Greetings and please bear with me. I have never written a guide before. I also never owned a portable MP3 player until now. You probably want to ask me, where have you been? Well, I have been traveling a lot, taking on more stress and work than the doctor recommended for me. I am about 60 and have had a rare blood disease for 20 years. What does this have to do with the IPOD Shuffle? Everything! I will not go anywhere with out it. If you have older people in your family, you probably already know they have health problems, pains, and other complaints. The IPOD Shuffle is a great device for making you feel better night and day. It is so easy, it is like carrying a book of memories around that can speak to you. I have filled mine with all kinds of old songs that I like, like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Joni Mitchell, Nine Inch Nails, Santana, Roy Orbison, Doc Watson, and the list goes on and on. I could be out shopping and have floating depression, then pop on the earphones and take myself away to a time in my past, where fond memories dominate. Iron Maiden or Teg Nugent probably never dreamed that somebody in pain would put on headphones, crank up the player, and get through a hard moment. Just a few words that you say to a friend could change their whole life. Now there are other players, but the kool colors, the ease of just clipping it to your shirt pocket, and the nice volume it puts out, well.... who really needs to look at those other players? Now you can put anything digital in your player. (The voices of loved ones, digital books, movie soundtracks, radio broadcasts, recording yourself singing, just about anything) If you are older and dont think much of new technology, try it, you will like it. In fact, I feel less depressed knowing that all the earcandy that makes me feel good is there in my pocket, most of the time.

Bob Sills