Apple Genius

Apple has this application in iTunes and on their iPods where you can select a song, any song you like and click the genius button and it will generate a playlist that is the length you choose that is filled with songs of a similar vein. It is not like "shuffle" or random or anything like that.

The problem with Genius is it can only pull from the available source. That would be either your iTunes collection or the music on your iPod. So if you have 120GB of music of various genres and artists then yes, it would probably work very well. Same goes if you have a large collection on your computer.

But if you have a smaller music collection on your computer or you have an iPod that is limited in space, like say, a Nano, then your genius playlist probably won't be that great.

I am a guy who is quick to point out flaws, especially when it has to deal with something that is changeable like software and I am ALWAYS willing to share my opinions on how to make it better.

The Microsoft Zune, useful in the way that Burger King is useful to McDonalds (not even comparable in taste but good for competition's sake), has an FM transmitter and while that's good in cities with good music on the radio, it is NOT good in a town like this one. The iPod Touch can access the Internet from hot spots. So, if Apple could put out iPods with something similar like Pandora and solve the whole "if you go outside the area you'll lose your radio" thing, it would work. Say, you could pay a monthly subscription fee to Pandora and in return they will give you 100 songs (or so) that you don't have either from artists you do know or artists you do NOT know. If someone said for five bucks a month you can listen to music that is PROBABLY what you'd like in addition to music you KNOW you like, I'm just about sold.

The thing that would push me over the edge of consumerism here is the option to buy any of the songs directly from my iPod. Say I'm listening to Me First & The Gimme Gimmes, a punk cover band and on the Pandora list is a song from the Lost Fingers, a gypsy jazz cover band and I love it (I like the Lost Fingers quite a bit) I would also love the option to buy the song for the normal .99 or the album for 9.99 or everything from the artist for whatever it would cost.

That would be great. I could imagine going broke very easily if iPods had this feature.

Are you listening replacement for Steve Jobs?