Death Of (an) iPod
By Walter Price
What you’re about to read is possibly pointless.
Cleaning out a closet a long lost friend was discovered under one thing or another. My one and only iPod Nano from years past. It has seen better days. It seems there has been a glue spill and some sort of hazy color has turned the white earbud wire and FireWire an odd color. I’m certain its no fungus among us, probably just age.
I was happy to see that it took a charge, although not a full one. I thought lithium batteries were the king of batteries. Suppose not.
Scrolling through the fancy flip album art I went strolling down Memory Lane. The lost and know found tiny device of sounds was chockfull of all the soft and classic alt-rock, R&B as well as along various forms of country. Killer names like Beirut, Dwight Yoakam, Ryan Adams, Norah Jones, My Morning Jacket, Razorlight, Kate Nash, Jewel, The Smiths, Zack Brown, Band Of Horses, Sugarland, Rilo Kelly, The Frames, Marvin Gaye, Adam Green, Dolly Parton and Nickleback….WAIT, WHAT?! More on that later…
I have always been in a weird friendship with technology. I bought my first cellphone in June of 1997 and threw it in a Texas pond a month later after I released how easy it was for people to get a hold of me whenever they wanted. The nerve of people. I didn’t get myself another pocket ready phone until a few weeks before September 11, 2001 and rarely turned that one on. It wasn’t until a discovered Blackberry’s seductive powers did I find that I liked, wanted and NEEDED electronics on my person.
Anyhoo, it wasn’t until 2006/7 in NYC that I decided, after some nudging from an officemate, that IPod was the funky cold medina for traveling with sounds. Unlike most normal robotic people, I loaded the 8GB machine up with all sorts of sounds, not from iTunes but I loaded as many CDs into my desktop anchor and went about transferring and listening.
I’ve been told that isn’t the way to do it but I say, go on.
This is now and the little handy and convenient device is near the end of its ability to entertain. It has been a great ride. Many years of changes in my life and the world of technology has moved on in a rapidly moving wind. At a speed that is way too swift for average folk to purchase at the same speed. I know it isn’t hip to drool over all the advances that pointy headed scientists are shoveling on us all but so. (I apologize, not all scientists/techies have pointy heads. I’ve seen square ones)
As ‘true music’ lovers are buying more vinyl today than in decades and streaming ruling over the older digital styles, I wonder if I should hang on to Nano. Just in-case it becomes the hipster device of the 2040’s…I’ll be an old fart. So I actually could care less. Happy face.
Back to Nickleback, guilty pleasure? Perhaps. Mostly the Canadians create none thinking hard driving fun tunes. They’re like ear popcorn for the simple. The album was a gift. No, I found it. An alien left it under my pillow. Oh well and so what, I have a Nicklenback album. Whiskey Hangover…
R.I.P. iPod Nano 2007 – 2014