and she said.. "how you interpret the dream is probably more important than the dream itself"

I admit it, I'm completely crazy. I've sort of shat on the video iPod for quite some time as being, well, mostly pointless. Then again I don't commute on a train every day or otherwise spend time away from my computer doing diddly-squat which I could replace with time absorbing media on an iPod video.

So why am I crazy? Because I'm slobbering over this:

It's the Cowan A2 - basically a portable media player (PMP - that's what the toddlers are calling it these days) - $399 for a 20gigger or $499 for 30gigger. Sure, it could sport a larger capacity but 20g is certainly reasonable. Pick up a refurbished unit for $350, just fifty more smackers than a 30gig iPod.

What's so great about it? Why get one over an iPod?

Well, for starters, it's got a 4inch screen that reviews better than pretty much any other portable device out there, including portable DVD players and it's closest competitor, the Archos.

It can play basically every video format you'd want including xVid, Divx, and MPEG-4. These videos can be output straight to your tv, or anything else that handles RCA jacks. (Oh, and it can record straight from your TV as well).

It handles all the audio formats you'd likely want as well, including Ogg.

This thing has FM radio - something some people have been looking for in the iPod for years. You can even record radio on a set schedule so you never miss your favourite show.

You can actually record anything you want. Lectures, concerts, your cousin's fart noises, you name it.

PLUS - fucking 18hr playback time for audio? Find me an iPod that comes close! (10hrs video ain't bad either)

(17:39:02) BritCoal: Think of this: you download 5 seasons of your favourite TV show. FIVE FUCKING SEASONS on a portable device, and off you go to your favourite cottage-in-the-woods. Sit in the hammock, on the dock, or in your rowboat and watch whatever you want.. or pipe it to your tv.

16:9 aspect ratio screen. And considering the 4inch screen it's not even that big - 5 by 3 inches and less than an inch thick.

The only downfall is that, in this market, it will be obsolete before you can say I want one.

I'll end this post with a link to Northern California Judge Gives Green Light to Monopolization Suit Against Apple. If the claim is true in saying that Apple has an 80 percent share of the market for legal digital music files and more than 90 percent of the market for portable hard-drive digital music players then yah, I'd say they have a case. What's the big beef here? The fact that Apple has closely tied the iPod to it's iTunes music store and basically left all those other portable players out in the cold. Is this the next Windows + IE war? Possibly..