Digital Revolution

We are in the midst of a digital revolution and quite frankly it is scary. We are truly treading into new and untested waters. People might say that we have already gone through this but I don’t think that it truthful. Sure cassette tapes changed the way we view and purchase music but digital music is a completely different beast.

I don’t own an MP3 player but I don’t know if I will be able to hold out for much longer. I was a hold out too when CDs first came out. I hated having hundreds of tapes that seemingly became obsolete overnight. Now most stereo systems don’t even come with tape decks. Tapes are dead. I mourn the loss.

Tapes were like part of my childhood. I made mixtapes. I copied albums from my friends. And everywhere that I went, I would take my Cassette Walkman and three or four different tapes with me. It was great. But CDs came and seduced me. I was finally won over to the new format and have about five hundred CDs in my collection now.

I have a hard time thinking of buying music in a digital format. There is something about opening up a plastic cover, pulling out the artwork, reading the liner notes, looking at the photographs and just immersing yourself totally in an album. You can’t do these things with a digital album. It’s not the same. So I still buy albums on CD and don’t plan on buying an MP3 player anytime soon. I am dreading the day when stereo systems may no longer come with a CD player but instead have an input to play and download digital files.

I guess I need to get with the times, but I want to acknowledge the history that we have had. I enjoy albums but the industry seems to be moving away from albums. Singles are the all important beast now. Albums don’t seem to be as good as they used to be because of it. Maybe I am imagining this but I see a scary future ahead.

I would miss having tangible albums that I can hold and explore visually and musically. I don’t know if this revolution will be a good thing. I don’t even want to think about digital books. Call me old school if you want to but I am sticking to my CDs and paperbound books for as long as I can.


One response to “Digital Revolution”

  1. I feel your pain.

    Isn’t it amazing that we can dig up a Babylonian cuneiform slab that’s thousands of years old, and with the right training or dictionary, still read it?

    And yet, an eight-track from just 30 years ago is indecipherable, inaccessible, its message forever beyond our grasp.