May 14, 2022 -- the last of the iPods rolls off the line

This post was borrowed off my blog here. But it pertains. Plus there's a hot new illo!

It would be disingenuous not to comment -- Google "Whisky Prajer infernal device" if you need some idea of how long this hate/hate affair has been going on. But Apple has changed the way we listen.  

Here are 5 Apple iPod moments I experienced: 

5) -- Podcasts. They took their very name from Apple. You have your favorites -- please mention them in the comments. Mine include Nalah Ayed's Ideas and Diarmaid MacCulloch's Gifford Lectures Silence in Church History. Professor Ayed's radio show can be easily subscribed to (the Corporation is very friendly!) and it isn't tricky to turn YouTube into sound files -- Google it, or talk to me.

4) -- Playlists. I keep them around long after they've served their earthly purpose. Speaking of which... 

3) -- "Donald and Walter" Okay, this is where Apple's randomizer gets lazy: it would rather play off the six "solo" discs than play anything from the Steely Dan oeuvre. Yet it was The Dan I sang along to when I was "out." You could say (and I do) that Steely Dan -- and my wife -- kept me alive. 

2) -- Nicolas Deletailles. I was probably listening to Bach: 6 Cello Suites when she poked her head in. I had the Blue Box propping open my hotel room door. She said she was looking for her daughter. I took down her particulars, but it was all just a ruse. She was on the lookout for hanky-panky. Between the classical music, the black coffee and Toronto's National Newspaper I'd have done better if I'd hosed the room down with Eau du Sweaty Sock. She left as she came -- daughter-less -- and I was free to enjoy my paper and music until the next ringette game or Boston Pizza, whichever came first.  

1) -- Apple Music. Or Spotify. Or YouTube Music, what-have-you. I have seen Google Play Music go and I have lamented its passing. When it can't be helped I use HDtracks.com and SoundConverter to change them into files I can use. Otherwise I use CDJuicer and rip CDs into mp3 files that confuse these old ears of mine. (Check Google -- you'll see I'm hardly alone.)

  

I listen to the iPod "Classic" and when it finally joins that click-wheel in the sky I'll reach for something just like it -- the Sony Walkman probably. I like the size of it -- big enough for the home stereo and the car -- I like headphones, and I like the GUI. 

Apple has changed the way we listen to everything.