So I’m sitting at the computer listening to music that I’d downloaded instantly instead of purchasing on a CD and ripped, or cassette, or 8-track, or LP. And I’m copying data from cdrom to my USB Harddrive of Holding, and that data used to be on zip disks once upon a time.
While I’m chatting online with people all over the world.
And then I’m going to walk home while eating a locally-grown apple.
Ain’t the future grand?
It is indeed. Although I usually buy CDs unless 1) I really, really only want just a single song and/or 2) I can get the songs in FLAC format, due to the higher sound quality.
I’ll get FLACs if available simply on the premise that the highest-bitrate lossless format is going to offer the best transition to future digital formats, but I’ve sadly realized I’ve gotten too deaf over the years to be likely to tell the difference between a well-encoded MP3 and anything else. Plus, to be honest, I’m more likely to listen to music through a laptop speaker or earbuds than I am through the okay sound system upstairs.
Not that there isn’t a difference: there pretty much has to be, since MP3s are lossy. It’s more that I’ve realized there’s little point personally in being choosy, because, well, basically: because I suck. But why dwell on that? The future is, indeed, magnificent.
I have to admit, I’ve gone the instant gratification / less stuff in my house route almost exclusively. I only listen to music on my computer and mp3 player, and if I have to find, then buy, then wait for (because the music availability around here sucks), then rip music I’ll never get to it.
Instead, I buy something and there it is and I can listen to it, even if it isn’t quite as good as listening to a cd.