I bought an iPod, just a small one, a Nano. I'm not sure why, probably because it's a neat little device and I was curious. Surely, I'm among the last to discover how superior these little devices are to other forms of portable music. The main thing, of course, is that they're tiny. They come in a little clear plastic box about that's about four times the size of the player, with the little ear buds and the USB chord and instructions all packed neatly inside.
After downloading the iTunes program from Apple, I started transferring all of my MP3s to Michael's iPod. I've made and acquired from various sources about 500, perhaps more, of these. So far I've put about 365 on the iPod. I got the 2GB version, figuring that would be all I needed. In fact, it's probably more than I need.
It took me a while to get the hang of the controls for browsing and volume and so forth. I still haven't created any playlists, so I have only those created automatically by the software. But I'm already hooked. In addition to listening to a lot of music I haven't heard for a while, I've discovered that this thing is great for my exercise. Lately, I'd taken to thinking about all sorts of things from personal finances to news of the day while exercising, primarily taking hour-long walks on a local walking path. But this thing beats thinking all to hell.
Now I have a new routine. I head out with my iPod fired up, start on some portion of the song menu, and just walk along oblivious to just about everything else. I barely acknowledge other walkers. When they seem to be speaking to me, I just nod my head and say hello and keep going my own way. And these walks, which used to seem to take a long time, now flash by in what seems only a few tunes. And with 360 plus tunes (and soon even more) to choose from, all personal favorites, I'm always happy with the choice. But if I want to hear something else, I just click the next selection.
Of course, this gives new meaning to solipsism. I've now effectively shut the rest of the world out. I live in a musical environment completely of my own making. Who needs radio? For someone as naturally reclusive as I am, you might think this was the ideal contraption, but I wonder. I see a trend developing in my own life and in others. With my new DVD recorder/player I've begun building my own collection of favorite movies. Soon I will be able to watch only what I want to watch only when I want to watch it without commercial interruption. It's happening already. When my colleagues at work talk about some new television program, I have to admit that I haven't seen it. I hardly watch network TV anymore. In fact, I don't even subscribe to premium cable. And the only television movies I watch are those on the Turner Classic Movie channel. Sometimes I will watch sports; sometimes news; sometimes PBS programs. But I can see a day when my television is like my iPod, a device for presenting me with my own little virtual world. I'm in total control.
Oh, yes, I still read. But then reading always was a way of escaping into my own virtual world. It's only now that these other media are beginning to catch up.
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