All of us are witnessing history with the progression started with the release of the first iPods in 2001. Don’t get me wrong; I have one too. It’s a First-Generation iPod Nano my wife gave me on Valentine’s Day 2005. I use it pretty frequently even. However, I simply don’t care to keep buying one every time they upgrade the damned thing. It seems like they update the technology every quarter. I have, however, recently joined the world of the iPhone—I like it. It’s way more than I need, but it is definitely a nice toy.
Anyhow, the realm of personal stereo equipment has been around for quite some time, over 25 years at the time of this writing to be exact. It was 1979 when Sony released the first walkman model numbered TPS-L2. Initially, it was called "The Sound-About" in the U.S. and "The Stowaway" in the U.K. before receiving the name "Walkman" in 1982.
It was a bulky little unit roughly 4” x 6” x 1” and I believe it came in black and a metallic-plasticky-type of blue. It ran on four AA batteries and was initially targeted at younger consumers boasting of “fun” and “freedom” with the ability to have an enjoyable listening experience “anywhere.” The funny thing is Sony never expected their personal stereo unit to achieve success. It was, however, so successful it spawned a number of copycat products such as Toshiba’s "Walky," Infinity’s "Intimate," and GE’s "Escape." Its popularity was so widespread that the word “walkman” was actually entered into the Oxford English Dictionary in 1986.
It should be of no surprise that as media changed so too would the product. 1986 brought about the release of Sony’s Discman. Minidisc players then surfaced in 1992 and were soon followed by hard drive or memory based mp3 and media players, which brings us to the present day.
So, what’s so different now?
I think the main difference now is the marketing of products. Fewer and fewer people think for themselves and seem as though they would rather let the media guide their thoughts and choices. Seriously, how many times have you asked someone what they thought of a recent music release to get an answer of, “Dude… I’d totally give it 5 mics (or any other random icon your favorite magazine uses).” What the hell does that mean? Is that what you read somewhere? What do YOU think about it? What happened to people’s ability to articulate their thoughts, ideas and emotions?
In particular, Apple’s iPod seems to have properly tapped into the marketing media in such a way you would think they invented the idea of personal entertainment. Now, I love him to death, but I have a friend who owns three iPods. Seriously, what the hell do you need three iPods for? Especially when all of them have over 50gigs of storage space? Okay, I guess I can understand buying the Special Edition U2 iPod that came loaded with their entire music catalog and an abundance of unreleased songs, B-Sides and remixes if you’re really a fan of theirs. Because, you better believe, I would buy a Special Edition Prince iPod even if I owned seven iPods with 500gigs.
In addition to marketing, I think the previously mentioned feature has helped push the personal entertainment revolution to new heights: storage capacity. Some may call it convenience; another way to look at is laziness. You can decide for yourself but, seriously, how much space do you really need? There are many who could fit their entire music collection on their iPods but many, many more who will never listen to it. But it’s still there… just in case, I guess. You know the old slogan, “Bigger, Better, Faster, NOW!!!”
Why is this of such concern to me? I don’t know… maybe because, due to its compact size, it’s just scary to me that I have been seeing more and more people walking around with white headsets emerging from their neck collars as if they were agents from the Matrix. Just last month I took a weekend trip to Disneyland and was disturbed by the sight a family of five all walking in close proximity but nudging each other with pushes, points and grunts. The youngest child was about 8 years old. So, why were they pushing, pointing and grunting? Where they mutes? No. Where they mentally retarded and never developed complex communication? No. It was because each member of that family had their own iPod Mini, in their favorite color, clipped to their belts with headsets woven through their shirts connected to their ears. Apparently, not as aware as their parents or older siblings, the most disturbing part of the scene was watching the two younger children fail to realize sound is, and was not, limited only to what they were able to hear and they continued to, quite frequently, sing along aloud to songs or yell at their parents with their replies. Which, in the end, made them look like a family of mentally retarded mutes. I guess this answers the question about a tree falling in the woods.
There are, no doubt, times when privacy is a must. But all this personalizing seems to be causing more distance and a lack of true feeling amongst people. As private as music can be, isn’t it truly meant to be shared? How many people out there have actually met the people they chat with online? Have you noticed the fact most of them are much more confident and bold behind the screen but don’t have much to offer in person? It’s like discovering who “The Wizard of Oz” really was. Damn! What a disappointment!
iPod, iPod Touch, iPhone and now the iPad. So what’s next? How long do you think it is going to be before they develop some “iDome” helmets so you can experience the picture all throughout your peripherals? After that they can provide some “iSenses” bodysuit/breathing masks that will go along with “iPassions” emotional stimulators for you to actually smell/taste/feel/experience the action in a virtual reality. With this availability people will truly be able to plug-in and completely zone-out.
