:: To rePod or not to rePod? ::

Tuesday, January 06, 2004

The new iPods mini came out today. Big whoop - they're a little smaller, and nice and cutesy-poo, but $249 gets you 4gb of storage. I'm not all that excited over them. However: their release does make room for a 15gb standard-sized model priced at $299 (why anyone would not spring the extra fitty for more than thrice the storage as the minis is beyond me, but I digress) which is a very attractive price/feature point.

My iPod has gone to pot. The battery, when it decides to charge, rarely lasts more than 90 minutes, it crashes once in a while, the female end of the remote jack shorts out once in a while, and the male end has come apart to reveal exposed wiring. Plus, worst of all, I haven't been able to copy over songs from my pc in a while. Actually, I could rant for quite a while, since I think for the $400 I paid a consumer should get a product that stays in a usable condition for more than 16 months, but that's not what this entry is about.

I have an AmEx gift card which would allow me to purchase the 15gb model, and I'm seriously considering it. Unfortunately what I really wanted to use that card for was to transfer part of the balance to eliminate all my AmEx credit card debt, but of course that isn't allowed, so I'm forced to spend it. Annoyingly, the gift card's one restriction is it cannot be used to purchase airline tickets. I thought about throwing a party, but I don't have the room, and all the good drug dealers take cash only. I thought about buying a better digicam, but when it came down to it I realized I've never needed anything better than the one I already have (a consumer device which has weathered far, far better than the iPod I should add). I thought about buying enlightenment, but it turns out that it can only be achieved through a painstaking inward journey of spiritual exploration and metaphysical atonement, which is on backorder. Basically, paying 1k a month in rent (remind me: I have to write a check for this month's rent) has put me on a budget whereby I'm totally out of practice when it comes to wanting big ticket items, and NYC is such a cash-centric town that the small-ticket items able to be purchased with plastic are few and far between (except for food and liquor, and I spend enough on that already - come on, haven't you seen my crazy photos? I'm like totally wasted in those. And so are my friends. We're so cool. You see those and you're all like "Whooooaaaa!! Crazy party pics!!!").

But I have to buy something, since the value of the card starts to depreciate after a while. Replacing my ailing iPod seems logical, since I can rationalize it as maintenance instead of extravagance. No final decision yet though.

Posted by morland @ 07:14 PM

:: Comments ::

With my iPod, I just completely wiped the drive and repartitioned it, and the unit started liking to copy files again. but it's risky. you might erase everything and then still not be able to put stuff back on it. so watch out.

Posted by: The guy who lives in vail on January 6, 2004 07:30 PM

can a gift card be used to buy women?

Posted by: rob on January 7, 2004 11:58 AM

sometimes if you go into apple and someone of the opposite sex is working and you spend some time chatting them up, they'll replace your ipod for free. no joke, it happened to me. and you don't even have to be attractive, because according to the friendster message i got today from someone i don't know, i'm not very attractive.

Posted by: karen on January 8, 2004 12:51 AM

- Post a comment -

« More work musings | Main | Son of Patriot Act »