iPod Shuffle - Aluminum encased power!

I have an iPod Shuffle. I have named it "Little Boy" after the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. Like its namesake, my iPod Shuffle packs a very powerful punch in a little package. I often feel empowered while walking around listening to my iPod Shuffle. So many songs, such a little device. It's a beautiful thing. Another powerful thing about my iPod Shuffle is that it always seems to play the songs I want to hear. When (for as many songs as it holds) it only carries a small fraction of my musical library, I find this an amazing feat. But, that's what you get when you have aluminum encased power! Recently, however, my iPod Shuffle and I had an experience which made me realize that the power I have seen thus far from Little Boy iPod is only the tip of the iceberg. It happened like this.

Because my iPod Shuffle is so small, it fits easily in most of my jacket pockets. So, I usually grab it in the morning on my way out the door and put it in my jacket pocket so as to have it with me should I need to listen to some music at any point in the day. When I get home in the evening, I take my iPod Shuffle out of my pocket and put it on my dresser. One day, just like any other, I came home and started to do some laundry. I sorted my clothes and started my laundry, deciding at the last minute to throw in the jacket that I had worn that day. I left some clothes in the washer and went out, planning to put them in the dryer when I got home. Upon my return, I went out to put my laundry in the dryer. I started pulling my clothes out of the washer and throwing them into the dryer. As I pulled out my jacket, I saw Little Boy iPod dangling from the headphone cord out of the jacket pocket. As I instantly realized what happened (I did not take the iPod Shuffle out of my pocket like I usually do), I was gripped with a feeling of mortification. What had I done? The probable fate of my iPod Shuffle and all of it's empowering capabilities filled my mind, but I had hope. I immediately turned it on, but there was no happy light that came on telling me my Shuffle was okay. I feared the worst, but remembering that the battery of my Shuffle was nearly dead before it's tumble through the washing machine, I clung to the faint hope that it would be restored to life after a charge. I text messaged Jared and asked him how waterproof Shuffles were. His answer was not encouraging, but he said to leave it alone for 24 hours so it could dry out and then check it again. I knew that to really check it, it would have to be recharged. Over the next few days, I had no time to deal with my ailing iPod Shuffle and then I went out of town for a few days. Upon returning, I was again very busy and had no time for iPod intensive care.

It was almost two weeks after my iPod took the plunge before I had a chance to plug it in to my computer and see what happened. By this time, Jared, certain of the death of Little Boy, had bought me a new iPod Shuffle and I had resigned myself to the process of aquainting myself with a new iPod. Before pulling the new iPod out of it's packaging, I decided to give Little Boy another chance. I plugged him into my computer. A light came on on the iPod, but it did not appear in iTunes. With that, I thought it was all over. I opened some other programs and was doing some other work on my computer before opening and setting up the new iPod Shuffle. All of a sudden, an alert window popped up telling me that new software was available for my iPod. Not daring to believe it in my mind, I brought up the iTunes window. In utter and absolute amazement, I saw Little Boy listed in iTunes with all of the songs it carried still inside! I told Jared that Little Boy came back to life and he was as amazed as I was. I quickly grabbed my headphones to see if it still worked. Never has "Livin' On a Prayer" sounded so beautiful to my ears!

The power packed in that small aluminum case continues to amaze me. My iPod Shuffle has been through enough to kill even a regular iPod and has lived to tell the tale. It has been restored to it's original glory and it's empowering abilities have not dimished at all. That Shuffle and I are going places!