What I would like to see in MP3’S.

I have been moving out of the dark ages of music slowly and there is one point I would like to make about WHY it is taking so long for me to do this. When I was a boy we got our music out of the magic box that spoke to us about the weather and played songs. There were many of these magic boxes all over the place. They were called radios. They were in cars and homes and businesses and all over the place. They brought an interesting world to our attention. One that we could not really experience in any other way. But we were somewhat subjected to their whims. Oh sure if I wanted to listen to a certain genre I could tune in a specific station that played that type of music otherwise you got what you got whether it was really what you wanted or not. Of course if there was a specific thing I wanted to listen to, say for example “Surfer Girl” by the Beach Boys or “Yesterday” by the Beatles then I could always turn to my trusty record player. The record player gave me choices that radio did not and it gave me a little bit of control over what I was listening to. Then there were Cassette Tapes. A magnificent invention which allowed me to take MY music wherever I went. Much more compact and useful. I would like to pause for a moment and point out that I got VERY good at both placing a needle in just the right groove to hear a song that I specifically liked and also at fast forwarding a cassette to the song that I wanted. But back to my original discussion. Briefly the recording industry realized that people wanted more ability to listen to what THEY wanted WHEN they wanted, thus the “8-track” was born. This gave even easier control over finding your song choice as well as allowing you to be able to listen to the same songs on a loop until you really got tired of it. This was also useful to D.J.s all over the world since they could get singles on an 8 track format and they never had to worry about rewinding the tape or anything. Sadly the 8-track never really got the chance to shine like it should have. For a couple of reasons… one, it was a niche type thing, a popular niche but a niche nonetheless. Two, it was bulkier than regular cassette tapes and thus limited the amount of music you could carry. OH and three, it was soon confronting a new technology, one which promised better fidelity and experience… the CD. WOW the CD… clear crisp sound over and over, no worries about proximity to magnets didn’t tear or break easily… often touted as “indestructible”. Of course we know better NOW still at the time in comparison to 8 tracks and cassettes it WAS a technically superior product. Of course one other point that went in it’s favor is the fact that, due to the laser coding of the disks the players for the cd’s could jump you straight to the exact song/s you wanted. They could also randomize the song/s, they could play them in a programmed order, you could really control the music the way you wanted. Enter the MP3. Selling point/s? (1) You can carry TONS of music all on a tiny device that fits easily in a pocket or your hand. (2) It sounds about as clear as a cd because it too is digitized. (3) You could find more individualized songs and set things up so that you weren’t stuck with just one type/genre. But here is where the problem comes in for me… Too many of these things are simply taking us back to the point where we had little to no control. I have had a few mp3s now. I think each of them had something that was good in them. But they don’t have ALL the things I want in one package. I started with a really cheap mp3 that actually let me program the order I wanted the songs in. it contained a lot of songs and it was great. The problem was it WAS cheap in the construction and did not last long before it pretty much broke. (not in software or whatever just in the case shattered.) I think one of the drawbacks there was that it was TOO small and thus too easily damaged. Of course then I got another that one was ok too. But there were a few issues there. This one didn’t let me categorize my music how I want. In fact it has a rather stubborn insistence that all the songs HAVE to be played in alphabetical sequence. There is no allowance in it for either MY wishes or the wishes of the makers of the music. In fact if loaded two different CDs (albums) onto the player it would have a fine disregard for all points except “which SONG comes first alphabetically?” However the MP3 also played video (AWESOME!!!) although it was small on the screen that was cool. It also will access FM radio so I get to listen still to other music as well and get news reports. Still I would have really liked to be able to listen to music in the order that I want not in the order that IT thinks is alphabetically superior. Well soon I will go onto a new player. I am unsure if this will be mine, or one that I give to my girls. The first mp3 I bought for my wife she immediately filled with lullabies and then “loaned” to the girls, talk about making me feel selfish. Her second mp3 she claims to be unable to make work the way she wants and for the most part she just listens to the radio now (full circle there huh?) although it does have features like the ability to do live recording so you could literally put what ever you want on it. So we will see, my next player has already been ordered and is on it’s way, I chose one that has a “Large screen” of 4 inches and hope that we may be able to use it to keep our youngest child occupied on an upcoming long trip. If it works well I may be allowing one of my girls to take over the old one, or I may let them have the new one… like I said, we will see. I hope that some day I will find the mp3 that is right for me. Until then…