K-DTB: ALL DON THE BAPTIST, ALL THE TIME

DISCLAIMER: The following post is the result of an old fart discovering modern technology. For those of you under fifty, I realize I sound like a two-year-old discovering that ice-cream tastes real good. Just remember, many of us seasoned citizens have great difficulty mastering buttons that perform more than one function.

I bought an MP-3 player. Not an IPOD mind you; I figured I better break a cheap one before going whole hog. Over the last three years I've thrown away money on "personal" AM/FM radios that only pick up mariachi music (apologies to Gil) I have a nice Diskman but the batteries always die before I finish the workout. Okay, FINE. I broke down and bought the darn thing and I'm instantly in love with it.

WARNING: the following information is for Geezers only; non Geezers skip to next paragraph. The primary reason I was slow to buy this thing is I didn't understand how easy it is to copy CDs onto my computer and then load them to the MP-3, a process known as Syncing. But its a snap. If you are a Geezer faithfully hanging on to your eight track tape deck, waiting for it to make a comeback, give it up. C'mon, take a chance. Its well worth it.

My RCA MP-3 player cost less than $40. It's the size of a credit card and holds like twenty CDs worth of music. REAL IPODs hold a LOT more. It plays for fifteen hours on a single charge. And here's the thing, I only sync music I want to hear. I don't have to listen to the seventeen songs on an album that suck, waiting for the one or two I bought the thing for in the first place. I set my player for shuffle and start walking. Its like listening to the perfect radio station. Every song is something I want to hear. Its even better than satellite radio.

Now I'm saving my pennies for a real IPOD.