I seem to be collecting a lot of widgets and gadgets these days for one of my favorite hobbies – music. It was time to get the bells and whistles; actually, I’m more than a little late.

I told you when I started as editor for this site I had nothing more than a boom box and a portable CD player in my music arsenal. Well, I guess I should also count my laptop since it plays CDs. I started on my journey to the land of MP3s and iTunes from scratch with a Napster account, a Napster player and a green iPod Shuffle. I also downloaded the iTunes library.

I thought I had it made. I was wrong. There are so many services and new players and accessories available that I’m having trouble keeping up.

Tell me, please, that you have the same troubles. Tell me that, unless you work in the industry directly or get a really good discount from a music widget and gadget store, that you are a little lost in the fog of the newest, biggest and best in the field of music digital technology.

Do you still have CDs?
I do. I copied them all to my iTunes library, but I still have my collection in plastic rectangles. And, I still find I’m buying new ones – I just bought the newest release from James Blunt. Guess what? I copied it right into my iTunes library.

Are you MP3 or iTunes?
I’m both. I subscribed to Napster to Go because it helps me find new music and download entire albums when I want to do reviews. I was eligible for a free player ($10 shipping charge) and that was my sole player until my friend, Kelly, bought me a green iPod Shuffle for my birthday. Then I discovered the iTunes library. Now, I’m hearing about the new Amazon service.

What do Do?
So, do I give away or sell my CDs? Do I choose one player or service? I think my decision will be based on what I feel is best for me. And what is that? For now, I will keep my CDs and perhaps even add more, I will continue to download music to my laptop and use my two players. I will keep Napster and the iTunes library and I will explore the new Amazon.com service. Christmas might bring a new player, one with a bigger screen and more file space, and I will continue to explore the book titles that are available for MP3/iTunes audiobook downloads.

Also, I’m going to read more, or should I say study more about digital music. I even took the first step tonight by buying a couple of books on the subject; reading is another one of my favorite hobbies.

What about you? What do you do? What do you want to do? Let’s talk about this in the forum.

Have a great weekend!
Chel