The love
that people show for their ipods is sometimes downright creepy. I’ve seen people on the subway caressing their curvy
little music players as if they were newborns. Let’s face it, the marketing folks at Apple have really pulled off the
scam of the century, luring all of us into building our music libraries with itunes songs that we will never be able to
play on another MP3 device other than ipods. I am one of these suckers, I admit. And I may just go buy one of the new
video ipods rumored to be in development…should the rumor be true. But maybe not. If and when I go out in search of
another MP3 player, I might just defect from the ipod brigade, lest I become a prisoner of the Guantana-tunes prison.
You see, the fact is, there are many fine MP3 players on the market that are just as good if not better
than the ipod. If flexibility is a factor in your decision-making, you might do yourself a favor by looking around a
bit at what else is out there. When I was in Vegas for CES this year, I had the chance to take a look at one player
that I really came to adore. The Creative Zen
Vision M mp3 player is sleekly designed, easy to use and very cool. The device plays audio and video in numerous
formats, including MP3, WMA, and WAV audio files and MPEG4, WMV, DivX, and XviD. There is also, and this is a big deal,
I think, a built-in FM tuner and a voce recorder. Why the ipod has never integrated these two features is, in my
opinion, a joke.
So if you’re out there song some portable player shopping, do give this player a
look. It would make a very nice addition to your gadget collection and a fine travel companion to boot.