I can’t live without my iPod

Back in the 80s, rapper LL Cool J made a song titled I Can’t Live Without My Radio.

In 2008, I know how exactly how he feels.

This is a sad day in my life.

I learned today that my iPod is officially dead.

For the last five years, I’ve formed a tight bond with my third-generation iPod. I’ll never forget the day a former co-worker introduced me to this music player. He had a first generation one, and once he explained to me that I could have my entire music collection in the palm of my hand, I was hooked.

A few weeks later, I ordered my own. For $400, I got the iPod, earbuds, a docking station, a carrying case and a USB cable. At the time, I thought that was a lot of money, but it was well worth it.

My iPod and me had our ups and downs. It kept freezing up when I wanted to run. It also would do some other funky stuff.

Instead of giving me a new iPod, Apple gave me the runaround about not being able to replace it because it was engraved. I battled with them for a long while, but they never gave in.

Still, I cherished it. I told everyone I could about it. It took a few years, but my sister and a few friends finally invested in one. They too are now hooked.

A few weeks ago, I dropped my iPod. This was nothing new because unfortunately, I’ve dropped it one too many times – even though every time I did it was in its carrying case.

This time, a piece broke off the bottom. No worries because it still played.

A few days ago, I went to use it and the Apple logo appeared – but it never went away.

That’s never a good sign.

I kept resetting it, but the logo just stayed put.

I made an appointment at Apple’s Genius Bar and received the devastating news. “Your hard drive is shot,” the man said. It costs $249 for a replacement.

I may have jinxed myself because I’ve been eyeing the new iPod Classic. Maybe my third generation caught wind of my desire for a new one and decided to force my hand.

Problem is I’m not sure I like the new iPod. I love that my buttons are above the wheel and not apart of it. I’m used to scrolling through and finding my music really fast.

I played with a friend’s iPod Classic, and the wheel just wasn’t right to me. Still, after my DJ friend told me buying a new iPod was something I should do for myself, I logged onto Amazon.com and hit the “Place your order” button – sans the engraving.

I should have my new 120GB iPod Classic by the end of the week. That’s such an upgrade from my 20GB.

After having music at my fingertips for the last five years, there’s no way I’m going back to carrying a bulky CD player.

Do they even still make those things?