A couple of years ago Apple ran a commercial where the women leaves the apartment cluttered with the guy's records and by the time she gets back all of the music had been transferred (or re-purchased and downloaded) onto an iPod. I do not remember seeing this commercial more than once on TV, so I am hoping that means Apple only ran it briefly and not that I simply remained ignorant via Tivo.
While I do not belong to the generation who's females swoon over John Cusack, I cannot help but flip out about this commercial like his character in High Fidelity would have. (I contend that I am only like Rob Gordon and not actually him like some have accused me of. Although, I have held these feelings for over two years for this commercial which I only viewed once.) I can understand how annoying a 'hobby' can become if it takes up the majority of space in your apartment, but there is no reason to forego music you have already purchased. I am also not of the age range to consider it sacrilege to move on from vinyl nor am I in the group that considers one to be a demi-god if they have a huge vinyl collection, but d@mmit that guy owned all of those records! You can't just get rid of music just because your significant other is mildly-annoyed.
I belong to the generation raised on CDs, where I remember the days of having to save up my allowance and drive to the music store (ok so it was Best Buy; not trying to paint a completely idyllic picture here) to buy the newest releases. Compact discs do not hold the comparable nostalgia to vinyl, and I do not expect younger generations to wonder if there was a magic to CDs. The one similarity to vinyl, though, is that once you made your purchase you had something in your hand. It could easily become scratched by pets, children, or even the CD player itself, but you still physically had something.
Digital is the future, and yes, the first thing I do once purchasing a CD is upload it into mp3 format so I can listen to it on my iPod. Millions of words have been written about digital music trends both in positive and negative lights, and my previous sentence highlights that I could add to both sides of the argument. Despite my best efforts to refrain from the fray I knew that by starting typing I was only adding to that cacophony. So, I will get to my point via the argument of many long-time smokers: as long as I leave you alone just let me do what I want to do. I think I have convinced my wife to stop asking me why I buy CDs instead of downloads (even when I have discounts that make the CDs cheaper than iTunes*), and I have the collection arranged neatly enough in our house that it will never be in the way. While I am a 21st century digital boy and have all of my collection on my iPod I know I will never be able to let go of the music that I physically own. To take such action will always remain a disgrace in my heart, so while I do not ask others to understand I just ask that you leave me alone.
This post also inspired by two sources of white entertainment:
*Hopefully this sentence abates the smart@sses that would say 'just download the music from iTunes and burn it to a CD'. (Plus, if you ask that you missed the whole point of this article.) After growing up with packaged CDs there is still something to say about holding the lyrics/photo packet in your hand while listening to a 'real' CD. While I am all for breaking up the RIAA as we know it they did condition us well.
