iPod

I still wonder why I find myself wanting an iPod. I never, ever walk around with music and headphones, even though I own walkman style units and one headphone radio. It's not that I am ethically opposed to this practice, it's just not something I do. When I ride my bike by myself, I don't as I want to pay attention to traffic instead of the music or book on tape.

Competing hd based portables also are interesting, but don't have quite the same desire or longing associated with them.

I keep asking fellow co-workers why I want to buy this device. Most of the answers lead to simple "gotta have the latest" gadget mania. I do have a little case of "gadget-itis", which perhaps has been somewhat unfulfilled lately.

The most compelling reason so far is the following. Given the fact I like to listen to music at work, an ipod would be a good choice for transporting music from home to work. This way I don't have to have digital music reside on corporate resources, even if it was just a CD full of legit MP3's in my cdrom drive.

I see apple sells refurbs. That might be a good approach. At least then I can say "Well, it was a bargain anyway."

On the flip side, eventually there will be a bit more convergence and I'll be able to get a cell phone/music player/pda/gps/still camera/video camera/walkie-talkie w/a cone of silence and a personal firewall that would keep certain noxious people at bay. It's hard for me to concieve of a user interface that would satisfy all these demands. Maybe it will be a belt mounted base unit combined with a bluetooth personal area network.

If one of my two loyal readers bought me one and it showed up in my mailbox, I wouldn't be the least bit offended.