You, A Desert Island & Your iPod

[DrJay]

The holiday season must be upon us....the crews in Woodland Park were putting up "Happy Holidays" banners and the fake garland on the lightpoles yesterday.

Got any favorite Xmas music? I just found "It Snows in Heaven Too" by Annie Haslam, the five-octave vocalist for Renaissance. Most beautiful voice in the world doing Christmas classics.

When I was growing up, one of my family's standbys was the original (1957) "Now is the Caroling Season" by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians. You can get it on CD and probably can download it.

http://www.amazon.com/Caroling-Season-F ... 916&sr=1-5

[gh]

....
Got any favorite Xmas music? ...

I refuse to ansewr any such questions until December!

[Marlow]

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Got any favorite Xmas music? ...

I refuse to ansewr any such questions until December!

I don't know what it is about that stupid "Little Drummer Boy" song, but it gets me every time!!

[tandfman]

New this year--a Christmas album by Susan Boyle. I'll bet it's good.

[bambam]

Got any favorite Xmas music?

In the early 1990s, every year in Vienna they had a concert called Christmas in Vienna, backed by the Vienna Philarmonic, which was always hosted by Placido Domingo, who would invite 2-3 other great singers, not necessarily classicists. One year he had Charles Asnavour and Sissel, one year he had Tony Bennett and Vanessa Williams. There were about 6-7 of these that were made into concerts and they were wonderful. I have about 4 of the old CDs and now are on my iPhone.

[DrJay]

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Got any favorite Xmas music? ...

I refuse to ansewr any such questions until December!

It's time.

[no one]

Annie Haslam - running hard - sounds a bit like grace slick

[gh]

....
Got any favorite Xmas music? ...

I refuse to ansewr any such questions until December!

It's time.

Well, there's always Dr. Demento Presents The Greatest Novelty Christmas CD Of All Time (!)

Seriously, though, I'm a big fan of The Lost Christmas Eve by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (the dudes who wrote the piece that illustrates the house in Ohio).

But No. 1 on gh's Xmas Island is Christmas by The Players. This description from Amazon says it all:

<<This charming instrumental acoustic album, which even the most vehement of scrooges will find hard to resist, is a collection of 33 carols performed on an assortment of instruments including the Appalachian dulcimer, banjo, mandolin, button accordion, oboe, fiddle, cello and jaw harp. From the first note, The Players find the Christmas cheer within them and vividly evoke the spirit of a rural Victorian Christmas. All the favourites are on this album, but played in an authentic way which reminds the listener of how important carols were and are in the celebration of Christmas. ...>>

[DrJay]

My god, can't you guys push this thing past 1000 posts?

[tandfman]

OK, if you insist, it's now at 1000 posts--the original plus 999 replies.

[lonewolf]

I have purposely never opened this thread because I don't know even what an IPod is.. I think it is fitting that I post #1000.. or is it #1001?

[Marlow]

I have purposely never opened this thread because I don't know even what an IPod is.. I think it is fitting that I post #1000.. or is it #1001?

1000 - how appropriate that the guy with the most years caps the thread with the most posts!

[gh]

....
Got any favorite Xmas music? ...

I refuse to ansewr any such questions until December!

And a late entry (but hey, with the iTunes Store, it's always "just in time"!) into the sweepstakes: Bob Dylan's Christmas In The Heart

Robert Z croacking his way through lots of old standards, sounding like a cross between Louis Armstrong and Tom Waits. Sneak peeks available here:

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Heart-B ... 588&sr=1-1

[tandfman]

http://www.newyorker.com/images/2011/10 ... 2_p465.gif

[gh]

let me reopen our longest thread ever by asking the most elemental of questions: how many people actually own iPods anymore?

With the advent of high-capacity iPhones and the introduction of the iPad, I no longer have such a machine (or if I do, it's hiding in my man-drawer somewhere, long forgotten and buried).

[lonewolf]

What's an Ipod?.. I tend to lag electronic development by about three generations..I still have one car with a perfectly functioning 8-track and a couple with cassette players but I understand the cassette has largely been replace by a round disc thing..

[Conor Dary]

I have a couple of the ipod shuffles. With the wireless headphones that the ipod fits into, great to work out in, or whatever, with no wires.

[Marlow]

Never had a Walkman or IPod (or whatever came in between). Have a smart-phone, but I'm too dumb to use it for music (I turn it on to make a call, then turn it off again; no one even tries to call me on it - I do, however, sometimes also use it to check e-mail and surf the web, so there is hope for me yet).

On the other hand I play Pandora all day long - current shuffle is Beatles, Stones, Led Zepp, Billy Idol, Van Halen, Kings of Leon, and Cat Stevens (!). I mix that up every coupla weeks. The nice thing is that it picks other artists like these, so I get a variety, even heard Gotye the other day!

[marknhj]

I have a five year old iPad nano that I use in the gym as you can stick it in your pocket and barely notice it's there. Sometimes use my iPhone for the same as it contains some different music (although the phone/text/email functions can be distracting). Have my main library on an iPad which I use to play recordings and streaming radio on my decent speakers wirelessly through an Apple TV device. Also use it on it's own for music when I'm traveling. Will probably have an iPhone 5 by the end of the month and my old phone will become strictly an iPod that I'll use to store infrequently listened-to music.

[kuha]

let me reopen our longest thread ever by asking the most elemental of questions: how many people actually own iPods anymore?

I never got one so--I guess--I was ahead of the curve in dumping them.

[DrJay]

I was late to the iPhone scene, have had one about a year, and have just started using the music function a lot, so the iPod is staying home in the drawer. I'm actually starting to learn French with my daughter (Living Language CDs and workbooks) so loading the audio on the iPhone has made that really convenient. Now just need to add in some self-discipline.

[lonewolf]

Was spectating a soccer game recently..son-in-law laid his fancy phone down on the bleacher seat by me and his six year old son while he videoed the game..phone rang.. the six year old was the only one around who knew how to answer it.

[tandfman]

I've never owned an Apple gizmo of any kind-phone, pad, pod, computer, or whatever else they make. Probably never will. Mrs. tandfman, on the other hand, has all four of those. I've never seen her do anything with them that makes me say "I gotta get me one uh them things."

[LopenUupunut]

let me reopen our longest thread ever by asking the most elemental of questions: how many people actually own iPods anymore?

This is no longer our longest thread ever. Mump's Favourite Athlete of All Time poll is

[j-a-m]

I have a five year old iPad nano that I use in the gym as you can stick it in your pocket and barely notice it's there.

Yeah, old ipod has the advantage that it wouldn't matter much if it gets lost or stolen; different story with an iphone. And as you point out, ipod nano is still much smaller than iphone.

[Conor Dary]

Meanwhile more trouble for Apple on the labor front.

As Apple prepares to unveil its latest iPhone this week, the company’s manufacturing partner in China, Foxconn Technology, is coming under renewed criticism over labor practices. Foxconn has been accused of compelling vocational students to work at plants making iPhones and their components, report David Barboza and Charles Duhigg in Tuesday’s New York Times.

Additionally, last week Chinese state-run news media reported that several vocational schools in the city of Huai’an, in eastern China, required hundreds of students to work on assembly lines at a Foxconn plant to help ease worker shortages. According to one of the articles, Huai’an students were ordered to manufacture cables for Apple’s new iPhone 5, which is expected to be introduced on Wednesday.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/1 ... n-iphones/

[Davidokun]

let me reopen our longest thread ever by asking the most elemental of questions: how many people actually own iPods anymore?

Still have a fourth-generation, 60-GB Classic (Photo). Just barely enough capacity for my entire digital music library. Hadn't used it for a while, but started again recently.

When I'm home, I often use my computer to drive my stereo, and usually let iTunes make the selections. I carry the iPod in my backpack, along with a variety of interface cables, so I can do the same when I'm away from home.

Bought a new computer in August 2011. It was burgled in February 2012, so I reverted back to using my old computer. During the Olympics, my old computer died, so I whipped out my old iPod, and kept on truckin'.