Late Adopter

So I hear Apple will be killing iTunes and splitting the app into separate apps for music, books, etc. This alarms me less than I thought it would. As I understand it, all my music will translate over and I once I’m set up on the new system (I assume with some help from Steve), everything will be smooth. Maybe my experience will be better as iTunes is very slow to load (I don’t know if it’s my laptop or the app; probably it’s both). I have very simple needs as far as music and as long as my playlists are intact, all the data is correct and all the art is intact, I’m fine. I’m attached to my play counts but I’m not going to nitpick too much if they start over at 0.

I’m a late adopter as far as technology. I didn’t get an iPod until 2007, right as the iPhone was debuting. I still only use my iPod for music. I figure it holds 160 GB and still works fine so I’ll keep using it until it goes. It’s a simple device that does what I need it to do: play music. So I just never bothered to put any music on my phone, but if I have to, the option is there.

I never got into streaming music and I don’t think I will. I already have a large collection of music, most of which I paid for over decades (some in the form of CDs with the Wall lifetime guarantee sticker on the jewel case) so I’m not going to pay per month to access what I already have. Like, why am I paying to hear Purple Rain again when I’ve already worn through several copies? I’m sure the streaming services don’t have everything I have, like all the Madonna remixes I have (and I have all of them) and all the live Tori and Prince B-sides and stuff. With streaming, I’d get access to new albums that I might not buy but I think I’d also be losing stuff. I’m kind of ignorant of this stuff and I’m sure there’s a simple way for me to integrate the music I have but for now, the system works and I don’t want to change it. It doesn’t seem worth it. Technology will be still there if I ever want to evolve.

We seem to be moving beyond this idea that people own their own music, that it’s just out there to grab, but I still like having my stuff. It doesn’t take up any physical space, so what’s the harm? I’ve spent a long time building up my collection and don’t want to give it up, and don’t want to be at the mercy of a streaming service that decides it doesn’t want to carry certain artists or music anymore. (I saw an advantage to my system when Prince died. His music wasn’t on any streaming services at the time so there was a big rush for people to find it. I already had everything ready to go and just had to hit “play” on my old-fashioned iPod.) I have backup hard copies if things go south and I need to rebuild. This works for me.

I have this tendency to skip over technology upgrades and only upgrade when I need to. My phone is an iPhone 6 because it works fine and satisfies my simple needs (although the battery charges don’t last as long so I may be upgrading, but probably not to the fanciest phone). I have regular headphones with wires. Some people care about that stuff and that’s fine, but I just don’t have any interest. I read once that one secret to financial stability is only upgrading or replacing something when you need to. It’s not a standard I live up to all the time but it does make sense.