No, what you're missing is that when you hear a track you haven't heard before or don't recognise and want to check what it is, you have to take your ipod out of your pocket (I keep mine in my jacket, but sometimes top pocket) turn the thing around so you can read the information and then if you want to turn up, stop or fast forward, or anything, same thing.
I use my Zen X-Fi all the time. The headphone jack goes in at the side (right I think) and when the player is in my pocket it's the right way up, so I can easily slip it out and look at whatever info I need, or pause it or whatever. With the ipod though, I have to turn it the right way up before I can do anything like that.
When you plug in the headphones at the base, the natural action of the player is to dangle upside down from your ears, as it were.
Look, I just hate ipods ok? I wouldn't even have one were it not for the fact that the best possible dock/speaker combo, the Logitech Pure-Fi Dream, is made for ipod and really doesn't work with anything else. I hate the way you can't just drag-and-drop albums onto it, like you can with my Zen; you have to go through this bloody synching process. The same for deleting files. And I hate the click wheel: it's either way too sensitive or refuses to move unless you push it hard, resulting in either a sudden blast/loss of volume, tracks flying by like no-one's business, or other annoying stuff you didn't want to happen, er, happening.
Down with Apple!
