iHome today launched its new iH41, a portable speaker system and alarm clock that also rotates to allow for widescreen viewing (one assumes this works with the iPhone, but perhaps not). The $79.99 device is now available at the iHome Web site and other retail outlets.
This got me thinking about using the iPod, iPhone or iPod Touch as an alarm clock – basically, the idea of waking up to your favorite music instead of a blaring alarm or even the "crazy morning zoo crew" on the radio. For me, however, this is a conundrum – my idea of an alarm clock is something that will get me to wake up and immediately hit the snooze button or turn it off. The idea that I'd be waking up to my favorite music defeats the purpose of me reaching for the snooze button or turning it off. That's why I wake up to annoying radio stations – if I delay reaching for one of those buttons, I end up with Billy Joel's, "Only the Good Die Young" stuck in my head all day. The alarm clock for me is a challenge to prevent a nasty ear worm from getting into my brain.
I may have even solved my own dilemma – with "favorite" music playing, I wouldn't have to hit the snooze button, and the "pleasing" music on my iPod would ring in my head all day, preventing the aforementioned Billy Joel song from getting there. This is true, but I still prefer the extra six minutes of sleep I get when I hit the snooze button (my reward for winning the ear worm battle, I suppose).
So I wonder – is waking up to an iPod (or CD, or "soothing sounds") better than other methods? Are people using new technologies, or still relying on the old-fashioned clock radio? Add your thoughts on the comment button below.
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Waking Up
The thought of waking up to More Than A Feeling every morning makes me smile.
No clock for me, just a good
No clock for me, just a good old cell phone, which gets thrown every time the alarm goes off.
I wouldn't want to reach over and throw my ipod - that would be a sad day.
Waking up
When I have to get up at a certain time, I've gotten into the habit of using my cell phone - being a light sleeper, the vibrator usually wakes me up before my wife, which is especially helpful at 4:45 in the morning.
As for music, we sometimes use an old MP3 player hooked into some speakers and let it play all night for the insomniacs in us. Usually it is something low key or classical so the wail of a guitar or rousing chorus doesn't wake us up. It might seem weird, but it keeps you from going totally insane at 2:30am when you can't sleep.
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