When one of my best friends got his 16 GB iPhone he promptly sold me his 160 GB iPod Classic in his quest for the One Gadget To Rule Them All. He claimed the integrated iPod in the iPhone was all he needed and he was tickled by the idea of carrying one gadget around with him instead of two.
This was something I was curious about for a long time even before getting an iPhone. How would it peacefully co-exist with my iPod? Would I still use it? As it turns out, the answer was DEFINITELY. The iPhone was not replacing my iPod any time soon.
Here’s why:
Size does matter
I have roughly 30 GB of music, podcasts, videos and audiobooks, so current iPhone handsets could not fit my capacity needs. And I prefer having my music library with me so I can listen to whatever I want whenever. If I had to sift and select content from my library (e.g. through smart playlists) to fit on the iPhone I would always miss the freedom a readily available library gives.
Missing controls
Talking about freedom, the joy of listening to music on shuffle on the iPhone is short-lived for me. I miss the mechanical “next” button. You see I surf or check my news feeds while listening to music. When a song crops up that I’d like to skip or stop, I have the leave the app I’m using to enter the iPod app to regain control. There the iPod wins hands down.
Missing features
The iPod can be used in disk mode, the iPhone cannot (at least not from Apple). You can shuffle by song or album on the iPod, the iPhone shuffles by song. For some, not a deal breaker. For me it lessens the experience.
For me, the iPhone is first and foremost a phone with an iPod – adequate for basic listening and viewing needs but no real competition for my Precious. I have instead opted for a separation of content between the two. The iPhone holds podcasts, a few vids and select most-loved tracks, plus photos, contacts, notes etc. I use my iPod solely for music as well as video storage. Hence they are my ideal co-existing companions – I happily surf with the iPhone while grooving to Oceansize or Radiohead.
P.S. I am curious to hear how you use both devices if you have them. Post a comment or message me at twitter @aliciabankhofer
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{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Whenever I need to skip a song or pause a song, I either click the mic or I double tap the home button and a little iPod pop up gives me some control as well. But I'm with you on the size. I want the next iPhone to have 32 GB.
I had the exact opposite reaction – my IPhone replaced my IPod the second I turned it on because I, like your friend, also love the idea of only having to carry only one device. I do have some tips that might be helpful for the problems you mentioned.
Size – I don't have my IPhone packed with music (gotta save space for apps). Instead I stream it off my computer. There are several apps that handle this perfectly, plus Pandora = tons of tunes.
Missing Controls – I find the controls almost perfect. While browsing your favorite IPhone blog, from your IPhone, just double click the home button and the IPod controls appear, one more click and your back to entering a comment. Very unobtrusive in every app, also works from the lock screen so you can start the music without having to 'slide to unlock'.
Missing Features – For the Album shuffle, I got nothin'. But have you tried making a Genius Playlist from your favorite song?
I think the best part of the IPhone is to take one device out for a stroll while grooving to some music, realize “Oh no, the cable bill is 3 months overdue”, make an quick payment from the path, then call the wife and try to explain why we'll be watching “Lost” at a friend's place.
I use the double tap home screen to stay in my apps while changing songs.
As for the disc I use the individual albums to shuffle by disc.
As for not having my entire library I use simplify media for songs not listened enough to go onto my iPhone.
The advantage of having a separate device is that a phone call will never interrupt your flow (unless you choose to take the call)
I wouldn't say my iphone has replaced my ipod but i do use my ipod less now.
I have 160GB ipod and my 16GB iphone so now what i do is keep all my music and podcasts on my ipod and use that when i have people over for drinks or take it on long trips ect.
My iphone is for everyday travel to and from work and update it when i get sick of the current music on it.
i cant see my iphone ever replacing my ipod completely because one the size issue but also at the end of the day it just doesn't have the battery power to do everything i want
My 160gb iPod is permanantly connected to my car stereo and hidden in the glove box. Using my iPhone in the same way would be totally impracticable however big the memory capacity. Until apple sorts out streemimg via Bluetooth then my iPod and iPhone will co excist.
My iPhone has completely replaced my iPods (iPod Video & Original Shuffle).
The iPod in the iPhone works great for me. In the car, I use a Belkin adapter that charges it and gives me line out to go into Aux input on car stereo – great sound quality. I use the supplied earphones when not in the car (exception of flying when I use earphones that seal the ear canal).
I listen primarily to Podcasts and music when the mood strikes as well as the occasional audiobook.
The one device really does do it for me.
I am seriously SO HAPPY I wrote this so I could learn from you guys – didn't know about the compromise shortcut with double tapping the home button. Not bad. Will use.
Re: VisionXt1 I had hoped that streaming my huge Last.fm library (which is essentially my entire music library online) would be a piece of cake with the iPhone, but they have been having problems of late getting the app the work right and besides – you can't do anything besides listen with the Last.fm app. Surfing, no go.
Agree with lulugirl896 – no interruption of flow = bliss
Thanks a lot for all the comments – this way we all get insight and tips!
“I wish my iPod could make phone calls. No I don’t want an iPhone, I know what an iPhone is.”
I dropped my iPod as soon as I got my iPhone 4GB back in Oct '07. However, I only had an iPod Nano with 4GB, so it was a trade up.
I can agree with you on the size issue only. If/when they release a 64GB iPhone, I'm all over that. I could keep my entire library and have room for apps. w00t!
As for skipping, etc, I'm with the others … I use the mic button on my headphones. I've never needed a shuffle by album or song, because I can either go to the album directly and shuffle or go to the song list and shuffle. Plus, since storage has always been an issue for me, I tend to keep only the stuff I really want to listen to at the moment. I typically have 3 or 4 playlists I keep synced with iTunes.
For me, the features missing on the iPhone are a better camera (and maybe even a flash), and at LEAST 64GB of memory. I'd be in heaven and probably even get rid of my laptop. OK, let's not get too crazy …
I dropped my iPod as soon as I got my iPhone 4GB back in Oct '07. However, I only had an iPod Nano with 4GB, so it was a trade up.
I can agree with you on the size issue only. If/when they release a 64GB iPhone, I'm all over that. I could keep my entire library and have room for apps. w00t!
As for skipping, etc, I'm with the others … I use the mic button on my headphones. I've never needed a shuffle by album or song, because I can either go to the album directly and shuffle or go to the song list and shuffle. Plus, since storage has always been an issue for me, I tend to keep only the stuff I really want to listen to at the moment. I typically have 3 or 4 playlists I keep synced with iTunes.
For me, the features missing on the iPhone are a better camera (and maybe even a flash), and at LEAST 64GB of memory. I'd be in heaven and probably even get rid of my laptop. OK, let's not get too crazy …
I don't think the iPhone will replace my iPod, but for different reasons.
Once upon a time I used to think that having my entire music collection follow me around everywhere I went was a good thing. As my collection grew, this became impractical. With 10,000 songs or more, picking and choosing the songs I wanted to listen to at any particular moment was cumbersome and tedious. I'd shuffle my whole collection and then end up listening to music that were just too different from each other.
When I decided to pick the songs individually that I wanted, I found that I was spending a ton of time choosing just the right song for the moment. So I abandoned that idea and started creating playlists. Creating a playlist is just a subset of my entire collection. So it became obvious that I no longer needed my entire collection with me every time I went somewhere. A bunch of playlists would do.
I now find that I only need 1-2 gb of space to satisfy my taste in music at any particular moment. I do spend a bit of time making playlists, but now with the Genius function even this gets easier and exposes me to music I don't normally pick, but still fits with the type of music I want to listen to. The 16 gb iPhone is way more than I need since I don't load a lot of movies or video clips.
However… I don't like taking my iPhone with me when I workout or go for a run. Too big and cumbersome. I like the small form factor of the nano or shuffle. It works great with an armband holder, it weighs next to nothing and it doesn't get in the way. It does have limited capacity, but I'm only working out for a couple of hours anyway, so I don't need a huge selection of music.
I also find that if I'm using my iPhone mostly for music, it drains the battery quicker, so when I need my phone to make a call, it might have to be a very short one! I don't use the iPhone like I would an iPod so I can preserve battery life too. Thus I don't need the same functionality of an iPod in my iPhone.
So for those reasons, I'll always have 2 devices. 1 for everyday use, that just happens to be a phone and a personal organizer, and the other for specialized use when I'm at the gym, or some other activity I really only need music for.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic!
The gripe about having to leave an app to control the ipod/music functions is complete nonsense. Do you even own an iPhone? You just click the home button twice to bring up iPod controls, hell it even works when the phone is locked!
That should be pretty basic knowledge coming from someone who writes for an iPhone blog.
Joe – to be fair, I think all of us (no matter how expert or novice we are) have areas of the iPhone OS we know better than others, as well as places we don't know so well. Nobody knows everything all the time. And honestly, I'd forgotten completely about that feature as well – largely because I always have the Home double-tap set for phone favorites, which is most useful for me …
Fair criticism.
Then again, tapping 3 times does not equate to a single press to pause/skip.
I'm sure Apple made the conscious decision to leave out the button, similar to when they left out the stop button on iPods. Everyone in the early days griped about that. Apple expects users to get used to different ways of doing things. As I will do here.
My point is still valid in that there's no single action on the iPhone to skip/pause, simply because the iPhone's primary function is not music player.
If you double click the home button while listening to your iPhone's iPod, the iPod controls pop up. You can skip to the next song from there. I believe the double click function can be changed in the settings application.
Since I got my iPhone I just use my iPod when traveling to have some extra battery.
I work with computers, so most of my time I'm using a desktop. So I'd rather listen to music or watch videos from it. I rarely watch videos or listen to music on my iPhone. The iPhone is a good all-in-one-device option for me!
@Joe – the are ways you can point out your criticism without being rude.
Great article, but the physical next button is intergrated in the headset of the iPhone you need to press the button twice for next. And you need to press it three times for previous. But without a headset you won't be able to skip a song.
As a solution for the limited space on the iPhone I use the Simplify Media app witch can access my full music at my iMac.
Thanks for taking time to comment.
I don't use the headset. So I didn't know about that. I use Ultimate Ears super fi for music and Vibe for podcasts. More on that another day
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