As I was shopping for Christmas presents last year, I picked up an iPod for myself. Yeah, I bought myself a present. My short-term plan was to get my CD music compiled in one handy device. It’s getting to the point where even CDs are messy.
Then there are the albums from the dark ages, most of which were only played once (recorded to cassette tape) and then put away. My long-term plan includes converting the stacks of vinyl records we own into digital and then into something like, say, an iPod?
In theory, it was a good plan. My iPod of choice was the Classic 120 GB, with more than enough room for my eclectic taste. However, some plans are slow to come to fruition. My new iPod then proceeded to spend the next eight months on my kitchen counter unopened.
I’m no stranger to technology; after all, I’m on the World Wide Web. My kids have had iPods for years, as well as the iPod gadgets like docking stations and car converters. I was amazed at my son’s. We drove all the way from Michigan to San Francisco and never heard the same music twice, with more to spare.
Nor is it a fear of the unknown. I’m pretty handy with gadgets and hook up computers and remote controls with ease. No, it was the amazing lack of documentation in the little box that contained my iPod.
There was just one small slip of paper (in four languages) directing me to a Web site for downloading the software, nothing else. What? No owner’s manual? No basic set-up cheat sheet?
I recently purchased a small Nikon digital camera that contained so much back up material it took me a weekend to decipher. You’d think an iPod would contain a bare amount of information, like on the box perhaps?
A couple of weekends ago, I finally broke down and decided to figure it out. One cannot have an expensive device like an iPod Classic sitting around as a paperweight. It’s just not right.
The software download was easy enough. Depending on your computer and your connection, it can be swift. Through trial and error (and an emergency phone call to the Number 1 son), I was able to figure out how to get the music from my CDs and into the computer.
As far as I can tell, that’s the most time consuming part of the process. Many of the CDs I dug out of dusty boxes in the garage were unlabeled. For these, the software only distinguishes them by track number. With no playlist I had to listen to a lot of tracks to figure out which ones I wanted and which ones I didn’t. Then I went back and labeled everything; not difficult but time consuming.
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Article comments
1 - Clavos
Joanne,
Next time you want to buy some music for your iPod, try Amazon's MP3 download section. They have tens of thousands of titles, and $9.99 is their top price for an album; most titles are much lower. They even have some free stuff, and a monthly list of $5 and under albums.
Nice article, BTW. I always enjoy your pieces.
2 - Joanne Huspek
Thanks, Clav. I figured iTunes had to have competition somewhere, but I'm just getting my feet wet. With only 2% of my space used, I've got a long way to go before I fill it to capacity.