UMass Magazine Online

Spring 2005

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Prerequisite

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There Goes the Neighborhood

Fab Four

The Gravest Danger

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Prerequisite

iPod, Do You?
Mp3 players are cool tools—and a giant leap forward in the evolution of music

—Mandy Murray ’05




	Mandy Murray ’05 with her iPod mini

WHEN MY DAD FIRST TOLD me he was giving me an iPod, I was ecstatic. I love technology and have used Apple products since birth—my mother worked for the company in its early days. I’d seen pictures of famous celebrities with iPods, I’d read articles about the cool technology. I envied people I saw on campus who had the telltale white wire hanging down their torsos. I wanted to be one of those black silhouettes dancing to loud music in front of brightly colored backgrounds, like in the TV commercials.

The players were so popular when they first came out, I had to wait for mine. For an entire month. That gave me ample time to obsess about belonging to such an elite group of technology users. When I finally held the iPod in my hand, I filled it to capacity and danced around my house.

Michael DiSalvo ’05 is one of many friends who share my passion. Before he received an Mp3 player as a Christmas gift, he didn’t think anyone needed thousands of songs at their fingertips. “Then I realized that you could suddenly change your mood and want to listen to a different type of music,” says DiSalvo. “The iPod makes it easy to do that.”
Like Michael and myself, Ipsi Shinde ’06 uses hers everyday, “whether it’s walking to class or sitting at my desk, or even dancing around my room,” she says.

Andrew Moberg ’04 has the newest version of the iPod, simply called “Shuffle,” which is about the size of a pack of chewing gum. He likes having the trademark look (white ear buds, white wire) without weighing down his pockets. Its advertising slogan is “Life is random”; your computer downloads a unique set of songs from your music library each time you plug it in. Not knowing what song comes next lets you rediscover music you may have forgotten you had.

Mp3 players are essentially tiny computers, so you use them for work and play. My friends and I can store contacts, calendars, and memos, and transfer files to other computers. On a recent trip to New York City, DiSalvo saw a bar owner plug his iPod into a set of speakers and entertain customers with his playlists.

Personal, portable music isn’t new. The Sony Walkman cassette player was invented 25 years ago; the CD Discman came just five years later. Just as the Walkman was a turning point for music—listeners were free of the time and place limitations of stereos—Mp3 players are another kind of revolution. The smallest hold about five times what a CD does, and users can shuffle entire collections or create playlists—the next generation of the mix tape—with a few clicks of the mouse. Also, the move from analog to digital recordings improved sound quality and eliminated skipping.

Critics have complained since the day the Walkman was introduced that personal music players allow people to avoid interaction. I don’t agree. Since getting my iPod, I am more likely to share songs with friends. I love the feeling of camaraderie I get when I meet another owner’s eye walking across campus. I’m part of a community of people who love music. Where people once had to wait for the right time to listen, we now cue up our personal life soundtrack anytime we’d like.

But Mp3 players are revolutionary in other ways. They’re changing the way we buy music, even the way we talk about it. On iTunes, Apple’s online music store, you can buy single songs, versus entire CDs, for $.99. Popular magazines no longer tell readers to add songs to a new “mix CD”; they tell them to add songs to a “favorite playlist.”

The best thing about portable music is that it doesn’t discriminate. Look at the iconic Apple iPod ads: The people are different, yet, because their faces and skin tones aren’t visible, they’re all the same. iPods aren’t just for 20-somethings; they’re for people of all ages and colors—for anyone who loves music. Now it’s just easier to know who we are. Look for the thin white wire that connects us.

Mandy Murray ’05 (blue iPod mini)
Five songs that came up when her playlist was set to shuffle:
“Pushing Me Away” - Linkin Park (Rock).
Origin: CD borrowed from a friend
“I Want You Back” - *N Sync (Pop).
Origin: CD in her own collection
“Saint Simon” - The Shins (Indie Rock).
Origin: A mix CD from a friend
“Orange Sky” - Alexi Murdoch (Folk Rock).
Origin: Downloaded off of LimeWire
“Cautioners” - Jimmy Eat World (Alternative Rock). Origin: CD in her own collection