Reflections of media

[palusbuteo]

So with the Ben Franklin's World Podcast newly discovered for me, and we pounded through a few episodes on our drive down to DC today (and the episodes that had to do with Printing and Communications so I had a ton of new info to digest for my Printing office narrative, but also, thankfully, for the most part, I'm on the ball with my "factoids" and narrative flow so that's a relief)

A few days ago I heard a thing on NPR I think talking about the drastic changes in the access to Pop Music, and also saw a TikTok of a guy talking about MTV and examining the statement of "I want my old MTV back / remember when MTV played music?!" and he was looking at hard data and demographics of how and what music (genres) were being played and the attention/listenership (is that a word? we'll go with it) has changed, drastically, over a short 10 year period.

There was also some talk about the complain so many of us 30+ year olds about how much Crap music is today, and, there does seem to be some relevance to that statement/lament.

Just recently was having a chat on IM with fellow 40 year olds about 80s pop culture, more on movies, and how vastly different it all seems/feels than what it's been in the past 10-15 years.

So one of my reflections or things I noticed is how much Muses_realm has taken to the current media and tech, she's able to use her iPhone to tap into the magic space data stream thing and can download and play a podcast, while I'm driving, and cast it right to my car's stereo via Bluetooth, etc.

Meanwhile, I'm still using a 3GB 2005 iPod, which is 4 years incompatible with the car (2018 year) so I have to plug it in to a AC jack. While it would be really nice to use the steering wheel / dash controls for it other than the volume, I would have to find a used newer gen. ipod touch to do that. I still think about that.

I know a lot of people now (Muses_realm, Malterre) use their iPhones for their music now, and have tossed their old iPods (which is also something I sort of baffle at, and related to these reflections, more below)
and I'm just not sure I'm there yet.

I mean, other than in desperate need to replace my also outdated and incompatible Samsung S4 mini phone.
(I am thinking of a Tracphone because I just don't see myself using so much data to warrant an iPhone or newer gen. Android)

And, well, here's the quirky thing, I'm so used to and comfortable with the older tech and peripherals, I just don't want to have "everything" on one device.

I readily admit, I Like having Dedicated tech/devices. I like having one device (ipod) just for my music, that's all it does, play MP3's and Podcasts I download. It's On/Off. I don't have to go through "pages" of apps listing on my device and hope in synchs with the (car).

Although I do use a handful of Apps on the Phone/S4, and even there, I still call it a PHONE even though that's been reduced to a basic App. But it's really just Waze (when it works, as it's very spotty and unreliable b/c it's G4 and I sometimes refuse to surrender to Musk's SkyNet but my days are numbered)
The MBTA app to buy train tickets (but can't access updates/alerts and map b/c antiquated phone)
And other than the Camera app....That's.....About it.

I have and still use other "devices" for the other stuff I use. I'm not quite there yet to have everything on one device. Despite what was predicted and has come to reality in 1995.

Anyway

The movie & music thing, got me thinking and reflecting. You had to go see the movie in the theatre, at the specified show times. If you were late or needed to go pee, too bad.
Or you waited until it came out on TV (and not too long most of us had access to HDTV so the quality was pretty damn good), or DVD.

Broadcast/Terrestrial Radio was until what, 2005? Still the only way to hear "new" music and new releases, and you still had to go find a physical record store or order online.

I watched a theyoutube video earlier today talking about Star Wars and how a bunch of people, the second the movie was over, ran outside and got back in line to watch it all over again.

FBHJR has stories about him going to see Empire Strikes Back several times A Week, and even when he got the VHS, he still watched it, in its entirety, frequently.

(On a side note, one of my fond memories was a bunch of us were hanging at his apartment and we were nerding about the...Probably the heavily badly edited Extended New-Official Version DVD boxed set....And the scene where Palpy mentions the "Offspring of Anakin Skywalker"...And we were discussing it, and FBHJR reached over to their DVD bookcase, grabs the well-loved VHS box, throws the tape in the player, and fast-forwards pretty much right to the scene in question, he had the time length, even in fast-forward memorized well enough he got it within a few scenes/moments before it. Nerd-Power x11)

So anyway, back to Music and how I consume/listen to it.
I don't listen to anything new. I couldn't name a single musician or the title of a hit of the past several years.
It just doesn't remotely appeal to me.
I also haven't sat down and listened to an entire album in well over a decade. My iPod has been on Shuffle basically since I got it.

I do find it ironic I've gotten so worn out of the nearly exact same, predictably same, playlist of the handful of Classic Rock & 80s stations that I barely listen to them anymore. Even with commercial-free XM-Sirius. (although here I have enjoyed the 50s and 60s channels as I've heard songs I haven't heard since I was a kid when we listened to the "Oldies" station, and it's been fun to go through those again, as I hadn't really gone and done that on my own with theyoutube very often)

AND YET. Here I am, listening to my ipod with about 3/4 of my music "library" (because it's only a pathetic 3GB, I knew it wasn't a lot even when I got it, I figured I'd be switching stuff out frequently, which I did for the first year) and the playlist is virtually unchanged and I listen to the same songs over and over and over again.

So yeah I don't get it.

There was something else about music I was going to mention but I forgot.