Technology wins, technology losses

I'm not a technology nut by any stretch. Yet, I do like the joys and benefits that certain technologies have brought to my life. For example, armed with a 14.4 modem and a Mac Classic back in 1993, I was an early Internet adopter. It was mostly for browsing on various bulletin boards and for sending both messages and software via a cool tool called zTerm - the web was in its infancy - although I also did a stint on AOL (until I realized how much it was costing me; I ended up taking a hammer to the 3.5" floppy disk that one required to access the system, lest I be tempted to jump back on). I was also one of the first among my friends to have an e-mail address. This facility (although I'm still something of an idiot when it comes actually fixing anybody's computer problems, although I'm usually the first at work to be queried about a glitch with someone's PC) and comfort with technology went a long way when I landed a full-time journalism gig: I was a staff writer (and eventually an editor) at one of the country's leading computer newspapers. (Thankfully I wasn't covering nuts-and-bolts techie stuff, but the business end of the IT world.)

My (marginal) tech savvy also means I'm the first phone call when my mother is experiencing problems with her iMac. Lately it feels I've been on speed dial with her: she's been issues with her e-mail and connecting to the Internet. I think my visit there yesterday should be the last necessary one for the foreseeable future as I installed their new wireless modem and set up their new iBook (which my parents won, if you can believe it; they always seem to be winning things).

The technology I really want to write about, however, is the iPod. I've always been a fan of portable music players. I was one of the first on my block to have a Sony Walkman. (For fear of dating myself, I remember the first time I ever tried a Walkman: at the CNE in the early 80s, just before they went mainstream.) I had my first Walkman in grade 9 (around 1983), and have rarely been without some portable music device since. I went through several Walkmans during high school and university years - I used it pretty much every day, and they'd eventually die - and then into my working life. I finally graduated to a portable CD player at the end of the 90s (a little late, actually). When I lost it on St. Patrick's Day in 2004, I replaced it with my first iPod.

The iPod changed the way I listened to music. I went from being an album snob - essentially listening to every song on an album, and in the order the artist meant you to listen - to embracing the shuffle. This was a big shift for me; after all, I was never one to create "mix" tapes, yet essentially this is what the shuffle function was doing. I came to enjoy it for the novelty alone: it was like listening to the radio, never knowing what song was coming next, yet it was only songs/artists that I liked. (I started to play a game as well, to see if the iPod could "guess" the mood I was in and choose the ideal track for that mood.) I still listen to complete albums/CDs on my kick-ass stereo system (I also still enjoy buying CDs, although it's something I'm doing less of), but the iPod - and shuffling the tunes on it - has become a wonderful complement to my music listening.

The iPod can also be credited for creating the podcast, which is another staple of my listening diet. I bought an iPod nano almost two years ago to exclusively accommodate my podcasts, which I listen to when running. In fact, running without a podcast in my ear (I tend toward the news and political programs) is almost drudgery - in many ways, podcasts can take a big chunk of credit for my good fitness. Yet, the nano (at least the generation I have) has been a terrible machine. I'm already on my third (I have Apple Care, thankfully), and my current one died this weekend. So I'll be back at the Mac store this week to get yet-another replacement.

And, sadly, my white 20GB iPod that I bought back in 2004 has finally played its last tune. It decided on Friday that it no longer wanted to fire up any music - all I got was a pathetic looking empty battery and a message saying I needed to recharge it (even though I had just recharged the night before). As luck (fate?) would have it, Apple was having a one-day sale, so I went to the Apple store after work and replaced my 20GB machine with the 120GB "classic" iPod. I'm loading it up as I write this - it's taken a few hours to transfer nearly 5000 songs. Because I'll have about 100GB more to play with, I'm going to be spending the next couple of weeks exploring new music by taking out a slew of CDs from the library and loading them on the new machine. Exciting musical days for me! )Naturally I take any and all music recommendations.) And because it plays video, I'll be exploring some video podcasts.

New horizons.

Listening to: Best of Bud Powell on Verve, Nick Drake's Bryter Layter, Kevin Drew's Spirit If...
Watching: Quantum of Solace (B-level Bond, but Dan Craig's remarkable remake of the Bond character, not to mention his chemistry with Judi Dench's M, made it fun), Douglas Sirk's Imitation of Life (hope to watch it tonight), the rain/snow outside my window
Reading: V.S. Naipaul's A House for Mr. Biswas (I keep hearing about this fabulous new biography on him, and figured now is a good a time as any to read him), Doris Kearns Goodwin's No Ordinary Time (bio on Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt)