Thursday, September 27, 2007

I am so un-hip

I was thinking today that I might want an iPod. Wait, I already have one. Well, I have a shuffle. But it doesn’t have a screen. I think I want a screen. Well, actually, what I want is to be able to make play groups, so that I can categorize my stuff on the iPod and then I can either play everything or I can say, “No, actually, I’m not in the mood for the Gregorian chants today, let’s stick with Celtic Fusion.”

Suddenly it dawned on me that I’m assuming one of the bigger iPods can do that – but I don’t actually know.

I have no iPod knowledge. None. I don’t know what any of them can do, or what the relative merits are of one over the other. I do know that paying $200 for what in my brain is a glorified Walkman (cripes, there I go, dating myself yet again) gives me the heebie-jeebies, but still. Screen and all…

And then, right when I thought I was getting my act together, they throw the ‘Touch’ at me and now I’m completely messed up again. WiFi, in an iPod? Soooooo, I can…surf the Internet…on the WiFi…but… “fees may apply”, so, um…OK, now I’m confused again. Can I actually use this thing, or only at Starbucks? Granted, if Captain Adventure does in fact get placed in preschool I might have a couple hours I could perch in Starbucks to do so, but, uh, well – I’m pretty sure my DSL here at the homestead is faster.

Or is it? I don’t know, how does the WiFi work in one of these things? I don’t know. I have no idea how the technology works, what the platform is, the speed and also whether or not I could, say, read the WSJ Online while sitting in the van waiting for some kid or other to come out and get in the van. (Some kid, any kid, as long as I end up with four – which is a fun game to play at daycare, by the way. “OK, so, I have four carseats, I need four kids…I’ll taaaaaaake…THIS one, and THAT one and…hmm…that one looks a little onery, maybe I’d better take someone else…got anything in the ‘cleans up her own messes’ category lying around?” “MOM-EEE!”)

Anyway. Yes. I am an iPod dufus. And also, I am utterly un-hip.

…maybe I should ask Eldest how these conflabbed dealies work – kids these days, THEY know this stuff…right…?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have a regular iPod with a screen. Apparently it can hold a whole movie though I've never tried. I can't imagine using that little for the internet, it'd be kinda fiddlely.
Can you not load playlists onto your shuffle?

HDW said...

I have an Ipod Video 30GB and the thing is amazing, I got it off of ebay for $129.00 ad LOVE IT. I had the shuffle and thought it was great BUT I wanted to be able to SEE what I was doing. Now this one you can make playlists. What we did was load all of our CD's on it Iall 300 of them) and then you can listen by artist, by album, by genre etc or you can shuffle it. We have 63 days worth of music on ours and it only takes up 2 GB, we have recent pics of the kids so it is a virtual mommy wallet brag book, you can load a movie on it and I have but who in thier right mind (even at 31) wants to watch a dang movie on a screen that it an inch and a half square????? You can put your contacts in it from your computer, you can turn it into a kareoke machine and load the lyrics of the songs into it and then play them on a TV......I don't believe mine goes on line and I think the same probs would be true for that as for watching a movie on it.

21stCenturyMom said...

ha ha ha... I'm laughing at hdw's response just thinking about your brain glazing over.

I have a Nano. I use it to listen to books when I run. I also use it in the car. I'm not a person who wants to walk through life wearing ear buds.

With the WiFi you might use it as a GPS unit in the car and you might, in a fit of desperation, use it to check your mail. You'd probably have to pay a monthly fee that would make ever single internet access cost about 10 bucks - so not worth it.

Shuffles are okay but you can't see the playlist - very annoying.

Get a Nano. You will love it. It will do what you want it to do. That's really all you need to know.

Yarnhog said...

Totally can't help you. I have an iPod of some variety, but I deal with it by telling my husband what songs I want and handing it to him. Somehow it comes back to me with the songs I want, organized in little folders. Couldn't tell you how. I don't even know how an iPod works, much less a husband.

Amy Lane said...

It's no fair...they get CLASSES in it...and what do we get? We get the frickin' bill! My ipod can hold a movie (we keep the Incredibles on it in case we're ever stuck in traffic for forever, and three episodes of Supernatural just in case mom ever needs her estrogen amped for emergencies) and it does have playlists, which I don't use, because Bruce Springsteen doesn't show up on any playlists and I've loaded, like, 8 Bruce cd's on it, so there goes some of my must-hear.

I've got the virtual mommy wallet, too, and actually, it makes a better toy for the little-uns...they will sit and watch your pictures slideshow for HOURS.