[esc]

A link to a review on the new Samsung player and comments vs the iPod

http://tingilinde.typepad.com/starst...g_napster.html

[SupahCoolX]

OK review, but it doesn't say much, since it's especially unfair to compare prototype hardware with finished product.
Of course, I'm willing to bet that even the final Samsung player can't beat the iPod anyway

[businezguy]

I don't understand why it is taking so long for companies to compete against the iPod. There is certainly enough market room for a competitor. It must be very difficult to find really good engineers nowadays.

[esc]

There are certainly many engineers, but it takes time to pull off something like this (I've been involved in projects of roughly this scale).

Design through a production ready prototype can easily consume a year and $2 to $5 million for something like this. You need a lead with a real sense of the product (this is sadly lacking in most of the mp3 players I've seen) and there are constant temptations to build for cost of manufacture rather than quality these days.

Software and interface are often afterthoughts in many places - (in a few other places the hardware is an afterthought). Apple is very very good about integration and green lighted projects are given the resources and, most importantly, clueful management attention.

I had had a variety of mp3 players over the years. Most of them were - well - crap.

Today I was able to play with the Samsung 910. It has great sounding specs and probably is impressive internally, but you get the instant feeling of something "cheap" when you play with it. My nearly 2 year old gen 1 iPod is much sturdier than a brand new Samsung and the UI is much more intuitive. The difference is so stark that I wouldn't pay as much for the Samsung 910 as I would for a used iPod.

Someone will eventually come out with an iPod killer (and it may be the gen 4 iPod), but I haven't seen it yet.

[SupahCoolX]

Making a great product like the iPod means more than taking a 20GB hard drive and slapping play and fast forward buttons on it. It takes a true sense of design, with a passion for ease of use. It takes a decision to go for quality over economy. It requires tight integration of the hardware and software. And, finally, it takes a sense of style.
Apple is currently the only company who can provide all of that right now. You have to spend money to make something good, and Apple isn't afraid to spend on R&D, so instead of just making products, they make good products.