iPod vs. Front Row Experiment

Today, I left my house in a rush. I did not have time to sync up my iPod to my MacBook Pro. I drive 97 miles to get to a class, so I need my new podcasts. I grabbed my Apple Remote and took my fully charged MacBook Pro on the road. I used a tape adapter to hook up the car and computer. I turned off Airport to conserve battery power. I own an inverter, but I didn’t have time to hook it up.

I’ve got to say that Front Row with a remote works much better than using an iPod. The big fonts helped me see the screen while I was driving. I wasn’t fumbling with a scroll wheel and trying to see a miniscule screen (I have a 3G iPod). Maybe it’s me, but I have trouble landing on the exact file I want using the scroll wheel.

I was able to listen to my podcasts that I had downloaded last night and the 97 miles wasn’t too bad. In addition to the podcasts, I had access to my videos as well. No need to transcode a video into a music file. When I drive long distances, I’d rather hear longer form shows. That way, I’ve only heard 2 or 3 different things on the drive home. If I hear ten three-minute songs, I know I’ve still got a lot of songs to go before I get home.

I would enjoy listening to Simpsons episodes without having to make them audio-only files. This brings me back to the UMPC. No need to transcode, it plays anything. Maybe the UMPC could be the ultimate car computer. It’s not that great to carry around, but in a car, I bet it’s got a useable display especially if it runs a Media Center-like interface.

So for long car rides, Front Row beats iPod for driving. It prevents staring at a small screen. Maybe someone can run an empirical study on this.