New iPod

I’ve been a late adopter of many things. I didn’t have a DVD player until 2003. I didn’t have a CD burner until 2005. I didn’t even have a personal music player (iPod) until last year.

Having an iPod changed the way I thought about my music. Instead of compiling anywhere from 10-20 tracks on a CD, I had my entire music collection at my beacon call.

There were also many perquisites that were totally unnecessary, but at the same time, value-added. For example: the ability to play videos, play games, view pictures and play video podcasts. I even transcribed the entire New Testament of the Bible to work with the Notes widget (available to anyone who requests it).

Sadly, recently, my 5^th gen iPod grew legs and walked out of my life. I was sad. I retraced my steps and rummaged through everything in my house, office and car and still no 5^th gen iPod Video.

But where some see an utter loss, I saw an opportunity. The small 30GB of storage wasn’t enough to hold my rather large collection of music. I had to pick and choose what I wanted to sync in iTunes. It was a bit of a hassle. I had to do with out some of the extras in order to accommodate the majority of my music collection.

After it was deemed a vain endeavor to find my lost iPod, I got on eBay and had a look at what was available. I really couldn’t see spending $150 for what I had before. That would be insane. The 5^th Gen iPod Videos were notorious for having a screen that would scratch with a fingernail. Getting a used one would be asking for disappointment.

Then I found an 80GB iPod Classic for only $25 more. Hmmm interesting. It came with the USB cable, new earbuds and the satisfaction of knowing that it had the new version of the iPod firmware. *bling*

So I forked-over $175 out of the $300 that was bestowed upon me by George W. (God bless America) and in 3 days, I had my “new” iPod. It was in really good condition for being used.

I know that this model of iPod has been out for a while now. But like I said, I’m late to catch-on to things.

I’m really impressed with all of the eyecandy. The podcasts now have their iTunes static art next to the podcast name. Cover flow was a feature that I was amused by for about a half hour and then I was over it. The random artwork in the root directory is entertaining but really not a plus.

I’ll give it to Apple on this one. They really improved on the amount of whitespace that is on the screen. Also, in the week since getting it, I haven’t seen my battery level drop from full. And another plus is the time it takes to return from standby. I hated having to wait for the white apple to go away to play my music on the old model. It’s as if they took a 5^th gen iPod and took away all of the little things that annoyed the hell out of me.

It does everything I want it to. I have my whole music and photo collections on it along with a movie and a ton of podcasts and it isn't anywhere near full. In all, I give my new iPod an 8 out of 10.