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Using iTunes to Replace Some Would-Be Book Purchases

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Yesterday, I summed up my entry by saying that I could kick start my personal de-cluttering process with an early spring cleaning. Somewhere in my entry I also commented that one of the best ways to de-clutter your life is to not buy new things that you will not use in the first place! This brings me to a topic that I’ve wanted to cover on this blog for the last two weeks – the unbelievable reach of iTunes.

Hang in there, I can actually draw a correlation here and make this make sense!

Over the last few weeks I’ve been dabbling in this iTunes U and some of the more educational-focused podcasts offered on iTunes. By using some of the features on iTunes and more specifically iTunes U, I’ve been able to get the mental stimulation that I would normally reserve for reading books. Seriously! I downloaded a bunch of podcasts from a doctor who interviews other doctors at the University of Michigan and asks them about health questions that pertain to their fields of study. These people are experts in the topic and they give away free information about the disease or condition for free. How great is that?!

And with iTunes U I’ve been able to turn some of my daily commutes into mentally stimulating experiences as I listen to professors for Yale and Harvard Universities talk about topics that I’m interested in (business management, nonprofits, leadership, American Colonial History, writing, personal finance, etc). It’s absolutely wonderful if you’re an information junkie like I am!

With this comes the integration of other services into iTunes like Audible. I’ve downloaded a few audiobooks from a family account and I plan on listening to some of them in the next few weeks during my trips to and from work. Hey, we all know that I absolutely hate my commute so if I can turn it into something more than just mindless driving to and from Trenton, then I’d be happy to do so!

But to keep with the theme of the last few days – by utilizing electronic media more often I’ll be able to cut back on the amount of books that I buy. Now, I’d never give up books altogether because I’m one of these readers who thinks that there is something that you lose when you don’t have the actual book in your hand and the words in front of your face. However, if I can purchase a few less books each year by listening to a few audiobooks instead, then that only helps to reduce the overall amount of clutter in my home – and that’s not a bad thing at all.

Breaking Free From the Confines of Traditional Service Providers

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Way back in December I came across an article on the New York Times website that talked about how one family broke free from the shackles of traditional cable service providers. It really is an interesting story so if you have a few minutes at the office or during the afternoon, you should click on that link and read the piece in its entirety. However, for a very brief summation of what the writer wound up with, here it is in his own words:

I disconnected everything, threw it to the side and canceled the cable months ago. Instead, now I have a Mac Mini, wireless mouse and a Microsoft Xbox hooked up to my television.

The article talks about how the guy had all of these gadgets – a DVD player, a special remote control, the AppleTV service (which was a major bomb), a gaming system, a cable box, etc. You know the drill because chances are that you have some or all of these peripherals (and more). Then the guy broke free of the confines that are put on us by our cable television services and he created his own entertainment center using other distribution formats.

For example, for movies this guy uses a streaming service from Netflix. For television shows he uses Hulu, Boxee, iTunes and Joost. I don’t know how he manages to watch certain cable programming (how does he get FOX News or CNN or HGTV, etc?), but the fact that this guy was able to disconnect from the cable company is impressive.

Think about that in terms of real dollars from your own wallet. My roommates and I spend about $130 each month on cable and internet plus I spend an additional $35 each month on the cable-fueled telephone. That’s $165 each month to the cable company – an absolutely unbelievable $1,980 per year! That’s ludicrous!

Now how much more do you spend on digital distribution services like Netflix or Blockbuster or cable on demand, etc? The costs begin to add up.

I think it’s great that the guy from this article was able to completely disconnect himself from this system. Somewhere in the article he suggests that he’s paying a total of $40 per month now for his internet and Netflix service. Over the course of a year that’s $480 or a savings of $1,500 each year. Each year!

That’s a lot of money! And it’s got me thinking about how I might be able to disconnect from the cable company once I purchase a home of my own one of these days…

Album Review: Oracular Spectacular by MGMT

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Sometimes I hear a song that I like on Sirius XM’s Alt Nation and I go home to find out more about the band who sings the song. Generally, I’ll then go to YouTube to hear some more of their songs and, if the band is good and the music is worth listening to, I’ll find a way to download the music either through iTunes or through some other online distribution method.

Such was the way that I wound up downloading MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular album. If you don’t know, MGMT is the band that sings one of the songs that always seems to be on Alt Nation – Kids. It’s a catchy song that mixes a bunch of different styles and sounds like a lot of fun. I’m sure that if you haven’t heard it on Alt Nation or whatever your local radio station is, that you’ll enjoy it. In fact, I’ve got a YouTube video for the song embedded below. Maybe you want to scroll down there and listen to it while you read the rest of this post (I take no responsibility for the weirdo video associated with the song).

After downloading the rest of the album, though, I don’t think that most of MGMT’s music is for me. While I’ve had some recent success with listening to (and liking) all of Cartel’s Cycle and Owl City’s Ocean Eyes, my luck ran out with MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular.

To MGMT’s credit, though, the album doesn’t have a lot of bad songs on it. In fact, most of the songs are pretty good. However, the general sound – which is a type of electronica and psychedelic blend (some even call it synthpop, but I don’t know what that means) – it just wasn’t for me. However, if you like that sort of stuff, then you’ll absolutely love MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular.

Pretty weird video, huh? So if this stuff is for you, then by all means – go and get yourself a copy of this album. But if this isn’t really your thing, then you might want to just download a copy of Kids from iTunes or Amazon.com or some other music service. If anything, that’s a pretty good song. Enjoy!

iTunes Review: Lost, Season 2

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Now that I’ve seen the first two seasons of Lost, there are marked differences between them. Whereas the first season was absolutely phenomenal in terms of drama and storytelling and character development, and so on, the second season was really not as good.

First of all, the random killing of Libby, Anna Lucia, and Michael was poorly, POORLY written. An entire season was spent developing these characters and the best that the writers could think of was to have a crazed Michael come back and shoot up the place? No creativity there whatsoever.

And on that point, I was almost glad to see Shannon go because she was just an annoyance as a character…like her brother Boon.

I think one of the most disappointing parts of the second season was that the story began to be predictable. When Echo finds his brother’s body in the plane, did you expect him to do anything else but become a preacher in his stead? When the guns are stolen by Sawyer and his undercover accomplice is Charlie, did you think it was anyone but Charlie who could have helped?

Did anyone really catch why Locke and Jack started to hate each other? Was it the fact that one believes in faith and one believes in science? Because that’s not good enough…another bad plot “twist.”

And the worst part about the new season is that you can see how it was written for commercial breaks and anti-climatic plot twists that change in the next episode. Just a lazy job overall on the part of the writers, I think.

Now some of the good things about the second season included the talk with the “others” in the middle of the field and the “are we in a crazy bin?” episode where Hurley and Libby are in the same nut house. That episode right there is worth the price of admission.

Since this is an iTunes Review, I guess I should note that both the first and second seasons were viewed via an iTunes download. The quality of these videos is superb on an iPod, but mediocre at best on a computer. But that’s ok with me – these things are made for iPods in the first place!

Overall, the second season is not as shocking as the first and takes too many unnecessary and uncreative plot twists. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

iTunes Review: Lost, Season 1

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A big thank you goes out to my former roommate Dave Schwartz for suggesting that I begin watching “Lost” – the ABC primetime hit. My Mom also suggested that I watch it and she even downloaded the first two seasons of the show from iTunes, so here is my inaugural “iTunes” review!

This is a great show. It’s intriguing in a way that makes you go, “huh?” And the usage of those numbers (which can’t come to my mind right now) as “evil numbers” is fantastic. I don’t know if there is any historical perspective behind that storyline, but I like the concept a lot. What’s great is that the more you watch the show and the more observant you get, the more you see those numbers all over the place! Like when Hurley is running through the airport and the girl’s soccer team is sitting there waiting for their flight – you only briefly notice their numbers, but when you play it back their numbers are those cursed numbers.

And the interrelation of the characters is amazing. If you go back and watch the episode where Jin is supposed to teach his Father-in-Law’s associate “a lesson,” you’ll notice that when he enters the associate’s house – the guy’s daughter is watching Hurley talking about the lottery on TV! I just find it all amazing – really some great writing.

I think Boon’s death was probably premature and could have most likely been avoided. The whole idea that Locke is pushing about the island needing a sacrafice – eh, that might have been a blip in the otherwise awesome storylines of the first season. Maybe it’ll play out better in the second season.

And Charlie is just an excellent character. He did such an amazing job as a hobbit in the Lord of the Rings that I thought he might have run the risk of being type-casted as a children’s actor. But he’s shattered that notion and done an amazing job at it as well. The whole heroin addiction and the discovery of heroin on the island is an interesting storyline that I hope they play out in the second season. By the way, I should mention that I’ve already begun watching the second season and that there is some really great stuff going on so far!

The casting of Terry O’Quinn as John Locke is just perfect. Someone should get an award for putting him in that spot…and he should get an award for playing that role absolutely perfectly. And to whoever came up with the name John Locke – beautiful historical references – I love it! We just need to find someone named Thomas Hobbes for him to be against now…

All in all, I was completely enthralled by the first season. I watched the entire thing in about 4 days during my free time after work. I am now a big fan of the show and like I said earlier, I’m actively engaged in the second season, so I’ll have that review up as soon as possible. And remember, folks – Season 3 starts on ABC Wednesday, October 4th!