How iPods ruined music

Think back to 2001ish. How were you listening to music? You had one of those big metal contraptions that played one of those mirror-y spinny shiny things that could only hold 14ish songs... and usually, you payed $10 for them and, worst of all, they rarely had more than one artist of music on them. You really only liked that one band; besides, to listen to anything else, you'd have to go and spend so much more money!

Well, now it's 2009. You have all of your mp3s in one little box that cost you 300 bucks, laid out in front of you on a 3 inch screen; your iPod. Look at how convenient: 5,000 songs in your pocket. Every artist imaginable, just a few spins and clicks away, and often (shh!) times, that music is free.

I think I'd rather the former.

The truth is, with so many options, how do you wade through it all? How do you pinpoint what you like the best, what makes you happiest, and what fits your personality the most?

I guess I have nostalgia back to fall, 2004. I had just heard "Slow Hands" by Interpol on the radio and was hooked. I needed the CD, because this band had something special, something I wanted to hold on to and cherish. With the CD, I had that feeling. I listened to nothing but that CD for weeks (not only was it the first CD I had bought with my own money, but it was one of the only ones I had), absorbing every lyric, looking at the pictures on the booklet in the jewel case, and mapping out every song, every layer in my head. I never skipped the slow songs or the songs I didn't like; I just sat through them and listened to how they melded and fit in with the rest of the album. I then went and read about the band on Matador Records' website and saw they had another album, and I immediately went to buy it. The bliss of finding a favorite band and listening to both their CDs front to back had consumed me, and I was truly happy.

I think about that now, and though I've heard lots of good music, I haven't had that feeling since. "Music ADHD," as some call it, has evolved from having so many options that I can't even sit through a minute of a song without yearning to hear something else. I have so many albums I haven't listened to yet that when I try to listen to something new, I get antsy and disgruntled that I'm not listening to something else. Finally, instead of having a favorite band or favorite album, I just have a song (not a favorite one, mind you; it's more short-term infatuation) that I listen to over and over and over again until I can't stand it. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but I guess all I have to say is:

I wish that iPods had just changed the means by which you listened to music and not the way in which you listen to it.