The latest installment of iTunes, version 7, is a fairly big upgrade considering all the new features, and for the most part I’m quite happy with it (crashing has stopped for now). There is a new feature I wanted to mention here today though, that also touches on something that a lot of us tech/geek types can probably understand. iTunes now shows in it’s newly designed side pane, the number of un-listened podcasts.
At first I thought this was a great feature. I often find that new podcasts have been added to my list without my knowing about them. I’d actually been thinking about making/finding some kind of plugin or something that would Growl me when a new podcast came in, so that I could schedule a listen. Now I have a nice un-listened count to show me that there are some ready in the waiting.
The problem is that I am busy. I work two jobs for a living, and I have a family. As it stands right now, I have a hard time keeping up with all of my RSS feeds. This un-listened count started at my upgrade point with 5 un-listened podcasts. Now, as I type this, I am at 15. It’s starting to feel like a nag! Holy cow! 15 podcasts! I’d better stop working and get to listening! Yes, I know some of you out there are able to listen and work at the same time. I’m not. While I work, it’s Groove Salad or nothing.
This gets to my main point. Time. As I’ve become more social on the web, I find that it’s taking more and more time out of my day just to be social. My RSS reader stands currently at 93 feeds. I’ve added two in the last two days. And don’t even get me started on Flickr.
The rate at which others post information is a mirror of my steady decline in work completed. I can’t keep up. So I end up deleting feeds, not being as commenty(hey, it’s my blog) on Flickr, and I hardly ever post anything here. My plate is fairly full right now and that should make me satisfied. But it does not.
As a typical geek, I crave more input. Daily, hourly. Feed me, great Internet. Feed my thirst for knowledge, no matter how esoteric!
I’ll finish that advertisement later. I’ll do the web comps after midnight, on my third pot of Moka Java. I’ll reply to friends emails right after I clear out all my unread feeds. Yes honey, I’ll get off the computer in just a minute. Just one more minute. I just have to reply to a comment here…