The Emperor's New Clothes - "Sod the iPod"
"Sod the iPod", I heard a friend say recently. This statement was greeted with 'Crusade'-style cries of 'heretic' from the immediate assembly, which I must admit I found somewhat embarassing because, in some senses, I have to agree.
Although the web and media are my own playgrounds and workplace, I do have to stop and check myself regularly. We've all been here before. 2000/2001 and the dot com crash came as no surprise to anyone with a modicum of perspective, and I myself welcomed it. Nihilism isn't always about destruction, it is actually about creating something better from the ruins.
So what my friend was saying was, what is so great about the iPod? It is after all only a hard drive with MP3 software installed. Pretty though it may be. It is not, as some appear to think, a magical cure for shallow lifestyles. It doesn't make you glamourous, it doesn't make you cool, and it definitely won't make you successful.
Now I understand peer pressure when you're a teenager, having committed most of the fashion mistakes of the 1980's I feel well qualified to comment. But the assembled group were all in their 30's, and although not always the case, each of them should have known better.
And of course I'm cursed with ageing, but I still think it appears to sum up the lack of depth and social engagement in modern life.
So I second that emotion.......if you'll excuse the poor musical reference, but my playlist is limited.
Although the web and media are my own playgrounds and workplace, I do have to stop and check myself regularly. We've all been here before. 2000/2001 and the dot com crash came as no surprise to anyone with a modicum of perspective, and I myself welcomed it. Nihilism isn't always about destruction, it is actually about creating something better from the ruins.
So what my friend was saying was, what is so great about the iPod? It is after all only a hard drive with MP3 software installed. Pretty though it may be. It is not, as some appear to think, a magical cure for shallow lifestyles. It doesn't make you glamourous, it doesn't make you cool, and it definitely won't make you successful.
Now I understand peer pressure when you're a teenager, having committed most of the fashion mistakes of the 1980's I feel well qualified to comment. But the assembled group were all in their 30's, and although not always the case, each of them should have known better.
And of course I'm cursed with ageing, but I still think it appears to sum up the lack of depth and social engagement in modern life.
So I second that emotion.......if you'll excuse the poor musical reference, but my playlist is limited.
posted by Netdata at
3:52 PM
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