“Is That It!?”
It wasn’t so long ago that I stated how I disagreed with putting music onto a computer (it was actually my first post), saying it was a waste of time and not the same as opening a CD or record. For me, the pleasure of music isn’t there with Media Player or whatever.
However, I decided to put all my music onto my computer purely for backup reasons. Should anything ever happen to my CDs, at least I’ll still be able to listen to the tracks. Once I had opened and closed the CD-ROM drive (what seemed like) a million times, it was done and music was at the touch of a button.
After a while, I found I was listening to music more and more using Media Player, simply because of the convenience. My music was always with me, either at home or at work, and I could categorise it anyway I wished. I could create playlists and do all sorts with it. I started to convert…
…I’ve also played around with various types of portable music players, starting with my first Sony Walkman back when I could have been no taller than a grasshopper! When I was at college, I bought a MiniDisc player, and thought they were the best thing since sliced bread. I would never buy music on an MD, but I could create endless compilations, and also make backups of my albums. Fantastic! After a while though, I soon found myself not bothering to make compilations, and the novelty soon wore off.
I have never owned a portable CD player simply because every one I have borrowed or enquired about with friends has skipped, failed or generally been of poor quality. It also meant having to cart around CDs with me which would inevitably get damaged. So portable CD players have never appealed to me.
MP3 Players? Hmmm…
Initially I was interested in these, but only because of the concept and the technology. I had pretty much resigned myself to never being able to enjoy portable music, and so whilst I investigated these new players, I never really envisaged buying one.
But now all my music is on my computer, I can do lots of wonderous things with it. I can create compilations by burning CDs, which can be played in the car and I can convert the tracks into MP3 format. So I got thinking…
…After a while, I learned that the iPod can also be used as a portable hard drive. This caught my attention, primarily for storing photographs taken whilst on holiday. Taking my laptop for the soul purpose of storing pictures doesn’t seem worth the risk, and while there are other devices out there that remove the computer from the equation, it is still one device for one purpose. With the iPod, it is one device for two purposes.
So I started to investigate some more, and the more I did, the more I started to come around to the podding craze that has swept the world. Well, the world surrounding my little bit of it, anyway!
So I bought one, and now I’m slowly converting everything from WMA to MP3. Holy moly it takes its time! But once it’s done, it’s done. And I can listen to music whenever and wherever I wish. I can (when I buy the attachment) move photos from camera to iPod. And I can make everyone who doesn’t own one jealous.
The reason for the title of this post? I opened the box, which is no bigger than a CD case and saw what looked like a bit of embossed plastic on the inside that read, “Do not steal music!” or something similar. I thought to myself, “Yeah yeah, that’s a nice bit of packaging.” Then I realised that the embossed bit of plastic was just the protective sleeve covering the iPod. It is tiny! I mean, think tiny, and then shrink that image some more. It isn’t called ‘Nano’ for no reason!