I'm behind on blog-reading, but apparently people are shocked–shocked–that Steve Jobs thinks you should buy a new iPod every year. Here's the latest from Engadget, which is significantly less snarky than the last place I read it, but still. They seem to be treating this like it's proof that Jobs is evil or something.

First of all, I hate to break this to anyone outraged by this notion, but for fuck's sake, where have you been? Companies want you to buy their shit. Not only that, but they want you to buy it and then buy it again. Why do you think things break and you have to replace them? Forget MP3 players. When was the last light bulb that honestly lasted as long as the package said it would?

And wow, companies innovate so you want to buy the latest and greatest even if your present model is still working. This is really news. Fuck. How many times have you bought the same movie on DVD? Or if not you, somebody's buying them, so how many versions have you seen street? Forget DVDs, how many Monty Python CD compilations have you owned? Hell, I've got one called "The Final Ripoff," flaunting the fact that they had repackaged and resold stuff multiple times.

And as for an iPod being obsolete the moment you open the package, again, where have you been? Bought a PC lately? Bought a TV lately? Hell, a car?

It's called perspective. Rent some, if you can't afford to own.

P.S. The battery life on my 4G iPod is fine and I use the hell out of it. And if you don't have enough sense to buy a case to keep your unit from getting scratched, then you're an idiot. If you own an iPod, you've already decided to trade the unit's functionality and ease of use for its lack of inherent self-protection. No need to trumpet to the world you didn't think about that before you bought it.

Now that the Pope has an iPod (a white one, naturally–although I would have laughed my ass off if he had gotten the U2 "limited" edition), wouldn't it be hilarious if he went the way of Sen. Ted Stevens from Alaska and started giving the RIAA and MPAA grief about what he can and can't have on there…

"What do they mean I can't tear Snoop Dogg songs to this thing? Who do they think they are?"

"That's rip, your eminence."

"Oh whatever. I want an answer. Get me an answer."

I want to see some cardinals sued for file sharing. I want this. Ungawa! Make it so.

Music Postscript: Trimbal's "They Gave an Inch". Found via Largehearted Boy. Why can't I stop laughing?

Update: I really appreciate Engadget's headline on this.

"Do not try and change radio. That's impossible. Instead…only try to realize the truth."

The News Blog has an interesting overview of how radio is following in the path down which television has already gone: we pay for television because we want what we want. Just like some folks pay for Tivo (and other such services) because we want what we want when we want it.

I forget how long ago I read this in Wired, but the line (or at least a reasonable facsimile) stuck with me. The article was about satellite radio, and said we'd pay for radio because of the same principle that made us pay for cable TV: a free service can suck so bad you'll be willing to pay for it.

Setting aside the fact that a paid service can work around the FCC and their idiocy (only for now–the decency loons are going to go after all that next, no doubt), I'm wondering how many people listen to radio like I listen to radio: I roll my own. For example, I took an Airtran flight recently on one of their planes that comes with XM Radio in every seat. I unplugged my headphones from my iPod, plugged them into XM, went through all hundred channels, thought "Well, that's nice," and went back to my iPod. As is in evidence by this site, if nothing else, I'm a control freak. I don't want somebody else telling me what to listen to.

I also wonder about these studies showing that people only have a hundred songs they listen to. Can this be accurate? I have 4500+ songs on my iPod at any given time (out of the 8000+ I have ripped thus far), and sure, if I'm not in the mood for B. B. King or System of a Down at a particular moment, I'll hit skip. There are certain songs I listen to more than others. I sometimes get a hankering (yes, I said hankering) for a particular artist or genre. But for the most part, I'm content to sit back and let my own personal radio station, WIDG, do its thing. If somebody only has a hundred songs in their listening queue, that's sad. But if you've got a wide array of listening options, Shuffle Songs is a wonderful thing.