Having an MP3 player — even if only for a week now — has made a huge impact on my life. Music used to play a very large role in my life. I was one of those guys with a thick book of CDs in the car, the best stereo I could afford in my bedroom, and a discman in my bag for the times when I was away from both. Being a music lover and a technophile, it only took one glimpse into the world of MP3s to have me hooked. Oddly enough, this marked the decline in my ability to enjoy music.
Back in those days, MP3 based music was only found on computers. This meant that the only place I could listen to this music was directly in front of my computer and even then it got increasingly difficult to manage. Sure, I burned CDs from time to time to bring into the car, but that was too time consuming to do regularly. Slowly, the amount of time I spent listening to music declined. My exposure to new music dwindled even more and I all together stopped buying new CDs for at least 2 years.
When portable MP3 players started to hit the market they were expensive, buggy, cumbersome, and huge. I wanted nothing to do with them. Further into my musicless cave I sunk. Then MP3 players became affordable, easy to use, and easy to carry. But by this time so long out of the loop, I wasn’t interested. I’m not sure what sparked me into wanting one, but now that I have an MP3 player, that whole world is coming back to me and it makes me very emotional to even think about what I’ve missed.
And I was strong, strong in the sun
I thought I’d see when day is done
Now I’m weaker than the palest blue
Oh, so weak in this need for you.– Place to Be / Nick Drake
I like the iPod as a device. It operates well and it works as I expect it to (except when it “freaks out”:http://revjim.net/2006/09/26/i-broke-my-ipod/ as it has 3 times now).
The ear buds I have are uncomfortable, the cord is too long, and they fall out of my ears a lot. But they work, they sound ok, and, if needed, I can still hear the world around me with them in.
The FM Transmitter I have is not located in a good spot which makes the iPod almost impossible to read while driving. But, it sounds decent enough, only rarely gets any static, and I am able to pause, skip and, most importantly, repeat without even looking at the thing. If I run my hand the wrong way along the side of it, I get a nice 12V kick in pants. I’m still convinced I’m going to spill a drink all over the damn thing one of these days. But, until I do, as inconvenient as it is, it gets the music out of my iPod and into my ears while driving, and that what really matters.
Yesterday afternoon I drove home with the windows down, wind in my hair, and Nick Drake singing to me softly. Jess and I went jogging last night while I listened to a mix of music that mostly included Ani DiFranco’s newer stuff. This morning it was a mix of Sublime and Soul Coughing again with the windows down despite how chilly it was outside. I’ve also learned that I like Joseph Arthur and Death Cab for Cutie.