My iPod nanos. I can’t understand why Apple is going backwards. “I wish we could go backwards–really, really fast. Pedal to the metal, you know.”*
After an argument with Art3mis, Wade visits a scene in Halliday’s Journals where James Halliday argues with Ogden Morrow over the OASIS and Halliday’s hatred for making rules. The scene contains the clue to beating the race: Halliday states that he wishes they could go backwards for once really fast. James Halliday’s clue was this: * “Why can’t we go backwards, for once? Backwards, really fast. Fast as we can. (laughs) Really put the pedal to the metal, you know?”
Ready Player One, Warner Bros. Directed by Stephen Spielberg
Screenplay by Zak Penn and Ernest Cline–from the book by Ernest Cline
James Halliday 2029, Halliday Journals, Hallway 3 Diorama, Office Party–creator of Gregarious Games, movies.stackexchange.com
The above iPod had a screen displaying the album cover and a simple control screen that was touch simple. The storage was huge.
Now I see joggers and gym bunnies wearing this huge arm band to contain the extra weight of their iPhone, just to listen to their music. True, wireless buds are easier to handle than the old fashion ones you see hear, but I’m not paying $175 dollars every time I need a new pair; just $19.99 at ABC or 24 Hour Fitness–and I don’t have to spend $799 for a new phone, just to keep my music mobile. Don’t get me started about iTunes. The cost of this portable music is zero dollars and zero cents–since 2009.
Raoul Pal and other YouTube celebrities point out that our tech improvements actually reduce inflation because of all the extra features we get in the newer models. I don’t buy this argument. (It’s too expensive, if you ask me)
I could text with unlimited data and get a new phone flip phone for about $69.99, not over $600. My point is we lose our freedom of options with bundles, and we have to pay a small fortune. This isn’t going in the direction of lower costs.
California had a law that Apple still had to service iPods three years after they stopped any given model. I did get the above iPod serviced the last week possible for a replacement. Government should force phone makers and carriers to always offer a less expensive option, and this gets to my innermost core: Listening to our music library in a hands free way, with a cost under one hundred dollars. Just sayin.
The above iPod is about to go bust. The controller ring is about to crack, and she sometimes can’t take a charge. But I love her so much. I will miss her when the control ring stops functioning. I also have a green waterproof one for swimming, but alas, she won’t take a charge, and I can’t advance or replay a tune if she has some juice.
Dear Apple, why don’t you make these again and start a huge retro campaign. Hint: Make a new MacBook Air with a 16 inch screen.* Knowing you will support iOs upgrades indefinitely unlike the MacBook Pro and iMac, should bring back the faith–and install iWork with it!
*Apple did indeed introduce the MacBook Air with a 15″ screen!
Mahalo,
Driver Doug
The Dao of Doug: A Bus Driver's Perspective 