From Lore Sjöberg at Wired…
I finally bought a proper iPod, the kind that has a screen and comes with a jar of faux-hawk cream.
I already had an iPod shuffle, but I never felt I truly belonged to the International Order of Dancing Silhouettes. It’s one of the first-generation shuffles, the white ones that look like pill cases for hipster septuagenarians, and being a White Shuffler among iPod fans is like showing up at a biker bar with a Harley Hog Cookie Jar under your arm. It doesn’t have the intended effect…
I, like many people, have employed iTunes’ Party Shuffle feature to mixed results. It lulls you into complacency, and just when you’re getting into the groove, it screws with you. Let’s have a quiet string quartet followed by one of Trent Reznor’s crankier works! And then whale song! Hey, did you know you have the Free to Be … You and Me soundtrack? Let’s treat you to a few minutes of Alan Alda singing about estrogen, and then it’s time for the Star Trek sound effects!
Kind of like this recent edition of xkcd. Moving on to some different playlist creating software which didn’t quite do what he had in mind…
I want useful playlists. I want “Tori Amos songs that make a damn lick of sense.” I want “Beck songs where the rhythm track doesn’t sound like he’s throwing Ben Wa balls at an armadillo.” I want “Nick Cave songs that aren’t explicitly about bleeding to death.”
Clearly, amassing this sort of data will require some sort of global network of like-minded individuals, all working for the greater good. Steve Jobs is already halfway to creating a hive mind, and I say it’s time he finished the job.
There’s that Nick Cave song on the X-Files soundtrack… oh wait, it’s called “Red Right Hand.” Nevermind, he’s just asking for way too much! Read the rest of the article at http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/commentary/alttext/2008/03/alttext_0326
I have an iPod that is now considered “classic”, it’s a nano, even. I can’t say I’ve used it in months now that I don’t take the bus or go to the gym to lift. That brings up the inevitable question, should I make sure the need is there before I go ga-ga for the iPod Touch (or iPhone for that matter) or does one assume that the need will be there once I get the cool, shiny thing?
Nicole
Tim
