Inaccurate Canadians

posted on december 5, 2003, tag: tech

I came across an article, Gifts for Geeks, over at the Toronto Star's website. It's written by their resident "Technology Reporter," Rachel Ross who, in addition to being quite scary looking, has written a plethora of articles which, like a majority of newspaper tech-writers' articles, offer nothing new or original 99% of the time. The article in question contains a list of five gifts you could buy for "a geek," one of which being the new Dell DJ MP3 player. She compares the Dell DJ to the Apple iPod, of course, and it's one of the worst comparisons I've ever read. It goes wrong right from the get-go, with her opening sentence:

The Dell DJ 20 Digital Jukebox is the MP3 player for music aficionados who aren't fans of the big Apple.

The big Apple? What in the hell does this mean? From the last reported count, Apple Computer, Inc. had 10,211 (source) employees. Dell, Inc. had 39,100 (source). That's almost four times as many employees. Apple's world-wide market share is below 3%, Dell's worldwide market share is 15.3%. In the United States, Apple's market share finally hit 3% this year, while Dell's market share hit 27.4% (source). Dell is, in fact, the largest computer seller in the US. Apple is, in fact, one of the smallest (that actually "competes"). So who, in this case, is "the big" company? Apple? Not a chance.

Like some of the new Apple iPods, the Dell DJ 20 holds 20 gigabytes of music: that's about 4,900 songs.

The implication here is that the Dell DJ 20 holds 20 GB of music, and that only some of the iPod models compete with that. While that's true, technically, it's not really accurate. It would be more accurate to say, "Like the mid-range Apple iPod, the Dell DJ holds 20 gigabytes of music: that's about 4,900 songs. Dell also carries a 15 gigabyte model, while Apple carries both a 10 gigabyte model and an iPod which holds 40 gigabytes of music, or about 10,000 songs." Ross attempts to play on the fact that there's a 10GB iPod as a negative thing, which is ridiculous. And not mentioning that the 40GB iPod is twice the storage space of the Dell DJ 20 was clever.

But Dell's simple user interface makes the iPod seem silly, if not altogether cryptic. Instead of the iPod's oversized, rotating circle, the Dell DJ has a small, clickable scroll wheel (much like the one found on computer mice). The Dell DJ is sleek and stylish but doesn't sacrifice usability for the sake of aesthetics.

While I understand usability can be mostly subjective, I still have to disagree with this. The iPod interface is not cryptic. She compares the DJ's "small, clickable scroll wheel" to the iPod's "oversized, rotating circle," in favor of the former. What she doesn't mention is that the small, clickable scroll wheel, like a mouse's, requires you to scroll by moving your finger from the top to the bottom, then lifting your finger, and placing it back at the top then moving again (or reverse if you're scrolling up). Or that the clickable wheel requires you to actually push it in, which could cause unwanted scrolling. The iPod's circle (which has not rotated since the second generation iPod, since then all iPods have been touch sensitive) allow you to scroll without ever removing your finger from the circle. You just move clockwise or counter-clockwise continuously. And a separate button in the middle of the circle means you won't accidentally scroll when you mean to select something. And I know "sleek" and "stylish" and "aesthetics" are subjective, but I would never compare the looks of the Dell DJ to the iPod—it's no contest. The iPod is smaller and lighter to boot. She says the circle is a usability sacrifice, I say it's quite the opposite.

Various repeat and shuffle features are available on the Dell DJ, as well as equalization settings for different kinds of music. Sort your tunes by album, artist or genre.

Sort of like on the iPod. But does the Dell DJ count how many times you play a song? Does it allow you to rate music? Does it have a contacts feature, a calendar feature, a notes feature, games, an on-the-go playlist feature? Does the Dell DJ have a dock? No. The strange thing is, in Ross' article she fails to mention all but one of the things the Dell DJ features that the iPod doesn't (the one she mentioned was the built-in microphone, which you need to buy separately from a 3rd-party for the iPod). This includes the Dell DJ's reported 16-hour battery life (twice the iPod's), the fact that the price is significantly less than comparably-sized iPods, and that the DJ plays WMA files.

I understand the iPod is expensive, and therefore when something cheaper-but-comparable comes out, everyone jumps on the chance to knock the iPod from its throne. The only problem is, nothing has come out that actually compares to the iPod. Yes, the Dell DJ can hold 20 gigabytes of music and has a similar form-factor and theme, but it's bigger, clunkier, less intuitive and, well, cheaper. It's backed by an impersonal, unrelenting corporation that makes 300 products that all look the same, year in and year out. When I look at the Dell DJ, I think of Windows and Dell and beige and unfriendly things. When I look at the iPod I think of OS X and Apple and smooth corners and shiny metal and form and function.

I understand Ross' goal was not to make you not want the Apple iPod, or convince you Apple is doing wrong, or anything. I honestly think it was just an ignorantly written piece by a poor writer with minimal unique thought. Unfortunately, she's not the only person to have written this very same article. They're popping up everywhere, and many of them are nearly identical. I chose Ross' because it just struck that chord with me, and because it was the most recent one I've read.

Further Reading:
John Gruber's two articles on the Dell DJ, Dell's Dud and Dudley More.
My exhaustingly long entry, The [New 15GB] iPod Review.
A TechTV review by James Kim in which he compares the Dell DJ to (and prefers) the iPod, with some good comparison information.

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