Thursday, October 26, 2006

I got an iPod - what to do with it?

When I told my wife that I wanted an iPod for my birthday or for Christmas, she said "what is an iPod?" My kids said "you never listen to music." I just grinned...little do they know what podcasts and 50s-60s pop music lurk in the bowels of my computer!

The iPod I received over the weekend has 30gB of space in a unit that is like 4 inches long, 2.5 inches wide, and 0.25 inches thick. Isn't that amazing? It will take music .mp3 files, voice .mp3 files, videos, and photos. My kids and grandkids gave me the base unit for the system, which includes a clock, radio, player and charging unit.

To make it work, you have to download the free iTunes software, and then upload your audio files into iTunes. You can use the iTunes web site to buy music. You need to make playlists for the music if you have a lot. You then download the files into the iPod using the USB port connection.

What will I put on it? To start with:

1) My 50s-60s music (I love that stuff!)

2) Weekly Genealogy podcasts from the GenealogyGuys - George Morgan and Drew Smith, plus any other podcasts that strike my fancy.

3) The genealogy presentations recorded at the 2006 FGS conference in Boston, available for download for $1.99 each at www.lulu.com. I bought 6 of them a month ago. I think we will see more of these!

4) Photos of the kids and grandkids for showing anywhere in the world, albeit the visual quality will not be wonderful.

5) Music videos or other videos (like the Cuomo piece mentioned below) that may be available, either free or for a fee.

Besides, its cool...something that Genea-Man needs to have.

Lisa Alzo has a nice article about genealogy audio to put on your digital audio player in a recent Internet Genealogy magazine here, although you have to scroll down to page 55 to read it.

Any other suggestions for audio or video for my iPod?

I love new toys!

1 comment:

Jasia said...

Ooh, Randy. Great toy! I got the same one last year for my birthday and it's definitely not just for the younger generation. I think I have your same music collection on my iPod plus some tunes from the 70s, some smooth jazz, a little classical, and some Polish Christmas carols.

The podcasts haven't worked out so well for me. I can't multi task as well as I used to when I was younger. Listening to people talking means I have to basically just stop whatever else I'm doing to listen, or keep my activity simple. I tried listening while walking on the treadmill but my pace fell off... talking (especially about genealogy) doesn't energize me. I don't have enough time in my day give my undivided attention to podcasts so I don't listen to them often.

I do have one recommendation for you though. If you use Photoshop for photo editing/restoration you should check out the Photoshop TV video podcasts. They are packed full of information and the video views beautifully on the iPod screen.

So since it's not Christmas yet, does that mean it's your birthday? Happy Birthday Randy!