My Bliss Machine
I bought my first MP3 player last weekend. It’s an iRiver 899, a physically small (I’d say “cute”) player with one gig of flash memeory that records voice using a built in or external mic, and can record other audio sources via a line in interface. There’s also FM radio, which can be recorded.
I’d waited (and waited…)to buy the perfect MP3 thingie. Should it use a hard disk, or flash? How would I use it, where and why? In an earlier blog entry I described my unhappy experience attempting to use my Tungsten C as an MP3 device. To its credit, my two year old Palm is one fine PDA. But after I added an SD flash card, and installed a couple of (fairly popular) Palm MP3 software packages, I gave up. Both of the Palm MP3 software players more or less worked, but the user interface was very akward for my taste.
What motivated me to spend slightly north of $200 (plus earbuds)? A trip this week where I’d spend four hours airborne(TWICE) not to mention the extra hour or three waiting at the airport waiting in lines.
I chose a flash player because I wanted long battery life, and a small, light device that’s easy to manage. I also required voice recording, since I want to experiment with creating audio for podcasting. I figured the included FM radio was a yawner, but now I understand that having a radio is A Good Thing. It’s a source of random new content when you tire of listening to music and talk audio store don your player.
Why do I call this my Bliss Machine? It’s easy. I listened to several hours of intelligent, engaging content, thanks to Doug Kaye who runs http://www.itconversations.com. I am one of the 0.001 percent of people who buy an MP3 player for talk and podcasts, with music considered merely nice to have.
I didn’t have time to select much music, so right now there’s only Beatles, Benedictine Monk chants and Crosby, Stills and Nash. Get over it.
Why do I claim that a $200 purchase makes me (very) happy? It helped me be un-bored. I read (a lot…) but listening is so… easy and relaxing.
As an unrepentant multitasker, I often listen and read at the same time. So sue me.
Gotta run. I need some Bliss.