http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/ Engadget Comments for MusicGremlin MG-1000 review roundup http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/Jun 16th 2006 5:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FUIY7Q/002-1837884-9183217

I think it's important to point out that the MusicGremlin subscription costs no more than any of the other PlaysForSure (To Go) services. So if you are of the mind to partake in subscription services anyway, you can retain all of the "on PC" and "transfer to Janus-powered portable" features of your current service, plus add the ability to do direct downloads over WiFi on this device for no additional cost. In that context, I think the value-add is obvious.

For Mac users, this represents the only way to use a subscription service (by bypassing the computer altogether). Presumably, one could still use a Mac to access the web-based account management...]]>Jun 16th 2006 6:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/
That makes little sense: gain Mac compatibility by not using a Mac? You still couldn't play the files on the Mac. Maybe you could use the web site, but you wouldn't be able to play them. I.E. This does not allow Mac users to partake in WMA DRMed subscriptions.]]>Jun 16th 2006 6:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/
Not that I'm knockin' the Gremlin. Sounds like they do have some interesting features. I'm just not sure that it's worth a 50% premium to have WiFi downloads. Janus sucks anyway, so whether it's wired or tethered it's not worth $15/mo. ]]>Jun 16th 2006 6:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/Jun 16th 2006 8:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/
-DS]]>Jun 16th 2006 10:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/
At least they are trying.]]>Jun 17th 2006 12:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/
I have always thought the Achilles Heel of the iPod was it's lack of wireless downloading and networking. If and when Apple implements such a system, with a great user interface, it will really sell.

I also like the idea of a subscription all you can eat service. On my PC I use Rhapsody and absolutely love it...it's saved me tons of money because I can listen to such a huge library of music without buying all sorts of CDs.

Better than just WiFi would be a built in wireless connection to a cellular 3G network, such as Verizon's or Sprint's EVDO networks. There will come a day when 3G networks or better are ubiquitous, and then an idea like this will really flourish.]]>Jun 17th 2006 1:24AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/
Weatherman's hypothesis is that on Amazon, where anyone can comment, many "shills" end up skewing the ratings upward.

Another hypothesis is this, though: that the media critics are often out of touch with the public. We see this happen all the time with movies. Critics may not particularly like a movie yet it becomes a huge hit; conversely, a movie may be the critics' darling yet flop at the box office.

These tech reviewers are often very good...I particularly like Walt Mossberg of the WSJ. Yet they do in the end run represent an opinion of one, and their analysis may not equal the gut reaction of the public.



]]>Jun 17th 2006 1:30AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/
(2) DS, you copy and paste the exact same mistake (calling yourself a POS by accident) into each MP3 player newsflash here. Would you mind just, like, checking? And maybe correcting?

OK, done being Grammar Nazi for the night. :D

(3) Thought, I agree that for some people (yourself apparently included), a subscription service is nice because of the "all-you-can-eat" aspect you mentioned. However, also consider what happens if you ever decide that subscription is an unnecessary expense: all your music automagically becomes unplayable, unless you've been diligent about circumventing the DRM. Of course it's still up to you to decide what's best for you.

(4) And yes, it should be interesting to see how a WiFi iPod would fare. What I'd like to see is wireless music sharing between iPods; the logical name for such a sharing feature would be "wePod", which could make for some pretty nifty ads. :P]]>Jun 17th 2006 2:08AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/
I agree Thought - but the reason I mention it is that there are just two reviews on Amazon, and they're both 5-star. And both reviews sound a lot like sbono13's "Everything's great! And you can use PlaysForSure with Mac!" post.

Reread sbono's post and tell me that it doesn't the choice of words doesn't sound a little fishy. For example, "subscription costs no more than any of the other PlaysForSure (To Go) services" - I mean, I practically expect that to be followed with an ® © ™!

So if sbono is clearly shilling, and pointing us to remarkably similar and positive reviews submitted by two people who have never bothered to review anything on Amazon before but miraculously decided to get the MusicGremlin within days of its release and rushed to post their thoughts immediately on Amazon, don't you think that it's a pretty good conclusion that they're probably the reviews of company insiders?

Oh, but wait! Maybe Thought is a shill trying to defend the shills! Or wait! Maybe I'm trying to throw all of you off the scent!

Or maybe I'm just paranoid.

I need another cup of coffee.]]>Jun 17th 2006 10:48AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/Jun 18th 2006 11:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/16/musicgremlin-mg-1000-review-roundup/
Problem is, to play the music, you'll probably have to return to a WiFi hot-spot where the music can be authorised first before letting you play it.

Besides being a pain in the butt, that also means you can only give it to 5 people at once, before needing to de-authorise other people form your music store account.]]>Jun 18th 2006 6:00PM