailer will begin displaying song and album prices in dollar values, instead of the obscure credits system that has been in place for years.

These changes are part of a larger effort by eMusic to bring the service and its music catalog in line with the big guns of Apple and Amazon. After appointing a new CEO in August (Adam Klein), the company has been working to swiftly add … Read more

The past 10 years have witnessed a long, steady decline in CD sales, with current numbers low enough to convince brick-and-mortar retailers to reduce CD inventory (and get creative about how to use the resulting space). Luckily, just about any tune that strikes your fancy can be found online.

The Internet is a veritable smorgasbord of music, and it's oh so easy to partake. Better yet, many of the options are completely free. So if you haven't already jumped on the digital-audio bandwagon, now is as good a time as any. The following tips should help you enjoy the vast array of gratis listening experiences available on the Web, whether you don't know where to begin or you're just looking for new sources for your online rotation.

First, let's get this out of the way: DON'T steal music. People have many "shades of gray" arguments on this matter, but for our purposes I'm going cut and dry here. Unless songs have been offered up for free directly by the artist, it's just not right to download tracks you haven't paid for. There are plenty of legal ways to listen to music online for free to decide if you want to shell out for a copy for your hard drive.

As for streaming, options abound, but you have to decide what kind of experience you're after. If you want to stream a particular song right now, DO search for it on Grooveshark. This rather unique music service lets you listen to songs on demand, create playlists, and see what's popular with other users. It manages to be completely free and legal by serving fairly unobtrusive ads, which ensure licensees get paid--or so the company states. Grooveshark has been the subject of legal battles in the past; however, it has managed to stay up-and-running so far.… Read more