Monday, December 07, 2009

Sansa Clip


Studying portable Mp3 players, a gadget I've never had & so never had to learn. A lot of their functions people value so highly aren't important to me. I had to research audio book formats & availability.

Do I need a little Mp3 player? Or do I just want a little FM radio? I don't like ear buds, tend to listen to music though headphones too loud anyway. But I think I'd like listening to audio books again. I used to, all nonfiction, on cassette tape. My sister turned me on to audio books years ago, she listened in her car. Her real book bedtime reading back then seemed to consist of a single large volume of Sherlock Holmes stories.

Down-loadable audio & e books are coming to public libraries. There's a collective online lending service, NJ Listen, has only about 4000 audio books now, in several audio formats, & waiting list for most of the newer books. It has to grow, such an obvious way for tight budget Jersey libraries to do audio books. My library isn't signed up for the service yet. My library has a - call it a lack of vision toward the top that I can feel at the level of the desk clerks. (Someone there is to be commended for creating a Facebook page).

Last week I inquired about audiobooks at the branch, & the desk person sort of waved me off with a remark that there wasn't much of a selection because there wasn't much of a demand. Of course there isn't much of a demand. Because there isn't much of a selection.

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Comments:
I haven't gone the way of a portable audio player, either. My bus ride to work takes about 10 minutes, and all I'd have time to listen to is two, maybe three songs. All of the downloaded MP3s I have on my computer are backed up on standard discs I can play on my regular CD MP3 player, which I don't use anymore either.

My cell phone has songs that I downloaded on it, and I occasionally listen to them when I have to make the 20 minute commute by subway to pick up my grandson every other Friday evening.

I don't listen to radio, but I still have a tiny AM/FM one that I could listen to if I wanted to. The only radio that is a must for me is an old fashioned AM one I keep (still uses 9 volt battery), mainly for when earthquakes hit, as the news is spot on right away. Also, for sports coverage that will occur during the day, I take it to work so I can listen to a game (usually during baseball season, since that's the only game played during the day).

My daughter, on the other hand, is full on IPod, with several versions, like the little mini one, then the normal one. I see the kids on the bus with them all the time. In fact, I counted once, and just about half the people riding the bus were listening to some music, whether it's old school CD players, radios or IPods. What I hate is when they have bad earphones and are playing the music so loud, you can hear it anyway!
 
For ball games, I like to carry a cheap pocket battery AM radio with a speaker, which aren't that easy to find anymore.
 
I agree with you on the AM radio scarcity. I had to hunt on Amazon.com for a simple pocket transistor radio so I can listen to Notre Dame games secretly at weddings and other events.
 
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