So I got a hold of one of those new-fangled iPod devices a while back. I can’t lie; I like the thing a lot. I like my music and now, thanks to the miracle of solid-state electronics, I can take all the crap I’ve stolen since I’ve had an Internet connection with me wherever I go.
I’ll be chilling out on the Wolfline sandwiched between two big ol’ smelly chicks, but it ain’t no thang but a thang as long as I’ve got some P-Funk in my pocket. If I get tired while lifting at the gym, I can just skip my iPod (conveniently positioned on my arm-band) to “Eye of the Tiger” for some instant motivation.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t listen to my iPod all the time. I’m not the emo kid walking around campus constantly wearing my ear-tampons (headphones are so passé) and getting depressed to my high-pitched whining of choice. I just find it convenient to have a lot of music that I like at my fingertips when I’m doing homework in the library or writing a column up in the Technician office. Plus, once and a while I just like to set up a silhouette effect screen and wildly swing my stylish music device around to the beat of the newest U2 sellout.
There is one domain that my iPod has failed to invade: my car stereo. I bought one of those radio transmitters to use the thing in my car, despite the fact that my physics teacher insisted that they wouldn’t work because the inside of my car is a Faraday cage. Well, the iPod-to-radio gadget ended up working all right, but it was still a bigger waste of money than the plasma TV in Fountain. I never use it because I’ve decided that, for several reasons, I like my car’s regular old FM radio more than my fancy new portable music toy.
Call me lazy, but I kind of like having my music choices made for me. When I’m listening to my iPod, I always have to think about what song or playlist I’d like to hear next. Unless I’m just listening to an album, it can get to be a real pain in the butt figuring out what to hit up next, especially when I’m driving. Have you ever tried scrolling through that darned little LCD screen trying to find the Dave you actually feel like listening to during rush hour on the Beltline? Yeah, neither have I, but I bet it’d be a pretty good way to start one of those multi-car pile-ups that tend to end with somebody getting killed.
Yep, the radio is the thing for me. I can just sit back, concentrate on driving (believe me, I need all the concentration I can muster) and trust in my local DJ to pick out some cool tunes. It might be Doobie or it might be Ozzy, but as long as it isn’t Aerosmith or Van-“Hagar” it’s all good (or at least OK.)
Anyhow, I bet right about now you’re thinking. “Hey Ball, can’t you just put your iPod on shuffle mode and not worry about it?”
No, I can’t. I’ve tried it before and it never works. As soon as the music changes to something I don’t feel like hearing, I immediately skip ahead to a more presently appealing song: it’s a vicious cycle.
The fact that I have no direct control over what is played on the radio just makes me appreciate the semi-random nature of its music all the more. I often find the line-ups to be brilliant, despite the fact that they are not the song picks I would have made had I been in control of the station. For example, I could be jamming out to some CCR, and then they’ll play some cool Elton John song (a.k.a. not “Rocket Man” or “Candle in the Wind”), and I’ll be like “well, that wouldn’t have been my first choice, but I can still dig it,” and then I’ll go ahead and do just that.
The best part of my radio is that it’s always there for me. My CD player busted years ago and I don’t always carry my iPod with me, but my radio is ready to go when I am. I’ve found this especially useful when I am reduced to driving in poor situations late at night or in the wee hours of the morning and I need some tunes to mellow me out. I swear that some late-night Led has saved my life more than once.
There are some downsides to the radio: the range of music is often narrow, so you’re not going to hear any album in its entirety, or a lot of good music in general, on the airwaves. This isn’t all bad though, after all, why would you want to sit through The Who’s entire “Tommy” when you could just listen to “Pinball Wizard?”
I guess I like my iPod, but it’ll never replace my car radio. I’m just used to the visceral feel of jumping between stations on my presets, and I’m a sucker for that song on the radio that I haven’t heard in a while.
Ask Ken to recite the lyrics to just about any classic rock single
