iPods vs. CDs: The Fight for supremacy (FINAL DRAFT)

Parth Desai

2/11/2010

Dr. Ethna D. Lay

WSC002- Section 11

iPods vs. CDs: The fight for supremacy

When walking across a busy street, chances are that at least one person, maybe more, have earphones in their ears, listening to their MP3 Players. While listening, these people are immersing themselves in an alternate reality, paying attention to what’s going on in front of them, but living in their own little world via their earphones. Who knows what they’re listening to? They might be a Rock fan, maybe Hip-Hop; maybe they might be a fan of Miley Cyrus and be rocking out to “Party in the USA”. One thing’s for sure, though. Many people in the country own these MP3 Players, with the iPod being the most popular. While so many people use iPods to listen to music, one has to wonder if these people are listening to music the way it's meant to be listened. This might not be Apple’s intent, but it’s how many people nowadays are using the device.

In the current times, it is obvious that an iPod is used to play a variety of music in a way that can surprise you. In the newer generation iPod nano, if you shake the iPod, the song changes, emitting a "shuffle" type effect. Even earlier, during the first generation iPods, there was the iPod shuffle, which automatically shuffled one’s entire music library. The owner did not even have an option to select their song. All of the music was basically put into a hat and whichever song you picked out was the one that ended up playing. People who bought these prove the exact point that I’m trying to make. It’s not even an option to listen to a full album and, for the most part, people don't listen to CDs straight through anymore. They put a wide variety of music on their iPod and shuffle the songs. This is a great way to listen at times, but there are times when it’s great to just listen to CDs straight through. The artists make CDs for a reason. They choose the track list very carefully for a reason. These people that are listening to music like this are not experiencing the greatness what can be experienced when listening to CDs straight through. It's great to change it up once in a while and shuffle the music, but I think it's disrespecting the artists and their work by not listening to their music the way they want it to be listened.

Personally, I love listening to albums straight through. Sure, I have playlists of my favorite music as of now to listen to while I'm on the go, but listening to albums straight through is a completely different, amazing way to listen to music. What I love especially is concept albums, such as Jay-Z's American Gangster. Listening to the story beyond the album is a surreal feeling and it's on a whole new level of listening to music. I'm as much of a fan of shuffling music as anybody. I need to listen to music that reflects my mood, but I can just as easily enjoy a great album. iPods are great, but that is the one thing it seriously lacks. The main point of an iPod is to be able to have all of your music available to you on the go. While you can listen to albums straight through on the iPod, it's not the main purpose. If it’s supposed to be, many people don’t know it. I personally know countless amounts of people who have their 80-gigabyte iPods completely filled without even one full album on it. That’s just inexcusable in my eyes. I feel that people should appreciate music as well as appreciate everything that artists and bands do and try to do.

Apple Inc., the maker of the iPod, assumes many things about the typical music listener. The shake-n-shuffle option introduced in the 4th-generation iPod nano reflects the fickle personality of our generation, the main target audience of Apple. I can’t argue about that assumption, as that fickleness is basically what defines our whole generation. This can be related to sports. If a baseball team goes on a five game losing streak, many of the team’s fans will become extremely angry and agitated at the team. When they follow the five game losing streak with a seven game winning streak, many of those angry and agitated fans will turn around and be extremely happy and cheerful about the team. Many people are extremely fickle when it comes to sports. Music is the same thing. Current United States President Barack Obama talked about change in his Presidential campaign. It’s been proven that the majority of people want change, not only in governmental policies, but in life as a whole. Living uniformly is extremely boring, so people naturally want change in their lives. When people listen to music, listening to the same things over and over can also get boring, which is why people listen to different types of music very often. But people don’t realize that listening to the same artist is not listening to the same thing. It’s, in fact, listening to very different things. It’s ignorant to think that one artist creates the same exact songs over and over. People group artists together in one category and classify them as “the same”, but it’s obviously not true. Artists can have many different types of songs and evolve their own music throughout a full album. This is why listening to CDs is imperative in one’s music-listening experience, and it’s why many people should change the way they listen to music as a whole.

In today’s culture, the two most popular things people do when on the go is talk on the phone and listen to music. The iPhone combines these two things. It’s, quite frankly, the most convenient piece of technology a person could have. The newly unveiled iPad will have many exhilarating features that will excite anyone that loves both computers and music. It's truly amazing how well Apple markets its products and how they know exactly what we want, but I feel the need to go back to my original argument. The iPod is ruining the old-fashioned way of listening to music. We take music for granted. Twenty years ago, people listened to records straight through because, while there was no other way, it made them appreciate the good music that much more. These people listened to music daily, and they didn’t mind one bit that they had to listen to the whole album. Once they get to their favorite song, the experience is so much better because after that entire wait, it’s definitely worth it. There are people who have never heard a full album in their life. They don't truly appreciate music for what it is: a way to get out of our reality and get in touch with the artist's. With the iPod, iTouch, iPhone and the new iPad, listening to albums straight through is a rarity and, although I don't want it to be like it was in the 60s and 70s where you were forced to listen to albums straight through, I'd like albums to be more appreciated than they are now. It’s a crime how many people don’t listen to complete albums. These people are disrespecting the artists they listen to without even knowing it. Things need to change and people need to realize how remarkable it feels when you’re listening to an album. You’re going into the artist’s mind and seeing what they’re thinking, and it’s a great feeling.

Like I said earlier, I like shuffling as much as the next guy, but I also know how to appreciate an album. Listening to the transitions between songs, the way the album flows and just the evolution of the artist’s music while going through the album is something that I long for when listening to music. It's my hope that more people learn to do the same. It’s extremely easy to shuffle songs every few minutes, but it’s not the way to listen. People take for granted the fact that shuffling music can be as easy as the shake of a technological device for the iPod nano, or the press of a button for all other MP3 players. It's not completely Apple's fault. They try their hardest to appeal to their target audience, and kudos to them because it’s worked so far. But, sadly, even if they didn’t mean to be, they're the main cause of this new shuffling era that I'm dying to get out of.