Not sure why it took me so long, considering my love of music and tech, but I just got my first iPod, an 8 GB Nano.
Ok, I truly get it now about Apple. Using iTunes to load the iPod is intuitive and easy. My next computer purchase will be a Macbook, and I suspect I’ll end up like Dave Winer, one of the creators of both blogging and podcasting. A few years back he blogged he was getting a Mac after years of using PCs and Windows, just to see what they’re like. He didn’t appear real convinced there would be much of a difference. Cut to now. A few weeks ago he mentioned his new home network has four Macs (and no Windoze.)
Yeah, I know everyone has said how intuitive the iPod is to use. And it truly is. So is OS X Leopard, no doubt.
(The next step is to hook up the iPod to the home audio and to figure out how to stream from the Net all over the house.)
Aren’t you the guy who switched to Ubuntu?
If you use Kubuntu or another linux running KDE, you can load your music into Amarok, which will also give you streaming internet stations, podcasts, Last.FM. Amarok can access a network drive as the music server (if the drive is shared and mounted), eg., your itunes directory. So, with a wireless lan and a wireless laptop, you now have music in any room.
Plug your stereo amp into the headphone out of your KDE box and you now have a mega-jukebox/internet radio.
Much cheaper than a Mac and runs fine on some six-year-old computer you don’t use any more because it’s “underpowered.”
Thanks for the info. Unfortunately my upgrade to the latest version of Ubuntu bonked completely and after a few days of odd behavior, it won’t even boot, just endless listings of errors on a text screen instead.
I can always run Ubuntu off the Mac using bootcamp or a program like that.
I bought a macbook pro recently and while it costs 3x what I paid for my last laptop several years ago…I think I’m a convert. It’s a well constructed, thought out machine and OS (Leopard). While each has it’s quirks the pluses far outweigh the negatives.
I quite imagine that by the end of 2008 I may well have no machine running microsoft products. I have an old PC desktop that I’ve started playing w/ Ubuntu on. With that and the old laptop turning media/recipe/internet client in the kitchen I’ll be quite happy never going back.
Of course none of this mentions the ipod, which I don’t have. I use my palm TX to carry my life around, but the interface for audio is cruddy compared to the ipod. I don’t see myself buying an ipod (though those new nanos are quite wonderful). Maybe if the 2nd Gen. iphone gets closer to what I want I will be forced to succumb. I’ve held off this long (finances have certainly helped with that), but…
I just wrote about the elegance of the Nano vs the tank-like qualities of the iRiver N320 at my personal blog.
Interesting about the Ubuntu upgrade problem. FWIW, I switched to Kubuntu Gutsy alpha from SuSE 10.2 because SuSE wouldn’t run my hardware. But, the Kubuntu “upgrade” system for the final Gutsy release killed installs on two of my computers. (A third wants to upgrade, but twice burned I’m a bit wary and still with Feisty)
So, switched back to OpenSuSE 10.3, which has solved most of my hardware issues.
While all these reinstalls are a bit of a pain — here is what I went through with a brand-new Vista system:
3 complete reinstalls (including one in which the “reinstall partition” was wiped out, so fortunately I had burned the rescue CDs as my first new-computer act). As far as I have been able to subsequently determine, my crashes were caused by an allegedly Vista compliant version of Zone Alarm. (I’ve switched to the more capable Comodo.) I should also note that I have more recently set up a 64 bit Vista Ultimate machine for another user with no problems, so not every Vista experience is a complete disaster.
But … Vista problems disrupted my ability to do the work necessary in my professional life so badly (as no upgrade has done ever, including in the sad ole’ DOS days), that, yeah, my next computer may be a Mac too. At least, I am truly entertained by the Mac commercials that highlight the rather “alpha-version” behavior of Vista.