iPod Nano, the highest-selling MP3 player in history

When I hear the word, Microsoft, the next word I have in my head is Windows Operating System, also piracy over Windows that even reach 80% and more in developing countries. A few years ago, when I hear Apple Inc. or saw its partly bitten apple logo, my mind almost immediately caught a word, Mac OS, an operating system. But these days almost long gone, today when I hear, read, or write Apple Inc., what I have in mind is iPod, a portable media player released by Apple Inc. since October 23, 2001.

Well, I am not a music maniac, but that does not mean that I am not interested. Over 150 million units was sold worldwide as of March 2008. On 2005, The first generation of iPod Nano was introduced. Unlike the previous iPod Classic, Nano does not employ any hard disk, it uses flash memory instead. Its capacity of flash memory up to 16 GB. And on the second and third generation, Nanos support voice recording with third-party recording attachments. And since 3^rd generation, it has supported Windows Vista.

Those are the features I observe so far. In media a saw many news featured incidents involving iPod Nano. Similar to old cell phone that was heated during recharging process and even exploded, there are news featuring iPod Nano sparked up during recharging. In Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, an iPod set the pant of its owner on fire. There are still many incidents else. So, be careful with your iPod.

MP3 Player

It is like just yesterday, here in my country, that MP3 player is so popular, yet it is vanishing. The first MP3 player I saw is like in this picture. Generally it has space of 128 MB. It has metal chasing so if it is connected to PC trough USB, there will be sensation of a little electric shock to anyone who dare to touch.

This is very complete in its generation. Able to play audio files, FM radio, record audio in WAV, and of course hold digital data like general data traveler. For simple use, this player is very useful. I usually use it as FM radio receiver, I mean I do not really like to hear music during busy time using earphone. Sometimes I record speech of a lecturer during seminar or studium generale. Too bad its batteries is unrechargeable, and only able to stand for several days. I see this type of player begin to vanish, after its price getting lower. There are new types almost every month.

Bugs in Winamp 5.XX

I recall that Winamp 5.XX has some bugs, may be they are not bugs, but I consider them bugs because they are not present in previous Winamp and causing discomfort.

First, after Winamp 5.03, Winamp can not play audio files in wav formats. So I have no other choice other than converting may wave files to mp3 or other formats. Converting audios using my old PC surely consume much times.

Second, when we double click file in playlist editor to play files, there often pop-up a window to open file. Previously this just result in playing file. Of course we must close it repeatedly.

In my old PC (Pentium III, RAM 256) this Winamp need more memory of RAM than Window Media Player and skin of Winamp Modern slow its performance. But I still use it anyway.

JetAudio 5

This JetAudio, I say, is one of my favorite audio software. I don’t say that this is the best audio player, but surely there are many features that only I found here. Like many other players, it is able to play almost all off audio and video formats. The exception is JetAudio offers more features other than just playing audios or videos.

Feature I explore most is recording. It’s so convenient to record speeches in many formats and bit rate. In main window, the features other than playing files are CD Ripping, Conversion, Recording, Burn, and Broadcasting.

I admit that playing with this JetAudio is less convenient than Winamp. But the point is this application has features that Winamp doesn’t.