iRRitated

Like a lot of people, I was pretty psyched about the iPod HiFi. I love my iPod, and reviews on the device were pretty much great across the board. Great, room-filling sound, good bass response, incredibly simple interface, and of course, the ever-important audio input. Seemed perfect for a week at a beach house. No muss, no fuss, just great sound. And as we all know, music is the soundtrack to our lives.

The unit runs on AC (a cord is provided), or 6 D-cell batteries. Well, sort of. It only runs for about 110 minutes at a decent volume on the batteries. Then, there is no distortion (that's the good news), but the volume drops to a very low level (ugh).

I suppose I should've read between the lines when the dang thing came out:
"Apple is re-inventing the home stereo with the new iPod Hi-Fi, the first iPod accessory that adds true high-fidelity sound quality to the iPod," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "iPod Hi-Fi's unrivaled acoustic performance and stunning design is at home in any room in the house."
Operative word there: HOUSE. Not really meant to be portable. Bummer.
Why is it that Apple can design something so aesthetically perfect, that sounds SO good, but
not figure out the battery aspect? Couldn't they just have thrown in a rechargable lithium-ion battery? What the heck?

I guess Steven Wright wasn't too far off back in the eighties when he said:
You can't have everything. Where would you put it?