Many people have now included “music player” with the other things they have delegated to their phones to do.  I’ve tried this, but it’s not for me.  My phone is a busy little thing, and all those boops and bings and bongs it emits mean something.  Such interruptions don’t mix well for me with a stream of music being played, which I treat as a form of meditation.

So when yet another MP3 player went on the fritz, I took a different path.  Based on a tip I read online, I searched on eBay for an Android phone with a bad ESN.  A phone with a bad ESN is a phone that can’t be activated on a carrier: but that makes it sell for under $20 — even under $10 for some. 

I ended up with an LG MS870, which runs Android Ice Cream Sandwich.  I rooted it, to eject the bloatware.  I connected it to my WiFi – so I could even make calls on it if I wanted to, using Skype.  I downloaded the classic Winamp Android app from the Winamp Enthusiasts site.  I paired a nice Plantronics stereo Bluetooth headset to it… et voilà!  A dedicated MP3 player for under $20 that won’t interrupt the play with anything mundane.