So here it is - the definitive list of the good and the bad of the iPOD. Items are listed in no particular order.

Statistics
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Model: 4th generation (4G) iPOD with click-wheel
Capacity: 40GB
In the Box: iPOD, earbuds, wall wart, USB cable, firewire cable, dock, CD-ROM, Users Manual
Song Count: 3010
# of CDs I have purchased since getting the iPOD: 10

The Good
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Interface and usability: Apple does it again with the iPOD interface. Sticking to their "simple is king" design philosophy, the iPOD does not disappoint. Moving around through the menus is fast, easy, and intuitive. Similar versions of this interface are seen on many popular players on the market today.

Click-wheel: The touch-sensitive click wheel on the 4G iPODs and iPOD minis is the most alluring feature of the iPOD line. This wheel allows for quick nagivation and song selection with a single thumb - lefty or righty. The click-wheel itself is made by the same company that makes those little touch-pads for laptop computers. However, the iPOD offers a more user-friendly implementation of the technology since you just move your thumb around in a circle, whereas on a laptop there is a common need to lift and re-place your finger once you run into the "edge" of the pad.

Auto shut-off: A very expected feature, but also one that comes in handy for saving battery life. Pause a song, and a little while later the iPOD shuts off. Well, actually the iPOD goes into a deep sleep mode with the display turned off; hit any button and it has an "instant on" appearance. Another thing I noticed is that if you don't use the iPOD for a couple of days, it really turns off. When you turn it back on, it takes a few seconds to do a full bootup and then you're ready to go.

Volume: The output volume is nice and loud - loud enough to hear even in noisy environments, such as on an airplane. About 50% is where I keep it for everyday listening.

Turns on after plugging in the headphones: This is a nice little feature that just makes sense. If the iPOD is off and you plug in headphones, it turns on. (this only works if the iPOD is in a deep sleep and not completely off).

Pauses after removing the headphones: Another feature that shows Apple was thinking when they designed the iPOD. This comes in handy in a couple of situations. If you accidently unplug the headphones, you won't miss part of your favorite song. Or, you can rely on this feature if the iPOD is in your pocket or carrying case - pull out the headphones to pause the iPOD. A short time later it will shut itself off.

iTunes: I have not used the music store, but I did set up my music library with iTunes and synched it with my iPOD. The synch was very easy to set up. iTunes also does a decent job as an MP3 player and CD-ripper, with all the standard features you would expect from MP3 player software.

Charging through USB or firewire: Charges while you synch it to your computer. This is also handy at work where I can just take my firewire cable and charge the iPOD at my desk. This eliminates the need to carry a bulky charger around.

Fading backlight: The backlight doesn't just turn off - it fades out. It is amazing how such a simple feature can add so much to the appeal and distinctiveness of a product. Quick, someone add this feature to a cell phone!

Accelerated scrolling: The iPOD easily handles song lists with thousands of songs on them thanks to the ability to scroll around at accelerated speeds. You can quickly reach any area of a long list even though the iPOD only displays 6 lines at a time. Acceleration of the scrolling as you move up or down the list is a subtle, but much-needed feature.


The Bad
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No carrying case for iPod or headphones: This is a disaster! I was expecting something, but I got nothing. I'm not sure which models come with cases and which ones don't, but mine didn't. I ended up getting an official Apple case as a gift and it works nicely and looks great. They should have put it in the box!

Headphones are cheap: The iPOD supplied headphones get the job done, but they do appear to be a little on the cheap side. I'm not sure how nice earbuds can really be, but instead of including a $2 pair of headphones they could at least put in a nice $8 or $10 pair.

Easily scratched: This is probably the biggest complaint that I've heard from other iPOD owners and I have to agree. The shiny white and metal housing looks great until you touch it and get it covered in finger oils and tiny scratches. They should go with a matte finish in the future. The iPOD minis seem to be a step in the right direction.

Audible pop through headphones when powering it on: This is probably the thing that annoys me the most about the iPOD. If you have the headphones plugged in and the iPOD is off and then you hit a button to turn it on, you get a pop in the headphones as it powers up. This is a very nasty problem if you want to use the iPOD through any serious amplification. Every time you turn it on - pop!

Click-wheel doesn't detect cold fingers: With the a/c blasting at work, many times I find myself unable to adjust the iPOD volume. This is obviously a down-side of the touch-sensitive navigation wheel. Be warned if you live in a cold area or have poor blood flow to the extremities!

Can't skip a song from the "seek" screen: This is extremely annoying, and I can't think of any legitimate reason why Apple would no allow this. If you hit the center nav button from the "Now Playing" screen, it takes you to the "seek" screen where you can skip to any point in the song. But you can't skip the song altogether! This annoying feature is compounded by my next point...

Center navigation button is pressed when removing iPOD from Apple case: It never fails - every time I remove the iPOD from the Apple-made case to skip a song, the center button gets pressed by the case as it slides out. Then I am suddenly at the "seek" screen and I can't skip the song!

Battery is not replacable: This is probably not a completely stupid move on Apple's part. I'll give them the whole "users would prefer to buy a new iPOD by the time the battery needs replacing" angle, but this is bad for users! I haven't looked, but you can be sure that someone has posted instructions on the web on how to replace your iPOD battery. Of course, this will void the warrenty, but I expect that the battery will last for several years and the warrenty will be expired anyway.

No scrolling of long artist names: Its true. Just go to the artists list and you will see artists such as "Red Hot Shili Pep..." and "Rage Against The...". It can be a problem distinguishing artists like "Dave Matthews Band" from "Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds."

Bugs in iTunes: Yes, there are a number of bugs in iTunes, such as random failure to recognize an attached iPOD, and general instability, especially with multiple iPODs attached.

Can't exit and re-enter the games: iPOD comes with a few little games to pass the time, but if you start a game and then back out of it, your game will be reset when you go back to it. This fact turns the games into an extremly weak feature.

No crossfade: There is no way to crossfade tracks for smooth listening. Why why why!?

No way to delete songs from iPOD itself: Another particularly disappointing feature. I synched up every song I had on my computer and as I'm listening to them radomly, sometimes I decide that I don't want a song on my iPOD. But there is no way to delete it from the iPOD itself! I suppose I could mark it with a lot rating and then delete it later, but that is just too much effort.

Playlist manipulation on iPOD itself is weak: Not only is it weak, it is almost non-existant. The only thing you can do is contruct an "On-the-Go" playlist which doesn't allow for re-ordering of the songs or removing songs once they have been added. Often times I would like to queue up a song to play next, immediately after the current song without interruption. But alas, this is too much to ask.

Calendar events, Contacts, Notes must be manually synched: This is not really a big problem because I don't use these features. However, if they were synched automatically, maybe I would use them.

Cannot customize the order of the main menu: You can choose what is on the main menu, but you cannot change the order. Sometimes, I like to be able to change the order!

Other iPOD issues: So far, I've had to completely wipe out my iPOD and re-synch everthing twice now because of corruption on the iPOD itself. Some songs will become corrupted and when you try to play them, it immediately skips to the next song. You can recreate this by synching up some songs, then editing the ID3 tags for the songs on your computer, then resynch the songs. Once the problem occurs, you might be able to just remove and re-add the messed up songs, but I chose to just format the iPOD and start over. Another annoying problem I have run into about three times so far is where the iPOD stops communicating over USB. In fact, it doesn't recognize that the USB cable is even plugged in - it won't charge and it won't enumerate with the computer. I confirmed with a friend's iPOD that nothing was wrong with my USB cable. Luckily, I found some tips online on how to force a hard reset of the iPOD. This cleared up the issue every time.