how the ipod changed my life

i was recently surprised by my wife. she used our years of accumulated credit card points to get me an ipod and i will be the first to admit that it has changed my life.

now, i may be the only person who has an ipod without any music on it. but i am addicted to the podcasts. my personal favorite is tom keene from bloomberg news.

but after a few weeks i've found something even better. itunes u.

while everyone knows the ipod has forever changed music, itunes u has opened the doors of higher education to everyone regardless of their financial status or geographical location.

i've been downloading special lectures and even entire semesters from some of the planet's leading universities. last night i listened to joseph stiglitz guest lecturing at oxford and i'm excited to start on berkeley's history of economics course. many of the courses found in itunes u can be used in conjunction with online syllabi and reading lists. other than getting college credit, you can get the same education as those who are paying tuition - this is a pretty good deal.

descartes famously said, 'cogito, ergo sum'. right on, brother. right on.