It's weird to live without an iPod
Lindsey Poisson
I miss my iPod.
The little thing literally expired the first day of classes this semester, without a chance for me to say goodbye. After about two years of moderate use, it had a good, long life. But now I’m alone in this world.
No David Bowie, The Killers, Nine Inch Nails or the latest podcast from National Public Radio’s “Wait Wait � Don’t Tell Me!” Just silence as everyone else on campus walks around plugged into earbuds.
Technically speaking, it’s a problem that could easily be solved. Given the time, money and inclination, I could probably pick up another — probably one much better than my old-school iPod shuffle. Consumerism is just neat like that.
But the issue goes deeper than the iPod itself. It’s the need for the iPod. I “miss” an inanimate object — something I don’t usually do.
Without the small device, which I affectionately named “George,” the world is a much stranger place. There’s always something missing.
Riding the bus, walking around, driving in the car or simply spending the evening studying at home — it’s as though that time would be better spent with an iPod included.
It’s as if I’ve lost a limb. In fact, I catch myself rummaging through my purse or backpack looking for my trusty iPod, only to sit back in quiet sullenness at the memory of my dearly departed gadget.
Almost everyone has an iPod, MP3 player or some other handheld, music-playing device. There’s no denying how popular of a trend it is, but I doubt that’s entirely the reason many people have one.
I challenge any habitual iPod user to quit cold turkey for a few days and see what happens. Chances are, the same feeling might come up — that “How did I live without the iPod?” notion.
What is it about the iPod that’s put me in this dependent state? What does this item have that other gadgets don’t?
Every once in awhile, there are those people — usually older — who stubbornly resist technology. The most popular reason tends to be the assumption that these things isolate people and are ruining society.
As the logic goes, people become slaves to their cell phones or BlackBerry devices, portable music-playing devices make people antisocial and video game consoles simulating actual activities, such as tennis or strumming a guitar, are a sign of laziness.
Obviously, they’ve never actually played Guitar Hero.
What’s especially interesting is there are a few people that sometimes practice what they preach and go so far as to not own a cell phone. And I’m sure they definitely wouldn’t splurge on an iPod.
I’ve always prided myself on being a take-it-or-leave-it sort of person when it comes to technology.
I can turn off the cell phone without worrying, leave the e-mail unchecked for days and I’ve resisted the Guitar Hero craze. I probably shouldn’t, but I do.
But after weeks of not having my iPod handy, I’m undergoing severe withdrawal pains. I wrote this column expecting to find an answer, but I’m not entirely sure I’ve found it.
What helps is how other people have responded to my iPod query. Each discussion has zeroed in on the same subject — personalization.
The modern iPod is what the mixed tape or CD was — it’s a method of expression and has meaning attributed to most of its contents.
And the fact that it’s portable makes it convenient.
Everyone can probably come up with a song that has special meaning to him or her. Certain songs evoke memories and emotions.
Picking songs for a playlist is akin to choosing what great — or horrible — times in your life you want to replay. It’s selecting a slice of life, which is replayed over and over again.
Perhaps that’s it — it’s not the iPod, but how I can use the iPod. The world I can create for myself.
Sure, eventually, I could live without one. But I really want Bowie back.
Lindsey Poisson is the State News opinion writer. Reach her at poisson4@msu.edu.
Published on Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Comments
Mike Saelim
02/12/08 @ 11:34pm
I know how you feel, Lindsey. I miss my Weighted Companion Cube.
Oh god! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you, Cube! :(
Huckster MD
02/13/08 @ 12:17am
Nine Inch Nails? What? I stopped reading at that point.
what
02/13/08 @ 1:19am
what the hell was the point of this column
Steve
02/13/08 @ 2:14am
Wow, I think this column is in good competition with that one a few days ago crying about pronouncing last names for the all time WORST article in the State News.
Second of all, you people are idiots for getting onto this ipod bandwagon. There is no such thing as an “ipod”, it is merely a portable hard drive that has software to play MP3-format music. That is just a fraud that Apple has perpetrated on America. There are so many other MP3 players that you can purchase that are higher quality and less money.
Fredrik
02/13/08 @ 3:24am
This article isn’t about the best MP3 on the market, it’s about the major influence that new technology, some as little as an easily portable music player, has on our society. It seems technology breeds different fads and behavior while it endlessly advances. I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but it surely creates new values that people hold; such as prioritizing music over interacting with other students while on campus. I’d say some behaviors are more harmful than beneficial in regards to some traditions, or whatever culture America could be considered to have, but it definitely has a different role for each generation. I only hope that I’ll be able to keep up with “the times” as I get older and technology progresses beyond my wildest dreams.
J-money
02/13/08 @ 3:28am
Did you know your last name means “fish” in French?
Steve
02/13/08 @ 5:05am
“Did you know your last name means “fish” in French?” I like your reference to her other royally pointless column. This girl has yet to write a worth while column.
Kris
02/13/08 @ 6:48am
Another painfully pointless column by Ms. poison…no…err…french fish?
Dan
02/13/08 @ 8:36am
Good article. Sometimes it’s fun to write about silly stuff, which I appreciate.
J. Edward Tremlett
02/13/08 @ 9:04am
I think it’s an interesting piece. We get so used to having certain things on our person that we take them for granted, and then when they’re gone, there’s this strange hole in our lives, because the routine we’ve adopted has been altered. I know one person who’s gone through two ipods recently: one stolen, one broken. And since she really really really uses the hell out of it, the absence throws her for a loop.
Gary
02/13/08 @ 10:46am
Did you know your last name means “fish” in French?
Matthew
02/13/08 @ 11:13am
Steve, is anyone (other than you of course) not an idiot? I think if we searched the comments sections and counted up all of the groups of people you proclaim idiots it just might include the entire population of the Earth. But what can I say, I am, obviously, an idiot.
Mr. Pants
02/13/08 @ 11:28am
You say that it your I-pod use isn’t anti-social, but offer no support. Cell phones are functional. Video games are just entertainment, but they are also sociable (or at least are meant to be). MP3 players are neither functional nor sociable. When you wear your earbuds all around campus, you’re shutting your hearing off to anyone who might approach you. You’re also advertising the fact that you don’t want to interact with people with the noticeable wires hanging from your head.
———-
Your last two columns have been whining about people mispronouncing your name when you don’t introduce yourself, and whining about how hard it is not to listen to music all the time. Great work!
Regina
02/13/08 @ 12:37pm
While I agree that this column and the last were both really dumb, it got me thinking. I have an MP3 player but no cell phone. Don’t really want one. If you had to, would you rather give up your MP3 player or your phone? My choice is obvious. What about anyone else?
Steve
02/13/08 @ 1:06pm
How have billions of people for the last 6,000 years survived without an i-pod? If you’re so hooked on your little techno gadgets that you can’t imagine life without it, you need to put the damn thing down and get a grip on reality. Of course, it’s easier to get lost in a world of trashy music than it is to sit back and actually reflect on life.
Tim
02/13/08 @ 1:10pm
An ipod can be social if you use it to play music at a party and the millions of people who own them would probably argue that they are functional as MP3 players. As you pointed out, they are not funcitonal as self-defense objects, especially since they keep getting smaller and smaller.
My ipod broke recently and I’ve quickly grown used to its absence, reading while riding the bus, listening to old cds etc.
Mark
02/13/08 @ 1:55pm
Steve,
Billions of people have also survived for the past 6,000 years with out antibiotics, refrigeration, and cars. You really need to give up anything that is not needed to prove your point.
TexasSpartan
02/13/08 @ 2:18pm
It’s too bad you’ve bought into a proprietary file format perpetuated by Apple and cluelessly absorbed by the public. When my Creative MP3 player crapped out, I bought a $50 Sandisk player with twice the capacity and pushed my industry-standard MP3 playlist onto it. Good luck getting back to your music as cheaply and with such ease.
Maybe you’ll take your newfound independence and find time to do something different – you know, interact with real people, take in your surroundings, read about how Americans are being lulled into a collective state of ignorance via mass entertainment, etc.
Steve
02/13/08 @ 2:56pm
Matthew – If you search the articles there are some view points that I do strongly support. This one is not one of them. This girl has yet to write an article. The only thing she demonstrated is that she too has become a sucker for the social fraud perpetrated by Apple on our society. Not to mention, there is more than one “Steve” posting on this column. I have not posted all the “Steve” comments on the editorial section.
Mr. Mozart/Beethoven:
02/13/08 @ 4:18pm
I can understand. But I don’t own an ipod yet. Simple, I have no computers[I use library’s computers]. As a classical music fanatic for forty years I grew up with the regular stereo system. You know: the receiver or amplifier, turntable, speakers and cassette player. Then the cd player. But now stereo systems can only be ordered through the internet. And many ar calling them “obsoletes”. I still play lps from MSU library and bought from secondhand stores. But mostly cds most of the time. And play my cds in a dvd player connected to an amplifier with wireless headphones. It works. And other times play cds in a tv dvd combo with a connected headphone. But then, people listen to music without these gadgets. The real Mozart and Beethoven, and the rest of their pals, never had these systems. And yes, I go to concerts once in a while.
C. Alan Zoppa
02/13/08 @ 9:29pm
What an amazing story! Really, it’s breathtaking. Have you considered adapting it for the stage?
Please Lindsey, I beg you, tell us more about how you hate when people mispronounce your name.
D. J.
02/13/08 @ 10:31pm
C’mon Mark, seriously. Comparing an ipod, which provides absolutly no benefit to society (well, except apple share holders), to antibiotics which save lives. Maybe you should re-read your post, “Billions of people have also survived for the past 6,000 years with out antibiotics”.
In 1928 penicillin was discovered and saved many lives. An example is the navy. Being afraid of having soldiers die of appendicitis (which its very easy to die from without treatment), the navy brought blocks of mold (penicillin) with them to treat soldiers who experienced it. Yes they had to use it and yes it saved lives.
Some people were not able to live without antibiotics. And I’m sorry but in todays day and age refrigerators and cars are necessities, ipods are not.
Give up using statements like that to prove your points. It doesn’t work.
Peter
02/13/08 @ 10:52pm
D.J., you prove Mark’s point correct and discredit yourself in the process of your explanation.
If something, such as medicine, cars, ipods etc are used enough, they become apart of one’s life. So what if medicine saves lives, people did and still do live without it. In addition, your fact about the Navy and Penicillin don’t make your point any stronger. Good try.
To some, an ipod is essential part of their life- much like homosexual porn are apart of yours.
Brutus
02/14/08 @ 5:05pm
This is yet another reason why the State News is a joke.
Chris
02/14/08 @ 5:32pm
I don’t think two years is very long-lived. Maybe you should invest in a higher quality product instead of trying to follow a horrible trend. Apple is good at selling crap and making it look like gold.
And it’d be nice if the State News would offer some more wholesome articles. I didn’t realize it was turning into the livejournal of a 14 year old girl.
Brutus
02/14/08 @ 9:44pm
I believe her livejournal can be found at inner-fish-thigh-cutter.livejournal.com.