Music on the Go
My History of Portable Music Devices
My History of Portable Music Devices
I have always preferred working out with music especially when it comes to running. Tunes have picked me up when I was lagging, pushed me uphills and quickened my pace. It used to be a real drag to have my music with me, sometimes to the point where I wondered if it was worth the effort.
Remember cassettes?
Heavy and clunky, bad sound and limited amount of music.
Better sound unless it started skipping which it invariably did. Still heavy and clunky.
This was my first MP3 player. It changed everything. I loved it.
I had various MP3 players with various pluses and minuses. Eventually they just stopped working and the software packages were always a bit funky.
Then came another game-changer:
Apple's Shuffle and Itunes
I loved my shuffle. I had to get new ear buds because the ones that came with the player don't stay in one's ears, the ease of use and size were great.
I bought various accessories including a waterproof case with waterproof headphones. Now I could swim laps with music. How awesome is that?
The battery in the Shuffle eventually stopped working. I used it all the time so I didn't think too much of it. So I bought a new one, and all was well. But then the second one died out, a little bit sooner than the first. So I wasn't thrilled with my latest favorite gizmo, but rather than switching to another MP3 player because I had all these accessories and so much music on Itunes, I stayed with the shuffle. Only problem, they "improved" on the Shuffle and came out with the Shuffle 2, which didn't fit into any of the accessories I had. Fine.
I did end up finding a very cool set of headphones that the Shuffle 2 fit into which eliminated the wires.
The Shuffle 2 in its wire-free headphones.
I was hooked again and happy. And then the shuffle died. I bought a new one. It died relatively soon. I had received 2 free ones, one as a gift, one at a raffle. So I wasn't too frustrated when they lived too short of lives. I was wearing them all the time, several hours a day. I was doing a big landscaping project and they helped make the hours and work go by.
But when I went to replace this shuffle, again Apple had "improved" it and came out with a new shuffle.
The blue device was the latest in the Shuffle evolution.
Its controls weren't on the device but in the earphones cable. Again the earphones that came with it kept falling out. Of course I had ear buds that I liked but they didn't have the controls for the shuffle, so I had to buy an adapter that did.
I loved my shuffle. I had to get new ear buds because the ones that came with the player don't stay in one's ears, the ease of use and size were great.
I bought various accessories including a waterproof case with waterproof headphones. Now I could swim laps with music. How awesome is that?
The battery in the Shuffle eventually stopped working. I used it all the time so I didn't think too much of it. So I bought a new one, and all was well. But then the second one died out, a little bit sooner than the first. So I wasn't thrilled with my latest favorite gizmo, but rather than switching to another MP3 player because I had all these accessories and so much music on Itunes, I stayed with the shuffle. Only problem, they "improved" on the Shuffle and came out with the Shuffle 2, which didn't fit into any of the accessories I had. Fine.
I did end up finding a very cool set of headphones that the Shuffle 2 fit into which eliminated the wires.
The Shuffle 2 in its wire-free headphones.
I was hooked again and happy. And then the shuffle died. I bought a new one. It died relatively soon. I had received 2 free ones, one as a gift, one at a raffle. So I wasn't too frustrated when they lived too short of lives. I was wearing them all the time, several hours a day. I was doing a big landscaping project and they helped make the hours and work go by.
But when I went to replace this shuffle, again Apple had "improved" it and came out with a new shuffle.
The blue device was the latest in the Shuffle evolution.
Its controls weren't on the device but in the earphones cable. Again the earphones that came with it kept falling out. Of course I had ear buds that I liked but they didn't have the controls for the shuffle, so I had to buy an adapter that did.
The latest shuffle with its lame earphones, above are the accessories I had to get to make it work for me. Another problem was that I had gotten very used to not messing with wires. Luckily I'm pretty resourceful.
Functional but not at all fashionable. Skye calls it my "geekband"
It was better than nothing, sort of.
Then I found a device that work with my Iphone's Bluetooth system.
This was the best device yet because I could have my phone with me and my music and....
it stopped working after a couple of weeks. I should have returned it and I would have but I lost the receipt or kept forgetting to do it or something of that nature.
So I was back to the geekband.
Until I came upon the updated Sony Walkman at the Expo for the LA Marathon.
Light, easy to use, no wires to bother with and it interfaces easily with Itunes.
Walkman comes full circle, my first and last portable music device. Happy with technology again.
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