I have to admit, my iPod is pretty nifty.
Much like cellular phones, I resisted the lure of an iPod for a very long time. Not MP3s, mind you - I was downloading those back before the RIAA knew what they were. I have my Luddite streak but it's not because I dislike new technologies; it's because I dislike aspects of new technologies. A cellular phone is also a leash. And an iPod is too goddamn trendy.
Apple makes products for the pretentious. This is not to say they don't do a lot of things fantastically well. But their marketing and their design are aimed at people who are severely image-conscious. And I dislike those people. So although iPods and to a lesser extent Apple computers look cool and have many really intelligent features, I avoid them as overpriced and highly correlated with annoying people.
However, I commute between two and two and one half hours a day, and I need something to take my mind off the morons ahead of me. I've been plunking down some serious cash on books on tape, and as my time is increasingly precious I wanted an integrated system I would have to spend as little time configuring and installing as possible. So I threw "iPod" onto my Christmas list.
Only fired it up this weekend. Bought two songs - "Love and Memories" by O.A.R. and "Feel Good" by Gorillaz (which should earn me a derogatory sneer from Harlock, who has much more rarified tastes) - and downloaded one and a quarter hundred other songs from my MP3 collection onto the little bugger.
I must confess, it's fun to play with. Music is one of those things in life that you forget about until you listen to some that you enjoy, at which point you remember how enjoyable it is. Now I need to go through my CDs and plunk down the good tracks from otherwise mediocre albums onto the iPod. I'm looking at you, Tony C and the Truth. Of course, that takes time, but it's doable in small chunks.
Also on my agenda is to get an RSS feed working for Cant. Not that I use RSS, but in the interest of being an anti-Luddite I figure I might as well hop onboard the latest technology bandwagon. Somewhere at least one of our seven or so readers will appreciate it. I've done some research on RSS and am at the "surely it can't be that simple" stage. Next up I will do some coding, after which I will reach the "shit it wasn't that simple I knew it why isn't it working Goddamn it all anyway" stage. But that's later.
For now I'm going to play with my iPod.
- Sun Ra