I still remember the first time I saw an iPod. It was at an Apple Store, not too long after they had been introduced. Adam said, "Hey, come check out the controls on this thing." I gingerly touched the wheel - it was like no other electronic gadget I'd ever seen. I was a bit scared of it, but then I moved my finger and got the subtle feedback of the sound and sight of scrolling. I spun my finger around that wheel with glee - "This is so cool! I want one." I didn't even care what it did; I just liked the user interface.
I didn't get my iPod until early 2007. It has been making me feel guilty ever since. I spent countless hours loading up all my CD's, then hardly listened to it because I couldn't figure out how to get the right subset of my music on the iPod. The whole reason I got it was that I thought all my music would fit on it. Also, iTunes slowed down my computer and I hate headphones. I had a 6 month old baby, I was going to school, and it was all just too much trouble.
I used it at the gym about 3 times in late 2007, then when we moved from San Diego to Lexington, it disappeared. Adam had been using it in his car when he drove the animals across the country. After staying with friends in Richmond for a couple of weeks, we packed up and I realized that I couldn't find it. I felt so guilty for spending so much money and time and getting almost no use out of the thing.
Six months and another move later, I was purging useless possessions. I threw about 6 computer bags and 12 tote bags in the trash. When Adam got home he said that he liked some of those bags and went through the trash to take back the ones he wanted to keep. One of those bags held my iPod! I was so happy to see it, and yet it took me another 7 months to start using it again.
I'm still completely flummoxed about how to choose which songs to put on the iPod. I'd love to have it rotate my music automatically, but I can't find any way to do that. I don't think I'll ever use it as a portable device. I just can't imagine walking around with cords all over me. I'd get caught on every door knob. I can't even handle purse straps! So I've plugged the iPod into a little radio/iPod speaker system we were given as a gift. At least I have some kind of music in the house now. We sold our old "component" system and speakers when we left Michigan, and the one portable CD player we brought with us broke about a year ago.
I'm hoping that I'll finally learn how to love my iPod. Music is one of the values I had to give up temporarily, partially because of the time required to take care of a baby, but mostly because of our multiple moves. It's hard to explain what it's like to be adding values back into my life, instead of trying as hard as I can to "simplify." There was no sacrifice involved - Samantha, Adam's career, and the adventure of living in three new cities were greater values (although barely, where the moves were concerned). Still, I had to give up a lot of the Little Things. I think it is so important to have both kinds of values in your life: big things like career, family/friends, and personal growth, and little things like a nice set of sharp knives, a good haircut, and trips to the zoo. Music falls somewhere in between for me, and I'm glad to have it back.
To fill the iPod with different songs automatically, here is one solution:
ReplyDelete- Create a Smart Playlist.
- Uncheck the first checkbox.
- Check "Limit to" and enter a number of songs or choose the size of your iPod (e.g. 4GB)
- In the "selected by" drop-down list, choose "least recently played"
- Select "Live updating"
Then, with the iPod connected, select it and click the Music tab. Click "Selected playlists" and choose the smart playlist you created.
When you resync your iPod each time, the songs you've listened to should be replaced.
Mark - Thanks! I've got it set up and I'll see how it works after listening tomorrow. Smart trick!
ReplyDeleteOooh, sharp knives! Call me stupid ;) but I love sharp knives...until I end up inadvertently adding protein to the carrots I'm slicing... :-O
ReplyDeleteI often play music off the ipod while driving my son to school. He'll even request certain songs, though he knows them by some characteristic usually and not by title, which makes it hard if you don't have the context to know which one the "robot song" is ("Satisfaction", by DJ Mystic) or the "storm song", ("Stormcry", by David Arkenstone), though fortunately country music is pretty easy "play mud on the tires, dad, I've got my 4x4 and he wants to listen to mud on the tires".
Wire management -- someone needs to invent a cord that stretches out as needed -- my "good" headphones for exercise have a cord that is about 2 feet too long. Or maybe I just need to switch to something that has a bluetooth headset. Actually, what I really want for exercise is one of the little clip-on ipods...
rootie
ps. thanks for the blog post idea -- "music, the soundtrack of our lives"
Mark's trick does exactly what I wanted. Thanks, Mark!
ReplyDeleteExcellent! Glad to hear it.
ReplyDelete