Monday, August 11, 2008
Into RAG's iPod: "Suffragette City
So, this summer, I'm becoming reacquainted with my Ipod. For one thing, I lost my old 30G filled -one several months ago and I purchased an 80G.
The larger capacity made me realize I could be less judicious about what from my rather huge CD collection would go into my Ipod. Furthermore, transferring iTunes from my computer hard drive to an external drive also freed up important computer space (though created a glitch here and there).
In any event, this old DJ is immersing himself into the music again. One ever-expanding playlist is what I call "Love At First Sound." It's the songs that I've loved from the very first minute I heard them. And, when I say "loved", I mean it. These are songs that I would race to crank up the radio when they came on or I would play over and over again when I bought them on record or CD. Or they would become a signature song of mine at college coffee shop parties. They span the spectrum from '60s rock to '70s pop to heavy metal to disco to punk to New Wave to hip-hop and more.
Some are from childhood, many from high school and college, but there are couple from just the last decade. Most of them are uptempo, but a few are a bit slower or mellower. Some were huge hits, but a few qualify as obscure. Right now, the list is at 38, but it will grow as more come to mind.
Anyway, I decided to share some of my all-time faves on a regular basis here at RT, ably assisted with the sizeable collection that is YouTube.
We begin, for no particular reason, with my all-time favorite Bowie tune. I first heard this at St. John's College, though I don't remember if it was hearing it in a dorm or at a coffee shop party. The best way to hear this song, of course, is on the The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars album, just for the great contrast and shift from the mid-tempo title track, "Ziggy Stardust" and the guitar-driven frenzy of this song:
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The larger capacity made me realize I could be less judicious about what from my rather huge CD collection would go into my Ipod. Furthermore, transferring iTunes from my computer hard drive to an external drive also freed up important computer space (though created a glitch here and there).
In any event, this old DJ is immersing himself into the music again. One ever-expanding playlist is what I call "Love At First Sound." It's the songs that I've loved from the very first minute I heard them. And, when I say "loved", I mean it. These are songs that I would race to crank up the radio when they came on or I would play over and over again when I bought them on record or CD. Or they would become a signature song of mine at college coffee shop parties. They span the spectrum from '60s rock to '70s pop to heavy metal to disco to punk to New Wave to hip-hop and more.
Some are from childhood, many from high school and college, but there are couple from just the last decade. Most of them are uptempo, but a few are a bit slower or mellower. Some were huge hits, but a few qualify as obscure. Right now, the list is at 38, but it will grow as more come to mind.
Anyway, I decided to share some of my all-time faves on a regular basis here at RT, ably assisted with the sizeable collection that is YouTube.
We begin, for no particular reason, with my all-time favorite Bowie tune. I first heard this at St. John's College, though I don't remember if it was hearing it in a dorm or at a coffee shop party. The best way to hear this song, of course, is on the The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars album, just for the great contrast and shift from the mid-tempo title track, "Ziggy Stardust" and the guitar-driven frenzy of this song:
Labels: David Bowie, Ipod, music
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Cheating on My Palm
Madscribe beat me to it on the iPhone front, but I must say that, unlike him, consider me officially seduced by the new product.
Yes, there are certainly caveats -- not the least of which is the price.
However, as an avowed Palm fanatic for nearly ten years (I think the Palm IIIx was my first "real" PDA -- not counting this grey Casio I hauled around in the early '90s) and a Treo owner for three, I'm drooling over Steve Jobs' unveiling of the iPhone at Macworld Tuesday.
If you have the time, sit through Jobs' presentation. The man is a master "performer" on stage. His note-free, passionate, presentation is all the more impressive when one compares it to the Cingular executive who is brought out three-quarters of the way through to wax about the important cooperative venture: He stiffly reads from prepared notes.
Jobs is a rock star who loves being on stage introducing his new material. Why shouldn't he? After all, most tech people (or successful creators in any field), are lucky to come up with one "killer app" in their lifetime -- something that is completely different from anything that preceded it and creates a rabid consumer base. Jobs did the Mac in 1984 and the iPod in 2001. His development of Pixar animation studios in the '90s was, arguably a third. If not, this iPhone certainly is.
I became the proud parent of my first iPod recently -- and, yes, I'm hooked, so that's an initial factor in my iPhone receptiveness. Add to the fact that my recent upgrade to the Palm 680 has left me with a serious case of buyer's remorse -- not enough of an advancement over the 650 (with the exception of memory). The iPhone's elegant design is a thing of beauty, though I instinctively feel weird using my fingers so much on a screen device that I own.
Still, I initially bought a Treo because I hated having to carry around two devices -- a phone and a PDA. Now that I've grown attached to my iPod, I'm again a two device guy once more. The iPhone would bring me back to "one-ness."
As they used to say on Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Resistance is futile; you will be asssimilated." Even with my (relatively) new HP PC, a little voice is beginning to whisper in my ear, "Mac...Mac...Mac..."
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Yes, there are certainly caveats -- not the least of which is the price.
However, as an avowed Palm fanatic for nearly ten years (I think the Palm IIIx was my first "real" PDA -- not counting this grey Casio I hauled around in the early '90s) and a Treo owner for three, I'm drooling over Steve Jobs' unveiling of the iPhone at Macworld Tuesday.
If you have the time, sit through Jobs' presentation. The man is a master "performer" on stage. His note-free, passionate, presentation is all the more impressive when one compares it to the Cingular executive who is brought out three-quarters of the way through to wax about the important cooperative venture: He stiffly reads from prepared notes.
Jobs is a rock star who loves being on stage introducing his new material. Why shouldn't he? After all, most tech people (or successful creators in any field), are lucky to come up with one "killer app" in their lifetime -- something that is completely different from anything that preceded it and creates a rabid consumer base. Jobs did the Mac in 1984 and the iPod in 2001. His development of Pixar animation studios in the '90s was, arguably a third. If not, this iPhone certainly is.
I became the proud parent of my first iPod recently -- and, yes, I'm hooked, so that's an initial factor in my iPhone receptiveness. Add to the fact that my recent upgrade to the Palm 680 has left me with a serious case of buyer's remorse -- not enough of an advancement over the 650 (with the exception of memory). The iPhone's elegant design is a thing of beauty, though I instinctively feel weird using my fingers so much on a screen device that I own.
Still, I initially bought a Treo because I hated having to carry around two devices -- a phone and a PDA. Now that I've grown attached to my iPod, I'm again a two device guy once more. The iPhone would bring me back to "one-ness."
As they used to say on Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Resistance is futile; you will be asssimilated." Even with my (relatively) new HP PC, a little voice is beginning to whisper in my ear, "Mac...Mac...Mac..."
Labels: iPhone, Ipod, Steve Jobs
