iPod turns 5; and a must-hear podcast

Tomorrow, October 23, marks the 5th birthday of one of the most influential gadgets of our time: the iPod. I've owned every generation of iPod since they were first introduced. I bought my first one about a year after they were introduced, and it's been a four-year love affair since. And, like my marriage, I can say with confidence that it's definitely going to last.

Thinking about the iPod's birthday today, I was looking at pictures of my first one (above), and it looks primitive when compared to today's version (below), currently in its fifth generation, and counting.

The iPod has transformed how I listen to my music, how I'm entertained, and how I get my news, too. Lately, with my long commute to Kutztown to work, I've taken up audio books, and they are fantastic. Gone are the days of carrying around thick, heavy books of CDs; it's all in this sleek little box. I take mine with me everywhere - exercising, in the car (I have a docking cradle which transmits what I listen to over the radio - suweet!), to work, everywhere.

Cooler yet is the Podcast - mini audio programs that you can download from iTunes and thousands of other Websites that you can listen to on the go. The latest version of iPod also plays video, so now you can download TV shows and recently Apple announced movies are being rolled out. There's no end in sight to iPod's dominance of the mp3 player medium - here's hoping that the company doesn't get complacent. So far, it hasn't rested on the success of iPods; with the recent announcement that movies will be available for download from its online music store, iPod announced players with bigger hard drives and competitive prices.

Microsoft won the OS war, but Windows was never this cool.

Of course, there are cynics abound who are predicting Apple's iPod will just be a passing fad. Perhaps, but I doubt it. To date, there have been 60 million iPods sold, and 40 million have been bought in the past year. Of course Apple won't keep up that pace of sales growth - eventually, it will probably reach cell phone status, where most people who have one will have one, as an article I read tonight reasons.

But, I doubt there will be a dramatic fall-off. Apple usually finds a way. Here's betting Apple co-founder and CEO Steven Jobs will keep us iPod-ified for years to come. I know I'm a user and fan for the foreseeable future.
Speaking of the iPod, my latest craze associated with it is the podcast. As long as I've owned an iPod, I just never really got into them, until this summer. I'm now addicted. In fact, I have so many podcasts on my player that I'm constantly behind on listening to them all; "podcast guilt," as a former professor of mine labeled it to me a few weeks ago, much to my amusement.

One particular podcast is worth mentioning here - I never miss listening every week. It's one of the most moving series I've heard in a long time. It's called My Cancer, by NPR journalist journalist Leroy Sievers (left).

It's moving, amazing, gut wrenching and heartbreaking. And that was all in the first month I listened to it. It comes out every Thursday or Friday, and every Friday, when I sync my iPod to my computer and update my podcasts, I always wonder, and yes, I'm afraid that Leroy will be gone, and I won't get to hear his podcasts any longer. That's selfish, I know, but the reason I don't want him to die is because he's so inspirational and he sets a good example while facing his own death.

If you are an iPod aficionado, I urge you to listen to Sievers' My Cancer - it will help you appreciate how courageous people who suffer from cancer are, and most of all, it will help you appreciate your own life and how lucky we all are to have our health and to have people who love us.

Thanks for showing us the way, Leroy, and I hope you get well and beat this thing.