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The fact they named it the iPod and not the iMusic or anything like that, should have been an indicator to most that Apple was going to morph it into something else.
Real audiophiles never liked the iPod anyway because of its crappy DAC (so I've been told, anyway.)
But Apple is continually adjusting their hardware and software to be non-pro friendly.
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I think that's silly. The iPod classic is obviously skirting obsolescence and on its way out because there's not a big enough market for it in the light of all the flash memory players, and the flash players will soon be up to the 160 gb level anyway given the inexorable downward march of flash prices. Apple has never been about catering to all users. They pick their markets for profitability.
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Hiltzik is right, but he's missing the point. The iPod is and always was a convenience device. It's not an audiophile machine. The DAC is a good one (again, for a portable device) but once you start compressing the signal you're going to lose quality. Still, 320kbps AAC preserves probably 95%+ of lossless quality, and to even get close to achieving that you're going to need studio monitor headphones anyway.
Regardless, his point is moot. By the time the 160GB classic is no longer available on the market ("[audiophiles are] afraid the time is not too distant when the Classic will be discontinued, with the result that they'll be back to the bad old days of choosing what music to load onto their Touches (and inevitably choosing wrong). ") flash memory will have caught up. The iPod touch is at 64GB right now and started at 16GB three years ago. The gap is rapidly closing, and will only close faster with iPad and the app store. Those two things mean that iOS storage capacity is used not only for music but for profit rich applications which are Apple's license to print money. In another year I would not be surprised to see a 128GB iPod Touch. In two more years I bet it'll crack 200Gb.
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Dumb article. His beef with the Classic is that it's not big enough or about to be EOL'd. But audiophiles don't try to put everything on their iPods---never could. They tend to be music lovers with larger libraries than most.
And Apple Lossless is as good as CD. It can hold a bit for bit copy.
There are solutions that bypass or interface with iTunes to overcome it's cluelessness about hires files. But the iPod is no worse today than it's been.
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I wish the iPod was more open, so it might be more useful to people who do something other than buy "tunes" from the iTunes store.
It seems to have been designed by young people around the idea that music comes in small units that can be shuffled like cards (after buying them from Apple).
For people who primarily listen to extended audio -- books or classical -- and who rip most of their own audio, the iPod contains some irritating limitations and omissions.
It is especially awkward not to be able to copy folders of audio from the computer to the iPod. Any competing music player can do this. It's so much more convenient.
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I knew a guy years ago who had a basement room with classical music albums on packed shelves which went across a long wall. he had big speakers placed strategically for him to get the best sound where he sat and an audio equalizer built into the wall by his sofa.
That was an audiophile.
Audiophiles will wet their pants.