It's for real, now

I went out and got an MP3 player.  Sansa SanDisk 1gb m240 MP3 player, to be precise.

Things I like about it:

No rechargeable battery, good price, not too small, not too big.

Things I’m not sure I’ll like:

It’s not an iPod, what utility I’ll get from iTunes, where I’ll find a replacement for iTunes.

Yes, I really wanted an iPod.  I’m a Macophile.  I’ve always loved Macs and Mac products.  I really want to be able to access the vast library of music from iTunes.  But I’m not interested (yet) in dropping 4 bills on a toy and this was simply better than an iPod Shuffle.  When it comes time to get the best of the best of the best, I’ll drop some coin on a video iPod.  Until then, the choice was pretty clear…

 

I’m unusually excited about getting a gizmo.  I’ve been so anti-music player while running mostly because I can’t really use one on my bike and get rather irritated when people zone out with their own music when they should be paying attention to where THE FREAKIN HELL THEY ARE GOING YOU STUPID INCONSID… (sing the blue bell song…  the best ice cream in the country…  ahh, that’s better), but the fact of the matter is that while I’m out running long runs I just get plain old bored.  Maybe this will help me take my mind off just how much I hate running.  Plus it’s something my wife can use when she’s at the gym and something I can listen to while I’m working in the garage.  I’ve seen a couple of gizmos that I can plug in to listen to the music without earphones, so things will be just fine.  It’s not simply for running, it’s for lots of stuff.

 

As an aside the sales lady at Best Buy was telling me the difference between various players.  When I told her that I preferred one that worked on a AAA battery she said “yea, but that’s going to increase the weight of the device and if you buy the replacement plan we’ll replace the unit if the rechargeable battery dies.”    According to the best scale I own, a AAA battery weighs exactly nothing.  Seriously, who picks up a device and says “nope, too heavy, take out that teeny tiny itty bitty battery… yea, that’s better”.  Besides, the weight difference can’t be that much between the rechargeable battery and the other.

 

Of course, for the extra $20, plus $9.99, you get a brand new player in a year and a half.  Maybe I am the sucker for not getting the rechargeable one.