I Heart Music But...

I recently found out that music grows on you, when I borrowed someone's 5 favourite songs to listen to, while I worked. I did not quite get it the first time I heard the songs. As I listened to them again and again, I found that I liked them. Especially one of the songs. 

They say that the kind of person you are can be determined by the music you listen to. I tried to figure what kind of a person that made him but drew a blank. I have never really had one kind of music I have listened to. Right from listening to the same music that someone else in the family used to listen to (and enjoying them) to following my friends during my growing years, I have never really had a type of music preference. Of course, I have songs that I like and some that I do not but that is about it. That is why the radio works perfectly well for me. Somebody else (the radio jockey) picks a playlist he wants to play from. If it is a call-in program, there are heaps of people making up the playlist for me. If I do not like what they are playing, I can simply switch channels and listen to something else.

My moods also define the kind of music I like. Apparently, being moody and the moods defining music preferences is not a good enough excuse, to tell people that there isn't really one type of music you like. Too bad. They will just have to go without an excuse. I do not have a preference. Period. So, I was quite lost when I received an iPod Nano for my birthday last year. I mean, I loved it! It was my favourite colour and it has a screen too. It looks pretty and it is quite handy. My problem was that I did not quite know what songs to put on it. After a few stressful attempts at trying to pick one playlist or the other and having frustrating moments of not finding the sort of music I wanted to listen to, in my various moods, I decided that I would load the ipod with all sorts of music so that I could pick the songs based on what I felt like listening to. To me, it sounded like a great idea, at the time. Only later did I realize that it is how everyone else does it and I should have done that in the first place.

I have seen people looking at their phones/ipods while listening to music, in trains and buses and wondered why they kept changing their minds and not listen to one playlist. Turns out there is no such thing as one playlist. You fill up the player with thousands of songs that you like. You can fill it up with random songs or ones from other people or just something you have heard somewhere, it does not matter. My theory, that you only need to load it with songs that you really like, was flung out the window, the moment I realized this. Once you have done that, you pick songs that you like as you listen to them, one after another. Now, this is something I find really hard to get. Imagine having to keep choosing songs after each one is over! I like to make a quick list and then just let them play one after another. Having to make a choice again and again would kill me. It would stress me out immensely and take the joy out of listening to music, for me. In fact, I would probably spend more than half my journey on the train trying to pick the song that best suited my mood at the time! How awful would that be?

I guess my biggest problem is that I cannot just listen to music. I can listen to music in the background, while I am doing other things but to just stand or sit and listen to music is something I simply cannot do. I have attempted that in the past and ended up losing myself in a train of thoughts, completely blocking out the music in the bargain. The music player would have long stopped playing and I would have not noticed it at all. So, having to pick a song every 3 minutes or so would never work for me.

So, I stuck with my concept of an auto-scrolling playlist and finally made one, to play in my ipod nano. After having listened to the one fixed playlist for a little while, I got bored. I had to make another one. It was too much hard work and I did not have the time. Thus, the ipod nano was relegated to the background and stayed there for a long while. One day, I decided to get a few songs from a friend who liked 'country music'. I was going to make another attempt at the 'normal' way of listening to music on the ipod. As expected, it did not work for me. The ipod went back to the drawer and has not come out since then.

Yesterday, I got my best friend to list his 5 favourite songs. I have been listening to them since then, along with 5 of my own favourite songs. I would love to have put them in my ipod, to listen to, over the weekend. The only problem with that is that I cannot be bothered with the effort of connecting to a computer, make a list (because inevitably I will try to make a fresh list or organize the music in some way or the other) and refresh the ipod with the new songs. The ipod stayed in it's safe place. In the drawer. For now, online streaming music on my iPad will have to do. Then there is the radio on the iPad.

I'll be a hurricane, ripping up trees... 

iPad 2007 Vs iPad 2010

When the iPad was announced and through the initial days of it's launch, anybody with an opinion about the iPad or Apple wrote a review. Most of them were technical but I managed to find a few reviews which had enough layman English in them for a technically-challenged soul like me to understand. In fact, I wrote a post myself, just to prove to no one in particular that I could. 

While the craze has been subsiding gently, there are still people out there buying iPads. Those who do, or already have, are showing off their prize gadgets, irrespective of what the technophiles opine. No matter what the reviews, Apple has been able to sell their shiny new toy to a fair deal of satisfaction, if reports are to be believed. 

While reading another blog on the internet, I found a link on one of the comments that led me to this piece. A woman's review of an iPad. Why is it special? Why am I stressing on the 'woman'? For one, there is a dearth of posts from women on this topic. For another, this blog solely concentrates on a woman's viewpoint of the iPad. This one is, by far, my favourite write-up on this topic. It is humorous yet all true and meaningful. I found myself nodding at almost every aspect she has covered. I clicked on the links in her post and I did not regret that for a moment. They just add to the fun angle. 

A Woman's iPad Review: It's Not Just The Name That Stinks

She had me, from the word go. First, the title. Bang on. Read the review. There are a few things you simply cannot miss. I will try to point you in that direction here. 

You can give the link about 85% consumer purchases a miss. Make sure you click on the MadTV link, though. It explains the blog-title even better. It is fun. Once you watch the video, you will never be able to hear the word iPad without... umm... I think I should just let you watch it, eh? 

At times she rambles, especially where she is whining about the health hazards to her fingers and palms. I suggest you forgive her for that (she is a woman, remember) and keep reading. I absolutely love the way she ends her blog. You have to give it to her for that! Perfect summary. Well-put. Sort of. I mean, I was really tickled. I wish I could write like her... the title, the links, the post and the ending all tie into each other so well. All that, without deviating from the content and the flavour of humour blended nicely into it. 

The more I read, the more I find that the most exciting thing about the iPad, for me, is reading what everyone has to say about it. I do not think I would every buy one. That said, if you wanted to buy me an iPad...

PS. My Blogger spell-checker, with UK-English option set, does not recognize iPad as a valid dictionary word. Yet.

iPad - My View

There's a fair deal of discussions on Apple's new iPad. After ranting about it on Twitter for a bit, I've decided to move my tuppence worth of opinion to my blog. I'm known to be technically challenged, so this is my 'layman version' of a review, from a layman (woman) who has not seen or touched the iPad (no pun intended).

Frankly, I've seen more of a negative response to Steve Jobs' new gadget, than excitement. I can see why. Touted as a go-between of the Apple Mac and iPhone, I'd have expected it to have some of the best features of both. Days after it's launch, it's still not clear whether it was meant to be a computer or a phone... or just a reader. Brilliant!

It's definitely not a phone. You cannot make calls, cannot SMS (sending text messages via Gtalk or Yahoo does not count - by the way, does iPad allow that) and do all those 'phone'y things. So, it must be a computer.

Ok, let us see.

Cannot multi-task. Whoa whoa whoa!! I love my Nokia 5800 series. I can talk to my friend (speaker-phone), while I send a text to someone, while an email loads in the background. So, the iPhone does not have the provision but wait, the iPad is supposed to better than an iPhone, yeah? Like an engadget review said, "All this power and very little you can do with it at once."

Does not have a USB drive. I need to connect to a PC to download music, photographs. Wait! If the USP of the iPad was the big screen (compared to an iPhone) for better reading, photographs, music, etc, should it not atleast have a provision to download all of these?

No CD drive. Hmm. I can watch videos and listen to music but I need a computer to get them first. I need a PC to even convert my music to a format the iPad will play back for me.

If I need to connect to a PC for everything, why do I need an iPad? It's definitely not compact, so don't try telling me that I can transfer my stuff into the iPad and carry it around.

A good e-book reader, bigger screen, better reading. How about I just plug my computer to a large screen LCD TV, lie in bed with a mug of hot chocolate and read? I like that better. An even bigger screen, even better reading! Alright, alright, it feels like a real book. Still, not enough. I'm a real book reader any day, so I wouldn't want to buy this one, just for the 'real' experience.

Does not support Flash. Somebody's blog I read explains that this was probably intentionally left out and that SJ would come up with a buy-your-pictures-from-the-iStore idea like the iTunes. Until then, what? Did I mention I like free pictures?

No iChat. No comments. But the iPhone has... ok, ok, no comments.

What did I forget? Oh yeah. No camera. Really? Why? The cheapest mobile phones come with a basic camera these days. Laptops don't advertise webcams as a special feature anymore - atleast not as a selling feature - it's just got to be there!

I don't buy that iPad is a hero just because there are customers lined up in front of their stores. Like another fellow-blogger indicated, it appears to be a case of Apple fans shelling out upwards of $500 dollars just so they can say they were one of the first to own one.

It's thin but guess what? Not light. It's tilt response is good. Guess what? My Nokia 5800... Okay, I won't go there again.

All said and done, it's probably not the world's worst bet. I mean, there are some nice things being said about it (even though I can't see it or be convinced). It costs $500 and above. If people are still buying it, either they are excessively rich or see something in it (Tell me! Tell me what you see and please don't say big screen).

If you are planning to buy an iPad and can't decide, here's my verdict. Don't buy it. Just give me the money. I promise you it's money better spent ;-)