iPod nano

I'm an unapologetic fanboy of most things Apple. My addiction began with the procurement of 17" iMac and 2nd Generation iPod in 2002... and that blossomed into a full blown obsession with a strange rash of Apple product purchases.

1.) Apple (Newton) eMate in October of 2002. After reading an article in Wired Magazine about the the Newton and their cult like following. I picked up used eMate from a school teacher in Florida for 40 dollars on eBay. I hoped to use the Newton to write short stories and flush out columns while away from home, but ran into some difficulties transferring materials I created on it to my iMac. There's been some advancements in having eMates/Newtons sync up with OSX but never explored the options because of my next Apple purchase.

2.) Indigo iBook Clamshell: This lappy literally fell on my laps in November of 2002. I was very frustrated with purchase of my eMate the month before... and commented this to a friend in Ohio. He happened to know a Student that wanted to shell her Indigo iBook after securing a newer Snow iBook. I asked how much she wanted for it... and $300.00 later I became the owner of my 3rd Apple product (well... 4th if you count the iPod) in 3 months.



At this point... it got so bad that friends teased me for taking in Apple products like some people take in stray pets.

3.) Powerbook Duo: January 2003 / $10.00. This purchase (in retrospect) was really stupid. My goal was to secure a mac that had a serial port that could Apple Talk with my eMate. What I neglected to do... was

A.) confirm that the Duo having a proper serial port to talk to the eMate - it doesn't
B.) confirm it having a 3.25" floppy drive. - it doesn't

I learned a lot about the Powerbook Duo (and the history of Mac products for that matter) after the silly purchase but it only set me back 10 bucks and I could say in passing to friends that I owned a Powerbook.

4.) Gen 3 iPod - April 2003: When not collecting Apple products, I get around to spending what little money I have on music. I have well over a Thousand albums and strongly feel that one should own over 800 records before they claim to really know anything about music. Granted its not quantity but QUALITY... but the likely hood of someone investing 800 albums worth to bad music is pretty rare.

The Gen 3 iPod is the only Apple product that I had a Love/Hate relationship with. It was 15 gigs in size and it set me back a little under $350.00, the night the product was released in April of 2003. My biggest complaint about the iPod 3rd Gen was that it felt cheaply made... I really appreciated that the iPod came with a larger hard drive/cradle/backlit button and a no click interface... but the product felt strange in my hand. When I wasn't fretting about the feel of the iPod in my hand... I spent a silly amount of time ripping CD's into MP3's.

Then came : AAC. Anyone recall this? I can't recall when this happened, but I deleted 17 gigs worth of music so that I could re-rip my entire library into MP4. It was here when I realized that 15+ gigs of music on ones hard drive really takes a bite out of one's computer performance. So much so... that I really began to get selective about what I would import to my hard drive. My listening habits are really strange... and I'd rather not delve into that right now.... but I decided that afternoon that I would never fill my iPod to its complete capacity.

5.) 15" Alu Powerbook - September 29th 2003: The date of purchase has nothing to do with the name of the website/blog or my handle. It happens to be coincidental.... Reason for me upgrading my lappy: 800x600 wasn't cutting it for freelance assignments I was taking up at the time.

6.) 20" iMac G5 - September 2004 - This purchase isn't a personal one.... but I got work to get me a Mac. I'm the only Mac user at the office.

7.) iPod Mini : Sold my iPod Gen 3 in August of 2004 to have some spending money for a trip I planned to San Antonio Texas. I purchased a Blue iPod mini for my Girlfriend for X-Mas and she returned the favor by getting me a Green iPod mini for X-Mas also. Coincidental... but the iPod mini reaffirmed my love for the iPod.

It feels incredible to the touch. The colored aluminum casing (in my opinion) really set this product apart from its bigger brother. The return of the push-center-click wheel made the device warm again. Apple products in general have this feature... its a technology that makes you want to touch it. Thats the reason I purchased a iMac (G4) to begin with. The swivel display blew me away.

8.) iMac Graphite G3 : Secured this iMac in April 2005. I traded a display calibrator (i never used) straight up for it. I hope to use it for a digital jukebox.... but opted to install Ubuntu (linux) on it.



9.) iPod nano - ????

iPod nano was announced yesterday and like all Apple products, I tried to dismiss it as a product I really didn't need. Then checked back at the Apple website a good 6 or so times to confirm my dislike. Somewhere around visit number 4... Apple products begin to grow on me. Like the Mac mini for example. I have no need for one... yet, I'd justify the purchase of one if I could score one of the original Apple Studio (flatscreen) 15" displays.

Checked an Apple blog TUAW this evening and read that they were going to have a contest: awarding an iPod nano for anyone willing to write up a piece showcasing 10 entries they dug on their website. I really don't know how they'll select one... but thought a little write up about my history with Apple products would help my chances....


Anyhoo: Top 10 TUAW entries I've read in the past 5 months.

10. iPod nano contest: this entry is #10 simply because it appeared today. It think its great that the weblog is going to give out an iPod nano for a prize.

9. Incase launches new website: recently took a trip to San Antonio and was in the market for a new computer bag for my Powerbook. I was somewhat familiar with them... because I recalled seeing a sleeve they made at the Apple Store. It was an ideal reminder to check out their complete product line before my trip. I ended up going with a Booq bag... but it was cool to have several bags to consider.

8. Happy/Sad Mac Sweater: This story recently got me into some hot water... the other day my better half : Katheryn : said that she would like to crochet me a scarf. I immediately took her up on the offer and then asked if she could incorporate happy/sad mac into the scarf.... this request lead her into a fatwa on doing nice things for me. sigh.

7. Pirates of Silicon Valley took up the movie recommendation a week or so ago when it was released on Netflix. Thought it would be interesting to check out seeing that I read Apple Confidential 2.0 and Revolution: In the Valley over the summer. The film turned out to be a bit of a let down, but TUAW gets big ups for good-looking-out.

6. Comic Life review: this write up was the first time I got a chance to check out TUAW. A friend of mine read the review and forwarded me the link to the TUAW blog. Bookmarked it that morning and have been checking it ever since. Comic Life by the by is an amazing program... I've used it for a few small projects for work & home. Highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't checked it out.

5. iMac G5 repair extension program This post in many ways, is one of the more valuable posts I've ever run across on TUAW. I have a G5 iMac at work and I have a model that qualifies for the extension program. My iMac is working fine at the moment but hearing about the extension was invaluable.

4. Team Banzai Didn't see too many Mac-releated-websites pick up this story... Working for an automotive supplier, its nice to read about Macs & Cars... Summation of the story: Team Banzai developed a program to drive their car remotely using macs. I hope they bring home the prize.

3. Mighty Mouse: Multibutton-esque Mouse: This story is a personal fave because TUAW totally broke the news to me when I arrived at work that morning. At first... I thought it was a funny hoax, then I nearly shat myself after I checked the Apple website. TUAW (imho) had some of the better write-ups on the product in the following days...

2. Fix Your Own Powerbook Batteries This post is an all time fave because it served as a catalyst to have a friend create me a brand new eMate battery pack. I approached my friend Karp (electrical engineer for Denso) at the beginning of the year about helping me (read: have me watch as he works) create eMate batteries. He tentatively agreed... saw this post and hopped on the project like a fat kid on cake. eMate holds a great charge... Still can't get it to talk to another Mac I own tho'.

1. Jobs, Ive take top honors: One of the reasons I *heart* Apple, is because of the industrial hardware design. Ive in my opinion is as instrumental in the return of Apple as is Steve's return to Cupertino. I wonder what awards the iPod nano will bring home next year?

.mCr.