Commuter Bonus and XM Radio
I worked in our headquarters in Decatur for 14 years. Then I worked out of a plant in Conyers for 3 years. The plant was closed, and I moved back to headquarters last year. For most of the plant workers, it meant their drive was going to be much longer (20 minutes instead of 5 minutes). For me it went from 30 minutes to 40 minutes. For a few people the drive ended up being shorter.
All of us were given a one-time "commuter bonus" to help compensate for the move and to encourage us not to quit. I thought it was ridiculous that management (or people who got a shorter drive) be included and even said so. I did not apply for the commuter bonus. I got it anyway, as did everyone in management.
I do have a longer commute, and I've considered getting XM Radio (satellite radio) to make for a more pleasant drive. A new iPod-ish portable radio, XM MyFi, is all the buzz at work. I have not purchased an iPod (people seem surprised by that) because I can listen to music at a computer when I want, and I don't see myself wearing headphones to the store, driving to work, to the kid's sporting events, or to church. These are the only time I leave the house. I'm not going to wear headphones in the yard. The chain-saw could cut the wires.
I have always known I would end up getting an XM Radio kind of service because I like the idea of letting someone else randomly serve up a variety of music, and I hate commercials.
I doubt I'll get the portable, but I may look at getting the semi-portable version that can play in your car or at your desk. You may have seen it in the commercial where the guy is driving a little car into the building, up the elevator and to his desk, listening to XM all the way.
At the moment I am listening to XM Radio on the iMac. You can sign up for 36 hours to try it out. Currently playing Cedar Walton's "I'm Old Fashioned" on the Jazz station. It's great. I'm going to do this a lot whether I get XM or not. With Bloglines, you can create a disposable e-mail address to receive the access code! The disposable e-mail addresses are a way to receive newsletters, which I do with Clark Howard, Apple, and Motely Fool newsletters. I assume XM won't send an access code to the same e-mail address twice, but with Bloglines, you can create as many temporary e-mail addresses as you need.
That's good that you can try out their programming first. I would worry that I wouldn't end up listening to it that much. I like the idea of no commercials and that's one of the big appeals of NPR for me.
But for your car if you don't have a tape deck, AUX IN, or MP3 CD player, you might consider just getting a new car stereo. If it just plays MP3's you can put 10 CD's worth of songs on one CD and it's like having a CD changer or iPod Shuffle hooked up. If you get an AUX IN then you can hook up any kind of device. I'd steer away from FM transmitters because from my experience they don't work real well (I could let you borrow mine if you want) but those let you play anything through your FM radio too. They make CD changers that read MP3 CD's which means you could put at least 100 albums on those 10 CD's. That's kind of like having an iPod in your car all the time.
The nice thing about XM radio is that it offers the chance to hear new music (new to you anyway) which listening to your own music via iPod does not.
I think iPod's aren't for everyone so I don't blame you for not getting one yet. They're a neat gadget but if you don't find yourself using a portable music player now, then an iPod may not make much sense. I see commericials where are hanging out together wearing iPods. That doesn't make sense. An iPod is something to use by yourself and tune the rest of the world out. I use mine in the car on trips, walking the dogs, riding MARTA, and hooked up to my Tivoli to go to sleep. Even walking the dogs I try to take the headphones off when I see someone so I can say hello or hear them say "Get your dogs off of me!"
I was in San Francisco last week and you could see the white iPod wires and ear buds all over the place. While white is not practical because it shows dirt, they sure stand out. All part of the master plan that had Apple regain its number 1 brand status (after Google knocked them out last year.)
I'm now listening to "Inchworm" by Liz Callaway on the XM station Franks Place. (As in Sinatra.) Nice little song.
it makes me wonder if some people just buy white earbuds and walk around pretending to listen to music. haha..
I wouldn't doubt it. But then there are people like me who don't like earbuds, so I actually have an iPod and walk around with yellow headphones on.
I really like the earbuds because I can lay down or ride in a car and be comfortable. I used to have a pair of behind the head earphones, and I relized how ridiculous they were. You couldnt lay down or put your head back.