I Am A Rock I Am An iLand
I’ve forgotten what the world sounds like. I don’t even recall if I enjoyed the sounds of traffic or kids playing in the street. These days the walk to Starbucks sounds like Pavement one day, and Silver Jews the next. Sometimes, I hear nothing but AIR as I wait for the bus. Lately, the library seems rank with Rolling Stones, not that I’m complaining; I’m just becoming more aware that my life has become scored by my mp3 collection. Which makes me wonder, if the chirping sounds of nature and the clack-honk rattle of the city will slowly lose both their tacit influence over our memories, but might become whitewashed with iPod digital perfection.
Talks of Podcasting becoming the next big thing make me wonder, if this new trend in portable sound systems will do what walkmans and transistor radios of the past didn’t-isolate our ears from our true sounds.
It’s not gloom and doom, or even that remote a possibility. Besides music, my walks across the Common sound less like muffed chatter of strangers on the lawn and more like my fiancée asking. “How’s the life of a writer treating me today,” or “which Starbucks am I ambling to now?”
Especially since we’ve gotten ourselves signed up with one of those unlimited mobile-to-mobile plans. I can have her plugged into my ear wherever I am. I can listen to her clicking her mouse at work all day long if I want (and I have) and it doesn’t cost me a dime more than not talking to her at all.
It’s not about iPods of cellphones it’s about having maybe too much control over what we let ourselves experience. It’s not just not talking to my fiancée when I want it’s not listening to what’s around me whenever I want. I think it’s going to effect the next generation even more. They’ll grew up with this ability to tune into any digital song or voice, anytime, anyplace, without even giving a thought to what they’re tuning out.
Will our future be stored on a playlist, or will we stop looking to technology as the window to our world and start looking, and listening to the world itself?
Talks of Podcasting becoming the next big thing make me wonder, if this new trend in portable sound systems will do what walkmans and transistor radios of the past didn’t-isolate our ears from our true sounds.
It’s not gloom and doom, or even that remote a possibility. Besides music, my walks across the Common sound less like muffed chatter of strangers on the lawn and more like my fiancée asking. “How’s the life of a writer treating me today,” or “which Starbucks am I ambling to now?”
Especially since we’ve gotten ourselves signed up with one of those unlimited mobile-to-mobile plans. I can have her plugged into my ear wherever I am. I can listen to her clicking her mouse at work all day long if I want (and I have) and it doesn’t cost me a dime more than not talking to her at all.
It’s not about iPods of cellphones it’s about having maybe too much control over what we let ourselves experience. It’s not just not talking to my fiancée when I want it’s not listening to what’s around me whenever I want. I think it’s going to effect the next generation even more. They’ll grew up with this ability to tune into any digital song or voice, anytime, anyplace, without even giving a thought to what they’re tuning out.
Will our future be stored on a playlist, or will we stop looking to technology as the window to our world and start looking, and listening to the world itself?
posted by csc at 8:11 PM
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