“Oh god mom!! Swipe to the right… and then when you get to the 1st page of ur menu, go to "now playing" and pause the song. then, press the biggish button on the top of ur ipod."
Did you understand anything of that? It was my daughter's answer to a simple question I asked her on fb, "How do I turn off the iPod?"
It all started post-Worldspace. I missed the music in my life. I disliked the idea of music on a mobile phone, which I consider strictly an office thing. It was confusing, when the phone rang, and I was not happy with the sound quality.
The opportunity to do something about my music-less existence presented itself when a brand new mall opened up in my city. I checked it out and lost my heart to an iPod. In a shiny black and stainless steel finish, no larger than a square of chocolate, it gleamed seductively at me.
I bought it (no more saris, dining out, facials, footwear or onions for one more year). But ah ha, no more ‘Bad romance' from Lady Gaga, either. My daughter plays strange stuff all day.
So there I was, all geared up to go home, plug myself to the iPod and start living again. But alas, not so fast. I bought the iPod at 6.30 p.m and at 1 a.m we were still trying to download music onto it.
First, everything on the computer shifted into the iPod (sync), which I didn't want. Then, we spent as much time trying to delete it all (as tricky as switching off the iPod). Many clicks, uploads and downloads later, I settled for songs from a CD, which transferred into the iPod without much fuss.
Louis Armstrong and Kishori Amonkar will have to wait. I thought I just had to find my song, click on the download button, and the song would be mine. Not so.
A helpful young friend sent me the following mail to explain how it's done.
"The available torrents will be listed on btjunkie, and each available torrent will have a number of Seeds. Pick the torrent which has the greatest number of Seeds, because each Seed is a user who has already downloaded the content and who is making it available for you. You don't need to bother about this, but just choose the one with the greatest number of Seeds. Also, each torrent available will have comments from users, telling you whether they are good, clear downloads."
As Belafonte sang, "It was clear as mud and it covered the ground."
Btjunkie has a rather forbidding warning for those seeking its help. And it has mysterious references to seeds and leeches and the health of songs. I can choose from most leeched songs to the least, I learn. Obviously, I retreat in more confusion, with my iPod none the richer. My friend has an alternative suggestion. "Grab someone younger from your office or such and make them do it for you!"
The Carpenters sing a song called ‘Yesterday once more'. "When I was young, I'd listen to the radio, waiting for my favourite songs, and when they played I'd sing along…" They were such simple times. Not so now.
