The days of CD racks are going away. They are being replaced by iPods and other mp3 players that can put entire music libraries in the palm of your hand. Take it wherever you like, listen to your library in the car, at the gym, at home and at work. And by jumping into the world of digital music files you free up all that space now designated for CDs. The process is simple. There are many software packages and devices available to make the change a painless one. I recommend iTunes software (it's free) and an iPod (not so free, but worth it). Prices for an iPod range from $99 for the shuffle which holds a half gig to $399 for the whopping 60 gig storage with video capabilities. A rough guide is that each gig holds about 250 songs or 25 albums. But don't worry about getting an iPod that can hold your entire library, your computer can do that for you, and you can easily rotate the music contents of your music player at will. Getting your music into your computer is made simple by iTunes. Once the software is installed all you have to do is put your CDs into the computer and push a button. Really! It is that easy. The software will do the rest. It will go online and download the CD information such as song names and album names, and it will copy the songs onto your hard drive. Once all of your music CDs are copied onto your computer pack them up and put them in storage. You can now use the shelves that used to be for CDs for something else a little more stylish and listening to your music will be a lot easier. No more shuffling through CDs to find the right album. Now it is all in the palm of your hand and in your computer. Many of these devices also make it easy to play your music through your existing stereo. Apple even has a wireless option that will beam your music to your stereo without the use of messy cables. I prefer to use an adapter that plugs my iPod mini (very stylish) directly into the stereo. That way I have my music in whatever room or office I am working in. I hope this helps you to free up a little space in your home or office and makes your favorite music more accessible. Take care, Karli Bertocchi |
