Old Music, New Technology

I was listening to some old music last night and wondered what has happened to some of the artists to which I was listening. Doris Day, Perry Como, Ames Brothers, Phil Harris etc.

A song would come on and I sat there with my IPad and typed in the artist's name or the song’s title and immediately up popped the information from Google. The various artist’s life story, careers, and current situations whether it is in life or in an obituary. It was on my screen.

This is still a phenomenal thing for me for I remember when I was researching information for term papers and/or reports so many years ago; I had to go to the library and used the magazine and book card catalogue.

The Dewey Decimal System on the library shelves categorized information and it took a lot of time to get the appropriate information for my reports.

Last night it was instantaneous. WOW!

I’m old enough to be able to say WOW! The young of today with their instant gratification penchant and instant information need see it as normal. It’s great for them, but I wonder if they would know how to do it if the Internet went down or the computer crashed?

I remember my Dad saying, “ We tried it and it didn't work,” and I realize in new generations of time and space the past memories of how one used to do things really doesn’t work. (There are exceptions however, but not for this post ) What one must say in every succeeding generation is that it didn’t work then, but time and technology have altered the possibilities. Let’s see. Let’s try.

And then I thought about the music I was hearing. It had all been re-mastered. It had a quality that never existed when I listened to it as a teenager.

Now I listen to it on a little round silver disc that fits into any number of devices I have around the house and an hour or so of similar songs are embedded on the disc. I haven't even mentioned the minion's of music on a pod the size of my thumb.

I used to listen to the same music on a one song 45-RPM record or a collection of songs on 33 and 1/3 LP’s. The 45’s back then cost nearly a dollar, so what’s changed? I tunes charges 99-cents for a single tune these days. I also realized why songs of the 1950’s were so short, generally a minute and a half long. They had to be that length. The recording space on the 45 disc was limited. You couldn’t record a six minute song and have it fit on the record.

Hey, I even go back to 78’s. My folks had a limited collection of 78’s from the 1940’s. Talk about no fidelity.

I love the modern ways of music and the new technology. Keep it up! Soon we will hear it in our minds. Then it will only cost a penny. Isn't that what thoughts are going for these days?