Mom's First iPod
I remember when she first brought it in and set in on the table. I had been at the gym and had been in the kitchen gulping down water, my own iPod nestled in an after market case clipped dutifully to my running shorts. It was still playing my workout playlist that allowed me to forget that I was running, which I hated, and motivated me to think about more pleasant things.
She set it down gingerly, as if the box itself may break if jostled enough. I guess that she had taken that cue from how diligently my sister and I handled our own iPods. As capable as the gadgets are, we were so attached to them as a regular fixture in our lives that should we break them, our daily routine would be severely interrupted if we had to go for a while without them. I smiled at this gesture and pulled the ear buds out and greeted her.
I asked her, “That it? You finally got one, huh?” She nodded while glancing back at it. I could tell that she was excited but she put on an air of dismissal in order to hide it. She began putting away some groceries that she had also bought during her outing and I sat down at the table.
When I grabbed for the box, she hurriedly scurried across the kitchen to playfully swat my hand. “You have your own. Don’t mess with mine!” she exclaimed. I knew that she was only half serious. Mom was not the most tech-savvy person in the world. While I knew that she would be adept at the iPod and associated Apple music software, iTunes shortly, she would most certainly ask me or my sister or both for help in getting her up-to-speed. I offered my help right away. “Go get your laptop so we can get this thing going for you. You didn’t buy it just to look pretty on the kitchen table, did you?” I could swear that she skipped off to her home office to fetch her laptop in the excitement and I thought back to how it came to be that mom had decided to purchase her first iPod.
My sister and I were in high school and so had received our 2nd generation iPod Nano’s just this past Christmas. We both had larger versions of the iPod from the year before but had each asked for the Nano as a present this year because we knew that the tiny mp3 player would come in handy for us: me at the gym and Sara when she rode her bike. Mom had always expressed some curiosity in the device. What she was mainly interested in was how such a small gadget could hold so much without any visible means of media. No cassettes, no compact discs; just a USB cord to plug into the laptop. Mom was also an avid fan of books on compact disc and since we received our first iPods, we teased her a bit about lugging around a bulky personal CD player and several compact discs every time she wanted to take her collection with her. It was then that she sparked an interest in getting her own iPod. She also opted for the 4 gigabyte Nano, just as we had received for Christmas.
When she came back, we loaded the accompanying CD for iTunes into the drive and let it install. I showed her how iTunes automatically checks for updates and within a few minutes her laptop was all set to accept her iPod. We plugged it in so it could charge and began importing some of her songs that she already had on her computer into iTunes. Mom was ecstatic at how intuitive the Apple software seemed to be and was even taking over the keyboard when it came time to upload some of her books on compact disc. She even remarked that she could use the bulky, scratched discs for coasters now that she had gone “completely digital.” After just a little while of this, I assisted her in creating playlists, setting her preferences, and rating her music. In under half an hour, she was already an old pro.
That was only a month ago and not a day goes by when I don’t have to tap mom’s shoulder to get her attention because she’s listening to yet another audible book on her iPod Nano. Since she listens to them in the car and while she exercises, she’s going through them at a rate of about one every five days or so. Mom is already talking about purchasing an 80 gigabyte iPod and even a Mac because she loves the usability so much. I’m even surprised at just how fast Apple has made such a fan out of my once technically-inept mother.
Get your own free iPod at iPodSweepstakes.com today!
She set it down gingerly, as if the box itself may break if jostled enough. I guess that she had taken that cue from how diligently my sister and I handled our own iPods. As capable as the gadgets are, we were so attached to them as a regular fixture in our lives that should we break them, our daily routine would be severely interrupted if we had to go for a while without them. I smiled at this gesture and pulled the ear buds out and greeted her.
I asked her, “That it? You finally got one, huh?” She nodded while glancing back at it. I could tell that she was excited but she put on an air of dismissal in order to hide it. She began putting away some groceries that she had also bought during her outing and I sat down at the table.
When I grabbed for the box, she hurriedly scurried across the kitchen to playfully swat my hand. “You have your own. Don’t mess with mine!” she exclaimed. I knew that she was only half serious. Mom was not the most tech-savvy person in the world. While I knew that she would be adept at the iPod and associated Apple music software, iTunes shortly, she would most certainly ask me or my sister or both for help in getting her up-to-speed. I offered my help right away. “Go get your laptop so we can get this thing going for you. You didn’t buy it just to look pretty on the kitchen table, did you?” I could swear that she skipped off to her home office to fetch her laptop in the excitement and I thought back to how it came to be that mom had decided to purchase her first iPod.
My sister and I were in high school and so had received our 2nd generation iPod Nano’s just this past Christmas. We both had larger versions of the iPod from the year before but had each asked for the Nano as a present this year because we knew that the tiny mp3 player would come in handy for us: me at the gym and Sara when she rode her bike. Mom had always expressed some curiosity in the device. What she was mainly interested in was how such a small gadget could hold so much without any visible means of media. No cassettes, no compact discs; just a USB cord to plug into the laptop. Mom was also an avid fan of books on compact disc and since we received our first iPods, we teased her a bit about lugging around a bulky personal CD player and several compact discs every time she wanted to take her collection with her. It was then that she sparked an interest in getting her own iPod. She also opted for the 4 gigabyte Nano, just as we had received for Christmas.
When she came back, we loaded the accompanying CD for iTunes into the drive and let it install. I showed her how iTunes automatically checks for updates and within a few minutes her laptop was all set to accept her iPod. We plugged it in so it could charge and began importing some of her songs that she already had on her computer into iTunes. Mom was ecstatic at how intuitive the Apple software seemed to be and was even taking over the keyboard when it came time to upload some of her books on compact disc. She even remarked that she could use the bulky, scratched discs for coasters now that she had gone “completely digital.” After just a little while of this, I assisted her in creating playlists, setting her preferences, and rating her music. In under half an hour, she was already an old pro.
That was only a month ago and not a day goes by when I don’t have to tap mom’s shoulder to get her attention because she’s listening to yet another audible book on her iPod Nano. Since she listens to them in the car and while she exercises, she’s going through them at a rate of about one every five days or so. Mom is already talking about purchasing an 80 gigabyte iPod and even a Mac because she loves the usability so much. I’m even surprised at just how fast Apple has made such a fan out of my once technically-inept mother.
Get your own free iPod at iPodSweepstakes.com today!
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