Tim stops listening!
Google search keywords
podcasts listening july iPod broken replace cheapskate
This post in one sentence...
No more podcasts for the monthly Proper Admin post.
Haiku version
The sound of my life
I always play it by ear
Pods on holiday
@TrueOnAverage
Today's semi-pointless TOA post describes not replacing the iPod I broke in early July. #TOA
Questions only
Who: Public Tim
What: Stopped listening to podcasts
When: Early July
How: Failure to replace broken iPod
Where: His ears...?
Why: Wanted to see how long he could 'get by without an iPod'
Is that Ron Howard?
And now the story of a well-off blogger who lost a couple of things and decided to write about it a little bit while he pondered his choice to eschew a replacement altogether...
It's True on Average.
Voicemail
'Hi, you've reached Tim. I can't come (...mumbling...) right now because my iPod just broke and I am trying to decide what to do. Please leave (...static...) if you have any advice. Thanks.'
Same questions with The Real Reasons
Who: Private Tim
What: Wants to spend more time in thought
When: Whenever there is time
How: Lessen outside distractions
Where: His head...?
Why: Outside noise can block out our own thinking
Third grader's 'book' report
This post was about podcasts. The author is a guy named Tim.
It was about when he broke his iPod because he used it too much. Tim likes podcasts but he likes trying things to. He did not buy a new podcast. This is because he is called a dinosaur because he uses old things. He liked hearing things like ducks quacking and tourists talking. Now he thinks more and sometimes strangers talk to him to ask four money.
I like this story. My friend did not like it because there were no pictures of dinosaurs. It showed that listening is good.
Is that Alex Trebek?
Okay, the final category is 'Blogs That No One Reads'...
Answer:
'This blog discussed the unexpected result of a one-week experiment that commenced immediately after the author broke a cherished digital music player. You have thirty seconds. Good luck.'
A long, long time ago on a blog far, far away...
Episode (LVIII)- A New Hope...
It is an uncertain period. After years of sound control
by the APPLE CORPORATION, a clumsy sequence
of events has led to the destruction of the I-POD.
Freed from the din of football nonsense, startling
economics facts, and runaway rants about the state
of the electorate, a group of scattered but free
thinking ideas has pushed the incessant noise
aside to take tenuous control of the RIGHT HEMISPHERE.
Little do these brave concepts know of ongoing
debates for the purchase of a replacement music
device, loosely referred to as THE DEAF STAR.
As the summer heat lifts temperatures to levels
rarely seen even on planets with
TWO SUNS, an uneasy equilibrium
bears the tension between past and future...
Is that Jim Nantz?
'OK folks, it has come down to this. We've watched the battery dwindling all afternoon but it looks like Tim is going to get to the library before his iPod goes dead. He's currently circling the bike rack folks...the din is incredible...he's all racked up now...it looks like he is going to turn off the iPod before entering the library but, folks, he's had trouble with executing that play all afternoon...
There he goes...he reaches...nearly there...he got it! Wait, no! It seemed like he got it from this angle but the podcast continues to rattle on! What is going on here? Well, this is going to be controversial, no doubt about it, from the replay you can clearly see he is pushing the 'pause' button but there is no response on the device. It's a shame, it looks like the iPod just gave out there. You hate to see that, right at the end too. I'm not sure what this will mean for the future but we will have to keep an eye on it before his next ride out. Oh, what a tough break indeed.'
August 23, 2006: Tim buys his first laptop computer and opens an application called 'iTunes'.
Fall of 2006: Tim begins a mail delivery campus job. He quickly learns there is no requirement to speak or listen.
Fall of 2007: Tim becomes aware of a 'thing' called podcasts. He listens to his first episode of The B.S. Report.
June/July of 2008: A six week summer trip to Japan. Tim leaves his headphones in America and finds a very deep sense of calm among the mountains, nature, and quiet of Iida, a small city of stunning beauty in Nagano Prefecture.
August 2008: Tim immediately plugs in his headphones upon return from Japan, apparently barred from bringing his lessons through customs at Narita International Airport.
Fall 2008 - Winter 2010: Tim expands his set of podcast subscriptions to include popular shows such as Radiolab.
Spring 2010: A brief senior year experiment where Tim leaves his headphones in his dorm room. It last about two weeks.
Summer 2010: Tim's first period of unemployment includes 45 minute walks across town in the wee hours of the morning listening to podcasts such as ESPN's Fantasy Focus.
Late 2010: Tim's first iPod breaks- the headphone jack no longer transmits audio to the left earbud. A compromise solution is discovered one day when the headphone comes halfway out of the jack- in this position, the right earbud stream is successfully sent to both earbuds. The iPod remains in use for two more years.
2011-2014: A series of podcasts comes as goes. Backstory, 99% Invisible, Planet Money, Freakonomics Radio, Philosophy Bites, and Football Weekly are a few of the many shows that Tim tries and fails to stick with.
Date unknown: Tim drops Radiolab, cryptically announcing that it is 'a podcast for people who don't listen to podcasts'. It is rumored that the tip of his nose is pointed straight into the sky as he delivers this pompous assessment.
2015: Tim listens to 'The Living Room' from Love and Radio, the single most memorable podcast episode he has ever heard.
February 2016: A second period of unemployment begins. The podcast lineup, set for over a year, begins to again undergo changes. Shows such as TLDR, Startup, Open For Business, and Revisionist History With Malcolm Gladwell come and go.
Spring 2016: Tim downloads the backlog of The Football Ramble- about one episode per week for the five year stretch from 2011 to 2015.
July 2016: Tim's iPod breaks after constant usage during running, walking, and biking. The timing is bad to purchase a replacement and recent trends in tech work against him- the worst version of iPod available is no longer compatible with his computer. Having endured recent unsatisfactory experiences with used iPods, Tim decides to wait a week before buying a replacement.
August 2016: A week is now one month. Failure to acquire a set of cheap speakers is taking its toll on the laptop- the sound quality has deteriorated greatly in just a month of at-home use. But carrying the headphones around outdoors is not missed.
September 2016: Tim gives up on writing a proper post about his podcast situation after a number of aborted efforts. Carrying around headphones outside remains a fact of the past.
Is that Bono?
This wouldn't be a problem if Apple just downloaded podcasts straight into your brain without asking.
Proper Admin Podcasts- July/August
Longtime readers will recall that I used to include a monthly podcast summary as part of my 'Proper Admin' series. The last such installment was for the month of June. Dedicated readers may also recall a post about a specific episode from the More Or Less podcast that delved into Simpson's Paradox. That post was sometime in May, I suspect.
In any event, it has been quite some time since I've worked podcasts into a blog. So, what gives?
Well, I suppose it is good news or bad news depending on your point of view- it has been about two months since I last listened to a podcast. This means I have nothing to write about podcasts since I have no source material to work with. I'm sure you get the idea.
I have no idea how permanent this development is. I did a similar thing in my senior spring of college- I left my headphones in my room (except for going to the gym). That last about two weeks. So it is possible that I might return to my binge listening habits sometime in the near future.
On the other hand, I've dropped interests without much warning at other times in my past- watching TV shows, watching movies, playing video games, watching live sports. So maybe this is a case of podcasts becoming the next in a long line of Entertainments I Used To Enjoy. It is hard to tell at this stage.
The catalyst for the change came in the first week of July. I noticed one day that I could not stop my iPod. Just kept hitting the old pause button to no avail. As I studied it more closely, I realized the entire screen no longer showed anything. Since the screen has only one function- to show things- this was not good.
I unofficially declared the iPod 'cooked' a few days later. A number of things came together to prevent me from immediately acquiring a replacement. So, I decided to make do for a few days without one. Interestingly, I didn't miss it all that much.
So I decided to try a few more days. Then, weeks. And now two months later, here we are.
It took me an extra couple of weeks to prepare this post. This is primarily because I have no idea what it all means. The change from walking about with headphones in at almost all times to never having them in is not necessarily significant. It will probably improve my hearing, I've heard. But the fact that I barely missed it seems relevant.
The argument for eventually returning to podcasts is fairly straightforward. Podcasts are fun. They provide an alternate way to learn new things, hear interesting conversations, or just have a laugh. Since they are a passive form of entertainment, I have to give up barely anything to listen to them.
The argument against returning is fairly straightforward. Not everything I do is fun. It is much better to try new things, have interesting conversations, or think up your comedy than it is to passively absorb it through your ears. I have to give up time that I could otherwise spend thinking to listen to them.
The good thing about pointless problems is that they do not really need to be solved. So, for now, I am in a holding pattern of listening to The Football Ramble at home and keeping track of everything else that I am skipping. If I return, I'll have a backlog but that is no big deal.
Until Friday...
Tim
Proper Admin Podcasts- July/August: The Prequel
Hi everyone,
I thought today I would provide some backstory for the most recent 'Proper Admin' podcast post.
Thanks for reading. See you all again on Friday.
Tim
Just over ten years ago, I walked out of a sad little mall on the South Shore with my first ever personal computer. I believe it was called a MacBook. In fact, whatever the name of it was, it still is, for I still have it (and even use it about once per day). Ten long years! But that is a post for another day (and perhaps another blog).
The Apple store had a 'special' deal at that time- buy one extremely expensive laptop computer and you would receive an iPod for free. As I recall, the iPod was unnecessarily large- perhaps to convince skeptics and the technology-illiterate that it contained 'more memory' than the smaller 'regular' offering.
So, to be entirely accurate, just over ten years ago I walked out of a sad little mall on the South Shore with my first ever personal computer AND an enormous black free ('FREE') iPod. I soon discovered that iTunes allowed users to download these things called 'podcasts' directly onto their iPod by linking it to their iTunes application. And so began my love affair with podcasts.
I remember my first podcast. It was Bill Simmons's now-defunct (but essentially relaunched) B.S. Report from ESPN. I used to listen to episodes of this show while I completed my college work-study assignments (mail delivery- I was a mailman!). The job was basically a microcosm of college itself- walking semi-aimlessly from building to building with a variety of items- and the lack of interaction with others made it ideal for plugging in the headphones.
Unfortunately, I was promoted into a desk job during my sophomore year. One of the key responsibilities for the position was 'to speak and listen to others'. I managed to overcome this hurdle by listening to podcast episodes in five and ten minute bursts as I marched around campus going to class, the gym, and the cafeteria.
The ensuing years saw a number of podcasts added and ultimately removed from the regular listening rotation. Freakonomics Radio, Radiolab, Planet Money, Football Weekly, Philosophy Bites, 99% Invisible, the list would go on and on. My guess is that if you think I have heard of the show, I've subscribed to it at some point.
Until about the end of June this year, my pattern of keeping up with a core group of five to eight shows while rotating others in held up. Currently, I have eleven shows I regularly download.
And then, as I described in a separate post, my iPod broke and I decided to try something different. So now we are in this holding pattern...
Proper Admin Podcasts- July/August: The Sequel- Version One
Hey folks,
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the unexpected results from not immediately replacing a broken iPod. I'll cut right to the chase- I still haven't replaced it. I think it is safe to say that this is one of those 'temporary' permanent things.
Having my ears free has been a minor blessing. Just last week, I was wandering over by the Public Garden when I heard a loud QUACK. I looked down, foot frozen in midair, at the confused/happy/thoughtful/hateful/grateful/I-can't-tell-what-a-duck's-face-is duck I was about to step on.
On the other hand, I could have used that opportunity to make a hilarious reference to Caddyshack- so maybe that was not so good.
From the point of view of blogging, I'm not all that fussed over this development. I never started here intending to write about podcasts. My guess is that most readers used react to my monthly section about podcasts with some thought like 'This guy has no clue what he wants to listen to'. I think that made-up reaction is somewhat representative of my thoughts on podcast writing.
Ultimately, podcasts are not a great fit with my learning style. Rarely do they move me at an emotional level. And although they are fun to talk about, there are other things that I could follow if I really needed to do that.
I think podcasts are a viable source for fresh ideas. The reality of certain lifestyles is that burying your nose in a book is not always a realistic option. I'm fortunate enough to have that option. I think everything I learn from a given podcast is just as accessible if I found a book with a similar concept.
The thought I keep going back to comes from a day at work about three years ago. My boss at the time held a writing contest based on a reaction to a TED Talk. I did not bother listening to the talk- I found a transcript online and read it. I got just as much information out of it as everyone who listened. But reading it took about four minutes while the entire recording was around twenty minutes.
This is in line with some basic research findings about how quickly we process written versus spoken communication- it is about five to one in favor of the reader. I'm not necessarily crunched for time these days but I would hate to turn that efficiency down.
I'm also reminded of a common frustration I have with phone calls. Why bother to call when the written content is far more important than the emotional content? Better to type out a quick text than pick up the phone and use up my time talking, I think, in these cases.
Finally, I just have to admit- I'm enjoying the quiet. I find that getting rid of the noise in my head is allowing me to think more clearly and at greater complexity than I ever have before. Who knows? I might even have a good idea one of these days.
If I do, I promise to blog about it.
Until that happy day...
As a reminder, next week is the start of my new 'bi-monthly' schedule. That means I'll either post two months from now or two weeks from now. Get it? I told you I would have a good idea.
Thanks for reading, as always. See you on Friday.
Tim
Proper Admin Podcasts- July/August: The Sequel- Version Two
Hey folks,
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the unexpected results from not immediately replacing a broken iPod. I'll cut right to the chase- I replaced it. I think it is safe to say that this is one of those things that lasted just long enough to seem permanent but not quite long enough for it to be irreversible.
Having my ears fully loaded has been a minor blessing. Just last week, I was wandering over by the Public Garden when I heard a very faint QUACK. I looked down, foot firmly stopped in what appeared to be midair, before I noticed the confused/happy/thoughtful/hateful/grateful/I-can't-tell-what-a-duck's-face-is duck I had just stepped on. I took this opportunity to make a hilarious reference to Caddyshack (the duck was fine, everyone).
On the other hand, I could have used that opportunity to actually stop my foot in mid-air to publicly demonstrate my concern for little animals- so maybe that was not so good.
From the point of view of blogging, I'm not all that fussed over this development. I never started here intending to write about podcasts. My guess is that most readers used react to my monthly section about podcasts with some thought like 'This guy has no clue what he wants to listen to'. I think that made-up reaction is somewhat representative of my thoughts on podcast writing.
Ultimately, podcasts are a great fit with my learning style. Occasionally, they move me at an emotional level. And they are fun to talk about!
I think podcasts are a viable source for fresh ideas. The reality of certain lifestyles is that burying your nose in a book gets old quick. Plus, I think I learn things from podcasts differently than I learn from books with a similar concept.
The thought I keep going back to comes from a day at work about three years ago. My boss at the time held a writing contest based on a reaction to a TED Talk. I did not bother listening to the talk- I found a transcript online and read it. I got just as much information out of it as everyone who listened. But the process of searching for the transcript, verifying it was the correct one, printing it out, and reading it took about twenty minutes- about the same length as the recording.
This is in line with some basic research findings about how we perceive efficiency. A colleague pointed out how 'efficient' reading was compared to listening- about five to one in terms of word comprehension. But factor in all the extra work needed to acquire the written version and the efficiency is quickly lost. Plus, I'm not necessarily crunched for time these days so I am not so worried about being 'efficient'.
I'm also reminded of a common frustration I have with texting. Why bother to text something when the emotional aspect far outweighs the written content? Better to dial up the phone number, I think, in these cases.
Finally, I just have to admit- I'm enjoying the noise. I find that getting rid of the quiet in my head is allowing me to absorb more complex ideas than I ever have before. Who knows? I might even be inspired to have my own good idea one of these days.
If I do, I promise to blog about it.
Until that happy day...
As a reminder, next week is the start of my new 'bi-monthly' schedule. That means I'll either post two months from now or two weeks from now. Get it? I told you I would be inspired.
Thanks for reading, as always. See you on Friday.
Tim
