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4B - The Michigan Daily - Weekend, etc. Magazine -Thursday, January 24, 2002
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The Michigan Daily - Weekend, etc. Magazine-
Apple delivers attractive, easy to use digital music player
E3
ELITE ENTERTAINMENT EXPOSITION
OTHER COLUMNISTS POKE OLD WOMEN IN
THE EYES WITH STICKS
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By Kiran Divwela
Daily Arts Writer
When you buy any expensive
gadget, rarely do you think the pack-
aging is well designed. Usually you
just want to tear it off in search of
the prize inside. Not so with the
iPod, Apple's digital music player.
Even the packaging is elegant; it
comes in a tiny cube shaped box
with two compartments, one with
the iPod itself and the other with
software, earbuds, a power adapter
and manuals.
Of course, this isn't where its ele-
gance ends. There are five self-
explanatory buttons on the front of
the iPod and a scroll-wheel in the
middle that moves you through your
music. Other than that, there's noth-
ing else to clutter up its design,
allowing you to move incredibly
quickly through your songs.
This is a necessity because the
iPod comes equipped with a volumi-
nous 5-gigabyte hard drive. Apple's
marketing catch phrase of "1,000
songs in your pocket" is actually an
understatement (for once). The iPod
could probably hold about 1,200.
It gets easier. After connecting the
iPod to your Mac, iTunes (Apple's
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digital music jukebox) automatically
opens and syncs all of the songs on
your computer to the MP3 player.
You can have your entire music col-
lection, from Air to Yo La Tengo, on
you wherever you go in a package
the size of a pack of cigarettes. And
If you get a Radio Shack adapter you
can play the iPod music in your car
or on a home stereo.
Also, since the battery life is 10
hours, you don't have to constantly
worry about recharging. You could
listen for an entire workday and still
have time for a jog. Another cool
feature is that when you sync it with
your computer, it recharges. If you
don't have a computer close by, it
comes with a handy adapter. It takes
about an hour for 80% of the battery
to charge and three hours for a full
recharge.
I could go on about how easy it is
to use the iPod, but the real test of
whether or not a music device is
worth buying is its sound quality.
There wasn't any sound degradation
when I transferred music over and
the earbuds that come with it are of
high quality (but may be a bit
uncomfortable for those of you with
small ears). The only problem I had
was a short silence between each
song.
If you're the active type, you'll
appreciate the skip free quality of
your music. Apple has built 20 min-
utes of skip protection into the iPod.
That's not a typo. Even if you throw
it around (which I do not recom-
mend) it won't skip a beat.
Now to one of the hallmark fea-
tures about anything by Apple: Its
design. I hate using the word "sexy"
to describe consumer electronics so
I'll say that this is one of the most
mouth-watering digital devices on
the market. The front sports a bright,
crisp screen with an incredibly
bright backlight and is the distinct
white color Apple uses on all its
products. Its back is a mirror-like
stainless steel with an etched Apple
logo and "iPod" under it.
Right now the iPod is Mac only. A
company called Mediafour is work-
ing on software to make it Windows
compatible later this year. It won't
be as good an experience though,
considering there's nothing compa-
rable to iTunes on Windows. I don't
view the lack of Windows compati-
bility as a disadvantage though; it's
even more of an incentive to lose
your PC and finally upgrade to a
Mac.
alicia.keys.sucks.ass~umich.edu
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they could be rast. How u more effective report hi
TO P 1 would it have been ifthey had procIaimed out
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a racistAkys
1. Weathered, Creed - The "Hey, you do you want to hea.ufgh thisbrla
whole fence-sitting Christian rock is court ruling? Oh, no time, reat convenienit, LYLE lanigu
really selling the records. Grand Dragon, goabo...y...bs.nss...in H ENtErY der
2. Hybrid Theory, Linkin black p~eop1e"Sef. i .....and ...e..iv . LESS THAN Toe
Park - The whole "we're awe- So whatwe want to do is brng tis into the jgl
some rockstars with sweet. music privtes.to - use pve .' far of being ZERO hand.
thing" is really selling the records. labeled by others to the adva age u yoan.:y
3. Word of Mou. Ludacris - 'your product/business."D... ...k.Co C o r you're a rapist" and t
It's not just "mouf" that gives us trou- dirty raist, no better than Hie1y" The Pepsi equals nent. See? The
ble (spelling-wise) but isn't Ludacris THtler eqato is.u...l.~ From then on you'd either "We at Man
whole feocnce cans ofrisaiontrock is Ln.
misspelled? Or is that "colloquial" as have to drink Surge. or buy illicit 12 *u~ aso bo ablshn
well? Mountainfrom back-alley vendora
4. Silver Side Up, whiteoods tion's ceebrity
Nickelback - Good ole fashioned While race is always a good hot-buttnissue this theo- but I feel as if B
Canadian ass-rock.Yeah, ass-rock. >y can work with any title or t> want t about living in a
5. Stisrmadc, Nas - Nas contin- avoid. "If you're not hmophobic, fee free 1o drink crazed cannibal
ues to work through his little man Sprite" (r, if you're placing a dn b J never aligned tb
syndrome. Universitys studntp.prmaybe "Drink.Sprit e or you're would dump thi:
6. M!ssundaztood, Pink - I a fa. Obey your tbir&t Unless you're a fag" F Iinally, bot paign)i aha
think she and Creed might perform at ,liberals an cosraie oiigtgte in mass bever- ufnded and i
Super Bowl halftime 2003. Sweet.tha consenpsion to r'e-afr.. their sxality....s.... .of"I don't
7. Pain is Love, Jt Rule - Imagine a commercial with a da .gentl in a simply an opinli
These jokes are probably getting black-on..black suit asking ifyo .e atl partaken in the At th outset,
painful. Not as painful as Ja though. plasant driving experience of the Dodge Stratus. If not, from suc ma.
8. Songs in A Minor, Alicia he'll pleasantly suggest, than you probably be at children in jvd nti
Keys - See above for e-mail and blind old women with corkscrews. "Fe 1e to rive to these un-Anu
address. Our lives rule. the new Lexus RX-30, prove to voted it makes more r
9. Now 8, Various Artists - for R alph Nader and have a less-than-aver age sexual or involve sex o
God no. organ." titionit Shold
19. A Day Without Rain, If it became a known fact, through the a.encompass-
Enya - It'll just be a dream. Soon. ing advertising behemo~th, that those who do not enjoy a -~ Ile IIenre'#
WHAT'S NEWS IN ENTERTAINMENT
Courtesy of Apple Computers
IPOD: Coming to a pocket near you.
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"FRIENDS" CAST PONDERS $24
MILLION OFFER - NBC is desper-
ately trying to sign the cast of
"Friends" for a ninth season of the
hit show that has acted as an anchor
for the Thursday night "Must See
TV" lineup. The Internet Movie
Database reports that the cast
(Jennifer Anniston, Lisa Kudrow,
Courtney Cox, David Schwimmer,
Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry)
have already rejected an offer of
$800,000 per episode per person,
and are not sure if the new offer will
make any difference in their deci-
sion.
DARRYL HANNAH ADDED TO CAST
OF TARANTINO'S "KILL BILL" -
According to .the Internet Movie
Database, Hannah will play an assas-
sin and star along with Warren
Beatty and Uma Thurman in Quentin
Tarantino's long awaited film noir
thriller. Tarantino, who has been
absent from the director's chair since
"Jackie Brown," had to stop produc-
tion of "Kill Bill" when Uma
Thurman got pregnant.
BRUCE SPRINSTEEN'S SONGS TO
BE USED FOR ROCK OPERA - The
Boss has given permission for his
songs to be used in a rock 'n roll
opera called "Drive All Night." The
production, directed and co-written
by Darrell Larson, will premiere in
New York in March.
PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON TO
MAK: SEQUEL TO "BOOGIE
NIGHTS" - The director of
"Hard Eight" and "Magnolia"
has decided to make a follow-up to
his 1997 hit "Boogie Nights."
Zap2it.com reports that the film will
follow the lives of Rollergirl (Heather
Graham) and Amber Waves (Julianne
Moore), but Dirk Diggler (Mark
Wahlberg) is noticeably absent, as his
character is supposed to have moved
on to other ventures. Anderson has
already begun work on the script, and
yes, both of
them will be
naked in the
sequel.
You are invited to a Special Screening of Super Troopers
Log onto allcampus.com
for event information
THE O.J. ALL STAR
OF THE WEEK
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C-MURDER
Rapper Corey Miller, also known a
C-Murder, has been charged with, well
murder. The younger brother of Percy
"Master P" Miller was charged with firs
degree murder after shooting 16-year
old Steve Thomas in a New Orlean
nightclub. Police and witnesses say thl
Miller and Thomas were arguing, bt
Thomas did not draw a weapon. Mille
was out on bail from a previous attempi
ed murder charge in Baton Rouge.
In Theatres February 15th
D~ate: Tuesday, January 29, 2002
Time: 9:00 p.m.
Location: State Theatre (at Liberty and State)
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Admission is free! Look for passes being handed out on campus.
Please arrive early! Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis with pass holders admitted first.
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