This post was published in the Wilson Times June 15, 2019.
Baby Boomers are the musical
generation, not because of the quality of their music (some of it is pretty
worthless) but because of their capacity to have music all the time everywhere.
It was this generation, my
generation, the one that is fading into retirement and funerals, that grew up
on American Bandstand, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis, American Top 40, Motown soul, the
Beatles and all the melodies that provided the soundtracks of our lives.
We also grew up on a variety
of musical devices. We bought the 45 rpm records, the LPs, the stereo albums,
the (ill-conceived) 8-track players, the cassette recorders, the Walkman, the
ear buds, the boom box, the CD (compact disc). We never had to be without
music. FM radio succeeded static-filled AM radio in our cars (the first two
cars I owned had only an AM band), vastly expanding the selections of in-car
music.
Some brainstorms failed. At
one time, you could buy a phonograph for the car. You just had to be willing to
live with the record skipping every time the car hit a bump or changed speed.
The 8-track and then the cassette player made it possible to play hundreds of
your own songs in your car, freeing you from the autocracy of radio stations.
Car cassette players gave way to in-car CD players, and we carried around CD
wallets full of songs on long trips.
Even this technological
freedom was not the final step, the ultimate in portable music that would go
everywhere with you. Digital songs, or MP3s, could be stored in computer codes
on various devices, once again revolutionizing how people listened to music.
After music file-sharing was
declared copyright infringement and some Napster users were criminally charged,
Apple created iTunes as a legal alternative and began selling songs for download
at 99 cents each. The possibilities seemed endless.
Although I was not an “early
adopter” of technology, I jumped at the concept of iTunes when Apple offered
the service 18 years ago. I copied my collection of CDs into iTunes on our
computer and listened to all the albums I’d ever owned. I made my own playlists
or asked iTunes to create “genius” playlists of compatible or similar songs.
The opportunity to own a car
with iTunes compatibility prompted my most recent car-buying decisions.
We now have iPods, which
Apple invented to make its iTunes the most portabie music source ever invented.
The old iPod in my car has more than 1,200 songs, searchable by song, artist,
album, playlist or genre. It left the briefly popular, bulky in-trunk multi-CD
player far behind. After the iPhone came along in 2008, the phone took the
place of most iPods. At home, I’m able to select any tune, any album, any
artist, any genre and wirelessly send that selection to the stereo speakers in my
living room. Every iPod, computer or tablet on our WiFi can control the music
we hear. What more could a music lover want?
But on June 3, Apple
announced it was doing away with iTunes, splitting the service into three
different software packages. Younger listeners, who don’t remember AM radio
static or scratchy vinyl records, had begun streaming music they rent from
internet sites
Streaming music — music you
don’t own but rent for a fee that allows you to use a song or album for a
limited time — has become the dominant music provider. Even Apple, which made
digital downloads popular, began offering streaming music and even got into
streaming video. Over the years, iTunes had become more and more complicated.
With each new software update, I had to figure out how to do what I used to do
easily but had become more complex.
The replacement for iTunes
is not yet in place, and I’m hopeful that the change won’t be too disruptive. I
certainly hope that my access to the thousands of songs in the iTunes on my
computer will not be lost or restricted.
Please let the new version
of iTunes be the last music platform I’ll have to adapt to. I’ve suffered
enough technology whiplash for one lifetime.
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