A mistake with my iPod I don’t care to make again
In case anyone reading my blog thinks that techies are immune to the ways of a noobie, take heart in what I am about to tell you.
I set out this morning for a 4 mile walk, armed with a brand new audiobook on my iPod. I became immediately engrossed in the book and was quite proud of myself for killing two birds with one stone (exercising and business self-improvement).
Good idea, bad execution
But something weird happened. A few chapters into the book, the author of the audiobook made a reference to something earlier in the audiobook that I didn't remember hearing. I chalked it up to my mind drifting for a few seconds and continued on.
Then it happened again. Only this time, the author seemed to be on a completely different topic and was talking about it as if he had been talking about it for hours.
And then the final blow. Right after the author finished a sentence, I was smack dab in the middle of an interview with the author. No lead-in, no introduction. Just smack dab in the middle of an interview.
This is the moment I realized my iPod was in shuffle mode, 45 minutes and 15 so-called chapters into the book.
There's something to be said about sequential reading
If you aren't familiar with shuffle mode imagine picking up a paperback and reading chapter 1, then chapter 12, then chapter 5, then chapter 34, then chapter 19. That is what my iPod was doing with my audiobook.
The worst part is that the only real remedy is to turn shuffle mode off and start the book all over again at chapter 1.
Yes, today I am a noobie.
8 comments for this blog post so far...
June 23, 2009 at 9:19 am
Arlene
Yeah, now imagine doing that with a language book. Nothing like skipping from lesson one: pronunciation, to lesson 13: ..I have no idea, I didn’t understand enough to know what the topic even was.
June 23, 2009 at 9:21 am
clenna in NH
Thank you for this article - it happened to me and I thought I had downloaded wrong!
I didn’t even bother to figure it out (because I was so irritated) but thanks to you now I know what happened!
June 23, 2009 at 9:38 am
Bud Keller
And if you mixed the book in with your music (which I managed to do) and them edited out the book when you were done but missed a few segements in the process—then when you listen to music on shuffle you get parts of the book in the mix! Tough to save a book from discs to the iPod for some reason for me. I saved 45 discs of “Atlas Shrugged” on to my iPod in the wrong place, and was not about to go back and do it again! Then removing it from the long list in the library I missed a few segements. Still better than changing out 45 discs on the portable CD player!
June 23, 2009 at 10:08 am
Suz
Been there. Done that.
High School Musical 2 soundtrack mixed in with Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry mixed in with InkDeath. And I can’t get shuffle to turn OFF on my mp3 player. Grrrrr.
June 23, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Patric Welch
@Arlene: I think you have me beat. I’m even wondering how with a foreign language you would even know you were listening out of order!
June 23, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Patric Welch
@clenna in NH: See, something good came of my mistake. Now I feel better. Thanks :)
June 23, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Patric Welch
@Bud: 45 discs? Wow! There is a setting in iTunes that will ignore a song when shuffling. If you mark something as an audiobook I think this gets set automatically. The trick is remembering to set the setting. Alternatively, I think you can put the book tracks in the Audiobooks section in iTunes.
June 23, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Patric Welch
@Suz: So I’m not the only one with High School Musical in my iTunes library?
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