Technology: Threat or Menace?

[rolanni]

So, who wants to explain to me what, exactly, an IPod is and why “it’s essential” that I have one?

In other news, the deck is roofed; the crew boss is due back on Monday (or Tuesday, or “early in the week”) to measure for the back-splash and install the pesky mini-blinds that refuse to acknowledge my dominion over themselves.  I think we’ll hold off on the ceiling fan; the installation sounds like too much wear-and-tear on everyone at this point.

The house is very slowly coming back into something resembling coherence.  I’m trying to sort out books, music, and knick-knacks that no longer give pleasure rather than mindlessly tossing things back where they were.  This?  Is harder than you might think.

And, yes — we are still working on Dragon Tide, which as some astute readers have noticed, is late.  Our fault entirely, for not completely grokking how much the new order of bidness would affect the old order of bidness.  We have kindly received an extension from Madame the Editor.  And I’m busy cutting-and-pasting, foreshadowing, and laying in the subplot(s).  This?  Is also harder than you might think.

So, in a few minutes, I’m off to the Word Mines.

What’re you doing today that’s fun?

Originally published at Sharon Lee, Writer. You can comment here or there.

Comments

iPxxx What it is and why would _you_ want one.

[samrobinson.livejournal.com]

Depending on which device we're really talking about (IPod Classic, Touch Nano, IPad, IPhone) the reasons may be more or less compelling and certainly different.

In all cases, I'm going to stick to the non-phone, non-computer uses. These are entertainment devices. So the first part of the answer is that you would want them to entertain yourself (entertaining others may be illegal or at the least very difficult). Since they travel well, you would want them so that you will be entertained when you are not where your primary entertainment lives. (Since we know that the primary entertainment is the cats. That's why they are between you and whatever you are trying to look at currently.) This could be a train, riding in a car, or ghu forbid sitting in the waiting room at a medical facility of some sort.

For many of these devices the entertainment will be audio. This pre-supposes that you have loaded them with wonderful audio from either your own collection of audio files (MP3 or WMA format, some of the others like ogg are not supported) or you have purchased audio files via Apple's iTunes which many find convenient and other find abhorrent. For those i-devices that are blessed with video screens (iPod Classic, Touch, Pad, Phone, and I believe some Nanos) you may also download movie or video content. This may involve some jiggery-pokery of a semi-technical nature to get the movie or video converted to something you can use on the i-device. This may also be quasi-legal but we are assured that it is covered under fair use.

A couple of these devices may also function as book readers, I don't know about the Touch, but the iPhone and iPad may be used in this manner.

I will leave aside the desire to be up with the latest trends in geekly fashion as I have in fact met you and don't believe that this is a major consideration in _your_ choice to use these particular devices.

So, if you don't currently have audio entertainment currently available (and I'm reasonably sure you do) or if you wish to purchase a device to have audio, video, and possibly ebooks available to entertain yourself with then you would consider these to potentially be "must have" devices.

I occasionally use my iPod classic to listen to music, it holds my music library. I more frequently use a non-apple device to entertain myself, as it's a better computer (Asus eee Slate). YMMV.