IPod

Nano Nano

Our friend from the post below wanted an IPod, onto which to put her 23 CDs of Spanish lessons, since she and her husband are building a place in Argentina. Ever heard of Patagonia? It's like Montana in the southern hemisphere. Mountains. Fly fishing. And Spanish. Necessito el bano? I'll wait. (Don't know how to spell it.)

We shop. She wants a non IPod. I steer her to IPod. Suggest 2 Gig. She opts for 1 Gig. To save $50.

We load 23 CDS into my computer and I discover, to my geeky amazement, that there's a disconnect between the way I think instructions should be written and Apple's. And I thought Apple was the model of simplicity. No, I am.

Back and forth back and forth. As usual (with me) the circumstances aren't clearly covered in the manual. WHAT AM I - MISTER GODDAMN LOOPHOLE? I wrestle with this tiny (nano) sliver of metal, which IS impressively cool.

We get the program to load into my computer, register the IPod, but don't WANT ITunes, since all she wants is the Spanish Speakity CDs on the darn thing. (Yes we do, but we don't realize it.)

But how to get the audio into the IPod? Here I am think all along you send stuff direct, passing through your computer, ripping merrily along. Turns out it's INTO your hard drive, then from there into your IPod. A big duh for - what - 85 million IPoders, but to Me, in my loopy way of thinking, it adds a step. (Now that I've completed the job I GET it, but before then I didn't.) And no, I don't read directions, not enough of them, anyway. I thought Apple meant NO DIRECTIONS. Ha!

So we load the 23 CDs. All 1.2 something Gig of them MP3s. Uh oh. 1 gig IPod.

Back to Best Buy.

Now she decides to get TWO 2 gig IPods, one for her and for her husband. Argentina, you know.

Happily, loading each with - what - 15 or 17 hours of language CDs took less than 5 minutes for both (done at once.)

And I think the IPod is damn cool.

But I don't need one. I don't like the mp3 sound, and don't like headphones.

Technology is really seductive when you want something you don't like.

(Note - I realize you can put better fidelity onto the IPod but then you need better headphones and larger memory and I'll just skip it for now thankyouverymuch!)