Dear Apple,I cannot understand why you would come out with a new version of the iPod Classic this year and not allow people who bought one last year to benefit from the software enhancements you've made. It seems like a bit of a slap in the face really. I am a loyal Apple customer, have owned two iPods and three computers over the years, but I see you growing to be more and more like an arrogant giant who builds obsolescence into your products. Was there a major hardware overhaul that I am not aware of, or did you just change a few specs and offer new features in the hopes that I would abandon my perfectly serviceable one year old iPod for a new one? I for one would really like a "genius" feature on my Classic to make new playlists. My iPod holds all my music and can go for days or weeks without being plugged into my MacBook (which has a dinky harddrive, forcing me to store my music externally) especially if I could quickly generate new lists.
Here's my suggestion: allow me the choice to purchase a software update for my iPod. Charge me 10 or 20 bucks, whatever you think is fair, but don't come out with a product that is virtually the same as mine and offer new features that are unavailable to me for marketing reasons. That just burns my ass and creates ill will. Apple is not the only brand out there and I'm not fanatical about anything—give me, and other consumers, enough reason to jump to another MP3 player, operating system, or whatever and we probably will.
