It's an iPod world

From the Fitness Center to the President's Courtyard, one music player reigns supreme

September 25, 2006 —

by Brandon Kish

by Brandon Kish

Senior Lindsay Kostus works out in the Ryder Fitness Center on Saturday. Kostus says she exercises several times a week - always with her iPod.

Maybe it's the sleek design. Maybe it's the user-friendly interface. Or maybe people just got sick of carrying around stacks of CDs everywhere.

Whatever the reason, the iPod is one of the most popular devices on the market today.

Sadly, the days of the Walkman are long gone. Those bulky charcoal gray appliances are no longer wanted on the belt loops of America.

Because America has gone digital.

So small that it barely registers as an electronic, the iPod is the MP3 player with benefits that all the kids gotta have. Capable of holding more songs than WIOG plays in a year, iPods are seen tucked into the backpacks of students all across campus.

A walk from biology class in Science East to literature class in Brown Hall does not need to be a mundane hike any longer thanks to the iPod. Now, essentially every moment of the day can have its own soundtrack.

Students can eat waffles and Cap'n Crunch at breakfast to the latest tracks from Queens of the Stone Age. They can study Chaucer while Shakira bounces through their earphones. They can even sleep and not miss a beat of "Dani California" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Paired with iTunes, the software that provides the fuel, so to speak, an iPod can be a virtually bottomless source of entertainment for anyone who really loves music.

And now that the iTunes companion store offers episodes of television shows and even complete feature films, clever students can even sneak in an episode of Lost during a boring sociology lecture or see what's up with Mowgli in The Jungle Book 2 during that extra long break between classes.

It might seem like getting all these songs and shows and movies from iTunes would empty even the pockets of Scrooge McDuck. But really, 99 cents is roughly what a song would cost if the price of a CD were divided by the number of tracks. And $1.99 for an episode of Prison Break is a bargain.

Plus the iPod and iTunes software (both products of Apple Computer) are compatible with Windows, not just Macs, unlike the poor Walkman, which is not compatible with either.

And the Walkman's scuffed-up bum of a brother, the Discman, has seen better days, too.

While compact discs are still popular, they make bad jogging companions. Due to their inability to hold more than 80 minutes of music and their unfortunate ability to skip easily, compact discs do not make for a very enjoyable run down the rail trail.

So let the CD stay in the car stereo where it belongs. The iPod is the traveling student's music player of choice. Heck, go one further and boot the CD right out of the car and plug in the iPod for that drive to Target, too.

The future is now, and it comes in five colors.

So pick a color, pick a song - pick 500 songs, there is room for them all - and hit the Courtyard of SVSU in style and to the beat of whatever drum sounds right for that walk between classes.