My new iPod

Yeah, I couldn't resist. My first iPod arrived almost two years ago to the day, and it has served me extremely well. There's actually nothing wrong with it, and I'm sure it has years of service left. But I couldn't resist the new gadget... it's amazing.

Part of the allure was that it plays video, and I'm a video dork. I can pull stuff off of my DVR and recompress it to iPod size and watch it anywhere. Will I ever do this? I don't know, but I like the idea that I can. It gets me thinking differently about content.

I'm really amazed at how it handles photos. It just loads those bad boys up and you scroll through them rapid fire. How neat is that?

I actually paid $100 less for this one than my first iPod. My third generation 20 gig was $400, while this new 30 gig was $300. Of course, they do cut a few corners too. You don't get a dock, a charger or a belt clip case (though the little leatheresque pouch is nice). I can't believe how thin this one is either.