Society is technology driven and we are constantly in search of the newest gadget or gizmo. Of course, we can accredit much of today's advances in healthcare, information sharing, and entrepreneurship to technology advancement, but what about the abatement that technology begets. Many people never stop to think about what all humanity misses out on when they utilize the ease and comfort associated with technology.
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Let's look at portable media players, like iPod, for example. Yes, the iPod has modernized the way we listen to music. The software enables a person to transfer, download, etc music into the portable and compact iPod. There are music service companies that offer downloads for 89 cents per song. At this price, and with sharing capabilities, all of your favorite music is literally at your fingertips. There is no need to ever listen to the radio, when you have all of your favorites on hand. It's great because the technology allows cheap, tailored, and convenient music entertainment.
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However, many people never stop to think about what is missed when we utilize this technology? Twenty years ago, music entertainment was a lot different. There were tape cassette players, but the tapes were expensive. As a teenager, I had a few tapes, but nothing near the thousands of songs collected on most teenagers iPod's today. After growing tired of listening to my tape collection, I would switch to the radio. When I was in the car with my parents, for more than an hour, I would grow tired of listening to the only tape that I had room to bring. Therefore, I would take off the headphones and listen to whatever they were listening to on the radio. This radio time expanded my horizons beyond the “now popular music,” that I normally listened to. I discovered that not all the music my parents listened to was bad. There is no way that I would ever have grown to love Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Frank Sinatra, The Rolling Stones, etc.., if I was not forced to listen out of boredom with my own music. I had to use my imagination to find the beauty in other styles and genres of music. The iPod takes this scenario away. It limit's the user to only listening to what they initially like and takes any other horizon away. So, while it may add cheap convenience, it also promotes limited imagination and variety. I believe there is a time, place and need for moderation in all things. The iPod is not an exception to my thought.
