My iPod recently gave up the ghost, only to come back and haunt me like a shiny white specter of lickable technology. The hard drive wouldn’t spin up, so I figured what the heck, wound up, and gave it a great big hard smack against the wall (no kidding, I really whacked the thing). It started working again! It’s been a couple of months now and the little beauty just won’t die. I love it!
I’m updating my podcasts on it right now. Podcasts are pretty much the only thing I use the iPod for, but I REALLY use it a lot. I’ve gone through probably 1000+ hours of podcasts on the thing. Right now I have 655 separate casts (about a dozen different shows) and, if I started right now, I wouldn’t be finished listening to them all for 13.9 days. I tend to catch up on a bunch of them when I’m out woodworking in the garage, then I’ll get busy in the studio for weeks on end and not listen to many. There was a time about 18 months ago, right after I finished the studio build, where I was completely out of podcasts to listen to. Now I’m positively drowning in them.
I love the iPod, and I love the idea of podcasts. That I can pick from a buffet of great tech, science, educational, current event, and other podcasts by really great hosts and listen to them while I work, drive, mow the lawn, or just walk around Home Depot, is a wonderful thing. I feel like I’m back in school, but I get to study the courses that I’m really interested in. It makes me even more jealous of my time and more willing to focus on stuff that really matters to me.
Anyway, if you do a lot of busywork, I’d highly recommend checking out the iTunes music store’s massive collection of free podcasts. I think you’ll find a lot of stuff to interest you.
Oh, and thanks to Tim again for selling me this little gem several years ago. It’s been a great companion.
Cue “the more you know” music.