New models and new lower pricing drove me to finally get an iPod today. My OBE (Out of Box Experience) overall was good, but I wouldn’t rate it more than a B+. Here’s why:

1) The iPod photo with accessories at my local Apple store is priced at $150 more boxed than the iPod photo without accessories. The extra accessories MSRP on the apple.com store are only ~$80. It’s a nice convienience to have them all in one package, but not a $70 one.
2) Entering the serial number is required when installing the included software. The serial number is in about a 6pt font on the back of the iPod. HORRIBLE usability for sight reduced people. This is far from what I’d expect from Apple.
3) Why is there a “cutout” on the power adaptor by the folding plug? what does it do? I’m thinking it might rotate to accomodate different plug positions, but if so it is very stiff and I’m afraid to tweak it too hard. Why isn’t this in my instruction book? Another thought is that maybe I can pop the US plug out and insert a bought one for another country? Again though, this should be explained in the instruction book.

I’m not going to totally dis them though, some immediate pros:
1) WMP 10-esque auto playlists. THANK YOU! I can set up a smart playlist that contains files of genre podcast added in the past day. VERY handy!
2) Incredibly sleek packaging. Nicely presented.
3) Two words – Click Wheel. No less than a WOW!
4) I like that the USB cable cap has a cord tamer built in. Nice touch.

Random notes:
1) I LOVE the little wrapper that comes around the iPod that has hilited for those who didn’t know: “Don’t Steal Music” – in four languages no less!
2) It’d be cool if they threw in a little iPod cleaning cloth (akin to a lens clenaer) with each iPod so we could keep the metal shimmery.
3) iTunes for Windows doesn’t auto update the library when new subfolders are added to your default folder. This may be a technological hurdle for them. What isn’t is a menu option that allows you to do this without having to drag the folder into your library every time you add a new folder due to moving files from multiple locations, MP3 CDs, etc… I setup my default music folder, why can’t I just choose a menu option that says “search for new music” or what not that goes through that folder lookng for new folders/files when activated? Once a subfolder has been added to the library, it DOES recognize new content in it. Not sure why the subfolder wasn’t recognized until I dragged it into the library, but content added to it later was… Maybe I was just too impatient and it was taking a while due to the amount of content in the new folder I moved into the default folder?? If so, a message in the UI would be nice to see.