MP3s etc.

[gailkate]

I'm thinking that I have to enter the 21st century. I don't have even the most minimal music downloading device. The whole vocabulary of iPods, shuffling and docking stations leaves me cowering behind my old Philco.

So what could I get that's cheap and easy? (This seems to be my standard question - whether it's about vacuum cleaners or cell phones or paint remover.) I see things in ads (aimed largely to kids?) for under a hundred dollars with _G of memory, but don't even know how much memory I might need. And, of course, I haven't a clue about how to use such a thing. There must be a wire that pokes into a little hole, right?

[liriodendron]

I'm probably not much help in this department, but that's never stopped me from weighing in on something before. LOL

I have an iPod, but only because it was part of the deal when I bought my MacBook. At first I had no idea why I needed an iPod, but now I'm not sure how I ever lived without one. I put all of my favorite cds on it (and what a trip down memory lane that was) and I occasionally buy a song from iTunes that I've either heard on the radio or that has somehow filtered back into my consciousness. My middle son has given me an iTunes gift card for the past couple of Christmases and I use it so sparingly that I still have money left today. He is amazed at that fact.

I've also downloaded a number of free podcasts from iTunes - The News From Lake Wobegon; Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me; and Michael Feldman's Whad'ya Know? are three favorites. I have one of those gizmos for the car that goes into the cassette player (which tells you something about the age of my car) and plugs into my iPod, so that I can listen through the car radio speakers. I like to listen to the podcasts on long drives when I get tired of listening to music.

My husband bought me one of those iHome thingies for my birthday last year. I can dock my iPod there to listen to the music without using the earbuds. I generally blast it when no one else is home. It also charges the iPod whenever it is docked, and I think it can be used as an alarm clock, but, of course, that would require knowing how to set the clock, which I've never quite managed to do. Maybe someday I'll read the instruction manual and figure that out.

As for the earbuds, I bought a new set at Brookstone (a splurge) when we flew out to visit my sister a couple of summers ago, since the ones that came with the iPod weren't noise-canceling and I had a hard time hearing the music on the airplane without turning the volume way up. They were also more comfortable and fit my ears better than the ones that came with my iPod.

A word of warning. Our library has a great collection of e-audiobooks that can be downloaded to your computer and then transferred to an MP3 player. Most of them are NOT compatible with an iPod. So, in that sense, buying one of those less expensive players with _G of memory would actually be an preferable, assuming you might want to take advantage of a similar service at your library. The file containing the book self-destructs after the loan period - shades of Mission: Impossible - (well, actually, it becomes unplayable and you then delete it) so you wouldn't need to have a great deal of memory available to be able to enjoy these sorts of audiobooks. I have a friend who commutes by train each day and "reads" a ton of books in this manner.

As for wires poking into holes, my iPod uses a USB port to connect to my MacBook. I would imagine other MP3 players do something similar. This all sounds like something that Thomas would know a great deal about. I hope he weighs in. He was a wealth of information when I bought my digital camera (something else that requires a wire poking into a hole - LOL).

[liriodendron]

Oh, one more thing. I downloaded Yahtzee to my iPod before we flew out to visit my sister and my youngest and I enjoyed playing it when his iPod ran out of battery power (he had downloaded a movie and some t.v. shows, and watching them uses up the battery much more quickly than listening to music). I can't imagine watching a full length movie on that tiny screen, but then young people do a lot of things these days that I can't imagine doing.

[gailkate]

Thank you, Liri, for this thoughtful advice. Just as I suspected, more outlay will be called for if I want to use the thing in more than the basic way. But it's the tip about compatibility and e-books that only you would know and and which is invaluable! I notice you didn't mention sound quality, so I'll hope, too, that Thomas might weigh in. The sound doesn't have to be glorious, but it should be pretty good, or what's the point?

I'm deeply averse to anything called earbuds, but I guess that's something I'll have to learn to adapet to.

[doctork]

I don't have an iPod or similar, but I can't stand things in my ears - most notably an occurrence when I watch a movie on an airplane. On a trans-con I read a book and do crossword puzzles, but those long flights across the oceans, really - you gotta watch the movies.

So I too recommend the noise-canceling version, though I haves them as headphones that go around and cup my ear. Much better, also helpful any time you want to drown out noisy children on the plane, or just don't want to talk to the person next to you.