Pod Person
So I’ve stepped into the ranks of iPod freaks. I’m sorry.
Yes there are cheaper players, and yes there are other products that don’t have a cult of geeks obsessing over them. But iPods are extremely easy and pleasant to use, and I can easily interface it with my car stereo.
Not surprisingly, you’re not likely to see me sporting the earbuds as I jog down palm tree-lined streets at dawn, nor will you be seeing my awkward silhouette bouncing around to some disco-rock hipster music in a wash of flat color. Even when I go on hikes through Griffith Park, I probably won’t bring the damn thing, because I like the relative quiet.
I do like to drive though, and I hope that the passenger seat will never swim in CD cases again. The interface works OK with my car stereo. Once the iPod is attached, you cannot operate it manually, you have to use it through the “head unit” of the stereo. Since the car stereo was designed for a CD changer (and has been retrofitted to accept iPods), it was never intended to search through thousands of artists and songs, so the biggest drawback is that the scroll wheel speed is painfully slow. Not good when you’re driving. To compensate, I’ve started screwing with playlists, and even hesitantly accepting a random shuffle of songs.
I swear I’m getting somewhere with this.
I’ve always liked the album product - I like the artwork and cases to put on shelves – but I’m finding the free-floating, un-holdable music in my iPod surprisingly liberating. Not only am I rediscovering a lot of my music collection, but I’m enjoying the contrasts of Blue Moon followed by Big Pimpin’... Cab Calloway steps off stage and Frank Black steps on… Kid Koala and Led Zeppelin co-headline… you get the idea.
The music doesn’t feel tied to anything other than the quality of its sound, and I love that, even if I have to constantly ride the volume knob on the stereo.
Years ago when I lived in New York, I wanted to make the mix tape of all mix tapes (actually a 3 CD concept soundtrack). It was going to be called Capital City, and I knew exactly which songs would be on it. I could never describe what most of the songs had in common with each other, other then they all seemed to fit some science fiction I had in my head. One of my old film professors, Robert Breer, when reviewing all of a student’s films at the end of the semester, would inevitably say “…and it’s all connected because it all comes from you.” Of course I’m not making the music, but it’s my damn aesthetics at work.
I did make a four-hour playlist called Capital City, but it hardly seems necessary now.
Yes there are cheaper players, and yes there are other products that don’t have a cult of geeks obsessing over them. But iPods are extremely easy and pleasant to use, and I can easily interface it with my car stereo.
Not surprisingly, you’re not likely to see me sporting the earbuds as I jog down palm tree-lined streets at dawn, nor will you be seeing my awkward silhouette bouncing around to some disco-rock hipster music in a wash of flat color. Even when I go on hikes through Griffith Park, I probably won’t bring the damn thing, because I like the relative quiet.
I do like to drive though, and I hope that the passenger seat will never swim in CD cases again. The interface works OK with my car stereo. Once the iPod is attached, you cannot operate it manually, you have to use it through the “head unit” of the stereo. Since the car stereo was designed for a CD changer (and has been retrofitted to accept iPods), it was never intended to search through thousands of artists and songs, so the biggest drawback is that the scroll wheel speed is painfully slow. Not good when you’re driving. To compensate, I’ve started screwing with playlists, and even hesitantly accepting a random shuffle of songs.
I swear I’m getting somewhere with this.
I’ve always liked the album product - I like the artwork and cases to put on shelves – but I’m finding the free-floating, un-holdable music in my iPod surprisingly liberating. Not only am I rediscovering a lot of my music collection, but I’m enjoying the contrasts of Blue Moon followed by Big Pimpin’... Cab Calloway steps off stage and Frank Black steps on… Kid Koala and Led Zeppelin co-headline… you get the idea.
The music doesn’t feel tied to anything other than the quality of its sound, and I love that, even if I have to constantly ride the volume knob on the stereo.
Years ago when I lived in New York, I wanted to make the mix tape of all mix tapes (actually a 3 CD concept soundtrack). It was going to be called Capital City, and I knew exactly which songs would be on it. I could never describe what most of the songs had in common with each other, other then they all seemed to fit some science fiction I had in my head. One of my old film professors, Robert Breer, when reviewing all of a student’s films at the end of the semester, would inevitably say “…and it’s all connected because it all comes from you.” Of course I’m not making the music, but it’s my damn aesthetics at work.
I did make a four-hour playlist called Capital City, but it hardly seems necessary now.
Hear my music or find out more at
7 Comments:
I have been greatly enjoying not handling CDs anymore, thanks to having iTunes on my computer.
The whole collection's in there, and I can skip around freely. I can't imagine going back to having a CD player.
I don't have an iPod, but if they ever let us proofread while wearing headphones, I'll probably get one.
I was thinking about making a whole other post about how many of my CD's are starting to die, but it's probably not worth it. A disturbingly large amount of them have a dirty-record static-like noise, even though the CD's themselves appear immaculate. I assume the CD material itself is failing, since it's most obvious on old CD-R's. A few years ago I had to toss a "Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet" CD because the silver stuff on it was flaking off so bad I could see through it.
iTunes does a pretty good job at dealing with fucked up and scratched CDs; I have a bunch of stuff on my computer that won't play in a CD player, but was recordable onto my hard drive.
I've heard about that flaking thing happening to CDs, but I don't think I've ever seen it. Still, I've always treated my CDs pretty rough, and I'm glad that iTunes can handle the older ones, even if there is that clicking noise in the background. Sometimes, I'm just grateful to be able to hear the song again.
My iPod is in repairs, but that device, along with iTunes, has honed my appreciation of "the single". Much like 45s did decades ago, the iPod focuses on individual songs, not necessarily the sequencing of them.
Of course, when I'm in the mood to hear a certain album, I can easily cue it up, but more and more I'm simply basking in the jukebox nature of random selections from 5000 songs.
And a note about the freaks who insist on buying white headphones to match and wear in public: I hope they get mugged as a reward for their vain display of conspicuous consumption.
Repairs? Uh-oh. What kind of problems can these little bastards have?
I think I just dropped mine one too many times. Buy the AppleCare plan, so you can send it to them, and they'll basically just send you a brand new one.
If you made that compilation I would like copy..I still have one of the mixes...and I think you have good taste in muzac-j
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