iPods - what's the point?

It's all about the equipment

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dogpossum
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#16 Post by dogpossum » Mon Dec 01, 2008 7:58 pm

ipods rock, but I don't use one. I prefer to read when I'm on the bus or train. But, when I was borrowing my partner's, it was great. I'd download podcasts of my favourite radio shows and listen to them on the bus (a great way for me to catch up on programs that directly related to my work but which I couldn't listen to when they were broadcast).

I used to have to spend a long time on buses commuting, and would (in a superb demonstration of hard core nerdery) read Gunther Schuller's book(s) and 'listen along' with my ipod, usually making sure I had all my Ellington, or all my Armstrong or all my Goodman. This was a totally awesome way of 'reading' Schuller - I could listen to the songs he was discussing and see if I could understand the way he read the score/recording. It was so nerdy, but it was absolutely the best way for me to read the book.

I stopped using an ipod when I started riding my bike hardcore - it's dangerous to ride a pushbike and use headphones at the same time on city streets. And then I just forgot to use the ipod generally.

But these days my partner has an ipod touch, and he uses it all the time. He fills it with TV shows, music, his email, the photos he's taken, website content, email, etc etc etc. I have another friend who's an illustrator who's just started some work making comic content for ipod touch(es), utilising the 'interactive' features of the tool - ie the swipe/page turn, etc. My photographer buddies use their ipods as 'folios' to show people their latest pics. And of course, you could use it to listen to music. Or to DJ with while teaching dance classes.

The ipod touch is a fabulous little tool. Its strength lies in its 'convergence' of different media tools - sound, vision, audio-visual, internet, etc. I don't use it because I love to read books and read every spare second of the day (which is probably why I can't keep on top of my music for DJing), but I certainly appreciate the ipod's wonderfulness. As with all technologies (whether we're talking internet, vinyl or pen and paper), the use-value is most important. And use-value is context and individual specific. So, if you can't find 'value' in an ipod (or a pen and paper or a vinyl record), then it's perhaps more to do with your lifestyle or the way you imagine that technology. In themselves, the ipod or a pen and paper are just objects that have no intrinsic value. It's through their use that they become useful or valuable.

... the corollary to this is, of course, that value is limited by imagination or creativity. I hadn't thought about the way the ipod touch's ability to 'know' when you've turned it sideways could be applied to writing a comic. But my illustrator friend was all over that. And I'm still amazed that so few people have thought to listen along with Schuller....
...oh, wait. Actually, that's not so surprising. :D

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GemZombie
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#17 Post by GemZombie » Tue Dec 02, 2008 6:21 am

John, the popularity of iPods has to say something about them, they are immensely popular.

I used to have an iPod that I used primarily for audiobooks. I didn't want to have to burn a CD everytime I wanted to listen to a downloadable (Audible(tm)) book. So I found a way to hook my iPod up to my car radio.

Once that iPod died, I did not replace it, and haven't seen much need for it. Now my cell phone can play mp3s, and I have a tiny bluetooth device where I can listen to them... so I have a decent solution for myself (bluetooth audio quality leave a bit to be desired though).

iPods can be a great way to tune out the distractions around you with good music. Occasionally when I'm travelling to the airport via train to Atlanta I like to listen to music rather than listen to the drone of the train, or the rather obnoxious chatter around me. And they are so small these days that the thought of them being obtrusive is laughable. They are so small that you sometimes have a hard time hitting the small buttons you need to in order to select your music.

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Eyeball
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#18 Post by Eyeball » Fri Dec 05, 2008 11:05 pm

Thx, Jesse.

I understood that they were popular b//c they are everywhere. I just coulnd't figure out why they were so popular and it seems to be because people want the option or feel the need to have their music available to them 24/7....which is something I dont want or really need in my travels in the outside worlds.

If I was doing a lot of long dull trips, yeah, I might enjoy having one on hand, but I don't.

ps -

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Eyeball
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#19 Post by Eyeball » Fri Dec 05, 2008 11:11 pm

dogpossum-

thx for your input, too.

john

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CafeSavoy
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#20 Post by CafeSavoy » Sat Dec 06, 2008 3:13 pm

Eyeball wrote: I just coulnd't figure out why they were so popular -
Now they are targeting your demographic....

Image

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Eyeball
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#21 Post by Eyeball » Sat Dec 06, 2008 6:15 pm

CafeSavoy wrote:
Image
Real or un-real?

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CafeSavoy
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#22 Post by CafeSavoy » Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:37 pm

It's a real ad. It's from some jazz blog.

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dogpossum
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#23 Post by dogpossum » Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:52 pm

Interesting gender stuff. Is there one for old girls? Maybe only boys are into jazz... :wink:

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Eyeball
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#24 Post by Eyeball » Sun Dec 07, 2008 7:46 pm

CafeSavoy wrote:It's a real ad. It's from some jazz blog.
I'd googled it and nothing.

Their concept reminds me of something. Oh, yeah, Radio. Or "Old Times Greatest Hits."

fwiw - until about 10 years ago, we had a big band music station in the LA market. KGRB in West Covina. It wasn't great, but it was better than nothing. And back until recently, the local Pasadena City College station was all 'big bands'.

Radio changed.

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JesseMiner
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#25 Post by JesseMiner » Sun Dec 07, 2008 8:54 pm

Eyeball wrote:
CafeSavoy wrote:It's a real ad. It's from some jazz blog.
I'd googled it and nothing.
Not to savvy with the searching, eh? Past Perfect Collection - Vintage iPod

Pretty cool idea of a preloaded iPod, by the way.

Jesse

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