I'd use the drive to keep a copy of my iTunes and iPhoto libraries so that I could use them with my 12" PowerBook G4, which has only a 60GB HD. I have two LaCie drives (250GB HD, 54x CD-R) connected to my iMac via FireWire.

Only one problem: Jennifer Beals did NOT do the dancing in "Flashdance." Most of the dance routines were done by a French dancer, Marine Jahan. (There is a major difference in their bodies--it's one reason that so much of the dancing is filmed in silhouette. You can see Jahan's face in some of the shots, though, and it's obviously not Beals.) The breakdancing was done by a GUY called "Crazy Legs."

Apple doesn't need to add DVR to Apple TV soon, as Elgato and Miglia make devices that do that with a Mac or PC. The EyeTV2 software can automatically convert recorded videos for the AppleTV and load them into iTunes for transfer.

"And guess what--the iPod clickwheel isn't really all that cool anyway. If Apple had done it right (made the scrolling logarithmically proportional to the speed of my thumb), it might be ok. I thought it might be a feature I'd miss, but as it turns out, the iPod click wheel scrolling is a lot of work to do nothing more than scroll. I can find stuff a lot easer on the Zune with it's twist UI."

The scrolling speed does vary with the speed of your thumb, rather like mouse movements. If you haven't figured that out, you haven't used an iPod very much.

You mean like the Monster iEZClick:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=D61ED3FC&nplm=TK906LL%2FA

or the Griffin Air Click

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/airclickdock/

or iFM (search on their site--I can only put 3 URLS in the message) or Apple's iPod Radio Remote?

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/61084000/wo/YG2fQ5bXO9yN2wYYt3Y1Je8MSPr/9.0.21.1.0.8.25.7.11.0.3

"The selling point for me was probably the video on the 3" screen ..."

Yet another person who doesn't understand basic geometry. The Zune has the same number of pixels as the iPod 5G--320x240. That means:

1) The Zune will appear less sharp than the iPod at the same distance;

2) Since the Zune's display is in "Portrait" mode, there are fewer pixels across (240 vs 320) for album art, text, etc, in the "normal" position;

3) The Zune and the iPod screens will appear to be the SAME SIZE at slightly different distances. It's like viewing a 24" TV vs a 21" TV. Here's the simple math: the screens are in the ratio of 3/2.5, or 6/5. Thus, the Zune screen will look the same as the iPod's screen if they are at distances in the same ratio. If you hold the Zune 18" away from your eyes, the iPod will look the same at 15". Three inches--that's ALL the difference there is. (That is the so-called "standard" distance for 4:3 screens--6x the diagonal measurement.) Hold the Zune at 12" and the iPod at 10" and they will look the same--only TWO inches difference.

Now, please stop this idiocy about the "larger" screen. (At least Jake didn't make the mistake that some do, saying that the Zune has a "widescreen" display.)

The black Zune dropped to #49 and the brown Zune dropped off Amazon.com's list ofbest sellers in electronics. iPods have 15 places, iPod accessories have 6 places. The SanDisk Sensa has 6, 3 of which are above the Zune. (Note that this changes hourly. However, the trend is obvious: the Zune is barely beating the Creative Zen, #50 on the list.)

And your degree in textile or mechanical engineering is from ....?

Interesting stats from Amazon's list of best sellers in electronics--from the top 50:

iPods: 1, 3, 4, 6, 13, 18, 26, 30, 32, 34, 41, 43, 45
(actually, some should move up, as some models are listed more than once because the title is different, e.g., "iPod 5G 30GB Black" vs "iPod with Video Playback 30GB Black."

Canon cameras: 2, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 20, 22, 23, 28, 33, 39

SanDisk Sansa: 5, 29, 38

Garmin GPS: 14, 15, 17, 24, 29

Canon Ink cartridges: 27, 40

Zune: *37*

Guess which one? BLACK, of course.

The only other Zune in the top 100 was the brown at #94.

A few days ago, the black Zune was #11, then it slipped to #13 in a few hours, now down to #37. Underwhelming, to say the least.

The Zune really is only slightly thinner than the 80 GB iPod, despite the deceiving (and not well done) photos. (The photos should have been done against a seamless, featureless background with diffuse lighting from both sides to eliminate the reflections--e.g., in a light tent.) Here are the published specs:

Zune 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.58 inches, 5.6 oz

iPod 30G 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.43 inches, 4.8 oz

iPod 80G 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.55 inches, 5.5 oz


So, the Zune is 0.03 inches thicker (thickness of about 6 sheets of 24 lb paper or half the thickness of an US penny) and 0.1 oz (about the weight of a typical postcard or a US penny) heavier than the 80 GB iPod.