I told a friend I had considered getting an mp3 player. “Are you serious?” she asked with surprise and suspicion. I first assumed she was thinking, why do you want to be a part of that white earphone gadget-obsessed culture? But of course, she was actually thinking, you really don’t have one already? And the answer was no, I did not already have one. Throughout my entire life, I’ve been slow, not necessarily reluctant, but slow to integrate new technology into my experiences of media. Once a particular method of experience is learned and enjoyed, it’s not easy to alter the ritual without paranoia of a lessened effect. I didn’t want to switch from cassette tapes to CDs because CDs were always skipping in the portable players. I thought DVDs would fade like laserdiscs. Mp3s, though, seemed especially detrimental to my experience of sound. Those low bitrates sounded all gargly, downloading takes away the fun of record stores, and digital files lack the tangible artwork I’ve grown up flipping through during first listens. After a while of living in New York, however, I realized I was hardly ever listening to my vinyl anymore. My attention to recordings had diminished to moments of house cleaning or getting ready for work. I also began to be intrigued with the easy organization of mp3 players. In addition, I soon realized the benefits of the digital age: less production of plastics (dangerous ones like vinyl), less consumption of paper, having your entire collection at your fingertips, etc. I concluded that vinyl could be my go-to, and I would back things up with mp3 copies for portable use/mixes. I never acted on the idea, though, until one drunken rainy night when I lost my phone.
So you purchased an iphone? Fuck no. One of my problems with the mp3 market is that it has already been monopolized by Apple, with merely a few surviving competitors to itunes. The fascist lack of freedom in Apple products also leaves a bad taste in my mouth. So what did I do? I went to the lesser of two evils: Google. Not exactly the underground choice, but android phones are neat! I decided to go with the brand new Mytouch 3G Slide. Below is a comparison to the current generation of iphone.
Keypad. I don’t like punching around on the screen, hoping for accuracy. This has a slide-out full keypad for cavemen like me.
Headphones. The headphones are shit; I think Apple’s shit headphones are even better. Best to use your own. Who can keep those little earpieces in, anyways? Not me.
Music player. About the same as the iphone’s, though I like the fluid album flipping on Apple’s version a little better, even if it’s not necessary.
Other shit. Android has way more of all that extra cell phone crap. But we’re not discussing that here.
Have mp3s ruined my life? Not yet. The other day while walking home after a hard day of work, I listened to the new Lightning Bolt record and felt so much better. Not having a car in New York, I had forgotten how important it was to have a soundtrack to your escape. Here’s to new experiences.
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