When my CDs became coasters

Author's Rating:

Pros: Wireless internet, usefulness, apps, music and movies, storage

Cons: Not friendly to all wi-fi, software updates risk erasing apps

The Bottom Line: 
A wonderful piece of technology for anyone who wants to get rid of their CDs and embrace the future of music and movie listening and viewing.

Author's Review
I first discovered the iPod in 2003 on a flight out of Las Vegas.  As my brother and I were headed for different destinations with him heading to San Francisco and I heading to Boston, he whipped out a handy little device called the iPod, which is now known as the iPod Classic.  This remarkable little device had a neat little menu, allowing an assortment of songs in a big library.  Basically, it took out all the busy work of handling CDs.  The iPod was revolutionary in many respects, and I was witnessing this little device whip through a music library that could hold a small store's inventory in the palm of your hand.

I never got one.  One, because I was too cheap and two, I was in a relationship with someone who would scoff at any major purchase I bought for myself.  Thus, I never got one and ended up stockpiling so many CDs over the years that the passenger seat in my car was like a who's who of classic and alternative rock spread all over the seat.  This has happened in just about all of my cars and naturally, I needed to change things up.

So it's winter, 2009 and I'm wandering through my nearby Mac store and leafing through an iPod classic.  I've finally decided to buckle down and get one.  I figured: Screw it!  I'm sick of letting my CDs pile up and I hate burning CDs and I hate the unreliability of them in general.  So I settled on the iPod Classic....until I started talking to people.  It was both with my brother and my friend's encouragement, that they said "Dude, forget the Classic and get yourself a Touch."

"Why?"

"Because it's awesome.  It's got wi-fi."

"But I also want to watch movies on my iPod."

"You can do that with the Touch.  The screen is also bigger." they replied.

Considering I didn't have a laptop computer and did want one.  I did some research and found that the iPod Touch was quite a remarkable little device, even though it had a smaller amount of memory than I might have preferred.  Here was a device that had a larger screen than the Classic in which I could watch movies with ease; it could play music when needed and for me most importantly, it had internet access.  Now I'd be able to go on Facebook, check e-mail or work with any other app I want and I'd get to enjoy it.  So thus, I decided to purchase one, and have never looked back after.

My iPod Touch replaced CDs in general.  What library I did have, I backed up and copied to my Touch.  But what this little device has become, is an extension of my hand and my brain.  I don't know how it was possible to survive without this handy little device.  Upon travelling by plane, it's goodbye portable DVD player and hello iPod Touch.  At the gym, it's goodbye crappy TV and hello iPod Touch.  Whenever I'm in a situation where I'm bored like riding the subway train or dealing with relatives, hello iPod Touch.  This little bugger has gotten me through subway rides, airplane rides, work gigs and whatever else I can possibly think of.  It's handy in a variety of capacities from watching movies, listening to music or playing video games.  To think of where we are now, versus 10 years ago when portable CD players were the standard then, it's quite impressive.

So let me discuss a few things I liked about the iPod Touch and what not....

BATTERY LIFE

I'll get this out of the way and directly say that the battery life kinda sucks.  If you use this thing constantly like myself, charging it daily is a must and unless you want to charge it with your computer and the USB cable provided, you'll want to splurge for the A/C charger.  I say "splurge" because simply put, it's more than what one might want to pay for a cell phone charger about about 30 bucks.  It's a necessary evil.  I purchased a car adaptor made by a third party company that charges the iPod while using it in my car.  There's a battery meter on the iPod but I would suggest downloading one of the free apps from the App Store that will tell you how much battery life you have.  Sadly, I think if I constantly used my iPod in a 2 hour block, the battery would drain out.

SCREEN

It's a small screen.  I'll give you that for a 3.5 inch display.  But the video clarity is unmistakable: it's good.  It's really good.  The screen is clear and wide, allowing you to watch movies, use one of your apps or sift through your music or photo collection.  Remember that this is a little computer, and quite a useful one at that.

LAYOUT

The layout is pretty basic.  Given the new updates, you can now create a personalized desktop background for your iPod, which I have taken advantage.  The layout itself in terms of how apps are spread out, is pretty basic as I said, allowing you to see what you want and remove what you don't want.  There are components however, such as mail or settings that won't be deleted.  They can be moved however.  Apps can be deleted and re-installed, given that you have your own iTunes account, which you need to have, in order to get the apps you want.

The apps are designed enough and each one has it's own individual thing working with it.  You can set up the mail app to tie in with your own personal e-mail, along with a photo album, your videos and your music.  Apple designs the iPod with the basics for what you want, and then you can take it from here with organizing your life.  I use this not only as my MP3 player, my movie viewer and internet browser but also as my own personal organizer.  It's quite helpful.  You can even bookmark websites as apps on your iPod, which I dig.

USE

One thing that I think is a bit of a detriment, is Apple's desire to streamline user friendliness with it's business model.  So if you're expecting an instruction booklet, you're mistaken.  I don't like instruction booklets and even at a young age, I was that person who threw them out.  But they're a good reference to have and if I want to know the instructions, I have to look them up on the Apple website.  The other slight plain is software updates for the iPod.  Perhaps it's user error on my part, but I followed the instructions carefully and twice, have gotten my apps erased on the desktop.  It's some sort of bizarro communication between the iPod and your iTunes.

Now about iTunes, you need to establish an account.  You just do.  If you want to rearrange all your music, build your playlists or your library or add movies, you need to have an iTunes account.  iTunes isn't a difficult program to learn, but it's something you will have to, in order to get familiar with your iPod.

MEMORY

I got the 32GB and feared that wouldn't be enough.  Thankfully it was.  This particular model can store thousands of hours of music and video or photos to your heart's content.  I've got over 1500 songs loaded up, over 100 pics and about 7 movies with more memory left.  This is a nice thing to know.

INTERNET CAPABILITIES

I almost bought the iPod Classic, and I'm sure as hell happy that I did not.  The iPod Touch has wi-fi, which is fantastic if you're in a wireless place like your home or at a Starbucks.  You have internet.  This thing is tremendously helpful to me.  I love having access to the internet, and the apps are also tied.  Some don't need a wi-fi connection but e-mail, Facebook and the Akinator game all do need that.  This has replaced a laptop if I just want to peruse the internet.  However be warned, it depends on your wireless signal.  When I tried using it at Candlewood Suites in Times Square, NYC; the connection BLEW!

FINALLY...

Make no bones about it, you'll get a lot of use out of your iPod Touch.  This thing is on me all the time, and I have it everywhere I go.  It's my personal organizer, MP3 player, movie viewer and mini-laptop.  It's incredibly useful.  I listen to music, read comics and go shopping.  You can use this at the gym, at home or while travelling.  There's nothing this little bugger can't do.  It's literally an extension of my brain...but in a good way.