I am sad to announce that I lost a dear friend today. My iPod, who I affectionately named PseudoPod because he was like an extension of myself, died this morning at approximately 9:30 a.m. I don’t know what happened; he was fine one minute, then just suddenly stopped working after I dropped him on the sidewalk.
R.I.P … od.
It felt strange to leave the house today without headphones in my ears. I am so used to having only sweet sweet music conquering my sense of hearing that the world seemed like a different place; a cacophonous yet strangely quiet place, where cars make weird honking noises before running into you.
I thought it would be nice to enjoy some of the things I’d been missing, like listening to the babbling of a brook, reading on the bus, and the joy of overheard conversations. As I was walking down Richmond, I was behind a young boy, maybe 6 years old, and a man who was at that weird age where you can’t tell if he’s a dad or a grandpa. The boy started holding the man’s hand when they crossed the street. Aww, cute. But then the man turned to the boy and I overheard him say, “don’t hold my hand. People are gonna think you’re gay, or some other kinda weirdo.”
I guess it’s never too early to start kids on strict regimen of bigotry. And maybe overheard conversations are not always a joy.
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Speaking of bigotry, check out the heated debate over at my good frenemy Dani’s blog of horrors.
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Oh and one of the wonderful things about having a blog is that I can rely on what I wrote here, instead of my memory, to know what I was thinking in the past. I got my iPod in September 2006, and my blog archive of that month was pretty much all about the newborn iPod. Apparently I’ve added about 5000 songs to my collection since then. Wow. That’s one reason I’m not too torn up about its death: I needed more storage capacity anyway.
Phronk.com 
Comments
28 responses to “Underheard”
my heart goes out to you over your loss. Sometimes they just stop working. same thing happpened to me. right before a 12 hr flight. longest 1/2 a day of my life.
i bought an iTouch the very next day. Best money i ever spent.
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my heart goes out to you over your loss. Sometimes they just stop working. same thing happpened to me. right before a 12 hr flight. longest 1/2 a day of my life.i bought an iTouch the very next day. Best money i ever spent.
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Eek, that would suck!
I’d like an iPod Touch, except for two things: 1) Not nearly big enough. I need at least 120 gb; 2) No way of controlling it without looking at the screen (or is there? I’ve never actually used one to play music with)
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Eek, that would suck!I’d like an iPod Touch, except for two things: 1) Not nearly big enough. I need at least 120 gb; 2) No way of controlling it without looking at the screen (or is there? I’ve never actually used one to play music with)
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An ipod touch does have it’s draw backs. You will miss the wheel. and you have to unlock the itouch (a drag when yer walking not so bad if yer sitting around) if you want to do anything (like skip a song or move onto another album). to get around that i put together a lot of mixes. i have a walk to work mix. a shut the world out mix (for crowded subway rides). and a mellow mix.
takes a little getting used to but looking at video podcasts is a plus and internet access (spotty sometimes) helps. however yer right not nearly enough memory. a real minus.
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An ipod touch does have it’s draw backs. You will miss the wheel. and you have to unlock the itouch (a drag when yer walking not so bad if yer sitting around) if you want to do anything (like skip a song or move onto another album). to get around that i put together a lot of mixes. i have a walk to work mix. a shut the world out mix (for crowded subway rides). and a mellow mix. takes a little getting used to but looking at video podcasts is a plus and internet access (spotty sometimes) helps. however yer right not nearly enough memory. a real minus.
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ipod deaths are always difficult. i wonder if there are therapists that specialize in loss of material possessions and how to cope. get the classic if you want it just to listen to music! don’t get the touch. if you get a touch you might as well just get an iphone. spoken from someone who had a touch and sold it to buy an iphone!
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ipod deaths are always difficult. i wonder if there are therapists that specialize in loss of material possessions and how to cope. get the classic if you want it just to listen to music! don’t get the touch. if you get a touch you might as well just get an iphone. spoken from someone who had a touch and sold it to buy an iphone!
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I can’t believe that conversation you overheard. That poor child. what a freak that adult was.
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I can’t believe that conversation you overheard. That poor child. what a freak that adult was.
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Wiec?: I would love the ability to browse the internet anywhere there’s wifi, but the inability to use it in a pocket is kinda a dealbreaker for me. 😦
Sarah: Hehe there should be therapists for it. People can get pretty attached to their inanimate objects.
What I think I’ll do is wait until September when they’ll probably release new iPods. Hopefully a new classic with 160gb+ storage (unless they take another step backwards in that area).
Oh but good news everyone! My iPod is still limping along as long as I only put an album or two on at a time and don’t move it too much!
Snooze: Yeah, it’s terrible. I hope the poor kid has someone else in his life who knows better.
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Wiec?: I would love the ability to browse the internet anywhere there’s wifi, but the inability to use it in a pocket is kinda a dealbreaker for me. :(Sarah: Hehe there should be therapists for it. People can get pretty attached to their inanimate objects. What I think I’ll do is wait until September when they’ll probably release new iPods. Hopefully a new classic with 160gb+ storage (unless they take another step backwards in that area).Oh but good news everyone! My iPod is still limping along as long as I only put an album or two on at a time and don’t move it too much!Snooze: Yeah, it’s terrible. I hope the poor kid has someone else in his life who knows better.
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This makes me sad 😦
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This makes me sad 😦
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Very sad Phronk. I feel your pain. Did Psuedopod request cremation or burial?
Stick with the 120 gig though for replacement. The touch is sexy but far too tiny for your vast music collection. You can also consider higher bit rates for transfer. (They really do sound much better with the right headphones.)
Hope your’re back in the saddle soon.
s
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Very sad Phronk. I feel your pain. Did Psuedopod request cremation or burial?Stick with the 120 gig though for replacement. The touch is sexy but far too tiny for your vast music collection. You can also consider higher bit rates for transfer. (They really do sound much better with the right headphones.)Hope your’re back in the saddle soon.s
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I’ve fixed iPods before. Don’t get rid of it!!!
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I’ve fixed iPods before. Don’t get rid of it!!!
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Poor Psuodopod…for all the love he gave you the body isn’t even cold and you are ready to move onto the next shiny model with more storage capacity. But then again I antropomorphize objects to quickly. I still lament the loss of my digipet back in the day.
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Poor Psuodopod…for all the love he gave you the body isn’t even cold and you are ready to move onto the next shiny model with more storage capacity. But then again I antropomorphize objects to quickly. I still lament the loss of my digipet back in the day.
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: )
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: )
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This is a difficult time and I’m thinking of you…and your soon to be zillion GB ipod!
Overheard bits of life are usually so excellent but that’s just wrong!!
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This is a difficult time and I’m thinking of you…and your soon to be zillion GB ipod! Overheard bits of life are usually so excellent but that’s just wrong!!
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I only saw this part in my RSS “I am sad to announce that I lost a dear friend today” and was fully prepared to empathise with you. I am not that sad anymore. jeez.
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I only saw this part in my RSS “I am sad to announce that I lost a dear friend today” and was fully prepared to empathise with you. I am not that sad anymore. jeez.
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Maybe you just told it well, but that was the best father/son story I have ever read.
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Maybe you just told it well, but that was the best father/son story I have ever read.
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