Crap. No sooner do I get an iPod when Apple decides to demonstrate what a bunch of ‘tards they really are.

Well folks, if you’re not Apple, you apparently cannot use the term “PodCast.” Or “MyPodder,” or pretty much anything commercial that has the word “pod” in it and may or may not refer to iPods. Why? because Apple has applied with the US Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the term “pod.” And, they are dishing out the cease and desist letters to all kinds of businesses that are (for now) part of the iPod ecosystem. The latest victim is Podcast Ready, which offers a third-party Podcast aggregator of sorts that works with the iPod and several other audio players. You can view the letter here.

Apple seems to have a history of schizophrenia directed against third party vendors. Remember the Mac clones? Back in the day Apple sued, then embraced, then drove off the market a dozen or so companies dedicated to licensing MacOS and building compatible hardware. No doubt Apple enjoys being popular only when it suits them, and when products become too mainstream, it seems his Steveness feels he has to alienate everyone until his company is thrown back into cult obscurity. Sadly, iPods are riding a peak, and third party vendors may now be “getting Steved” to “correct” this.

Once upon a time (early 2004 to be exact), I shelled out a lot of money, and bought an iPod. It looked something like this. And it was good. For, about one week.

Then, Apple released a new design, which changed the look slightly, and added features. And I began to fret. “OMGWTFBBQ!!!!111,” I said, out loud. “The new and hip iPod has a click wheel! ONHOES, I must have a click wheel!! And a color screen!!! Oh my God, the COLOR!!!!!! My iPod is now teh suxorz!”

Immediately, the options were reviewed. The old n’ busted iPod that I had (which was neither old nor busted, really) was to be sold on eBay, straight away. And the proceeds were to be used to buy a shiny new one. It had to happen. I could not be seen with yesterday’s iPod, damnit!

But, midway through packaging up my “old n’ busted” for resale, I began to realize something. Apple, a company whose skill in form, function, and design I secretly admired, but outwardly detested for its repeated displays of arrogance and the propogation of iSnobbery, had me in a position I swore I would never be in: hooked, addicted to iCrack. Admittedly the vision of Steve Jobs on a street corner hawking his wares like a crack dealer had me amused.

But in all seriousness, this could not stand. I knew what would happen next. I’d get the next new hotness, and feel good for a couple months. Then, ol’ Steve would smugly reveal the next Big Change to a cheering mass of fanatical, rabid iSnobs. Yet another incremental step in his diabolical plan to bankrupt me through needling away at my desire to be With It.

So, the iPod was sold to some broke college student, at a loss. But, a replacement was not purchased. I concluded that to be iHip, you must either be filthy rich, or accepting enough that no matter what you buy, it will be awesomely cool in the Apple Store, but will be yesterday’s news the moment the sales receipt leaves the pudgy, grubby hands of the Genius behind the counter, and lands into yours. But I was not rich, nor was I accepting of the inherent obsolescence. So, no Apple product, Mac or Pod, was right for me.

Two years have passed, and I find myself in the vicious cycle once again. I bought what is known among officionados as the “5.5-gen iPod” which basically means it’s the fifth generation iPod, with what ol’ Steve calls “enhancements.” It helps that this iteration was just released mere days ago, and happens to be accompanied by a significant price drop, and capacity increase. As far as iPods go, $349 for 80GB of storage is probably the best deal yet.

Yes, yes, I know. My precious device will probably be old news by the time I hit the “publish” button on this article. But before I put down the cash this time, I made myself a promise: no more iPod purchases for at least a year. Preferably two, but if I can survive a year, that would be unprecedented.

I think this time I’ll survive. Here’s why: 80GB is, I think, enough for me. With all my music and videos stored up, this iPod is about half full, which is good! Plenty of room to grow.

Additionally, this article, “Ten Rules for Buying Apple Products,” really helps. It confirms that if you buy anything at all from Apple, you have to accept that being on the bleeding edge for any appreciable amount of time with it is simply impossible. You have to be okay with this, or Steve Jobs will eat you (and your wallet) alive. Besides: having an “old” product doesn’t automatically make the product obsolete. Those who spent $500 less than five years ago for the very first iPods can still use them to do everything that it was promised they could do: buy songs from iTunes, or rip your own CDs and store the MP3s for playback. They’re not as chich as their sleeker, slimmer contemporaries, but most still do the job.

So, what are the lessons learned?  Simple: quit worrying. If the product suits you, buy it. And don’t torture yourself with what’s coming next.

Will I heed these lessons? Time will tell. In the meantime, I will occupy myself with my other iPod obsession: keeping my iPod fingerprint and smudge-free. Let me tell you now, it’ an impossible task, particularly for the black model. Just getting the player “decent” looking enough for its photo shoot (up top) took half an hour of cleaning and re-cleaning.
On an unelated note: Wow, the iPod is less than five years old. Imagine that: before 9-11, no one wore white earbuds in public.

Former Texas Governor Ann Richards, probably the only person who ever made me proud to be a Texan, has passed on.

Unlike the current ilk, when there was a state budget crisis, Ms. Richards knew how make an entrance to get legislators’ attention. Sadly, her administration fell victim to the Republican wave of the mid 1990s, and regretfully she didn’t live to see the results of the upcoming mid term elections, where hopefully, the Democrats can take it all back.

Rest in Peace, Ann.

Well, as if RadioShack hasn’t worked hard enough by now to put forth the idea that they hire inhuman, unintelligent sales droids, they’ve taken the dehumanizing up a notch: they’ve just laid off 400 employees, by e-mail.

Employees at the Fort Worth headquarters got messages Tuesday morning saying: “The work force reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated.”

Generally, relationship break-ups by e-mail are often seen as tacky and rude. One would think that maybe as a company, it would be equally seen as uncouth to give someone the pink slip via a cookie-cutter mass e-mail.  Guess HR was too busy to bother?

Another interesting question: what if such an axed exmployee came to work the next day, feigning ignorance and claiming that, oops, the -email must’ve ended up caught by the spam filter? 🙂

Well, this move isn’t surprising.  RadioShack has experienced a great many gaffes and bad decisions over the past year, so this is nothing new.  Given the way they treat their employees, don’t expect this chain to last long, as it rapidly loses relevance.