Luddite needs help with listening devices

[Saito2 6686]

Since my health insurance premiums have doubled for the coming year (tripled in past two years, $70 a pay period is now $230 a pay period) I will be working lots of overtime from now on to stay afloat. I'll need an escape so some form of music and podcast will be on tap. My question is, how is that accomplished nowadays? I'm an idiot with technology to be honest. The last device I had was an old Ipod Nano from over 10 years ago. Do people even use Ipod-like devices anymore or just their smartphones (I have an older Galaxy S5)? What about battery life? I know my S5 probably wouldn't last 3 hours, let alone the 10 hour days I'll be pulling. I guess something called streaming services is popular now? In the old days I had a finite amount of music I owned on my computer and would download podcast onto the Nano but I imagine times have changed. Fill me in before I dig my Sony Walkman out of retirement.

[Bash 356]

As a member of Gen-z who has used all of the devices that you have mentioned, (My dad is huge into music) I'd say to get a streaming service. I personally like Spotify, and have the premium subscription which is $9.99 per month. I like that you can easily make playlists, save albums,  also have podcasts in the same place, and with premium, download albums and playlists for when I don't have internet or feel like using cell. I also find it super easy to use. The other platforms that I have used are Apple Music, which is Ok, but obviously unavailable for android. Lots of people I know like Pandora, which plays similar music from a specific artist or genera (90's rap, AC/DC, Christmas music, ETC)  

[Mad Ax 9310]

Presumably you need a portable device for your work, you can't listen to music through a computer?  If that's the case you will either have to use the S5 or get a dedicated player.  I've no idea how long an S5 will last on battery, you'll have to test that and see - there are portable battery packs that aren't expensive but I don't know how long they last, I've had a few come free with other stuff and have never used them.

Can you access WiFi or will you have to use your data allowance?  Not sure how your data charges are but streaming might work out costly - it's worth checking.  Your battery will die a lot quicker if you're using data.

If I was looking to save money then I probably wouldn't consider a subscription service.  A lot of things like Spotify seem pretty good (I've never used it personally but we had a work account at a previous employer) but I'm not sure how the free service is, I get frustrated with anything that limits my listening or forces me to sit through ads when I'm in mid-flow.  That said, if you to buy new MP3s to extend your collection then you could probably spend a year's worth of Spotify subs in a couple of days.  My guess is you're not looking to do either.

Streaming-wise, I really enjoyed Mixcloud - if you like non-stop mixes, classic mixtapes or radio-show style casts then it's really good.  As a lover of techno and similar styles, it's brilliant, until recently I also used it to listen to a lot of dark ambient music.  It has now moved to a subscription service and there are ads between every mix on the free version.  Arguably it's not that bad to have to listen to 2 minutes of ads after 90 minutes non-stupid music, but the ads are really freakin' loud and if it's 11pm and I'm wrapped up warm in some dark ambient mix and totally lost in the flow of my novel, then someone starts shouting at me about how great it would be to subscribe and listen without someone shouting at me, well, I'm not going to subscribe, I'm going to go back to my MP3 collection.

TBH these days much of my listening is on YouTube.  I use an adblocker extension for Chrome so my flow isn't interrupted except to choose a new mix, and it works on the office PC too (all other streaming services are blocked at work).  There is a hack to get YouTube to play on Android after the screen is shut off.

While it may not be allowed in the ToS, there are ways of downloading music from YouTube so you can listen off-line.  I of course wouldn't dream of ever doing such a terrible thing, nor would I point out that you can search for "youtube downloader" in Google to find websites that will convert the streams for download.  (Incidentally, the software CD that comes with the Beier sound modules comes with a YouTube downloader desktop app so you can download sounds of trucks from other people's videos).

[Badcrumble 4201]

I have resisted streaming services so far.

The majority of what I want to listen to I already own on CD and have converted to MP3 so I'm reluctant to spend £9.99 and month ($9.99 in your money?) to listen to whatever I have already purchased. I like buying CDs too (I'm labouring under the illusion that I'm keeping the industry alive by buying form a physical shop and half-decent the royalties  make it to the musicians).

I have an old iPod classic which still does the business for me. When Apple phased out the Nano they continued with the Touch - basically an iPhone without the phone - which you can still buy. Expensive new though.

I also use my smartphone - an Android device with a fat memory card. Over the years these have been Samsungs, Nokias and currently a Sony Xperia 10ii. I've also got an iPhone as a work phone so have some music on that too. Both of these connect to our cars either through bluetooth or line in mini jack. I get a day out of my phones but I'm not listening to music all day  - no way my old iPhone 6S would last that long!!

So perhaps you could look at upgrading your current smartphone?  Then you can listen to your own stuff, not using up data and not worrying about wi fi connection?

The flipside is Spotify, a friend (who has an more extensive collection than I) has surprised me by switching to the paid service - it means he can instantly stream what he wants to the Sonos speakers all round his house or on his smartphone when outside (using his data bundle, of course). He hasn't looked back....

[Lee76 638]

I listen to bbc sounds at work, I don’t listen to music much at all these days the podcasts on there are all free and there’s some excellent content..No idea if this is easily available in the US but I assume so. The infinite monkey cage is a combination of science and comedy, you’re dead to me and evil or genius give a bit of life/comedy to learning a little history, 13 minutes to the moon is an excellent documentary about the moon landing. There’s loads on there, just need something that will access the internet. I cant help with what devices are available in the US and costs etc, I use a PC, so listen through that. I have an IPhone 4 still going after about 12 years.. battery lasts about 3 hours ...

[Saito2 6686]

It looks like an MP3 player will have to do. My work has wifi, but the sites you can access are very limited (supposedly to deter too many people from using it at one time or something) and using my data will get expensive quick (plus my phone would die fast). Buying music will add up, but I can put all my CDs on the computer to start with. Of course, half my music is still on cassette, because CDs are a passing fad (or so I thought back then, lol) and tapes were cheaper. I guess I can still download podcast for free to put on an MP3 player too.

[Lee76 638]

36 minutes ago, Saito2 said:

CDs are a passing fad

I remember a friend of mine thinking the same and buying a really expensive mini disk player.. thought he’d get more life out of it...

[Saito2 6686]

I've been wary of tech since I was a youngster. I still like MSCs, lol. I've always ran points and condenser in my hot rods/street machines too. I've run good sets up past 6500 rpm on old Sun distributor machines with no point bounce, so I figure, why swap to electronic ignition? Run them through a CD box and they last forever (with minor adjustments for rubbing block wear over time). Plus if the CD box dies, just disconnect it and the points will get you home on their own too. If an ignition module dies, you could be walking home. And...down the special interest hot rod rabbit hole I went. Sorry about that...