iPod 30 gig says, "Feed me, Seymore!"

Some while ago, my brother and I marveled at the latest advanced in iPods- the sleek 30 gig. Once again, Steve Jobs and company pushed the frontier of multimedia technology. Was it even possible to fill the iPod with 30 gigs of music? What was the point of releasing video technology before the market could supply the demand? That was a rather bold move, or so we thought at the time.

My father scoffed at us. “Why would you ever need to carry so much music at one time? I just don’t get it. I mean… I have 12 of my favorite CD’s set for my drive to work. That is all I ever need. I just don’t see the point.” No matter how much we pleaded our case, there was just no converting my father to the point that we own exponentially more than 12 CD’s.

Well, for all my love of all that is music and technology, I just acquired my first iPod several days ago. It came as an accessory to my first Mac laptop- a Powerbook. So, there came the challenge of filling those 30 gigs to my satisfaction.

It started out simple enough- drop a CD to iTunes, and sync my iPod to update. One at a time? It took me hours just to break my first gig. This baby had another 29 just waiting to be filled! Those first few days stayed away into the late hours of night; waking at the first hint of sunlight just to keep my iPod well fed.

That wasn’t fast enough.

So, my wife figured out a way to network the PC and Powerbook. The effort became a coordination of dropping music to iTunes on both computers, moving the files over to the Mac.

That wasn’t fast enough.

I then began to transfer files over from my wife’s laptop to the Mac.

There wasn’t enough music to keep my iPod fed.

So, I began rooting out various demo CD’s I’ve amassed over the years. I started leeching off various FTP sites. I subscribed to podcasts.

That wasn’t enough.

I’m tired. Physically tired. This iPod feeding frenzy is out of control. I’m at the verge of breaking 8 gigs five days later. There are nearly 1600 songs on my iPod- all of which I would consider essential albums.

There is something gluttonous about all of this.

It’s like inviting hundreds of your most intimate friends and family to your wedding. How do you give them all equal attention? How do you not let some go unnoticed?

Mark this: I have 4.5 days worth of music on my iPod. They don’t make a battery that lasts as long lest I should ever wind up on a deserted isle with nothing by my iPod and earphones. Perhaps they should invent an iSolar Charger for the occasion.

Yet the feeding continues…

Have I become a slave to the device? Is this my soma, my lotus flower? Haven’t enough Sci-Fi authors warned us of this very technological apocalypse?

Maybe I just need some sleep.

Tags: iPod, iTunes, Mac, Powerbook, music