My first technology memory is winning a walkman for a poem I wrote about a carillon that was to be installed in my hometown. I was very interested in the walkman! During my high school years I was known as the kid with the earplugs because I would always be listening to my MiniDisc player.
I think I’ve worn out four portables and I didn’t sell my deck and discs (300) until last year. I still love the system for its elegance, sound quality, durability, portability (for the day) and battery life (ditto). Then one day I got myself a new phone, the Sony Ericsson W550i. It’s still the loudest phone I’ve ever owned and had a very reasonable way of filling its 256 MBs of flash. After that, the MiniDisc player didn’t leave the home anymore. Time to put the CDs that I had copied to MDs into the computer.
To read more about my computer story read my blogpost about my personal computer history. My music habits kept changing though. I went from folders to iTunes and after two more featurephones from Sony Ericsson (W850i and W950i) I decided to write my bachelor thesis on the iPhone. This is the first time I would say a convergence device is better at music than a dedicated music device. The Sony Ericssons were more convenient, but their interfaces were clunky compared to an iPod and exchangeable media were still valid as competition for the small internal storage. My iPhone 3G changed all that. Enough space, easier selection, better search and easier management made it a winner for me compared to any dedicated player.
The last big change was from owning to renting my music. I’ve collected CDs for about 20 years. The first one was by The Beatles, and I have no idea which CD I bought last without it being more about supporting the artist than the music on the disc. You can follow me on last.fm if you want to know what I am listening to at the moment.
From a young age, music has been a big part of my life. That is just about the only thing that has never changed. What’s your music history?
