Subject: Hearing the Music

In January I switched from a frustrating PC to my beloved iBook. I’m a
grad student and completely deaf. I take my laptop to class so that I
can touch type while I lip-read. Twice now, I’ve plugged in my Ethernet
cable in the middle of class to use Safari to search the web for
information on a CD or record we are listening to in class. I’ve been
so happy to be able to just plug in and find what I need to keep up in
class.

The most fun, though, has been my iPod. I use a special connector to
connect it to my cochlear implant. I am addicted to the equalizer,
where I can adjust the songs so that I can hear them clearest, making
vocals louder or turning quiet piano sections up or boosting the bass.

When my dad was recently visiting me, he discovered my iPod. He also
has a cochlear implant, but has never used a Walkman or a CD player. I
handed him my iPod remote and my special Cochlear connector. He
connected his own cochlear and was soon scrolling through my iPod
music. He turned on a classical piece and said, “Wow, those violins are
really clear!” A few seconds later, he had switched songs to a ballad
from a movie soundtrack.

It’s really exciting to have simple things so easy that they don’t
interfere with high-tech bionic parts, like Cochlear implants. Not only
is my iPod nifty, but it holds my calendar and my address book.
Thoughtful features, like that equalizer, let my dad identify a song
only by hearing, for the first time ever.

— EB