OK, confession booth time. I now have a smart phone. Sort of. On the cheap.
It started this summer when I transitioned at work from a desktop PC to an iMac. A pretty silly move for a guy counting the months until retirement, and whose day job involves being the computer-based curriculum coordinator for dozens of faculty (mostly PC users). But it seemed like a good idea at the time. As far as the Mac goes, it was clearly a reasonable move, until I tried to coordinate with my old Palm PDA. No dice. Too old. Too different. Apples and oranges. Pardon the pun.
So, there went my portable calendar and address book, a serious handicap in the aforementioned day job. But I didn’t want to spend the cash for a new PDA and I really didn’t need a smart phone; I had a perfectly good cell phone and couldn’t afford another monthly bill. So I was stuck, until my buddy Steve bailed me out yet again by steering me here, where I picked up a used-in-name-only iPod Touch for $150 directly from Apple. It is the best. I can now sync my calendar and address book, PLUS get all the benefits of an iPhone (except the phone and camera) with ZERO monthly bill both at home and at work (both of which are WiFi hotspots). So, yes I can and do track email on the fly and keep up with the news. But the BEST app hands-down is this one a free app that lets me access live streaming content from hundreds of public radio stations 24/7, with a user-friendly interface that shows me what’s playing wherever, whenever, like the Jazz With Bob Parlocha that I’m listening to right now.
And cool features like a sleep timer and an alarm clock, so that I can drift off and wake-up to the perfect set of tunes. Truly, my one and only app, which reminds me….. enjoy
Posted on January 19th, 2011 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Books/Movies/Podcasts, etc.
Thank you, that was very nice! I’m partial to saxophone, the instrument my husband played. He wooed me with “Harlem Nocturne.”
As for the iPad Touch, I’m pleased you found the very thing you needed. I can’t play that instrument, myself; I’m still nursing along my original click-wheel iPod, loading it with my favorite NPR podcasts and those audiobooks that are sometimes better listened to than read. I think you may have snatched the only $150 iPod Touch; the ones on offer today are $200-299. Thank you for the link, though. Maybe there will be new offerings at lower prices.
Music has a particularly healing role right now. You might enjoy the new kora and cello video I’ve posted at the bottom of ML (Hat tip to JES of Running After My Hat).
And I’m glad for you that retirement is months away. For those who know how to do more with less, retirement rocks!
Hello,
I’m with the Public Radio Player team, and we really appreciate your blog post – it makes us love our jobs even more. In gratitude, can we send you a Public Radio Player tshirt? If so, please email me your mailing address. I’d also love to know what else you’ve been listening to on the Player.
Thanks so much!
Best,
Rekha Murthy
PRX (developer of the Public Radio Player)
http://www.prx.org
Show off! I’m still fumbling around with my generic MP3 player (which was a stretch for an e-luddite like me.) The app sounds cool, but in my cell phone dead zone it probably would just frusterate me.
Thanks to Public Radio for a cool T-shirt!
SADNESS!! An exploding ink pen in the washing machine has left my cool new T-shirt less in than mint condition. “Gloom, despair and agony on me….”
[...] been a nice day here at Public Radio Player headquarters. First, this lovely blog post came to our attention. …The BEST app hands-down is this one a free app that lets me access [...]