People keep saying that Turley was "clueless" or didn't know what he was talking about when criticizing the IPod.  IMO, he was very correct, and more for reasons that he didn't even mention.

Apple's IPod was clearly inferior, but it's marketing was superior.

I bought my EDigital Odyssey 1000 about the same time the IPod came out.  Same price, same size 20gig memory, and about the same size package.  The IPod looked cheap, the O had a polished chrome casing.  The IPod could handle MP3 and AAC/Dolby (ITunes), the O had MP3 and WMA (but could be remotely reprogrammed to handle additional CODECs/DRM).  Big differences:  The O also had an FM radio, digital voice recorder and the biggy - voice recognition (voice driven commands), which brought a new meaning to "Name that tune".  Talk about simple to use! (or would you rather scroll through 5,000 songs?).

IPod was plagued by a battery that died in about six months - Apple would replace it for another $100.  The battery in my O is still going strong after six years, and the device works flawlessly.

Which was better?  And most of the other devices available at the time were superior (especially when considering the battery problem).

The flaws Turley mentions go on top of the above.

JMHO,

SGE