Best reason to buy an iPod? It works.

By Barb Dybwad

Boston Globe columnist
John P. Mello,
Jr. writes about his experiences using the Rio Carbon:

"The gadget wouldn't play Windows Media Audio-DRM files — the file format used by most retailers selling music on
the Web. When I tried transferring WMA-DRM files to the Carbon with the latest version of Microsoft's media player
software, the program generated cryptic error messages like 'null reference passed to stub.' When I attempted to move
the files to the player with the various jukeboxes used to purchase the tracks — MusicMatch, Napster, Real Rhapsody
— the tracks made it to the Carbon, but wouldn't play on the device. Similar futility resulted when I sent the songs
to the unit using Rio's software."

Don't you hate it when the null reference gets passed to stub? Me too. Mello Jr. sums up his recommendation about how to get rid of the bugs:

"Of course there are 'work arounds' for these problems. Don't buy online music, for instance. Download files through
a peer-to-peer network and live in dread that a process server will show up at your door. Or burn the purchased
tracks to a CD and rip them to your hard drive in a file format friendlier to Carbon. Or, you can forget Microsoft
and buy an iPod."

Sage advice, that. Forget... who?

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