Apple iPod Essentials   Tracking the Pulse of iPod

While researching an article I'm writing about getting free iPods through various marketing companies, I came across someone who had successfully completed all requirements to receive a free 20GB iPod, who cleverly DID NOT OPEN THE BOX, but instead ran down to a local Apple Retail Store and schemed his way into exchanging it for a 40GB iPod. I just had to share a quote from his story because it resonates with a conversation I had last night with a friend who just bought a non-iPod mp3 player...

if you don't open your iPod, you can go to an Apple store, exchange it, and with a student ID, pay $70 for the 40GB. Keep in mind, also, that the 40GB, unlike the 20GB, comes with the dock, which is worth $40 on its own. So really, you're paying $40 for the dock, and $30 for twice the storage space.
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...And holy crap is this thing awesome. 40 gigs is a lot of god damned music. I have 7512 songs on there, with 1.9 gigs left for more. A decent chunk of my mp3s are ripped at 192kbps or better, so Apple's estimate of 10,000 songs is a little high if your songs aren't all at 128kbps. But still. 7512 songs is a whole lot of music. That's every song I love, every song I have that's even just pretty good, plus a lot of songs I don't know very well, but am giving a chance. I mean, Jesus. 40 gigs. Remember when a 10 gig hard drive was a huge deal? This is a 40 gig hard drive, that plays mp3s, and is the size of a deck of cards.

You might think you don't need one. If you ever hold one of these in your hands and play with it for 5 minutes, you'll change your mind. It's quite possibly the coolest gadget ever invented by mankind. Apple's always been the king of usability and hardware that "just works", but to say an iPod "just works" is like saying Jimi Hendrix "just plays guitar". Did I mention the new iPods have 12 hours of battery life on a single charge? And, you can recharge it from your computer through the USB or FireWire connection.

What caught my eye about this guy's passionate expression (highlighted in blue text above) was remembering a conversation I had with an acquaintance last night down in my little mountain town. He was excited for having just bought an mp3 player from the local Best Buy. "Staring at an iPod box you're not allowed to open is perhaps one of the greatest pains to come out of our technological society."
    -Jay BeesThe first words out of my mouth (in retrospect, I think somewhat rudely) were "you should have gotten an iPod". He asked what was better about an iPod. "If you ever had one in your hands for five minutes, you'd know...", and I realized it was pointless and crass to harp on about iPods after he had already spent $250 on his music player, and was obviously thrilled with it. Indeed, as I explored his toy for a few minutes, naturally I found the interface and controls clunky, it was heavy, large(r than the full-size iPods) and you could feel the hard disk spinning inside it whenever it read a new song into memory.

There's just something about iPods (and Apple hardware in general) which other manufacturers can't come close to matching. Do you agree? I'd like to hear your thoughts whether you're passionate about your iPod, pining for one still, or think they're overrated.