Pre-empting our weekly letters page, I'm going to take a run through some of the letters and emails that have come in to us this week.
Just because we don't publish something in the paper, it doesn't mean we haven't read it. Send in your email to online.feedback@theguardian.com.
Despite a host of coverage of the iPod, nobody quite seems to have hit the limit with coverage of Apple's music player yet... though a few readers did write in to have their say on recent coverage of the great white hope.
Unpleased with the 'pod
Dean Dracknell doesn't sound like a happy bunny. "What people fail to mention about the iPod is how remarkably unreliable it is," he says. "How often it locks up so you have to reset it to get it to work again; how many times you have to reinstall its operating system; or how often it is simply not recognised when you connect it to a PC."
Frank Cookson leaps to the defence of Apple, though, wondering if the phrase "iPod killer" gets bandied around too much. "Every fortnight or so you talk of the end of the iPod," he writes. "It seems every new portable that comes on the market gets the 'iPod killer' treatment."
He wasn't the only one. The assertion that "Creative's hero has been the Zen Micro" didn't go down well with Michael Vallance in Singapore. "Huh? Look at the market and read the numbers," he says, pointing out that Creative's share price has dropped by 35% since January. "Another opportunity for the Guardian to knock Apple," he (probably) sighs.
Any other business
The saga over older surfers continued to rumble on, though a little more slowly than recent weeks. Paul Goossens wrote to tell us that older web users "need to be assured that their computer will be safe from net nasties. ISPs need to realise that their role in shielding customers from security threats is imperative for customer satisfaction and retention."
Meanwhile, Richard Stallman's article on software patents has already drawn some response, including from William Donelson, who told us that he "agrees wholeheartedly". "This should not be allowed to pass, and the Guardian should present more of these articles and the (assuredly feeble) replies from UK ministers."
And finally...
Finally, one of our regular columnists, Dave Birch, got in touch to respond to some previous feedback. Aidan Cunningham wrote that "Birch has come to the conclusion that an iPod is more essential than a mobile phone because he hasn't used all of its features".
The response? "My point was that the features aren't compelling," Dave tells us. Aidan's suggestion - that Dave buy a sleek white object ("a bag of cotton wool") fell on, ahem, deaf ears. "Certainly inexpensive, but doesn't have the latest edition of 'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue', I'm afraid."
And that wraps it up for another week.
Remember: if you've got any questions, queries or points to make about anything you've seen in Online or here on the blog, please email us at online.feedback@theguardian.com, or leave a comment below.
