Wednesday, January 18, 2006
iPod: Changing the Way I Work
Two observations (maybe three) about my first two days with the iPod.
First, I've had to change where my mouse plugs in. I had been using the USB port that's at about 3 o'clock on the PowerBook. That happens to be the (high-speed) USB 2.0 port, which is overkill for the mouse, but quite handy for transferring songs to the iPod. So for awhile it was disconnect the mouse, connect the iPod cable, drag tracks from iTunes using the trackpad, then reverse the unplugging and plugging process. Because I've been doing that a lot these past two days, I got sick of it and am now using the 1.0 USB port at 10 o'clock on the side of the case for the mouse and stretching the retractable cord all the way around the back of the laptop. Not incredibly inconvenient, but it feels odd at the moment. (Keeping the USB 2.0 port open will be handy for transferring digital camera pix, too.)
Second, I've stopped using the headphone jack on the side of the PowerBook (9 o'clock if you're making a diagram) to listen to tunes. The iPod goes on the keyboard tray beneath my desktop (also storing some CDs, Altoids, and a couple books). Consequently I'm not futzing with the headphone cord with my left elbow all the time.
(Third, I've transferred 1,451 items (7.88 GB), mostly songs in the past two days. Many, many, many songs had to be ripped from CDs and the PowerBook has an anemic CD/DVD drive (it tops out at 11x; 4-7x is most common). The biggest change the iPod is having on my work -- and it's not really an observation because it's obvious -- is that I'm not getting any done.)
One more thing: If anyone can figure out how to convert the Steve Taylor videos here into iPod video format, I'll owe you a pie (maybe Hostess, maybe Marie Callendar ... who knows?). MPEG Streamclip and iSquint haven't worked for me. If you can do it with Quicktime Pro (or, preferably a free program), lemme know.
First, I've had to change where my mouse plugs in. I had been using the USB port that's at about 3 o'clock on the PowerBook. That happens to be the (high-speed) USB 2.0 port, which is overkill for the mouse, but quite handy for transferring songs to the iPod. So for awhile it was disconnect the mouse, connect the iPod cable, drag tracks from iTunes using the trackpad, then reverse the unplugging and plugging process. Because I've been doing that a lot these past two days, I got sick of it and am now using the 1.0 USB port at 10 o'clock on the side of the case for the mouse and stretching the retractable cord all the way around the back of the laptop. Not incredibly inconvenient, but it feels odd at the moment. (Keeping the USB 2.0 port open will be handy for transferring digital camera pix, too.)
Second, I've stopped using the headphone jack on the side of the PowerBook (9 o'clock if you're making a diagram) to listen to tunes. The iPod goes on the keyboard tray beneath my desktop (also storing some CDs, Altoids, and a couple books). Consequently I'm not futzing with the headphone cord with my left elbow all the time.
(Third, I've transferred 1,451 items (7.88 GB), mostly songs in the past two days. Many, many, many songs had to be ripped from CDs and the PowerBook has an anemic CD/DVD drive (it tops out at 11x; 4-7x is most common). The biggest change the iPod is having on my work -- and it's not really an observation because it's obvious -- is that I'm not getting any done.)
One more thing: If anyone can figure out how to convert the Steve Taylor videos here into iPod video format, I'll owe you a pie (maybe Hostess, maybe Marie Callendar ... who knows?). MPEG Streamclip and iSquint haven't worked for me. If you can do it with Quicktime Pro (or, preferably a free program), lemme know.
Mikesell
