[SamAdams76]

This is my experience almost exactly. Only I am not selling my CDs but boxing them up for storage in the attic. I gather that one day, when hard drive storage is even greater than today, I might want to re-rip my songs at a higher bitrate.

I find that the iPod/iTunes combination puts me in much better touch with my massive music collection (some 24,000 tracks). Though iTunes is a memory hog with that many songs. I had to upgrade to a full gig of RAM.

Newer iPods feature album art and lyrics so the issue of liner notes will be going away shortly.

iTunes 5.0 already allows for lyrics and there will shortly be a program written that will search the web for lyrics for all those songs on iTunes (as well as cover art) and insert them for you.

Apple has sold 27 million iPods to date. For the next two quarters, Apple is forcasting the sale of 26 million iPods. So within six months, the iPods will double to nearly 54 million!

I saw the new nano iPod over the weekend and I tell you that this is one of the most amazing consumer devices I have ever seen. I'm definitely getting one to complement my 40gig iPod. It will be perfect for taking on the road and for workouts.

[Last Dakotan]

I take it you work for Apple.

[general_re]

Only I am not selling my CDs but boxing them up for storage in the attic.

Wise move. Theoretically speaking, if you no longer own the albums, you no longer have a legal right to own the music on your iPod. Unless of course you bought it seperately through iTunes or some such. I expect this columnist will probably receive a letter reminding him of that. Not that I necessarily agree with this state of affairs - I merely report ;)

[goodnesswins]

If you want your CD's to last.....you WON'T be putting them in your attic!

I don't get the iPod craze.......but, then, I'm not a music afficiando...AND.....I'll have my hearing when I'm 80....LOL.

[JohnLongIsland]

give me my thirty three and one thirds or give me death...

[JohnLongIsland]

give me my thirty three and one thirds or give me death...

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I've put my entire collection on my Mac PowerBook G4 and have the same experience. Not shuffling CDs is wonderful.

I also move favorite playlists to my iPod. I'm currently playing it through the car stereo with a poor cassette tape adapter. I've got a CD changer in the car, but I plan to buy an iPod adapter to provide a direct line-input to the car stereo for better sound quality. I've also bought Rush's 24/7 which includes automatically downloaded podcasts. It's great to hear him on the way to work in the morning. Our local AM station is pretty poor, so hearing Rush on the iPod is like being in the sound-booth with him. The sound is incredible.

Be sure to also buy a back hard disk in case your primary HD goes kablooey. I bought a Seagate 300 GB drive last week for $129 to back up my Mac. It's great peace-of-mind knowing I don't have to re-rip all my CDs.

[new cruelty]

The Nano looks cool and useful for workouts. I may soon get one or something akin to it.

[NYCVirago]

The actual CDs will either be sold or given away.

This person better hope they never have any computer viruses, or any problems with their Ipod, unless they want to have to pay for the same music over and over.

[NewHampshireDuo]

I don't think I'll be scrapping my several hundred opera CDs in the near future.

[digger48]

I still haven't bought my first CD yet!

[LdSentinal]

IPODs?

Sorry, but me and my 8-Tracks, Beta max, and Tandy computer are alright by me.

[M1911A1]

There is still a place for CDs for the audiophile who doesn't want to sacrifice sound quality, and for people like me who are waiting for the MP3 player technology/price sweet spot to drop a little.

[lawgirl]

VERY cool. I have two Ipods- the U2 limited edition and a green mini. I SO wish I had a Nano- I bought the mini to work out with and I just love it.

How do you get lyrics with Itunes 5.0?

[Revolting cat!]

[1L]

Selling your CD collection would be insane. Storing them in the attic/garage would be only a little less so. Some times I listen to something on my iPod that I haven't listened to before and I realize I need to re-rip the CD. Besides, you would need multiple redundant backups to be completely safe.

I'd rather have the CDs. I can take somewhere if need be, play them in my car (don't have it hooked up for iPod yet, but usually copy the CD first), or do several other things.

[montag813]

I gather that one day, when hard drive storage is even greater than today, I might want to re-rip my songs at a higher bitrate.

I'm sure you can fit every CD you own, at 192 or even 320 quality, on one of these:

Above: LaCie Firewire 800/USB 2.0 1-Terrabyte Disk Array ($800)

[Luddite Patent Counsel]

I can shop, exercise, do yard work, and, yes (gasp!) even drive without ever listening to music. Life is just fine without a soundtrack distracting you from the experience. You should try it sometime.

[Dumb_Ox]

I already carry around a $100 cell phone and often an equivalent value in cash. No way am I going to carry around yet another expensive, really small electronic gadget, especially when I can replay and remix some of my favorite music in my own head.

[megatherium]

My iPod is on the fritz again. A couple of months ago, I had to send it in under warranty because it started to skip ahead to the next song on a playlist without warning. ("Restoring" it didn't do any good -- it wouldn't load all my songs back on it.) I got a new (refurbished) unit that worked fine until this weekend, when it has started doing this again. It hasn't been subjected to any abuse (it hasn't been dropped or left in a hot car, etc).

So color me a bit dubious about the iPod experience. Based on my experience: they're not reliable. Another deficiency with the iPod -- their sound isn't really that good. Not "near CD quality". More like a good chromium dioxide cassette, without the hiss. (But if you put uncompressed music on an iPod, the sound quality matches a CD. But then you're not going to get your whole music collection on the device.)

Still, I do love the gadget, when it's working that is. I'm thinking of getting a nano, which has no hard drive and therefore will be much more reliable (or so I would hope).

[Mr. Blonde]

I love my iPod. And I now lust after the nano. I don't really need one, but something that sweet I want.

I like iTunes better than any other jukebox on my computer.