Can someone explain ipods to me? Please?

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I know I am the most technologically illiterate person on the DIS but I'm really hoping someone can help me with this:

It has just occurred to me that an ipod might be the perfect Christmas gift for DS7. DS LOVES books on tape/cd. He listens to them in the background while he's playing etc . . . Since he's not a great reader (yet), I think it's a wonderful way for him to increase his vocabulary etc . . . so I encourage it.

However, our house is being taken over by CD's and obviously they are expensive. Plus inevitably they get scratched or lost because he carries them all over the house from CD player to CD player.

So, I thought that an ipod, some speakers and an audible.com subscription would be the PERFECT Christmas gift -- don't you think? I like the fact that it's not another junky toy, which is what he usually asks for. Anyway, I know that I don't want a "shuffle" because who wants to listen to a novel in randomn order, but other than that I don't know what to ask for. If I go to Best Buy they're certain to tell me I need the most expensive one -- but do I really? Would the smallest size hold enough (say 5 12 hour books?). If I buy him a subscription and we end up with a lot, I can store the rest on my laptop right?

Also, what about speakers -- I assume that cheap one will be fine because he'll be listening to speakers most of the time, so quality isn't as important as with music?

Also, does anyone know how the selection is for the ipod -- can you really find almost everything?

Finally, is this a dumb idea? Is the ipod too fragile for a 7 year old. He's not the most gentle child.

Thanks!

 

[tmt martins]

I do think the Ipod might be a bit fragile for a 7 year old ( they break easy).

How ever there are many other Mp3 players out there that do the same thing . My DD has had the Disney Mix Stix and Jukebox speakers for a while now and they work just find. I bought her a 1 gig sd card so it holds alot of music for her.

I just think it's a bit more durable and way more less expensive then the Ipods.I still use I-tunes to convert and play all of our music and podcast for both her Mix Stix and my Mp3 cellphone.

 

[NewJersey]

I got my iPod when I bought my apple laptop last summer (the mini came free as a promotion). The nano replaced the mini in their product line which consists of:

ipod shuffle (no screen...very small..holds 99 songs)
ipod nano (thinner than a pencil..small...color screen..ranges in how much data it fits)
ipod video (bigger, color screen, holds movies, pictures, songs) also the most expensive

I love it. I take it the gym with me, I take it when I run, I have an adapter to play it in my car, you can buy speakers for it or you can buy an alarm clock adapter and use your ipod with it, etc etc.

You have to use itunes m edia player on your computer in order to install the songs onto the ipod from the computer. you can buy the songs for 99 cents from the itunes music store and transfer them to the ipod, or you can download them from the internet and then transfer them to the ipod. It's really easy to do: you just hook it up to your computer through a wire that comes with the ipod and pick the songs you want transferred.

I would suggest not getting the ipod nano as it's very light and I think could break with a younger child. The video ipod would be good I think!

Target and best buy and most other stores now sell the adapters (speakers, etc) for ipods so you can save money and buy the generic version instead of apple's brand.

But also I think it depends on the child; some probably aren't ready for an iPod at the age of 7, others are.
Any other questions?

 

[luvdzne]

I know I am the most technologically illiterate person on the DIS but I'm really hoping someone can help me with this:

It has just occurred to me that an ipod might be the perfect Christmas gift for DS7. DS LOVES books on tape/cd. He listens to them in the background while he's playing etc . . . Since he's not a great reader (yet), I think it's a wonderful way for him to increase his vocabulary etc . . . so I encourage it.

However, our house is being taken over by CD's and obviously they are expensive. Plus inevitably they get scratched or lost because he carries them all over the house from CD player to CD player.

So, I thought that an ipod, some speakers and an audible.com subscription would be the PERFECT Christmas gift -- don't you think? I like the fact that it's not another junky toy, which is what he usually asks for. Anyway, I know that I don't want a "shuffle" because who wants to listen to a novel in randomn order, but other than that I don't know what to ask for. If I go to Best Buy they're certain to tell me I need the most expensive one -- but do I really? Would the smallest size hold enough (say 5 12 hour books?). If I buy him a subscription and we end up with a lot, I can store the rest on my laptop right?

Also, what about speakers -- I assume that cheap one will be fine because he'll be listening to speakers most of the time, so quality isn't as important as with music?

Also, does anyone know how the selection is for the ipod -- can you really find almost everything?

Finally, is this a dumb idea? Is the ipod too fragile for a 7 year old. He's not the most gentle child.

Thanks!

For the price I would say buy him an inexpensive MP3 player. I would not by my 7 year old a ipod. She is pretty good about taking care of things, but ipods are not the most sturdy things. We have an mp3 player that we put her music on.

 

[Lisa L from MI]

I got my kids Ipod Nanos for Christmas last year. They did go down in price alot...My kids were 9 and 12 at the time. They seem to take care of them quite good.

The shuffle, doesn't have to be in "shuffle" mode (random)....you can actually change the settings to be in order or random.

Also, I decided against the shuffle cause it is so small. The nano isn't huge but much bigger......not as easy to misplace, in my opinion.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

OK, see this is why I need you guys!

The mix stick looks great! Much cheaper than an ipod. Does anyone know if it works with Audible? Or is there another site that it works with?

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I'll be the first to tell you that iPods are not the sturdiest pieces of equipment. I just got a new one (from Apple) because my less-than-six-month-old 60GB iPod broke from normal daily use! Luckily it was still under warrenty. Several of my friends have had to replace theirs as well. However, my brother has an older model that is just fine.

That said, I will never go back to using CDs! I love the convenience of having all my music and audiobooks in one place that will fit in my pocket!

A 1GB Nano would hold about five 12 hour books. A 2GB nano would definitely hold about five 12 hour books and then some. There is only a $50 difference between the 1GB and 2GB and double the storage space. If you have a Costco nearby, you can get ipods for about $20 to $50 less than retail. I don't know if this is true of other similar stores like Sam's Club but it is worth it to check.

Some stores (I think Best Buy and maybe Circut City) sell refurbished iPods for a bit less. This might be a good route to go for a young child. It would be less of an investment.

You can definitely store excess songs or books on your computer. I had to transfer everything to my laptop when I sent my iPod in to be fixed. It was really easy to do and even easier to restore all the songs to my new iPod.

As far as speakers go...I have a Bose SoundDock that I really like. The sound is fantastic! However, it was a gift so I can't really say I did any research into speakers. I can't offer too much advice in this area...

I honestly don't think I would trust a 7-year old with an iPod. I'm very careful with mine and already had problems with it. I've heard nano's are especially delicate and the screens are prone to breaking.

I do think your gift idea is great, though! I'd like it myself. It is really up to you, though. Do some research and decide for yourself.

Hope that helped!

 

[tmt martins]

OK, see this is why I need you guys!

The mix stick looks great! Much cheaper than an ipod. Does anyone know if it works with Audible? Or is there another site that it works with?

What we do is just download /transfer our music into our Itunes folder as a Mp3 then just drag and drop it into the SD cards from windows folders.I find it's easier to move or delete the files that way.

 

[Florida_Mom]

I just saw an ad yesterday on the internet for a free iPod Nano with a subscription to Audible. Here's the link if you're interested:

http://www.audible.com/adbl/entry/offers/iPodGiveaway.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

 

[DisMN]

For the price I would say buy him an inexpensive MP3 player. I would not by my 7 year old a ipod. She is pretty good about taking care of things, but ipods are not the most sturdy things. We have an mp3 player that we put her music on.

Do you recommend any particular brands? I won't pay the money for the name brand ipod when I see hundreds of others out there that will likely do just fine. But still it's awfully confusing to choose isn't it? LOL

.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I just saw an ad yesterday on the internet for a free iPod Nano with a subscription to Audible. Here's the link if you're interested:

http://www.audible.com/adbl/entry/offers/iPodGiveaway.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

Thank you soooo much!

What do people think? This sounds like a good deal to me, but would something more kid friendly like a Mix Stick make more sense?

I could buy it now and then put it aside until Christmas.

 

[Cindy B]

I bought my 8 year old daughter a 4 gig nano in June. She's been great with it! She'll be 9 in a few weeks though!

 

[Barb D]

Thank you soooo much!

What do people think? This sounds like a good deal to me, but would something more kid friendly like a Mix Stick make more sense?

I could buy it now and then put it aside until Christmas.

Go quick! I just went to check this out and in the couple of minutes I was on the web page the 1 gigs sold out! Only shuffles left!

 

[apirateslifeforme]

I think I'm the only person on earth who doesn't have or want one of these things. I'm fine with my CDs and player...I'm a huge music fan and I've been known to buy 20 CDs a month (yes, it's an expensive obsession).

My next-cubicle coworker has one, and she listens to it all day, every day, loud enough so everyone around her can hear it, and she SINGS ALONG. Out loud. She's been asked, "Who do you think you are, Madonna?" and even the boss has told her to stop. Nope, she says, "I enjoy it and I'm going to keep doing it." One of these days I'm gonna shove that thing down her throat...

 

[Jennasis]

My sister bought me the BIG ipod for my 30th b-day (which is tomorrow). I love it so far, but she has warned me that hers has broken twice (once from normal use and one time the chip inside "crashed"). They are a bit fragile for kids, so be warned.

I also DO NOT USE WINDOWS. Fortunately/unfortunately, DH has taken us off of windows operating systems and replaced it with LINUX. So we had to jump through MANY hoops to figure out how to get the songs into the ipod. Luckily DH is a computer wiz and got it going (we do not use itunes at all...we use the gtkpod program through LINUX. )

Anywho...I love my ipod. It'll hold 7500 songs.