Shuffling About

So a few months ago I signed up for a new credit card, and I did not realize in doing so that I was somehow in on some kind of promotion scheme -- I received a brand spankin' new Apple iPod Shuffle in the mail. So, me being infinitely interested in gadgetry (especially when it costs me essentially nothing and arrives at my door complete with warranty), I have gotten the guy loaded up; 400 MB of new album goodness by Jamiroquai, Porcupine Tree and Roisin Murphy(vocalist for Moloko). I also threw in a re-issue of Dub Syndicate & Adrian Sherwood's Fear of a Green Planet, because there is always a place for On-U-Sound in my world. So far everything is sounding quite good, quite good indeed. I still do not see the reason to buy from the iTunes Music Store, but then again, I am one of those rare animals that still deeply enjoys the physical exercise of going to the record store and digging through the stacks. It is a bit of cultural anthropology I enjoy practicing.

So far I am impressed with the Shuffle as a well engineered piece of tech, but this is probably largely skewed due to its price point (free in my case).