Results tagged “ipod”

Today John Gruber wrote a small piece about Apple retiring the classic iPod next week.

Dan Frommer wonders whether Apple is set to eliminate the hard-drive based iPod Classic next week. I wouldn't be shocked if they did, but I bet they won't. The iPod Classic is like the Mac Pro -- not something that sells in huge numbers compared to Apple's mass market products, but it fills a lucrative and important niche. Some people really do want 160 GB of music in their pocket.

I count myself among those "some people" and I really hope they don't get rid of it. I love having my entire music collection with me at all times. I never know what I'll be in the mood for on any given day and being able to scroll through everything is so handy.

Now that I think about it, I probably couldn't go back to anything less. Well, I wouldn't want to go back to anything less anyway. Sure I hate having to carry around two gadgets but until Apple make a 160GB iPhone, that's what I'll do.

Yesterday I was listening to my less than ten playlist on my iPod. It's my way of getting caught up on songs that I haven't really listened to all that much. It's fun especially when songs by artists you didn't even remember you had soak your eardrums. If they're tracks from your childhood, the memories come flooding back and you can't help but soak up the nostalgia.

As I listened I started wondering whatever happened to some of these artists. Not in the sense of "where are they now?" because some still make music today. No. More in the sense of "whatever happened to them being good?" kind of thing. They had their golden era and their new material ranges from meh to just a little bit crap.

Prince

Remember when Prince used to be good? No? Never a Prince fan in your youth? Well I was when I was a teenager and saw him twice in concert. Now whenever songs like Raspberry Beret or Little Red Corvette come on the radio I grin and have a bit of a sing along. As you do. My iPod dutifully presented Purple Rain and Sign O' The Times yesterday. Both excellent songs. Classics that I hadn't listened to in years. A stark contrast to his latest song that I had the misfortune to catch on the radio the other day. I think I said "oh dear" out loud and changed to station about half way through.

Erasure

I used to love Erasure. Anything Vince Clarke touched in the 80s (Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure) was something special. At one point they were my favorite group. I had all the abums, singles, and posters on my wall. They were actually the first proper band I saw live when they toured The Innocents album in 1988. As I listened to Leave Me To Bleed yesterday I was like "hello, old friend" as I was instantly transported back to being a kid listening to that album in my bedroom. While they still make albums (twelve studio albums to date), nothing can compare to the first three. I've given their newer albums a try but I don't like them at all.

U2

U2 are an odd beast aren't they? They're still cranking out the albums, playing to record audiences around the world, and are arguably as popular today as they ever were. But I have such a hard time getting into their newer stuff. I've tried. But in all honesty I haven't really been all that into anything they've done since Achtung Baby. In my opinion, their last truly good album. Yesterday A Sort Of Homecoming came on which prompted me to listen to The Unforgettable Fire in it's entirety. Both that album and their followup, The Joshua Tree, are their masterpieces. Truly their golden era.

So, to conclude then.

I dunno, maybe those artists still are good. Maybe it's just that my taste in music has evolved over the years. Sure I still like the older songs but maybe that's because of the nostalgia factor. Because they represent the soundtrack to my childhood. Would I still like those classic songs if I'd never heard of the band before and they released them today? Impossible to say. Would make for an interesting test though.

Now, if you'll excuse me I've got to get back to listening to Iron Maiden's new album.

My iPod goes with me everywhere and I listen to it constantly. Whether it's in the car for the daily commute or at my desk while I'm coding, the vast majority of my music is delivered that way. Those days that I accidentally leave it at home are the bad days, the bleak days of despair, the days that I have to (shudder), listen to the radio.

I'm also a bit partial to statistics about my music listening habits and one of the reasons I love last.fm. Ever since I joined back in 2006 I've scrobbled just about everything I've listened to from both the home "stereo" (these days a MacBook Pro, Bose speakers) and my iPod. But by far, the iPod accounts for the majority.

Last week, like an idiot a true early adopter, I upgraded iTunes to 9.2.1. And that promptly broke the ability to scrobble iPod plays. Bollocks. But, credit where credit is due, last.fm released an update to the client app which fixed the issue nicely. Which is really rather impressive response time.

So now I'm all happy and can breathe again because as any last.fm addict will tell you...

Watch

I think I was one of the few people left on the plant who hadn't seen District 9 yet. And if you're also one of those few, I heartily recommend that you watch it forthwith. One of the best films I've seen in a long time and so well done. Innovative and gripping. One thing is for sure, I'll be on the lookout for anything with Neil Bloomkamp's name on it after this impressive debut.

Listen

You remember the death of my favorite gadget back in September. Since then I've tried to live an iPod-less existence. Which actually meant lugging my laptop around just so I could listen to music. Including some rather dodgy set the laptop on the front seat of the car and connect it to the car stereo shenanigans. (shudder).

Rejoice, for the circle of gadgets is now complete. I have a new trusty iPod. And it goes with me everywhere.

Read

I'm currently juggling two books. You know, as you do.

First up, Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. Some people love to lambaste Brown's writing style. And sure, he's not going to win any awards, but his books keep me entertained. And that's why I read books in the first place.

I'm also laughing and edumacating myself on the finer points of beer by reading The Naked Pint. A thoroughly entertaining read.

Smile

I love getting blast from the past photos. This one is a rather younger me posing (top row, third from the left) for the Cambridgeshire county Rubgy team many many moons ago. Nice facial expression Spencer.

[Moozik: Skinny Puppy - First Aid]

Well, it really hasn't been a good few days for me and Apple hardware. After the iPhone suckery from the weekend, I come home from work yesterday to find my iPod in the full throws of giving up the ghost.

It's stuck in perpetual boot-up hell. Seems to get no further than the Apple symbol, attempts to re-boot itself, and gets stuck again. Rinse, repeat. The hard disk is making an awful click of death sound. Mind you, it's had some serious use so I can't really complain. I think it's my third iPod and I've used it almost every day in the three years I've had it.

I didn't realize how much I've come to depend on it on my daily commute and felt lost without it. Good lord regular terrestrial radio sucks doesn't it? Even NPR was unappealing.

This is one gadget that I cannot be without for very long that's for sure.

[Moozik: Jesus Jones - Blissed]

I just had a mini cleanup of my iTunes library, got rid of some duplicates, songs I didn't even know I had, and albums I'll never listen to. Brought the song count down to 12,475 songs.

Now, some of those songs I've listened to a lot, and listen to all the time...

...and some songs I haven't even listened to once.

So I've decided that it's high time that I at least attempt to listen to those songs that I think I want to keep but for some reason haven't really gotten around to it. Enter iTunes Smart Playlists.

You can create some incredibly powerful playlists this way but sometimes the simplest are the best. Just give me the songs that have a playcount of less than ten.

So that's narrowed it down to 9142 songs. Which I suspect are going to be on heavy rotation for quite some time.

[Moozik:Black Light Burns - I Am Where It Takes Me]

If you're anything like me, before you give someone your iPod, you kind of panic for a second. I mean, what if they see that embarrassing Right Said Fred song? Everyone, and I mean everyone no matter how cool they think their music collection is, has some songs that they'd rather not admit in public that they've listened to.

Of course, with the advent of last.fm, your listening habits can be somewhat more public than they used to be and even if you've now cleaned all evidence of those embarrassing songs from your media player, last.fm still knows all. This morning I was looking at my overall charts and noticed that I've certainly played some, er, interesting songs over the past couple of years. I mean, how did songs by these artists get onto my iPod?

Bee Gees
Bon Jovi
Cher
Kylie Minogue
Mariah Carey
REO Speedwagon
Rod Stewart
Wham

How about you? What skeletons do you have in your iPod closet?