iPod Nation

I finally got an iPod. Actually, my wife did. She was expressing her frustration with CD players, so I suggested that she get an MP3 player, instead. To my surprise, she actually did, a 1GB iPod Shuffle. I imported all her CDs, and now she's happy as a clam. (Whatever that means.) And we're sharing it. I'm not big into music (the radio is fine for my musical tastes) but I like talk radio. The problem with listening to radio programs is that I cannot pay attention to them when I have a customer, and in between customers, too often I get ads, boring stuff, or just don't get enough of what they're talking about. I sometimes listen to four radios simultaneously: the 2-way taxi radio (which I'm supposed to listen to at all times), the car stereo (on which I play music for my customers), NPR through the FM receiver on my cell phone in one ear bud, and AM talk on a portable radio in the other. When something interesting comes in on one, I turn down the others.

Plus, some shows come on when I'm sleeping during the day. But on the iPod, I can listen whenever I want, and I can pause the podcasts when I'm talking with a customer. And, of course, I can listen to other podcasts off the Internet. I tried using my cell phone as an MP3 player, but it didn't work well, because it's hard to get them uploaded, the capacity is very limited, and if I actually have to use my phone or get a text message, I have to stop the podcast and then start over from the beginning, with no fast-forward. But the iPod lets me stop and start, and also rewind or fast-forward.

So, I've joined the minions of the iPod Nation, with the white wires coming out of my ears, tuning out the world while trying to stay connected to it.