Got myself a sweet little MP3 player, noise-canceling headphones, and a hat.
Today I may eclipse that with style, however. Apple just announced that it is shipping Intel-based machines starting today. That means users of Jer’s Novel Writer will be buying them. That means JNW needs to work on them. That means I need to be able to test JNW on them. And that, in turn, means I need to buy one, and they’ll be a heck of a lot cheaper here than in Europe.
We’ll see.
Where did you learn to rationalize a new computer purchase that way??
A chip off the old block.
What’s the diff between your ipod and the mp3 player? Also, how were you playing the ipod thru your car radio?
We got Brad a Sony MP3 player, 1 GB for Christmas. We told him before he broke into the case if he wanted to upgrade to more memory, he could return the Sony ($140) and throw in his own money to make up any difference. He set about researching. 2 GB Nano $200: just $50 more for twice the songs. 4 GB Nano $250: and just another $50 to double again. Then he saw that the 30GB video iPod was $300, and that was it. He gathered all his Christmas money and some savings and bought the video iPod. I think he was honestly shopping by the best GB/$ ratio; I don’t think he’s old enough yet to have mastered rationalizing the coolest technology/premier label purchase.
One unintended benefit of going with 30GB is that he loaded his meager CD collection in a flash, and had to resort to my CD library. So he is getting indoctrinated with my taste in music as never before. While he hasn’t uploaded my Coltrane or Armstrong just yet, he did come to me this morning and admit REM was a lot better than he originally thought. And that, as any parent will tell you, was music to this father’s ears.
It’s interesting what Gerald has on his iPod — the Eagles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Enya, Jimmy Buffett (of course), Yo Yo Ma, Alan Jackson … and, yes, he does have at least one Coltrane album on there.
The purchase of a new laptop is not rationalization at all, my old road warrior is doing just fine, and has a few years left in it. It’s the new chip, not the old block. The binary code for intel is fundamentally different, and there are even a couple of different rules about how the language itself compiles. I quite simply can’t support the new chip without owning one.
For MP3, I went nano. I don’t need more than a thousand songs on the pod at any given time, and the long battery life (no moving parts) sold me.
Doug (10.5 years old) is the Classic Rock (70’s) guru, while Brad is the Alternative Rock headbanger. (This assessment made by their favored radio stations when they get in the car. Alas, my NPR stands nary the chance.) They both got to where they are through their father’s predilection for 80’s new wave.
I drooled over the nano in the presence of Santa several times. By the time he realized he needed to go Christmas shopping, he couldn’t find one. (He neglected to check the Apple store, since he doesn’t like the new mall.) So I got the only thing he could find – the 60 gig video behemouth. I have enough tunes to fill it, but lord, it will take me forever, and frankly, I don’t like some of it all that much.
Actually, I’m looking at the purchase of a new laptop myself … the old one is very old, and MS won’t let me install system upgrades — never mind that I have the original sticker with the holograms, the serial number has been reported stolen.
So the laptop has problems with wireless access to secure, encrypted password sites. It doesn’t have a problem with the Flying J Travel Center, but it can’t cope with TVI’s more sophisticated system.
Asus! For those above the Mac, there is Asus.
I don’t have enya, but I do have Nirvana.
Gerald, are you sure you don’t have enya? She’s required listening for sailors!