Those who are the biggest supporters are often those who are the most tested. I launched into the iPod Revolution feet-first nearly five years ago, and have been a loyal customer, from the 5 GB first generation to the 20 GB second generation, and when that 20 GB iPod was foolishly left behind on a plane last year, I anted up to the 60 GB iPod Photo - then top of the line. Now, there's a very real chance that it too will become a device of the past, as in the present, it's stuck, and won't even reboot.Unlike most of the iPod community, I use the iPod for much more than music. In fact, it serves as my remote backup device between my home and office computers. This enables me to work on projects regardless of location. But with it, I often become too reliant on the iPod, with the expectation it is failsafe, and neglect to backup. I learned this tragically last year when all my data was wiped out, and it was made incredibly difficult to rebuild.
This year, I've tried to do better. The last full backup I did of the device (files, not music) was September 18th, and if I think hard, there's very little I couldn't rebuild out of e-mail attachments to fill in the gaps if my iPod chooses not to wake up. Most of the files I build are later sent somewhere, so with some diligence, I could upload and download to get myself up to date.
But for now, I'm still frustrated. In preparation for putting together my weekly report for the office via PowerPoint, I plugged in the iPod to my home laptop (to get last week's and use that as a template). But I noticed it hadn't mounted on the desktop, and I unplugged it. Then, I noticed the iPod screen was effectively frozen (as it is now), saying 3:31 p.m. and the familiar "Do Not Disconnect" symbol. Holding the device up to my ear, I didn't hear the spinning of the hard drive, and pressing the menu and play/pause button for 10 seconds and more didn't reboot the device, as it is supposed to.
So - here we are - do we go to device number four, and use that as the excuse to get a "latest and greatest" video iPod, when all the rumors say the next one, the widescreen, is "just around the corner"? Do I instead take the opportunity to get a new laptop at work, and eliminate the iPod middleman? If I don't manage to wake up this little white rectangular box, we're going to end up spending money and time I don't have.
Listening to ''Sydney'', by Gabriel & Dresden (Play Count: 10)