I’m a really slow adopter of new technology. As a software engineer, you’d think that I would be more on top of things. In my profession, I try to keep up with new technologies as they apply to my career, but I’ve found this to be more about keeping up with the latest buzzwords than actually learning anything new.
A couple of years back, my company gave its employees iPod Shuffles. I tinkered with mine a little, and enjoyed the novelty, but ultimately found no use for it. I simply don’t have the time. The only time I have to listen to music is in my car, and its stereo has no line in, so there you go. While the shuffle was a fun toy, I was annoyed that I couldn’t download songs from multiple computers. In an attempt to discourage people from downloading unpurchased songs (say from a friend’s computer), Apple only allows the Shuffle to link up to one computer’s instance of iTunes.
A couple of days ago, the wife said she wants to enter into the mp3 age. And it got me to thinking, why haven’t I adopted this new technology?
Well, for one, I like to own the physical media of albums that I purchase. I like to have the CD in hand, to unfold the artwork and read the lyrics and have a physical connection to the music that I listen to. Yes, I know CDs are antiquated, and there are problems with the record industry attempting to regulate the ripping of CDs to computer, but I still like to be in control (or at least have the illusion of control) over the media that I purchase. And that’s what’s wrong with mp3s. The technology, or rather, the copyright technology, has not been fully vetted, and the consumer has no control over the content that they buy.
Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing follows copyright law and always posts new developments in BoingBoing’s CopyFight category. Copyright bores the hell out of me, so I don’t follow his copyright posts, but I recognize the importance of his activism, and I really appreciate that his voice is out there for the consumer.
Maybe there will be a day when copyright and digital media can coexist in peace. But I don’t see that day coming soon, and until then, I will continue to enjoy my old, antiquated CD collection.
