Sorry for the delays : i was at work, and then watching... well, you know what it is
By ergonomy i was talking about ergonomics yes, how easy the thing is to manipulate, handle in a day to day use.
That's real important for me. Why ? There's alot of MP3 players out there that can play MP3 with high quality. More : i'm almost deaf ( na not really, but don't ask me to find ANY difference between a MP3 64Kbit and a 128Kbit... can't do anything about it), so well, i don't care about noise being added by the remote to the sound etc... i just can't tell wether it is great or not.
Even if you're listening to your player... how do you choose your music ? You're not using the interface built in, maybe ? Arf. Have the most wonderful thing, with the best sound quality around, and which is a pain in the ass to handle : is it still great ? nah, i don't think so. When i'm using my player, i want it to do what i want and with the less pain possible. Is it doing it ? No !
I mean, come on. Even by thinking, let's say, 2 minutes, the dumbest guy on the world can realize the "Total : XXX" screen is totally pointless. yes it might be useful to know every now and then how many MP3 files you got. Ok, i can understand. But, is it a reason to show it everyday ? It's a MP3 player, not a removable hard disk with statistics.
What is the point of this screen ? None. Basically none. It's part of the ergonomy : they could get rid of it easily and it would be great for us users just to do it. Will they do it ? most likely not. Is there going to be a firmware upgrade soon ? Are there still people out there who can possibly BELIEVE this ? bah.
Lemme demonstrate 2 ( only two, there's more ) points in what i call "ease-of-use problems" :
1st :
-you are in directory CD1, playing a song. You wanna go to the directory CD2. You press the great button A-B, poof, you jump to the other directory.
-You are in directory CD1, not playing a song, just browsing. You wanna go to directory CD2. YOu HAVE TO press "stop", then go right, then press "PLAY". WOOHOO that's what i call being consistant.
2nd :
-you are playing a song, using a Playlist. You wanna change your playlist, let's say, jump from playlist "Rock" to "Techno". You have to stop playing ( press stop), then press the playlist button, choose your playlist, then validate. Wanna see your playlist while playing a song ? Are you dreaming ? bah
I reported alot of those inconsistencies. The fact that the "Total" screen is pointless is evident for everybody i guess, except for the guy who like having always shown how many MP3 files he's got... arf. Hopefully, we're not all like this
Anyway. That's what separate a good product from a "average" product : it's called "professionalism ". Do you think, truly think iRiver has any ? By daring release such a good product with such a NON-FINISHED firmware ? By making promises every now and then about a fake, non-existant fiormware, and by justifying these delays by "boohoohoo, sorry, we have alot of things to do, ya know, so well..." . hey guys, i don't care how many products you're launching, personally. I really don't care. That's none of my business, that's YOURS. So well, when you make a promise, when you release a date, please, take EVERY FACTOR into account ( it is not that hard...) and make a REALISTIC one, or at least, fix a goal you're going to get. Otherwise... well. I won't tell you what i think. Better this way. Newbies.
For those who tell me to buy an iPod : i tested one for 2 weeks before buying an iRiver. In terms of ease-of-use, professionalism, and all terms you can find : iPod wins. Period. In terms of features : iRiver wins. Period. I couldn't keep the iPod due to its weak compatibility, in terms of USB recognition as a hard disk... i needed that for work, so well, as i was going to replace my (crappy) archos...
They could so easily beat the ipod on this part. They already got more features. A better product in terms of hardware in my opinion. Even more buttons globally speaking, and a great remote control. But that's just hardware. Think about a pentium 4 3Ghz EE with a X800Pro running under... windows31+dos6.0. That 's how i see the iHP. God, i developped quite an interface, it is not that hard to make things easy for the user. What the user is gonna use BEFORE listening to any music he's got, is using your interface to choose which music he wants.
Oh yes, you can still day "blah we are going to implement "on-the-fly" playlist blabla". Why don't you first do the basic work CORRECTLY ? Why don't you, iRiver, put some CONSISTENCY into the way the iHP is interfaced ? Tell me ? Why ?
I don't understand that.
I don't think that windows would have been a success if, in order to launch, let's say, Internet explorer, you had to type in a command line window : "Start Internet Explorer", and in a case sensitive way. Same thing here.
Anyway, i'm doubtful, sceptic about what will happen next. Time will tell. But i wonder how people can say the iHP is really easy to use. I really don't know.