Yeah.  Every time they update the software, it wipes out the user preferences.  And that's like twice a week. 

I don't have an Ipod.  I have a Samsung thingy I use for running that has about 1 GB of memory.  Good for seven hours.  But I see folks using Ipods all the time.  You can tell people have them because they're either tucked in an armband holder or the white headpnones give them away.  People were getting mugged for their Ipods:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/03/30/ipod_this_seasons_musthave/

I guess to answer your questions, folks recognize Apple and Ipod as a product.  Apple is all about making things easy to use, or at least that's what their ads say.  Also, it's a status thing. "How much does your Ipod hold?"

in my opinion, ipods are seriously overpriced for what they give you.  do 5 minutes of research and you can find at least 3 players with better sound quality with double the battery life for less money then an ipod.  and the ipods come with itunes, which in my opinion is the most complicated piece of shit software on the planet.  there is no easy quick way to move a song from the computer to the player.  you have to first tell the software not to update your player because you have more music on your computer then room on your player.  then you have to move the songs you want to add to like 2 different places, then tell it to update.

i love the software that came with my creative zen touch.  it pops up 2 side by side windows, one for the files on the computer, and one for the files on the player.  there are 2 arrows in the middle, one that points in each direction.  then all you have to do is click the files you want to transfer and press the button and there they go.  or if you don't want to use their software, you can use explorer.  the computer sees the player as a hard drive, so all you have to do is copy/paste the files into it from my computer.  it couldn't get any simpler.  too bad apples pos products can't do this.  they might have more respect from the consumers who aren't into fabs or trying to be cool.

is this the right place to say i just found my 8-track player in the garage this weekend?

I bought a 3rd Gen Ipod once, it was great until the battery went kaput and I had to sell it online.

I've only had Creative and Samsung mp3 players since.

i have a 2gb nano and i love it. I don't need more memory because I can just rotate songs in and out using iTunes (which isn't hard to use at all if you know what you're doing). The battery lasts forever on mine and i've really had no beef with it.

i say it's a quality product!

you must be very lucky, no wonder you like yours.  apple has been known for using the crappiest batteries on the market for their players.  i have a nano (it was a gift), and the battery lasts like 3-4 max.  i can only go on 2 runs without it pooping out on me (no joke).  now i understand the nanos' are quite thin and this makes things complicated when it comes to incorporating things into it, but they shouldn't advertise a 16  hour battery life when i haven't heard of anybody getting more then like 6 hours.  i do realize that number is continuous play without being turned on/off yada yada yada, but my other player has a advertised 24 battery life and the thing gets like 20+.  i would love to switch batteries with you since apple care won't replace it until it won't hold a charge. 

that's really weird. I don't think my battery has ever run out... I brought it on spring break with me and had no charge for a week. Granted i didn't play it a lot during the week, but it was never off after going through airport security both ways. I must be a lucky duck.