Great inventions

Back on the subject of great inventions, I think the iPod and/or portable MP3 player is one of the most amazing. I don't think it's up there with the transistor or anything, but if anyone had told you even ten years ago that you would be able to put every single one of your CDs inside a tiny pocket-sized aluminum box, and be able to choose which one you want to listen to by looking at a full color LCD screen, you would have said they were crazy.

I have to hand it to Apple for another reason - iTunes. Not only is it some nice software and a great place to buy music, but it's so tightly integrated with the iPod that it's a snap to use and keep your iPod up to date. My first MP3 player was a Dell DJ 20 GB model, and even though it was a little bigger than similar iPods, it was a lot cheaper and sounds just as good. The problem is the software it came with - it was really frustrating to use, and it kept asking me if I wanted to upgrade to the "Pro" version. Dell was obviously in a big fat hurry to get their player out the door that they forgot to write some software to go along with it, so they contracted with Music Match to write a hacked-together add-on. It was awful, and I don't miss it at all.