One of my frustrations the last couple years has been how hard it is finding time to read. Any writer (heck, anyone) with young children can probably relate — there’s just not enough hours in the day anymore. But a writer needs to read as much as he or she needs to write — it’s the creative fuel that keeps the fires of the imagination burning.
I’ve always liked audio books as a way to squeeze in more reading, but now that my daughter, Kat, accompanies me out to the university (where she goes to preschool), listening to 
them in the car isn’t much of an option. Usually, we end up listening to one of her CDs: “Head . . . and shoulders, knees, and toes, knees and toes . . .”
I’ve had an iPod for a while now, but purchasing audio books is expensive and importing CDs checked out from the library is too time-consuming. So I was happy when I stumbled across the Library2Go program, which allows library patrons to “check out” audio books to be downloaded to computers and MP3 players. The iPod wasn’t compatible, so I sprung for the $35 (man, have the prices come down on these things) for a 1 gig Sansa. I’ve been using it on my walks at lunch here at the day job, and it’s been great so far — tiny, easy to use, and even the 1 gig player fits three to four books at a time.
While I’ve never been one to get excited about technology for technology’s sake — it’s always about what technology can do that matters to me — I have to say this has me pretty stoked.