Me and My iPod

Last July I bought an iPod. I was not caught up in the iPod craze. I
had no desire to pay 99 cents and download songs from the iTunes Music
Store. My reason for buying the iPod was that it seemed to be the
cheapest device available to use to back up photos from my digital
camera while traveling. I bought the little photo adapter and tested
the picture transfer from my camera to the iPod. It worked quite well.

When I installed the iPod software on my computer, I was forced to
install iTunes. I had heard about podcasts in the news. For the most
part they are free. There is a section in the iTunes Music Store that
allows you to subscribe to podcasts which can be transferred to the
iPod. I decided to sample a few. I soon began to find links to
podcasts on all of the major news sites such as CNN, CBS, MSNBC, ABC,
PBS and NPR. I learned how to copy and paste the podcast URL's into
iTunes and subscribe through the advanced features. I also found
podcasts for a number of technology programs from CNET and Leo
LaPorte, who used to host Call for Help on Tech TV. Rick Steves, who
has a travel show on PBS, also has a podcast that I like.

Now I listen to podcasts all of the time. I found that I could attach
my iPod to my Bose Wave Radio that I have in my bedroom. If I am
fighting a bout of insomnia, I will listen to the podcasts in the
middle of the night. I take my iPod with me to doctors' offices to
help kill the time while I am waiting. I have been looking for a device
that will allow me to play my iPod through my car's stereo. Acura is
now offering an option with a built in iPod connector in their current
models. I may just wait until I get a new car because the reviews of
the devices that would work with my current car are not encouraging.

This afternoon I will download Meet the Press, Face the Nation and
This Week and create a playlist for the Sunday talk shows. The nice
thing about listening to them on the iPod is that the commercials have
been stripped from them. A show that takes 30 minutes to watch on TV
takes only 20 minutes on the iPod without commercials.

Here is a link to a bigger view of the iTunes screen that shows my
subscribed podcasts: iTunes Screen Capture