I'm In Love...

with my iPod Shuffle. Unlike the other iPod doo-dads, the Shuffle is actually ergonomically friendly - that is, the controls make sense. To increase the volume, press up - to decrease, press down. To go forward, press right; backward, press left. Fast-forward, press right and hold. Etc.

The other iPod models were being touted by Apple marketers as some kind of natural wonders in ergonomic design because they used a spin-wheel-type design that I immediately recognized as being completely wacked. It's not because I'm particularly smart or insightful, it's because I'm particularly willing to be skeptical of just about any claim.

As soon as I tried to up the volume on one of those non-Shuffle iPods, I thought, "WTF?" - it made no sense. And then I tried to navigate the menus to find a song I wanted to hear and thought, "WTF?" - it was totally non-intuitive and actually difficult to do - my hand didn't want to do all sorts of crazy twisting the way non-Shuffle iPod designers apparently wanted it to do.

Not trying to hate - I'm just saying you have to really get used to the idea that someone is always trying to sell you a bill of goods, and you need to be highly skeptical of anyone's claims. What works in politics can work in consumerism - be skeptical.

Anyhoo, the lady at the one of 18,000 cafes in my cool neighborhood (Potrero/Mission) asked me what I thought of my iPod shuffle, and I said, "It's the greatest piece of electronic equipment I've ever owned. It's a tremendous boon to my happiness. It's changed my life. Best. Gizmo. Ever." Something to that effect, anyways.

I proceeded to expound on the many ways in which one could profit intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, even physically, from using an iPod. I'd still been revved up after having discovered the evening before the wonders of podcasting - something I'd heard a lot about, but never had much interest in because I didn't own an iPod.

So, it doesn't surprise me to hear that Apple is rockin. I feel like all of ground underneath San Francisco has been elevated an inch or two with the introduction and widespread adoption of the iPod in this fine city.

It wouldn't surprise me if world peace is just around the corner.

UPDATE: My iPod playlist for when I go running - which will happen again, soon, I hope. [To import into iTunes, first right-click and 'Save As...' with link above, then open iTunes and do a File->Import...'.]

Below is just the list of songs for the iPod-less. It is essentially a bunch of songs from the PitchforkMedia Top 50 tunes of 2005, with a few others throw in. I organized it by Artist b/c I thought that might actually be somewhat useful, whereas organizing by song is generally not:

Title                                Artist
Dirty Little Secrets                 The All American Rejects
Rebellion (Lies)                     The Arcade Fire
Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)         The Arcade Fire
Fake Tales Of San Francisco          Arctic Monkeys
Good Weekend                         Art Brut
Sabatoge                             Beastie Boys
No diggety feat. Dr.Dre              Blackstreet
No Ring On These Fingers             The Bravery
Unconditional                        The Bravery
Let The Drummer Kick                 Citizen Cope
Home On Ice                          Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth  Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Tidal Wave                           Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
The Mob Goes Wild                    Clutch
Careful with that Microphone         Clutch
Juggernaut                           Clutch
How Do You Tell Someone              Cowboy Mouth
Anger                                Downset
Sugar, We're Going Down              Fall Out Boy
When I Was A Young Girl              Feist
Do You Want To                       Franz Ferdinand
Hounds of Love - Kate Bush Cover     The Futureheads
Tone Bank Jungle                     Holy Fuck
Mic Check 1,2                        Juelz Santana
Gold Digger                          Kanye West ft Jamie Foxx
Destroy Everything You Touch         Ladytron
Don't Save Us from The Flames        M83
Apply Some Pressure                  Maximo Park
Combat Baby                          Metric
Never Had To knock On Wood           Mighty, Mighty Bosstones
Bombshell                            Operation Ivy
Sound System                         Operation Ivy
Such Great Heights                   The Postal Service
Apprentice Of The Universe           Pure Reason Revolution
Vanilla Sky                          Radiohead
Guerilla Radio                       Rage Against the Machine
drain cosmetics                      Serena Maneesh
selina's melodie fountain            Serena Maneesh
All Been Done Before                 Spider Monkey
I Turn My Camera On                  Spoon
Ageless Beauty                       Stars
Possum Kingdom                       Toadies
Brainless                            The Urge
Love is a number                     White Rose Movement
My Doorbell                          The White Stripes

Note on my hypocrisy: I've been trying to stay away from music that is woman-hating in any way - that is, woman-hating for the express purpose of 'acting hard', but I like rap too much and I'm not quite committed enough to the cause to pull any kind of boycott nonsense just yet. For now, I'll continue - or maybe start? - to criticize this idea that talkin about "bitches and ho's" makes you hard. On the contrary, talkin about "bitches and ho's" makes you soft. That goes for Juelz Santana or any other rapper I listen to.

I mean - think about it. What in the world could possibly make you believe that talkin shit about an entire gender would make you hard? That shit's just stupid. Fun and games are one thing, but the whole hip-hop 'bitch-hatin' thing has gotten way outta control. It needs to stop.

I'm not sayin you need to go all Common/Kanye/Talib, but try to back off the woman-hating. That shit has real-world consequences.