Improve your iPod Experience with RockBox

If like me, you have an older generation iPod (I am the proud owner of a 2 year old 4 Gb iPod Mini), by now you are probably bored with the bland and boring minimalistic approach of Apple iPod software. Or maybe you are just tired of being tied down to iTunes. In any case, I found myself using my iPod less and less. I stopped using it for months at a time and did not really miss it.

Then one day I came across an blog post about this mp3 player firmware replacement called RockBox. I thought to myself "What the hell, I already have an old iPod that I do not use anyways... it might just be cool to try this out...."

The installation was very simple (you just download a boot loader and the compressed RockBox software, copy the .rockbox directory in your ipod, and run the bootloader), it takes about 10 seconds (if that), and if you don't like it, you can go back to Apple software by clicking and holding the "Menu" and "Select" buttons for a few seconds (the screen will blink, apple logo pops up, and BAM! you have Steve Jobs running your iPod once again).

Honestly, RockBox is the best thing that ever happened to my iPodding experience. Not only does this open source firmware add a gazillion new functions to my old iPod, it's also made using it fun again. I have to admit that I am a Linux fan. I love the beauty of the Linuxes' structured chaos. RockBox brings the familiarity of this chaos that I like to call freedom to my iPod experience. The best part: I am no longer tied to iTunes. I can just drag and drop songs and podcasts into my iPod and RockBox is in charge of organizing them. I also have more control over my audio experience. Not only do I have the equalizer that my Apple-firmware iPod never had, I have options I'd never heard of, like stereo width... (what the hell is stereo width??). It also shows the volume level in decibels, which is kind of nice.

Since RockBox is a fully customizable firmware, it could not not exist without its pluggins. And there are plugging for everything. I have pong, I have an oscilloscope,
I can even play Doom! To be honest, some of the pluggins are very useless, like the "fire" plugging that pops a flame on your screen, but you do have the ability to remove them if you don't like them... so it would not be fair if I'd complain about them.

There are a few things I you do have to get used to though. First, there are no "stable" releases of RockBox. You can download a different (sometimes improved) version of the firmware daily. This means that some things that worked in one version break in the next. I have to admit that I've experienced very few bugs though, none that would undermine my good experience with my new toy. Second, if you like Apple's minimalistic approach, you are not going to like RockBox. Like I said earlier, RockBox shares with Linux the chaotic structure, with pluggins and options galore (I have a friggin' oscilloscope in my iPod!!). Then there is the lack of consistency with the click wheel. Until you've played with RockBox for a while, you don't exactly know how to work the click-wheel, since there is very little consistency of button use from screen to screen, and no consistency whatsoever from pluggin to pluggin. Finally, if you bought songs from iTunes store, you are in for a big disappointment: RockBox does not play Apple's proprietary audio compression file type.

To wrap things up, just mention that RockBox infused new life on an iPod I paid good money for but had eventually stopped using out of boredom.

Are you going to get an iPhone?

So it has finally been confirmed, after much speculation, the iPhone is coming out on June 29. The iPhone is probably the most talked about gadget this year. It's a high tech smartphone and ipod all rolled into one sleek, cool looking gadget. If there's a gadget out there that can get you laid, this is it. However, if you want one, you are going to have to break that piggy bank. To get the 4 Gb iphone, you'll have to pony up around $500.00, and if you want the 8 Gb... that will be around $600.00. For that price you can buy a PS3, an XBox 360, or a couple of Wiis. I am sure, however, that it will be one of the fastest selling items this year.

...and who doesn't like apple?...

Well, I am not getting an iPhone. Why? First off, it is not the latest technology. Japanese cell phones can kick iPhone's ass anytime. Japanese (or European) cell phones are at least a generation ahead of American phones. I am not going to pony up $500 for a technology that is going to be out of date in six months. Second, OS X is amazing software (my wife has a mac, and I love it) but that's about the extent of my love for apple software. It's not that it's bad software, it's that there are usually better, cheaper alternatives to apple software. As a matter of fact, I flashed my ipod mini with RockBox fimware, and it rocks my world (cheap pun intended). Not only does it allow more customization, but it is plugin based, open source, and I swear I think the damn thing sounds better now.

iPods bring me to apple's historical weak spot: hardware. Apple's infamous for selling crappy hardware. I've heard stories of Macbooks falling apart at the seams, iPod nanos getting scratched, even the mighty mouse having issues. Honestly, I cannot complain personally about apple produced hardware. I own a 3 year old iPod mini, and it runs fine. I own 2 mighty mice, one Bluetooth and one corded, and they run like they are expected to run. My wife has a Macbook, and except for a gray screen of death the other day, she loves it, and after a few months it is still in (almost) mint condition. So even though I cannot argue against apple's hardware quality from personal experience, I really do not think that all of the stories I've heard are made up. Finally, the main reason why I am not getting an iPhone is because I have my eyes set on another beauty. I have to admit that I have become addicted to open source software. I cannot live any more without the freedom that open source has brought to my experience with technology.

So before spending my hard earned money on a slick, sexy apple phone, I will bet my money on the dark horse, the OpenMoko project. Not only does their phone look amazing, it will also be fully customizable to fit my needs. I can make it look like an iPhone if I want to. I can have whatever utilities I want, even write my own applications if I want to!! Oh, and one final reason why I won't buy one of those iPhones: I don't need the latest gadget to get laid... ask my wife.
**Update: After reading this article on Forbes I am further determined not no get an iPhone. Sexiness does not beat no 3G, no GPS, no battery life (and no ability to switch batteries), price, and AT&T.