iPod generation
My son brought me an iPod from the US, and it is a brilliant piece of personal electronics.
I now feel that I have belatedly joined a new generation that walks around all the time with earphones affixed, and listens to music practically all the time anywhere and everywhere, from home, to street, to car, to work. It is amazing to be able to transfer gigabytes of music, practically all the music one has ever wanted to hear, from CDs into the iPod, and then hear whatever you want whenever you want. Talk about instant gratification. And its so clear and distinct, like having a full orchestra in your head.
This leads me to muse on the advance of technology and the instant obsolescence of previous equipment for doing the same thing, but on a much lower level. As I see it we first had the record (from 78s to 35s and then LPs), then the tape (reel-to-reel and then cartridges), then the CD (with portable as well as fixed CD players). Now we have the digital memory that is the basis of the iPod. Steve Jobs has already taken it to the next level by combining the cell phone with the iPod and the ubiquitous camera to make the iPhone. Whether or not this will become the next big thing is difficult to tell, but the iPod is definitely a success.
Interestingly, some technologies are completely replaced, but some remain and only gradually die out. For example, the record is gone, very few people have record players (gramophones) and LPs are now only collector's items. However, tapes are still around, and still quite widely used, although I doubt we will ever use them again ourselves. We have two Walkmen tape players in a bottom drawer and they will probably stay there. I also have a portable CD player, that I shlapped around with a container of CDs on flights for a year or so back in the 90's. Now it will be permanently retired. The iPod seems to be the apex of the development of sound technology, but who can predict what the human mind is capable of inventing next. The same progression of film has taken place from tape to DVDs to digital.
This reminds me of the "Music box" museum in Ein Hod, an artist's colony on the way to Haifa up in the Carmel Hills. A former US journalist collected music boxes during his career, and now exhibits his collection there. It turns out that mechanical music boxes were produced for only about 100 years, between 1850-1950, and were replaced by the record. In the museum are examples of working devices, for example one that was a coin operated machine that was on German railway platforms and could play a choice of three pieces of music. Its another surprising thing to find in Israel.
I expect in the not-too-distant future that the iPod will be exhibited in museums when it has already been replaced by who-knows-what. Meanwhile I'm enjoying it.
I now feel that I have belatedly joined a new generation that walks around all the time with earphones affixed, and listens to music practically all the time anywhere and everywhere, from home, to street, to car, to work. It is amazing to be able to transfer gigabytes of music, practically all the music one has ever wanted to hear, from CDs into the iPod, and then hear whatever you want whenever you want. Talk about instant gratification. And its so clear and distinct, like having a full orchestra in your head.
This leads me to muse on the advance of technology and the instant obsolescence of previous equipment for doing the same thing, but on a much lower level. As I see it we first had the record (from 78s to 35s and then LPs), then the tape (reel-to-reel and then cartridges), then the CD (with portable as well as fixed CD players). Now we have the digital memory that is the basis of the iPod. Steve Jobs has already taken it to the next level by combining the cell phone with the iPod and the ubiquitous camera to make the iPhone. Whether or not this will become the next big thing is difficult to tell, but the iPod is definitely a success.
Interestingly, some technologies are completely replaced, but some remain and only gradually die out. For example, the record is gone, very few people have record players (gramophones) and LPs are now only collector's items. However, tapes are still around, and still quite widely used, although I doubt we will ever use them again ourselves. We have two Walkmen tape players in a bottom drawer and they will probably stay there. I also have a portable CD player, that I shlapped around with a container of CDs on flights for a year or so back in the 90's. Now it will be permanently retired. The iPod seems to be the apex of the development of sound technology, but who can predict what the human mind is capable of inventing next. The same progression of film has taken place from tape to DVDs to digital.
This reminds me of the "Music box" museum in Ein Hod, an artist's colony on the way to Haifa up in the Carmel Hills. A former US journalist collected music boxes during his career, and now exhibits his collection there. It turns out that mechanical music boxes were produced for only about 100 years, between 1850-1950, and were replaced by the record. In the museum are examples of working devices, for example one that was a coin operated machine that was on German railway platforms and could play a choice of three pieces of music. Its another surprising thing to find in Israel.
I expect in the not-too-distant future that the iPod will be exhibited in museums when it has already been replaced by who-knows-what. Meanwhile I'm enjoying it.
posted by Jack Cohen at 1:20 PM
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