Diary of a Disc Man Junkie
Technology has always been complicated to me. For instance, the
parental units never allowed computers in our household until it became
a necessity when I went to college.
All throughout high school I
used a typewriter and Whiteout on all the papers I had to do. Let’s
just say I single-handedly supported Paper Mate.
Perhaps it’s
the way I was raised, but I’m always 10 years behind. I was one of the
last kids to get a CD player, a DVD player, a disc man; you name the
machine I rebelled against it. When I got my car in 1997, I requested
they remove the CD player and install a tape player (That cost $200
extra, so I kept the CD player).
So it’s come to the age where
the iPod is an obvious music necessity. Exclusive tracks, sneak peeks,
and don’t forget the fashionable earphone statement. I was just given a
free iPOD so how was I supposed to turn that down?
Now mind you
my other half loads and updates the iPod for me, removing the
technological aggravation from the equation. I thought it appropriate
to keep a diary of my first week with Mr. Pod.
DAY 1: INTRODUCTION
My
first meeting with Mr. Pod was overall positive. He was a good looking
machine, white shiny face and gleaming silver back. He was pretty easy
to operate and the directions were self explanatory. The menus were
simple and it did not take much technological savvy. Yet figuring out
how to operate the machine was enough for one day. I put POD to “sleep”
and called it a day.
DAY 2: DO THE SHUFFLE
Now
it was time to see what POD could add to my musical life and
experience. Scrolling through all the artists, I couldn’t figure out
what the hell I should listen to. Unlike CDS when you are looking at
the racks, you sort of hone in on something and your mind is made up,
you stick it in and you are done. Now I have hundreds of songs at my
fingertips…what am I gonna..? SHIT there’s a “Shuffle” button. I had no
choice but to shuffle and let the mysterious choices of POD decide my
musical direction for the day.
DAY 6: SHUFFALOHIC
I’m
a shuffalohic. I have not written in four days because I’m stuck in the
shuffle void. Mr. Pod is great in the way my CDs don’t get scratched
up, and he’s easily rechargeable. However I can never decide what to
listen to. There are way too many choices and it causes an onset of
dizziness just thinking about what to play. I have shuffled for five
days straight, skipping the songs that don’t fit my mood and repeating
ones I want to hear again. My feeling is that I’ll never get out of
shuffle. Not that it’s a bad thing, but I’m beginning to notice that
shuffle repeats the same songs. Maybe there’s a secret reason why, but
I have been skipping more than usual. However still in an overwhelmed
state, I have no other choice but to do the shuffle.
DAY 7: PEEK-A-POD
It
was a slow day in the office, and my co workers decided to play “What’s
on your POD?” Now I love talking about music as much as the next
person, but having someone looking at all that Mr. Pod has to offer? I
wasn’t too sure. However everyone was whipping out their machines, so I
felt the pressure to join in. I did preface the pod sharing session
with the fact that I just got it and it wasn’t fully loaded with all my
favorite musical goodies. Looking at my co workers pods though
definitely clued me in to what music they listen to, allowing me to
guess their overall music tastes after one full scroll through the
artist section. The experience reminds me of when you go over to a
person’s house the first time, and you take a peek around their CD
collections. Overall I’m neutral about peek-a-podding, but it does make
me wonder if I should refrain from adding Night Ranger’s “Sister
Christian” on there just in case of cred emergencies.
Overall,
after a week of hanging out with Mr. Pod, I’m sold. I may be forever in
a state of shuffle, but not having to buy AA batteries every 4 days is
a definite bonus. I also have upped my societal rankings joining the
iPOD culture. I fit in with my fancy white earphones and receive no
more bewildered stares as I did when I toted my disc man down the
street. I do have to say I’m still overwhelmed with what to listen and
can’t figure out what song to choose next, which perhaps will lead to
music ADD down the road. But for now, me and Mr. Pod, we are getting a
long just fine.
