How has the ipod and/or other technology changed the way you listen to music?

[steve(thelil)]

I've always been a content over hardware person, and for that reason I don't tend to be an early adopter of new technologies. I was a little late getting into CDs because I loved records and I loved acquiring them.

Similarly, I wasn't early in acquiring an ipod (I got mine only a little over a year ago). I also started subscribing to Sirius satellite radio about 10 months ago. I have been listening to radio stations over the internet for about 3 years. For about 6 months about 2 or 3 years ago (when emusic allowed unlimited downloads for $9.99 a month) I was totally into burning cds.

Anyway, despite the fact that I obsessively collected LPs and then CDs for MANY years, the ease of using the new technologies has totally changed the way I listen to music.

Prior to internet radio and - especially - ipod and satellite, my way of listening to music consisted of playing DJ for myself. I would play one record, or CD or track after another- usually not deciding what to play next until listening to the previous record or track.

However, the ease of playing music on the ipod, internet radio and satellite has changed my habits considerably. Simply put, it's just too easy to keep the music playing continuously on ipod and Sirius. And I enjoy the surprise of not knowing what's coming next (I usually have my ipod set on random shuffle of all the files). With Sirius, it still seems like a novelty to have a human hosting the program and talking about the music – but without any commercials (there are no commercials on the music channels).

Internet radio is also very easy to use, especially when I'm working or playing on the computer and I love being able to check out radio stations from all over. With internet radio, I tend to listen to public radio stations, largely to avoid commercials.

There is an amazingly useful web page that has links to hundreds of public radio stations that is sorted by the programs that are actually on at the time you visit the site. (It is updated every 30 minutes, instantly, so it is always usable). http://www.publicradiofan.com/cgi-bin/whatson.pl

For these reasons, I rarely play my thousands of LPs and CDs anymore. I have been selling off LPs for years, with many more to go. I basically have not sold my jazz CDs because I have more of an attachment, having seriously collected them more recently. Nonetheless, I'm now considering selling a lot more of them.

Interestingly, the more music becomes available without the need for any hard product (records, CDs), the more attractive records seem compared to CDs. When records and CDs were the only games in town, CDs seemed more attractive by comparison because of the convenience and purported reliability/ invulnerability. For these reasons, I was willing to accept, with few reservations, the less attractive/informative packaging.

Now that music is often sold / transmitted without ANY packaging or accompanying information, LP records seem more desirable. You might think that the same could be said of CDs, but CDs have lost some appeal now that they seem more like a short-lived interim technology.

I guess with respect to new music that was never released on LP, CDs have appeal as the medium the music was originally released on. But with older stuff that has been released on LP, then cassette and 8-track, then CD, then MP3 file, the LP - especially if it is the original release in the original packaging (not a reissue) - takes on some special meaning. After all, it is the product the artist envisioned and intended.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Slightly off topic but since cell phones can do so much nowadays (still waiting for one that can make popcorn) did the much vaunted PDA jump the shark or are they still used?.............

[HenryMc]

Funny Steve I still use my ears. Call me old fashioned I guess

[Scott Dolan]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Cantiello

Slightly off topic but since cell phones can do so much nowadays (still waiting for one that can make popcorn) did the much vaunted PDA jump the shark or are they still used?.............

Didn't they morph into the Blackberry?

[claude]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Cantiello

Slightly off topic but since cell phones can do so much nowadays (still waiting for one that can make popcorn) did the much vaunted PDA jump the shark or are they still used?.............

I still use one, but I imagine my next one will be one of those combo phone/email/pda doodads.

[Scott Dolan]

*ahem*

That would be a Blackberry.

[claude]

*Ahem*

Actually, the picture I posted was of a Palm Treo. Since all my data is in Palm format, I would probably go to that one.

[Chris D]

I've been listening to thelil's old records.

[Scott Dolan]

Originally Posted by claude

*Ahem*

Actually, the picture I posted was of a Palm Treo. Since all my data is in Palm format, I would probably go to that one.

It's the same fucking thing!!

Goddamn French..........

[steve(thelil)]

Originally Posted by Chris D

I've been listening to thelil's old records.

And thanks for it. (LOL)

By the way, YOU TOO CAN LISTEN TO STEVE's OLD RECORDS....(and I'll be happy to sign them .... or not). Just go to ebay and do an advanced search for records being sold by "steve(thelil)".

[Jimmy Cantiello]

I am so fucking out of the loop with this shit it's pathetic. I just got caller ID and that's only because I had to take it in a bundle with callback when I upgraded my dsl connection. Still have no use for a cell phone and hopefully I never will.............

[Jimmy Cantiello]

There's just no way I'm carrying one of those stupid phones around......

[clinthopson]

The ipod is, for me, a marvel. No longer do I have to schlepp a bunch of cds and a player on trips. Mine is not full but has enough for 18 days of playing.

I just got this cool device, about the same as the ipod which will run the gizmo for 10 hours beyond the 3 1/2 hours in the ipod.


I've used my cell phone in emergencies and to call my kids on the other side of the country. I never leave it on.


I guess i'm not a luddite.

[Tom Storer]

Clint, what's the cool device?

I do most of my daily listening in my commute time, approx. 40 minutes each way. Over the years I've gone from cassette walkman to CD walkman (much less handy because it's more unwieldy) to iPod. The iPod is a great leap forward in ease and flexibility. But my basic modus operandi hasn't changed since the cassette walkman days: I choose some music, don the earphones, and set it running. I do listen to a wider range of the stuff I have because it's so easy to spontaneously choose among hundreds of hours of music.

[VIBEr]

My wife signed me up for the trial subscription to Rhapsody, and it's changed everything. I've become obsessed with checking out all the records I've always wanted to hear but could never justify the expense in purchasing the records/CDs.

Among the people I've really gotten turned on to in the last two weeks are Ike Quebec (a revelation), Lem Winchester, the original Baker/Mulligan Quartet, Big John Patton, and a host of others who I knew on the periphery but never spent any serious time listening to them (Charles Earland, Jimmy McGriff, Shirley Scott).

At this point I'm still stuck to the computer to listen to this stuff although I have a burner, but I've only been doing this for a couple of weeks so far.

[clinthopson]

The power unit is an AMD rechargable battery which claims to get 10 hours of play time on an ipod.

It's kind of pricey, about $70, like all those high powered rechargables. I bought it a a local micro store, you may be able to find a bettter buy on the net.

The primary reasons I got it was for 11 hour Transatlantic plane flights and 7 hours on the beach in Mexico.

[GoodSpeak]

Not in the least.

I just do not like listening to music through ear plugs.

[VIBEr]

Originally Posted by GoodSpeak

I just do not like listening to music through ear plugs.

Same with me - that's one reason I've subscribed to Rhapsody so I don't have to wear the plugs. I generally don't travel with music, so I'm okay with just listening at home.

[Noj]

For a little more than a hundred clams I got one of these to play my iPod on the go. I love being able to random through hundreds of albums at once, the iPod has definitely improved my listening experience away from home.

[steve(thelil)]

Originally Posted by GoodSpeak

Not in the least.

I just do not like listening to music through ear plugs.

None of the technologies I mentioned require listening through ear plugs or headphones.

I know people who only play their ipod through their stereo system (actually as easy or easier than playing your CD player through your stereo system) for reasons unrelated to portability - because it makes it easier for them to access their music collection without searching through cds or LPs.

Among their benefits, the ipod software and hardware do all the indexing and databasing of your music you wish you had time to - by song title, artist name, album name, genre, etc. And it happens automatically - with zero work by you - every time you upload new music from your computer to your ipod.

.

[groover]

I still haven't moved into the full random access world of digital players, partly because of the compromised audio quality of the compression formats. CDs are still more appealing to me than vinyl, because it's easier to duplicate them, and then I can carry 50 albums on a spindle, which is portable enough for me.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

It's completely transformed the way I call, of course, and with the technology's abilities to change tempo and pitch easily and independently of each other, it's allowed more material into the show.

For purely listening, the temptation of having a couple of thousand pre-selected favorite cuts in my DJ folders sometimes proves to be too much of a temptation for me, and late at night I'll get lost in the 50s folder, or Jazz, or Country: early, or Island Music....

[rollhead]

Steve, when are you going to start selling your jazz CDs?

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Just before I go on Food Stamps

[groover]

One downside to this technology is the death of what they used to call "album tracks". Many songs became familiar only because you were forced to listen to them in order to hear your favorite tracks on the album. Many tracks I might have rejected on first listen grew on me due to these repeated listenings. Of course, the other side of the coin is that you can more easily avoid unappealing, second rate tracks.

[steve(thelil)]

Originally Posted by groover

One downside to this technology is the death of what they used to call "album tracks". Many songs became familiar only because you were forced to listen to them in order to hear your favorite tracks on the album. Many tracks I might have rejected on first listen grew on me due to these repeated listenings. Of course, the other side of the coin is that you can more easily avoid unappealing, second rate tracks.

I agree that this is a big concern. But I view it as a downside of the market rather than a limitation (or inherent characteristic) of ipods and itunes software. It is the result of the industry selling the downloads on a per track (song) basis. It doesn't affect my personal ipod use much, as my ipod is loaded with cds I upload.

However, looking more globally, I guess it can have huge effects. If artists's perceive their income as coming from track downloads rather than sales or downloads of entire albums, it seems likely that some will be less interested in recording or releasing coherent albums. At the current time, I'm not sure that the type of artists I tend to listen to have been recording fewer "album cuts."

[walto]

Don't have one myself, but I'm picking up some cheap MP3 player for my older daughter's 12th birthday in a couple weeks. A tracfone too.

[GoodSpeak]

Originally Posted by steve(thelil)

None of the technologies I mentioned require listening through ear plugs or headphones.

I know people who only play their ipod through their stereo system (actually as easy or easier than playing your CD player through your stereo system) for reasons unrelated to portability - because it makes it easier for them to access their music collection without searching through cds or LPs.

Among their benefits, the ipod software and hardware do all the indexing and databasing of your music you wish you had time to - by song title, artist name, album name, genre, etc. And it happens automatically - with zero work by you - every time you upload new music from your computer to your ipod.

.

Oh, I don't doubt the technology exists...but that would be an additional cost to purchase/upgrade, yes?

[Robert de St. Loup]

Originally Posted by GoodSpeak

Oh, I don't doubt the technology exists...but that would be an additional cost to purchase/upgrade, yes?

You can play your iPod through your stereo with an ordinary Y-cable, $2.99 at Radio Shack.

[Coda]

Apple just updated their iPod, Nano, and shuffle products. The iPod now has an 80GB model at $350. Brighter screen, longer battery life and surround sound.

The Nano's have a bump in capacity, new colors, and a more scratch resistant surface.

The shuffle is now very tiny.