An iPod Examined

April 24, 2006

Someday when we have the ability to take a long view concerning the development of gadgets for playing music, a history will be written that ranges from the 78 to the LP to the cassette tape to the CD.. and the iPod is going to have a prominent place in this history.

These audio formats can be viewed as analogous to a canvas for a visual artist. The canvas traditionally defines the area within which a visual work may take place. It is the space to be filled. Similarly the physical mechanics of an LP, with its two sides and limited space for acoustic grooves, defined an audio canvas for popular musicians. The result was a glorious rise from the single to a cycle of pop songs that achieved a measure of unity through coherent sound and thematic unity.

The CD changed more than we realize. It is humorous to listen to CD versions of albums that were originally LPs, and to recognize the climactic end of what once was side 1, but which now falls humbly in the middle of a CD. CDs represent an expanded time canvas, but they continue to function as a unity which represents the apex of a band's creative output.

An iPod and related gadgets are a step in another direction. They represent an atomizing of favorite songs into customized playlists. Where exactly this is leading will only be clear with greater perspective.. but for now I thought I would note what it is like to acquire an Ipod. I certainly wish someone buying a an old 78 player had documented that process..

The packaging for these small machines is brilliant. Apple Computers, whose logo is there in the top right corner of the package, wishes to send a message to every purchaser: this is a product of the imagination. A box within this box open up to reveal the tiny Nano iPod neatly embedded. Opening one of the side panels reveals the extras, which are each encased in a white plastic covers. When all is unwrapped, this is what one sees:

The CD contains the iTunes software that allows one to transfer music from a computer to the iPod. One wire is for connecting iPod to the computer, another for connecting iPod to ears.. the tiny headphones facing out. Then there is on the right a diminutive leather case for the iPod. Two elements whose usefulness escapes me is the plastic thing to the right of the iPod, along with the white Apple stickers which are too large for anything that came in the packet.. so evidently I am supposed to stick these on our car?

On first discovering the embedded iPod, one finds it wrapped in plastic, with this message on the screen. A reminder, I guess, that one should not fill this gadget with shared music files, but legally purchase songs online. Abiding by the law is not a problem for Emily and I since we rely on downloading our favorite CDs to the iPod.. and don't venture into online file sharing.

It really is a tiny thing, and it is hard to believe that we can fit close to 500 songs on this 2 GB Nano iPod. Although it is surprising how fast the space fills up. Emily now has a nearly complete library of Neil Young albums on hers.

The benefit of the little machine is easy enough to understand.. it allows for unprecedented portability of music. When I spent 2002-2003 in Cairo, I took a small plastic wallet filled with maybe a dozen CDs.. and that pretty much formed my music listening for the year. With one little iPod I could have taken much more music that.. and without the hassle of transporting it and switching CDs.