ipods / apple: our school originally had macs; they were buggy as hell and crashed half the time. we replaced them with compaq/hp desktops recently. they perform much better since, unlike apple, they use AMD processors. from a cnet.com benchmarking test, AMD processors had greater reliability than intel when it came to multi-tasking, gaming, office/spreadsheet processing, movie editing, and picture editing.
as for apple's secondary product, the famed ipod, it doesnt deserve the glamour and glitz it has been recently given. despite many videos showing how durable ipods are (i.e. running over them with a car), ipods will inevitably shatter their screen if they land on a corner of a strong surface. another issue addressed is the ipods horrible battery life. replacement of these environmentally hazardous batteries can cost upwards of $100 US if you include shipping. also, apple has their own proprietary music formats, so many windows formats are not supported. this is one of the main reasons why creative is going to take the lead in the mp3 player market with the new creative vision: M. the vision M has fm tuner capability, a larger screen, a slide scroll button, and better battery life
nintendo revolution:
the revolution is nintendo's way of trying to take back the console market. current rumors say that the revolution will have online gameplay and the ability to download nintendo games dating back to the debut of NES and SNES. although the price has remained hidden, many nintendo fans believe it will be within the $100 US range, unlike its predecessors, the xbox 360 ($299-$399 US) and the playstation 3 (rumored at CES to be upwards of $800 US). a breakthrough in gameplay ability is the revolution's controller. unlike the boomerang shaped playstation 3 controller and the bulky xbox 360 controller, the revolution is similar to a tv remote. this remote allows the player to move the character on the screen by physically moving the remote in the direction that is necessary. although it may seem innovative, it would be a bad idea for such a controller to exist in a mosquito-infested area.