podcastaway

My iPod, Terpsichore, recently succumbed to a grave illness. It started with fainting, freezing spells, becoming gradually more frequent, and soon the sad iPod icon began to appear as well. Eventually, nothing would revive her.

I'm tempted to blame an Edifier iF200 iPod charger and speaker, shown below, which I bought for $36 at Wal-mart a few weeks before my iPod bit it. Whenever I placed Terpsichore on the stand, the Edifier emitted a violent beeping sound and there was an almost palpable sense of gadget revolt and struggle. Of course, it could also be that Terpsichore, nearing her 2nd birthday, was just getting too old to live. Her predecessor, Mrkgnao!, died just before his 1st birthday, luckily qualifying for the Apple warranty.

To the question of whether to replace Terpsichore, I'm sort of ambivalent. These newfangled 80 GB models with video are attractive -- it would be cool to watch some of those video bits that Jason Heath has been posting on Contrabass Conversations lately -- but then again, maybe I could wait a few months and get the next next generation thingamawhatzit. My Inner Luddite seems to be gaining strength, while my desire to walk around with 1,500 albums and a crappy set of earphones to listen to them slowly subsides.

Life without an iPod has been okay so far, though I do miss some of the recordings I only have in digital formats. It gives me time to listen to lots of other things, though -- lately I've been listening to Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, one of the first operas ever written that's still worth hearing.

I realize I'm in a bit of a technological recession lately -- first the car, and now the iPod. What's next to go, you might ask -- cell phone, refrigeration, flushing toilets? I'm not sure, but I'll let you know. Assuming that I'm still blogging, and haven't switched to publishing leaflets.