I'm sure the iPod shuffle will be just dandy for lots of folks, but I'm increasingly annoyed with my loaner unit from Apple.
The lack of a screen and support for multiple playlists cripple me because I like to be able to zero in on particular podcasts or favorite tunes. I'm all about control, not serendipity. I don't really want a "personal radio station," thank you.
I do crave the kind of serendipity I get from listening to public radio. That's why listening to podcasts has its perils. If you focus on audio content you choose in advance, you risk closing yourself off from enlightening content you didn't expect.
I was tuning in to Marketplace on the bus the other day, for instance, and I happened to stumble on an expert who proved useful for one of my own stories.
No wonder I'm annoyed with Apple for not building FM tuning into its iPods. Podcasting and public radio in one device is my promised land, so I may yet decide to buy a music player other than an iPod. Scads of competing devices include FM tuning (some with FM recording too).
Update: A reader responds with solid suggestions (that don't really work for me for a variety of reasons, but they're worth passing on verbatim):
You can't listen live (as an FM tuner would allow), but you can have most shows right after they air (or within a reasonable time anyway).
There are two ways to do this:
1. (Free software, paid programming) Visit Audible.com and subscribe to the public radio show of your choice. Audible's *.aa files drag right into iTunes on Mac or PC and you need only enter your Audible.com username & password once to register the account to the computer. You can get Harry Shearer's "Le Show" free from Audible if you just want to try the system without paying. I subscribe to their Basic plan that gives me one audiobook and one radio show for roughly $15 each month.
(In exchange for agreeing to stay on this plan for one year, Audible gave me a $100 Amazon GC that I used toward the cost of my iPod (I have a 40gig click wheel model.)) I actually picked APM's Marketplace this month as my radio show of choice. NPR's All Things Considered and Morning Edition are also available.
(I wouldn't be entirely surprised if Audible starts offering a free small size iPod Shuffle with 12-month commitment.)
2. (Shareware software, free programming- donation optional) Use a program such as Audio Hijack Pro (rogueamoeba.com) to record the web stream of your local public radio station (or in fact *any* public radio station as found at publicradiofan.com). These recordings can be scheduled on a daily or weekly basis, so it's not difficult to simply determine when shows you want are on. Audio Hijack can automatically add recordings to iTunes when they are finished. It's also possible to record at very low bitrates that would make good use of the Shuffle's limited space for spoken word content, where you don't need lush stereo sound. Bookmarkable AAC format can also be used, so that if you stop listening to a long recording in the middle, you won't lose your place.
(Audible's *.AA files also have this feature, despite not being in AAC format.)
2A. (Free software alternatives) There are free stream recording programs out there, but I have found none that is able to record all formats (Windows, Real, MP3, etc, etc.) from one application as Audio Hijack Pro does. (There may be something on the Windows side that does, but being a Mac user, I am only speaking from personal experience.)
