I love my iPod. From its minimalist design, to its sleek, easy-to-navigate interface. It’s one of the few “gadgets” to come out in recent years that seems to address a need, rather than manufacture one. I adore every last gigabit... and as such, I take my iPod everywhere. Need some music for the road? Check. Wanna hear some stand-up? Check. Looking for some Rock? Classical? Trippy emo beatles-esque power pop circa 1993? Check. Check. Check. My iPod is a veritable U.N. of musical tastes and flavors... and that’s just the way I like it. I take comfort in knowing that there’s at least one place in the universe where Eminem and Moby can get along. Where Mahler, Miles, and Biz Markie all peacefully co-exist in perfect harmony... (ok, maybe Biz Markie and “harmony” don’t really belong in the same sentence, but there’s no denying that “Just a friend” is a catchy tune, and hey, every now and then, Mr. Markie... you got what I need).
If nothing else, an iPod is a great way to explore the depths of your CD collection... but this is also where I run into trouble. My iPod has robbed me of my ability to pick out music. I no longer have any idea what I want to listen to. With each turn of the click wheel I’m presented with hundreds upon hundreds of choices... I’m simply overwhelmed. Now, I know... you may be saying to yourself, “Well, it’s all YOUR music... stuff YOU like... can't you just put it on shuffle?”
But don’t you see?!?!? That just makes things worse!
I wind-up skipping ahead... looking for that “perfect” song... time and time again, always guessing that the next tune to come up will undoubtedly be more of what I’m longing for at that exact moment... I need just the right fix... so I keep searching... tapping new veins... always looking for that ultimate high. It’s like cable tv... You get 47 movie channels, and most of them are probably playing something that given the option, you’d be perfectly happy to watch... if it were your ONLY option. But it’s not, so you keep flipping... moving on to that next channel in hopes of finding something even better. And where does this lead you? 2 hours later, you’re knee deep in the weather channel, and all you have to show for your efforts is a callus on your thumb and a slight headache.
That’s what it’s like with my iPod... it really is an addiction... But does this mean I want to get off the pipe? That I should seek help? That I should ween myself off the portable audio goodness?
Of course not!
And if I intend to extend this tired music-as-drug parable even further (which of course, I do), then who’s my biggest supplier? You guessed it, the iTunes music store. That fickle behemoth just exacerbates the problem. It makes getting my stash way too easy... It’s like a bottomless pit. I buy music (clicking away... after all, it's only 99 cents a pop!), only to have it completely disappear... I mean it never surfaces again... Don’t get me wrong, I'm not stupid, I know it’s in there somewhere... but it gets lost in the abyss, it just vanishes. Case in point: there’s a quaint indie-label rock album I bought months ago that I have yet to hear a single track of... I’m sure the songs are wonderfully tasteless, full of bitter angst, repressed anger, gorgeous melodies and wailing guitars, but how would I know? I have absolutely no clue what it sounds like. Maybe eventually it’ll pop up on shuffle and i'll resist the urge to skip... or, maybe not... for now, I just hope those guys are making nice with Sinatra and Skid Row.
1 comment:
i know... i've even started making playlists for different moods (mellow stuff, piano music, jazz standards, etc) and that still doesnt usually narrow it down enough... apparantly im incredibly hard to please :)
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