I'm becoming gadget savvy!

   You heard it right, I'm becoming gadget savvy. What does that mean, exactly? Well, about ten years later, I have an MP3 player! I bought a couple of MP3 players at 75% off probably two or three years ago. 

     I'm not sure what inspired me, I think I came across the dusty packages a couple of weeks ago when I was cleaning up (looking for something else). I thought it would be fun to have a gadget that held all my favorite songs, was more portable and less clunky than a "Walkman" cassette or CD player.

     I did a Google search on how to load songs onto MP3, and it's surprisingly easy to do. I had quite a few CDs on my laptop (my excitement from last year, learning how to "rip" cds and then "burn" them onto discs).  All I had to do was plug the new MP3 into the laptop, turn on the media player, hit the "sync" button, a few more clicks and voila! Music to wait for the bus by! 

     This MP3 also came with a speaker. I just need some batteries and then I can try it out. 

      I had a three dollar credit for Amazon MP3 music for filling out a preference form, so I was able to buy three songs that I didn't have: "The Look of Love" by Dusty Springfield, "Come Dancing" by the Kinks, and "Harvest Moon" by Neil Young. 

     I can see how people got into downloading songs back in the day--It's neat!!  I've been a little paranoid about downloading music (free music) after seeing stories about college kids being sued for massive amounts of money.  But lucky for me, there's a lot of affordable music out there.  Whole albums can be had for 6-8 dollars, and there's lots of classic rock I've yet to acquire in a format other than vinyl. (For the record, pardon the pun, I still love vinyl albums the best, skips and all).

     I bought a 99 song collection of classical tunes. Granted, I rarely listen to classical music unless I'm in a waiting room, or sometimes at work. But the bargain hunter in me couldn't resist paying only $1.99 for so much music! Now I just have to find the time to sample the music. I know I'll recognize a lot of it. The only down side is my laptop is running a little slower.  

     The other gadget I've been using a lot these days is my Kindle.  I will always favor a real book that I can pick up and turn the pages on. The digital reader is convenient as far as being able to store many books in a minimal amount of space, and adjust the size of the font.

     My Kindle is the basic one. I wish it was back lit, so I could see the screen in low light. I assume the newer ones have this feature.  The Kindle Fire looks neato, with a color screen, access to apps and video/audio content. But I don't really need one, maybe when the price comes down.  

     I use my Kindle more for games than reading. I guess I already mentioned this recently. Since then I bought "Majong Word". The tiles have letters on them, and you make words and get points, and as you use the tiles, new ones are revealed. It's a fun game. I bought "Scrabble" too, but it's hard to play on the Kindle. Again, I prefer the real scrabble game to a computer replica. I try to play only while I'm waiting for the bus or while my food is cooking. 

     There's plenty of other gadgets I'd love to have, and it's amazing how many wonderful inventions are coming out all the time.  I'll keep you posted when I get my first tablet or smart phone!