The iPod at 5

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I’m a gadget guy, and as gadgets go, this one has gone the distance.

My iPod rocks.

The celebrated pocket jukebox turned 5 years old this week. It changed the world, and my own.

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I couldn’t wait to nab one. I’ve always had the one, a third-generation model that holds a relatively paltry 40 GB.

It doesn’t have a color display. It doesn’t play videos. It doesn’t show the cover art. It holds out for only a little while on a fully charged battery.

But the fact that I can take my entire music collection with me keeps me going. It sits atop its special dashboard mount on even the shortest car trips. It has its own carrying case and pocket on my messenger bag.

I don’t bother using it as a gaming device, or as an address book or calendar. I do use it as a voice recorder on the job. And I’ve spent about as much on accessories as I did on the iPod itself.

I’m Apple’s dream come true.

I also gave a Mini and a Nano as gifts, because it’s one thing to show off the technology, it’s another to have people experience it themselves.

It forced me to finally put all my CDs on the computer (it didn’t hurt that I bought the iPod and the laptop at the same time). By digitizing my collection, I was able to put all those shiny discs away in deep storage and tote around this one small device.

They don’t let you listen to it during takeoff and landing on planes. People don’t notice when you have the earbuds in. And I still turn it down when I’m riding in the car with someone, so you can’t hear the musical goodness.

And I haven’t swapped out the usually crappy party music at other people’s houses with my ready-to-go mixes. Yet.

I still find it difficult to find a song or an album when I don’t feel like searching, doubly so when I’m driving. But just knowing my entire music collection is available instantly is comforting. And I have room for more.

They’re building them smaller now, with more bells and whistles and power. I’m going to hang on to this one for a little while longer, if only because it’s the first.

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