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Music Media Technology

Dell Launches Flash Music Player 441

Posted by samzenpus from the music-in-a-flash dept.
desert island writes "Dell launched a new flash-memory digital music player, named DJ Ditty, to compete with the iPod Shuffle. Both devices are $99 and come equipped with 512 megabytes of memory. The biggest difference between the devices is the Ditty's 1-inch LCD display screen, which helps users navigate their music lists. In addition, the Ditty can receive FM radio and sport a rechargeable lithium polymer battery that can provide up to 14 hours of continuous play."
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Dell Launches Flash Music Player More

Dell Launches Flash Music Player

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  • Watch out for Puff Daddy (Score:5, Insightful)

    by AKAImBatman ( 238306 ) * <akaimbatman@gmaiBLUEl.com minus berry> on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:06AM (#13620356) Homepage Journal
    1. "DJ Ditty" is a stupid name, and likely to get them sued by P. Ditty. (This is the same guy who threatened legal action against "Puffy" forcing them to change their name to "Puffy Ami Yumi.")

    2. 512MB, FM Radio, 1 inch LCD screen... That sounds awefully familiar [creative.com]... You don't think Dell would just be rebranding and pretending they did all this great and competitive R&D, do you?

    Nah. That wouldn't sound like Dell. (Which is to say, that sounds EXACTLY like Dell.) :-P

  • Rhymes With Ditty (Score:5, Interesting)

    by The Lyrics Guy ( 539223 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:07AM (#13620359)
    (taken w/o permission from Daring Fireball)

    Rhymes With Ditty
    Wednesday, 21 September 2005

    See news item that Dell had released a new flash-memory-based music player to compete against the iPod Shuffle: the Dell DJ Ditty.

    Note that no picture of said Ditty accompanies news item.

    Visit dell.com.

    Note that no picture of said Ditty appears on front page of dell.com, even after several reloads to cycle through random promotional images.

    Search for "ditty" in text of front page of dell.com.

    Note that "ditty" is not found.

    Begin to suspect that even Dell is not very proud of this device.

    Visit apple.com.

    Note prominent and primary emphasis on luscious product porn of new iPod Nano.

    Hop back to dell.com and search for "Ditty" in site-wide search box.

    Note vague resemblance to a 50-cent Bic lighter:

    Note footnote attached to claim in "Product Highlights" that the Ditty can pack 220 songs into 512 MB of memory, roughly twice the songs Apple claims can fit on a 512 MB iPod Shuffle.

    Follow footnote to see explanation that this storage estimate requires encoding songs as 64 kbps WMA, which bit rate is half that of Apple's default of 128 kbps AAC, and roughly equivalent in fidelity to that of transmissions carried over tin cans and string, but which, perhaps, is not a dirty marketing trick, but, rather, a fair assessment, considering that anyone with such profoundly bad taste in industrial design who would consider purchasing this device probably also has such bad taste in music as not to notice that their 64 kbps-compressed songs sound like mush.

    Sit back and recall, with tremendously smug satisfaction, a decade's worth of tech industry punditry holding that superior design would never get Apple anywhere, and that Apple should instead, you know, be more like Dell.
    • 64 kbps WMA
      It seems that every single player that can handle WMA uses 64 kbps as the song estimate. Some label them as "x songs, x/2 songs in mp3". Something tells me that this is a part of Microsoft's PlaysForSure campaign that tries to encourage the use of WMA, by only licensing it to those people who will advertise it like it is a Messiah.

      Sit back and recall, with tremendously smug satisfaction, a decade's worth of tech industry punditry holding that superior design would never get Apple anywhere, and th

  • WMA/AAC (Score:2, Informative)

    by lovebyte ( 81275 )
    The main difference between the ipod and this player is that the ipod plays AAC files (and not WMA) and this dell player plays WMA (and not AAC).

  • Pictures of the Lighter... err... MP3 Player (Score:5, Informative)

    by DoorFrame ( 22108 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:11AM (#13620382) Homepage
    Since the linked story doesn't have pictures of the MP3 player in question, here's the official page [dell.com] from Dell. Enjoy.

  • Link to product (Score:5, Informative)

    by KingSkippus ( 799657 ) * on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:11AM (#13620385) Homepage Journal

    If you're going to post an article about a new product, it might be helpful to post a link [dell.com] to the product. I kind of like being able to see pictures of what the article's about...

  • iPod tie in (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jurt1235 ( 834677 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:12AM (#13620390) Homepage
    Funny how the pc-pro with &%#%& advertisement over the text in Firefox, said that the AAC/mp3 format of the ipod is a tie in and this way suggesting that WMA is not a tie in. Very funny.
    • >said that the AAC/mp3 format of the ipod is a tie in and this way suggesting that WMA is not a tie in.

      Wrong. The Dell device supports WMA _and_ MP3.

      Which one is more of a tie in?
      I would say they referred not to supported file formats but to peripherals and interfaces.
      That's why I think iPod is in fact more of a tie-in because of the way how you upload/download music to your device.
      The Dell device seems less particular how you access it.

      http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productde tails.aspx/dj_dit [dell.com]

  • radio! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by circletimessquare ( 444983 ) <circletimessquar ... m ['gma' in gap]> on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:13AM (#13620398) Homepage Journal
    hallelujah! a radio!

    now i would actually buy one of these things

    why the heck the iPod doesn't have a radio is completely beyond my understanding

    i would never buy an iPod simply because of that incredible oversight

    50 cents of circuitry=massive improvement in usefulness... do a cost-benefit analysis

    i simply cannot fathom why any player would not have a radio... what, it's peripheral to the player's purpose? you mean playing music?

    and PLEASE, none of the bs about radio being dead... radio is NOT dead

    if you get one pop station in the middle of nowhere, that is NOT an argument against the inclusion of radio for those of us who live in major cities and have a lot more channel options

    seems like a no-brainer to me, it's so little added cost for such great benefit, and yet getting a radio on a player seems like such a struggle... i don't understand that

    are you listening apple? it's a deal breaker for me, and plenty of other people, to not include a radio

    good move dell!

    • Why no radio (Score:4, Informative)

      by Mr. Underbridge ( 666784 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:21AM (#13620428)
      I expect they would put it in there if it didn't significantly increase the size of the product and such. Probably not enough of their users care - I don't. Keep complaining and maybe you'll get what you want.

      It'll probably never be in the nano though, that thing's pushing it as it is on size.

      • No *way* was it left out due to size. I've got a Sandisk MP3 player that's got a built in radio and it's not exactly bulky. Admittedly it'd be less bulky if it didn't use a AAA battery, but I'll gladly live with that compromise.
        • No *way* was it left out due to size. I've got a Sandisk MP3 player that's got a built in radio and it's not exactly bulky.

          You'd really have to see one to appreciate it, but if this this [sandisk.com] is the Sandisk you are talking about, the Shuffle is actually _a third_ of the size volumetrically (75.2 x 32.8 x 20.8 mm vs 83.8 x 25 x 8.4 mm) and almost half of the weight (22g vs 40g, with batteries.)

          I swapped a AAA-powered stick for a Shuffle and the Shuffle is much better, particularly convenient that it charges throu
          • I've seen a shuffle, and they are indeed diminutive. But the free radios you'd get in cornflake packets years ago were a similar size.

            A friend of mine owns all the iPods, and from what he saya, the shuffle actually sounds the best of the lot...

            Which strikes me as a little odd.

    • Re:radio! (Score:2, Insightful)

      by HikingStick ( 878216 )
      My sentiments exactly. We just had a major severe weather system move through our area last night (straight line winds, tornados, and 2-3" hail). Having that radio available is what lets most families get into their basements in time to be safe, especially when the power is out. If only for that reason, the radio circuitry should be included with any digital music device.

      • Re:radio! (Score:4, Insightful)

        by dangitman ( 862676 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @08:08AM (#13620707)
        Having that radio available is what lets most families get into their basements in time to be safe, especially when the power is out. If only for that reason, the radio circuitry should be included with any digital music device.

        Help, help! I'm being repressed. It's just not right that every electronic device ever made doesn't have a radio built into it. It is the responsibility of any random electronic gadget to save my life, in the event of a disaster!! Help!

        Truly, the terrorists have already won, if people are so freaked out that they think having a radio in a device is the difference between life and death. If you are worried about disasters, surely you would buy a decent AM radio (with greater range than FM) rather than rely on a few cheap, miniaturized chips in a device not designed to be a radio or emergency tool?

    • Re:radio! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by harlows_monkeys ( 106428 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:28AM (#13620461) Homepage
      why the heck the iPod doesn't have a radio is completely beyond my understanding

      Actually, I believe the iPod Shuffle hardware does have a radio, and a voice recorder, and a display driver. So, the better question is why did Apple choose not to expose them?

      The answer was given in an article whose location I don't remember, soon after the Shuffle came out. Apple could not think of a good interface that would fit on a display small enough for the Shuffle, nor could they think of a good interface for the radio and voice recorder. So, unlike most companies (and this is what makes Apple stuff generally better), they left out features rather than make a kitchen-sink player that would do everything, but do nothing well.

      The key to good design is often to leave things out.

    • Re:radio! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by TheRaven64 ( 641858 )
      I don't own a radio. I haven't owned a radio for 5 years, and didn't listen to it for two years before that - and I live in the UK, where the BBC provides good programming to the entire country. How many people fall into the set of people who both want a portable digital music player, and want a portable radio? Of these, how many do not already own a portable radio? It's not like portable radios are at all rare - you can even buy pens with radios built in - in the '90s everything came with a bundled rad
    • Well I bet that Apple did a cost benefit analysis. And they found it wasn't worth it. Most people listen to music on the radio. An IPod has days of non stop music, and it is all the music you like without the extra junk. The cost to produce an iPod with a radio is more then just the cost of the electronic, there is designing the electronics so it still fits well. Then there is modifying the software to work with the radio. Yes Dell and other companies can sell ripoffs of the iPod for cheaper because ap

    • Re:radio! (Score:2, Interesting)

      by zaguar ( 881743 )
      I have an iRiver H320, and it is one of the only 20GB players that has a radio. I can tell you this - it is a great addition. I use it all the time.
    • I've no interest in a radio, in fact I'm glad my iPod doesn't have one. All it would mean for me is less battery life and a higher cost of the iPod.

      Not exactly selling points.

      • Why would it mean less battery life? Seems like it would mean more battery life if you listened to the radio sometimes instead of accessing the HD for music. Radio reception requires a heck of a lot less power than spinning a HD...

        Radio was one (of many!) reasons I chose an iRiver...

    • I hope you're still rejoicing the inclusion of a radio during those airplane flights when you can't use this device.

      The lack of a radio on my (1st gen) iPod has not diminished my enjoyment one bit. The growth of podcasts (both of shows I previously listened to on radio, and new ones I've discovered) only strenghtens that feeling.
    • get the iAudio U2 -- connects to your PC as a USB mass storage device, so it works on any OS. and you don't have to worry about the interface -- you just copy/paste the songs you want.
    • I am not an expert on radio waves or shielding. However, I am an owner of a portable cd player, crappy old mp3 player (iRock) and a 20GB iPod. From my own experiences the ipod + headphones is the only one of these devices that doesn't play the obnoxious galloping horses interference sound whenever my GSM phone rings. I assume that this is because of proper shielding on either the headphones or ipod or both. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't that same shielding have a negative impact on picking up ra
    • Radio's not dead. It's just full of utter tripe that most people don't want to be force fed repeatedly throughout the day. I much prefer to listen to music of my own choosing, and I think it's a safe assumption to say the vast majority of people out there are similar. Hence, no radio on the iPod.
    • I'm SO glad there's no radio in the iPod. In my country, there's a substantial monthly fee on radio possession. Since I can't stand listening to radio (particularly annoying are the trained monkeys who pretend to be DJs) it would have been a lot of added cost vs. no benefit at all.

    • Re:radio! (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Judge_Fire ( 411911 )

      When you're listening to radio, you're not:

      - Buying music from the iTunes store
      - Downloading podcasts via the iTunes store
      - Buying audio books through the iTunes store
      - Using iTunes to manage audio to expose yourself to the above features

      I think there's a subtle hint in there.

      J
    • Well, it may be past 1am here, but I could have sworn I had read this comment before.

      Oh, that's right. I did.

      It looks like the parent has been beating the same [slashdot.org], dead [slashdot.org], horse [slashdot.org], over and over again.

      Enough of moderating this guy insightful, please! At least make him be a bit more creative. Between all the story dupes and the comment dupes as of late, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

      Oh wait ... I'm complaining about creativity of the comments below an article about Dell. Sorry, carry on now.

    • Re:radio! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Jeff DeMaagd ( 2015 )
      I think radio is crap, and I live in an area where all channel slots are taken, every one of them is crap.

      Why people want to listen to 10 minutes of loud, obnoxious ads for 20 minutes of content is beyond me.

  • One other advantage for the Dell Device (Score:3, Insightful)

    by MBraynard ( 653724 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:14AM (#13620401) Journal
    Cheaper and more accessble music (legal/'evil-DRM' music, anyway, if you are into that thing.)

    Both the Napster and Yahoo have unlimited music access for these players. I think Real might also make music available that way. I have used both Napster and Yahoo (with Yahoo now because it's cheaper and I like the attitude of the developers).

    You can also find per-song costs to BUY for only $0.79 on Yahoo. Walmart's are $0.88.

    The unlimited subscription and cheaper music prices are _not_ available on ITunes. Yahoo/Real/WalMart/ETC are competing with each other to give you a reason to go with them - once you buy an Ipod you are locked into Itunes and Itunes alone.

    • Cheaper? Than what?

      The ipod shuffle can be had cheaper at online discounters.

      DRM Free? In what universe?

      The ipod plays mp3, as does this. However, it supports evil DRM music (DRM 9, 10 or PD-DRM & WM-DRM) just like the ipod (DRM acc)

      The only thing this has is a screen and FM. I don't need either thank you.

      Unfortunately, this is like a year late to compete with the shuffle.

      • DRM Free? In what universe?

        The ipod plays mp3, as does this. However, it supports evil DRM music (DRM 9, 10 or PD-DRM & WM-DRM) just like the ipod (DRM acc)

        Given that it's not even clear what you're saying, I'm not even sure how to respond. I never said anything was "DRM Free" although you can rip your CDs to either device. The main point is that you have the OPTION of an all-you-can-eat system (via PlayforSure). That's the main reason I dumped my Ipod - along with the lousy design of it (won't wor

        • I thought you meant "DRM Free" by "more accessible"... how is WMA more accessible? Don't get me started on the subscription services.

          You can use gloves and cold hands with the shuffle, which is what this is competing with, no?

          Did i mention that this is longer, wider and thicker than the shuffle? They make it look like a lighter so that people think that it's as small as one.. but it's not.

      • How long has the shuffle been out? A year? How much cheaper can it be had than $99? $95? Big deal.

        The shuffle is a me-too product that Apple introduced long after the market was saturated with flash products that had superior features. Of all the flash players, the shuffle is the most feature-poor. Only Apple lovers accept that the screen is unneccesary. Everyone else seems to be able to fit one in at the same or lower price.

        The Dell product is late and just like all the others but still better than
    • Well IIRC if you use one of these music download services you are locked into DRM'd WMA files .
      You are not locked in to iTunes with an Ipod .. you can use any download site that supports the MP3 format , you can rip your own CDs.
      Since the iPod /iTunes combination was around first , I believe it would be fair to say that these music services locked out iPod users as opposed to vice-versa .

      • Neither of them lock you one way or another - it's that Itunes does not support the technology needed to use a subscription based service.

        With subscription based services, you have access to almost everything for a flat fee - but if you stop paying the fee, the songs on your device/PC 'expire' and will not play again until you resub. And I am cool with that - it's like Yahoo is storing my million song library for $5 a month. I work out 25 hours a week so being able to make fresh playlists is important to k

  • DJ P Ditty with highly annoying background chatter about making money, groping women, and busting a cap in peoples asses on every song I hear.

    Get with the times DELL is '05 not '85.

  • Incredible! (Score:3, Funny)

    by zecg ( 521666 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:17AM (#13620413)
    Who ever came with that idiotic name? It should have been named Dell P14YZ0R!

  • Dell is trying to do a google. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:19AM (#13620420)
    People say "I'll google it up!" when they want to search for something on the net.

    They'll say "It's so Dell!" when talking about something so ugly that people can use it to scare kids.

    -xype

  • Advertising? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by AAeyers ( 857625 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:22AM (#13620434) Journal
    They also aren't advertising for it. In a similar article [vnunet.com], they disucss Dell's marketing scheme for this product.

    "Dell has launched a digital music player dubbed the DJ Ditty in what it calls its first "word-of-mouth" promotional campaign. The vendor announced the player in the US only with a banner on its website, and stated that it is getting the word out through employees and customer focus groups. Dell has also launched a special multimedia site targeting young buyers. The announcement was so low-key that a UK spokeswoman was unaware of the launch. "We don't get US announcements but I wouldn't be surprised if it were available here soon," she said."

    This might have been a viable competitor with the iPod Shuffle, but only if people know about it.

  • From the AmIMissingSomething Department (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Amadodd ( 620353 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:23AM (#13620435)
    There are lots of similar players on the market. Why is this one better/more newsworthy? It does not even look cool.

  • Word of Mouf.... (Score:4, Funny)

    by xgadflyx ( 828530 ) <james.montgomery ... m ['ail' in gap]> on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:23AM (#13620437) Homepage Journal
    That's the marketing campaign Dell is using on this soon to be failure. And here it is 3 days later...spreading like wildfire I tell ya! Even their own sales reps were unaware.
    "The announcement was so low-key that a Dell UK spokeswoman was unaware of the launch."
    http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2142664/dell-lau nches-music-player [vnunet.com]

  • Wow! Talk about redefining fugly (Score:3, Insightful)

    by brokeninside ( 34168 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:26AM (#13620450)
    That's one .mp3 player that everyone I know who has an iPod would never buy. Dell needs to find some designers that know how to make things look good.

  • The player is only half the answer... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by b06r011 ( 763282 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:27AM (#13620451)
    so Dell have launched a player which is basically the same as an iPod suhffle. The question is, will it automatically put in a selection of songs when i connect it to my PC?

    As far as i am concerned, the iTunes software is one of the key reasons Apple have done so well. It's easy & effective, whereas I suspect Dell is not. But then I guess we knew that right?

    • The question is, will it automatically put in a selection of songs when i connect it to my PC?

      I have never used itunes (I run linux and use gtkpod or rhythmbox for my ipod managment needs), but this sounds a little dangerous.

      What if I just went to a friends house and he gave me mp3s of his latest recordings, when I get home, will itunes overwrite these automatically?

      As far as i am concerned, the iTunes software is one of the key reasons Apple have done so well.

      Again, I don't use itunes, so I may not be righ

  • DJ Ditty? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Red Flayer ( 890720 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:27AM (#13620455) Journal
    Dell is trying to establish branding for a personal accessory that has a four-syllable name? Especially "DJ Ditty," which sounds like it's being marketed to kids? I can just imagine how that's going to play out.

    What about UI? Will it have a proprietary UI? Will it be as easy to use as iTunes?

  • Just like the 50 other players just like this on the market? Even if I wasn't eyeballing a Nano, or a Shuffle, I'd still go with a Rio or even one of the new Sonys before shelling out for this junker. Don't be fooled by the FM radio, that's not even a remotely new feature.

    I liked this article [daringfireball.net] on the marketing campaign.

    Also, Dell is really starting to suck. I have a feeling that to buy this is to buy pain.

    And finally, Shuffle's got a secret [pcmag.com].

  • iRiver (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    For a couple more bucks you can get an iRiver which are much better players.
  • Looks like a nice unit, but I have a different question.

    If you have an iPod, do you HAVE to use iTunes to put music onto the player?

    A friend said you CAN drag and drop to the device (like an external USB drive), and the files will get STORED on the device, but are not playable.

    Is this true?
    • iPods can be put into one of two modes: player mode and storage mode.

      In storage mode, it becomes an external hard drive. Music files copied to the iPod in storage mode cannot be played when the iPod is put into player mode. Unless, that is, one uploads one of the many third party pieces of software that allows you to do just this.

      In player mode, one does have to use something akin to iTunes to transfer files. But that something does not have to be iTunes. There are many third part programs that will suffice
    • Part of the reason the iPod works so well and has such a responsive interface is that it keeps a detailed database of all the MP3s and playlists stored on it. This database has to be updated each time you add songs to the iPod, which means you need to use iTunes or a third-party application to transfer the songs over.

      Otherwise, the iPod just acts like a Firewire hard disk - which it is, when it's hooked up to your computer.
  • Shuffle

    This is probably the main reason I got the ipod shuffle, because it could actually play music in random order. It's amazing how many players miss this capability. There are a lot people that just like to load their player with a bunch of music on random and leave it play forever.

  • New Name (Score:4, Funny)

    by Mr. Underbridge ( 666784 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @07:44AM (#13620539)
    DJ Ditty changed its name to "Ditty" to avoid confusing its fans. At a recent product launch, some people were chanting "DJ Ditty!" and some people were chanting "Ditty!" and it threw everything off. This way, everybody can just chant "Ditty!" and be on the same page.
  • put a nice spin on it [daringfireball.net].

    My favorite quote:

    "...Begin to suspect that even Dell is not very proud of this device."
  • Now i'm sure Dell has thought of this, what with viability and all...but aren't Li-Po batteries a little dodgy? They offer the best power density, apparently really good stuff that way, but I know if they overcharge *or* even undercharge they like to swell, and then catch fire. At least that's what is a very real possibility with R/C LiPo batteries. (People sometimes will charge them in a fireplace - not lit naturally - or some other safe spot, and sometimes they will even have a spot handy to put their
  • I kind of doubt that Steve will crap his pants over this one.

    As mentioned elsewhere, the iPod is not so much the best bargain musicplayer, but the best all-around device: nicely styled, software works, DRM isn't too awful, etc.

    Also very important: the iPod is cool, while the Rio and other stuff was considered uncool. I read about parents complaining that they got their kid a cheapo music player (at Walmart!), but then had to shell out for an iPod (and consign the other to the dustbin of crappy electronic de
  • Is this some clever way to save on taxes by having a product that they market as a loss? Or is this simply the mentality that gave us trench warfare in World War I and the Charge of the Light Brigade? They don't seriously believe that they stand a chance against the iPod, any iPod, at them moment, do they?

    I think it is time for companies like Dell to say, okay, we lost that one. Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you, and when that happens, you do not waste money and resources in an h

  • Dell's terrible official site (Score:3, Informative)

    by cfish ( 61161 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @08:08AM (#13620706)
    http://www.dellditty.com/ [dellditty.com]

    What happens, I bet, is that Dell realized that Ditty is going to be an utter failure following iPod Nano, and decided to save marketing dollars on it.
  • Why on earth is Dell even bothering to do this? They're trying to enter a market that's already flooded. Between Apple and Creative, the $99 MP3 player market is pretty much taken care of.

    When it comes to style, though, I still prefer my MobiBlu Cube [mobibluamerica.com]. It has everything that this new Dell unit offers plus 7.5 hours of voice recording. Dell's product looks like most of the other MP3 players out there, so the only thing to differentiate this from the competition is the name. Sounds a lot like when Carl
  • This new Ditty is a great addition to Dell music player line up. It manages to capture all the style of it's larger siblings whilst being small enough not to consume too much warehouse space it is destined to need...
  • The iPod Shuffle can:

    1) Play iTunes songs.
    2) Be used as a thumb drive.

    I didn't see anything on the Dell site mentioning these features, so the Shuffle does have some advantages.

  • Apple does NOT have a "Monopoly" (Score:3, Informative)

    by amichalo ( 132545 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @08:43AM (#13620947)
    For those throwing around the term "Monopoly" when discussing Apple's iPod in the DMP market or iTunes in the Legal Download market, consider Wikipedia's Monopoly definitions [wikipedia.org], then turn your eyes to what Apple really is [wikipedia.org].

    For those whose browsers don't link outside of /., Wiki's litmus test for an Oligopoly is:
    As a quantative description of oligopoly, the four-firm concentration ratio is often utilized. This measure expresses the market share of the four largest firms in an industry as a percentage. Using this measure, an oligopoly is defined as a market in which the four-firm concentration ratio is above 40%. An example would be the supermarket industry in the United Kingdom, with a four-firm concentration ratio of over 70%.

  • You guys missed the best link! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by callipygian-showsyst ( 631222 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @09:04AM (#13621105) Homepage
    I can't believe you didn't link to the official Dell Ditty [dellditty.com] site! They show how cool you'll be with your Dell Ditty! And there's a dance instructor in Flash to teach you the latest Hip-Hop moves!

  • Dell doen't "get" it (Score:3, Interesting)

    by eSims ( 723865 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @09:25AM (#13621275) Homepage
    What Dell and every other MP3 manufacturer out there doesn't "get" is the beauty of why I am listening to a Shuffle right now.

    Simplicity!

    If I want a player that can do all that stuuf I will get one large enough to hold my whole library! If I am going to carry 1GB around I just want it to play... and be easy to use. Don't give me a screen to look at... don't give me a bunch of option... I don't have a use for an FM player I am listening to MP3s! My phone has a voice recorder.. calculator... calendar... you get the idea.

    The Shuffle is sooo perfect because of what it does simply... we just bought twenty for a bunch of little old ladies who will never figure out 99.9% of the mp3 players on the market, but can push the big round button with the play symbol.

    Well... enough with the product endorsement, but hopefully you do "get" the idea. The Shuffle especially combined with iTunes "autofill" feature IS the perfect flash memory mp3 player.

  • And what filesystem will this use ? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by TractorBarry ( 788340 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @09:31AM (#13621349) Homepage
    Well, as usual, I haven't read the article but my first thought was "I wonder what crappy propietary file system this will use" ?

    I have an "el cheapo" portable MP3 player and the best thing about it is it uses a "bog standard" FAT32 file system. No fancy, unnecessarily complicated databases type structures (hello iPod) and, even better, no retarded over complicated interface software (hello iTunes) which attempt to "manage" your collection and then ends up losing or deleting stuff (hello iTunes which deleted loads of MP3s off my friends hard drive when he borrowed an early iPod from a mate)

    To put data on my player you simply plug it into a USB Port (I use it from both Linux and Windows) and shortly thereafter it shows up as a removable drive. You then just copy & paste files across (optionally using as many, or as few, folders as you wish). If the files you put on the device are MP3 or WMA (sadly not Ogg) then they show up in the players menus and it will play them back. If they're not they simply take up room until you move them off to another machine or delete them etc. etc. So not only will it play music I can transport data with it.

    In my humble opinion all these other "fancy schmancy" iPod style players (which I am assuming this Dell will emulate) are complete crap. Absolute over engineered bollocks. Why do you need special drivers to talk to a flash based device ? Why do you need crappy management software to talk to a flash device ?

    So sorry for the rant (which was probably somewhat off topic :) but I despair at the ridiculous overengineering of most MP3 players. It's almost worse than under engineering.

    As usual, "Keep It Simple Stupid"....

    • I'm sorry to take issue with your rant, but your +5 Insightful rating inspired me into action. I think you miss the point here and there.

      "In my humble opinion all these other "fancy schmancy" iPod style players (which I am assuming this Dell will emulate) are complete crap. Absolute over engineered bollocks."

      You obviously haven't seen the DJ Ditty yet, have you? Nobody is going to call this thing "fancy Schmancy". I promise. Visit http://dellditty.com/ [dellditty.com] for an eyeful

      "Why do you need special drivers to ta

  • Here's some typical Dell clarity for ya... (Score:3, Funny)

    by jpellino ( 202698 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @09:34AM (#13621394)
    Under "Customize it!"

    "Save $50 with mail-in Dell/Yahoo rebate. Price shown before rebate. [Included in Price] "

    Well, that's clear as mud. The DJ Ditty is apparently so compact, there's no space left for articles, pronouns and modfiers, not even in the ad copy.

    Sure makes you appreciate "Do not eat iPod Shuffle." At least we knew exctly what they meant.

  • MP3 Cube (Score:3)

    by Paul Slocum ( 598127 ) on Thursday September 22, 2005 @09:45AM (#13621495) Homepage Journal
    My friend got this one [walmart.com] recently. He hated to admit he got it at walmart, but it's super tiny orange cube with a blue display. It looks awesome and hilarious, and everyone's always asking about it. I'm sure the Dell's nice, but why does everything they make have to be ugly?

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