Update!

Found the Phillips site. But now I have to navigate through a mountain of shit to reach the info on the player. Memo to all businesses: Let Google spider your site. And if you have to use tons of Flash to make it all pretty, build html pages with redirects to all the pretty Flash. Then Google can still see you. Multi-million dollar corporations should be able to handle this. And if not, just make the pages Google friendly in the first place.

Ok, most companies suck

Phillips Magnavox - I am now going to put you out there on a pedestal to be the punching bag for all companies that suck.

Here in front of me I have a Phillips 3025/37 MP3/video player. In terms of a device, it seems ok. I am attempting to find out what video format(s) it supports. I have:

1) Google the model number with every combination of possible wording referencing "video format", "manual" etc.

2) Disconnected the player to look up the URL's that are displayed when the player boots. By the way, that would be a nice touch - WOULD BE if the address didn't redirect to some investing site instead of yours. Tried it in FF and Google Chrome, just to make sure it wasn't some oddball virus that does a redirect in my machine.

3) Seriously considered throwing said device against the wall in front of me.

There is a quote that I really like:

"Plan A is always more successful when the device you are working on understands that Plan B involves either a screwdriver or a hammer."

In this case, instead of reverting to Plan B, I'm thinking of a Plan C - buy a Sansa. Sandisk provides solid online support and there is a strong online community to help otherwise. And the e200 series is the best device under $100 I've ever used for music, and the video is ok too. The only complaint I have against Sandisk is that they discontinued the e200's. I have no verdict on the Fuze, yet.

I've had some issues with other Magnavox players also. Avoid at all costs. Waste of money.

Ok, enough with Apple already

Look, the devices are really cool and work pretty well most of the time. But until the software catches up, I'm not buying. Yes, MAC lovers - the software looks real pretty, but it is SLOW.

Anybody else have a dual-core processor that torches conversions with Nero, TMPGenc, etc. but takes forever in iTunes? Does iTunes chop your music collection up in odd groups, wrong albums, or just screw everything up? Or what about tracks/albums in MP3 format that refuse to transfer to an iPod, leaving only a cryptic message about unable to play in this device? Yup, iTunes officially sux. And iPods are totally married to that crap.

I'm not a big MS guy either, but Steve - go hire some coders from Seattle. At least Windows Media 11 works. Quickly. Or, even better, go hire the guy who built TMPGEnc. Do something, because until you do there are a bunch of us users out there who are not going to deal with crappy performance just for a pretty interface.

Music industry - you suck

When are the corporate fools in the music industry going to realize that it's not the listeners fault that their huge companies are tanking? ITS THE BUSINESS MODEL, STUPID! To paraphrase the best president of my lifetime. Haven't they noticed that there are tons of companies out there making great money giving away content? And that the cost of producing really high quality music is low enough that records are being made on laptops in the garage? I did some production work in the late 90's, and we thought it was cheap back then. Only $1,000 for a digital 8 track recorder? Wow! Anyone under 21 who just read that sentence is laughing hysterically. Can they continue to spend millions on CD releases? No. Do they even need to? No. Start thinking, boys.

1) What are the promoters doing? These guys work, but they make a ton of money for the work that they do. Why are the labels not locking up the touring contracts of their artists? Sorry, promoterman, but until you guys start advancing the artists and paying for production, you get the short straw.

2) Clothes, posters, stickers.... the list goes on. Labels are farming this stuff out for royalties. Spend some money, buy the businesses that make this stuff. Anybody seen the traffic in Hot Topic on a Saturday afternoon?

3) Encourage Torrent. Imagine the ad revenue potential of a legal Torrent tracker site. Right now thepiratebay.org and isohunt.com have ads from shady operators and porn sites. The labels have the money to make the best, fastest, and most comprehensive site. So, do it and start selling space to the big time advertisers. What else attracts almost exclusively 12-35 year old consumer traffic? 90% of the companies in America consider that the prime demo.

I'm joining millions of idiots

Hi - you are one of six people who will read this. Millions and millions of people put their thoughts on blogs like this one, and somehow I'm stupid enough to think that I may stand out from the crowd. Oh, well. I'll give it a shot.

Here's what you can look forward to on this page:

1) I am a hopeless technology addict. PC, electronics, iWhatevers. Love it all. Even if it's total crap, I want to play with it and then tell everyone I know that it is crap. Unfortunatly for my freinds - and you, dear lonely reader - I tend to think that exceptionally complex, but functional, gadgets are the coolest thing since the invention of the iceberg. I like the easy-to-use, but what I consider easy tends to differ from the opinion of others.

2) I'm addicted to music. Unless it is country, I like at least some artists. I have an opinion about all of them. The arguements are the best. When I get inflamatory, please comment so I can tell you why you are wrong. I've done some production work in the past, so I'll be talking about gear too.

3) The vast majority of conservatives are total fools, idiots, morons, and - quite possibly - nazis. If you disagree, I will gladly consider you a conservative. Please see the first sentence of this paragraph for what that label intails.