Music Always
Yesterday was a tragic day. The end of an era, so to speak. My iPod of nearly 4 years has passed. There had been signs of impending doom for a while now—skipping songs more frequently, restarting itself at random, steadily reducing battery life, occasional freezing, and even cases of full-blown amnesia—so I wasn’t shocked that it happened. But it all seems so sudden. It was working just fine, and then it froze. After restarting, it made some weird grumbling and grunting-type sounds, and then the display showed the link for iPod support and a hilarious yet sad picture of an iPod with x’s for eyes and a frown. I think it’s time to finally put the poor thing down.
I suppose I can’t complain too much. Most people I know who bought one of the early generations of iPod (mine was a 2nd generation) have long since abandoned them for various reasons. Four years is a very long time for most any hand-held electronic to last.
I’m sure I’ll be buying a new one soon. I’ve been eyeing them for a while now that they have increased the memory so significantly. I filled my 20 gigs up a long time ago, and have to shuffle music around whenever I wanted to add things to my iPod. The color screens and video are also a plus, though I’m mostly just interested in the music. Plus, I supposedly get a small discount if I turn-in what remains of my old one to Apple.
But this interim where I’m without a music player is making me very aware of how much I rely on it. I’m writing this during my commute to lab. I didn’t feel like doing anything intellectually intensive, and if I had my iPod I would probably be listening to music and zoning out. But I don’t, and spacing out without my own personal soundtrack doesn’t seem to work. I can already tell that my long commutes to Berkeley could get excruciating. I also have to plan my working-out schedule around the TV. I’d never get through biking or the elliptical without music and with nothing good to watch.
I’m a bit ashamed of myself and how dependent I’ve become. It’s also clear how spoiled these entertainment-at-your-fingertips tools have made me. I can’t entertain myself anymore? Hmm. Maybe I should wait a little while to buy my new iPod.
I suppose I can’t complain too much. Most people I know who bought one of the early generations of iPod (mine was a 2nd generation) have long since abandoned them for various reasons. Four years is a very long time for most any hand-held electronic to last.
I’m sure I’ll be buying a new one soon. I’ve been eyeing them for a while now that they have increased the memory so significantly. I filled my 20 gigs up a long time ago, and have to shuffle music around whenever I wanted to add things to my iPod. The color screens and video are also a plus, though I’m mostly just interested in the music. Plus, I supposedly get a small discount if I turn-in what remains of my old one to Apple.
But this interim where I’m without a music player is making me very aware of how much I rely on it. I’m writing this during my commute to lab. I didn’t feel like doing anything intellectually intensive, and if I had my iPod I would probably be listening to music and zoning out. But I don’t, and spacing out without my own personal soundtrack doesn’t seem to work. I can already tell that my long commutes to Berkeley could get excruciating. I also have to plan my working-out schedule around the TV. I’d never get through biking or the elliptical without music and with nothing good to watch.
I’m a bit ashamed of myself and how dependent I’ve become. It’s also clear how spoiled these entertainment-at-your-fingertips tools have made me. I can’t entertain myself anymore? Hmm. Maybe I should wait a little while to buy my new iPod.
posted by Amy at 4:37 PM
3 Comments:
Your words resonate deeply...
My over-crammed carry-on bag bent the pin to my dock station in January. Since I was similarly unable to tolerate my [15 minute] bus commute, I immediately bought a $4 generic replacement from Korea. I'm not sure how, or why, but it's been steadily killing my ipod - it can still give it a full charge, but the only way it will interact via iTunes is to delete randomly. So for the past five months, my ipod has been holding 7 songs.
Since I can no longer rely on the ipod to block out the Metallica, I can no longer go to the weight room. My former Muscle Sprouts have become a solid layer of blubber.
So unlike you, I'm neither finding other exercise entertainment solutions, nor reflecting on my life sans-ipod. I'm just withering away.
Oh no!
I agree that gym music is the worst. My gym tends to go for the "lite mix" type of radio, which tries to be inoffensive but pleases no one. Seriously, who legitimately likes that stuff? Swimming would be my only option if it weren't for the individual TVs my school's gym has.
Good luck!
oh man.. its funny because ever since I left school I've never really needed my ipod, though I guess I do use my shuffle for running, but in a world where I travel by car (i.e. the suburban life style) I've found I can very easily survive w/o my ipod.
So I have faith in you, though yeah... working out may be harder to motivate.
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