iPods, Nanos, and a Little Bit of WWDC

This weekend we bought our third iPod for the Bookspan house. It’s the fourth we’ve owned, although we really don’t want to start maintaining a collection. I might sell one of the three, so we’ll be back to a humble two iPods for the two adults in the house. Our daughter is just a little too young to be blasting music into her little head.

The first iPod that I purchased was a 2nd generation 5GB that ran on Windows. It came with MusicMatch software (yes, this was pre-iTunes for Windows) and I thought I was slick being one of the first to own such a great digital audio player (DAP). I had that unit for two years until I sold it to purchase the 4th gen iPod: U2 Special Edition.

Yes, I am a U2 addict. And yes, I had to have this exclusive device. What made it special was the engraved signatures from the band, the discount on “The Complete U2” digital library, and the unique two-tone black and red coloring. I then sold the original 5GB on eBay and did pretty well on the sales price given that the 5GB was two years old.

Two years later, I purchased my third iPod—a 5th generation iPod: U2 Special Edition. Yes, I had to have the video version with its exclusive video. I then gave my wife the hand-me-down of the old 4th gen U2 iPod. At first, my wife seemed okay with it, especially since she didn’t use it that often. Then we both started to get back into exercising. And, well, a 4th gen iPod just wouldn’t do.

I went crazy when I purchased the 5th gen iPod. I had to have a Vaja case. I went all-nerd and purchased a red and black case to match the new 5th gen iPod. I highly recommend the Vaja case. The quality of construction combined with the good looks is worth the price.

So this weekend we purchased a 2nd gen 4GB iPod Nano. It’s silver and has a wonderful form factor. We also bought a lanyard to make it easier for running with the Nano (my wife doesn’t like the armband solutions). What will happen to the 4th Gen U2 iPod? It either gets sold or becomes a device for TechTool Protogo. This way, I can recover my machine (given my propensity for stupidity with the Mac) when something goes awry.

I am excited about the next generation of iPods. I foresee a stripped down version of the iPhone with more disk space. I just hope that the functionality is worth the expense. I really hope that there is another U2 edition. In some ways, I am starting a collection.

Okay, enough with the iPod nonsense. Let’s talk WWDC.

This June will be my first time attending WWDC. I am very excited to be participating in the event. I remember the first time I heard about WWDC. It was in May of 1991, when System 7 was launched (if memory serves correctly). At that point in time, I was working for a startup named Salient Software, the makers of DiskDoubler and AutoDoubler.

Now I get to go see the entire hullabaloo about Leopard. From what I have seen so far, I will admit I am not that excited. However, I know that Apple has more up its sleeve. I can only expect to be overwhelmed by some amazing new feature or user interface design. Until June, I get to patiently wait. And even still, we get to wait yet another four months thereafter until Apple finally ships the product.

I must say that that the delay in the OS is not surprising, especially given the complexity of such a large software project. It’s odd to see Apple spread itself so thin. Generally, the company is about under-promise and over-deliver. In 2007, they seem to be performing the exact opposite (Apple TV being the first to miss its promised ship date). Let’s just pray that Apple really wows us in six weeks.

Moving on, what really excites me is the upcoming Leopard Server. I can’t wait to see the Ruby on Rails (RoR) integration. I am starting to learn this new language and I hope that I can meet others working in RoR so that I can pick up new tips and make new friends. If anyone is going to the conference and wants to meet me there to discuss RoR, please feel free to email me. Even if you are going and don’t want to chat about RoR, we can just chat about anything.

Until next week…