Personal connections lost with technology

The very technology that I
have grown to love and depend
on has consequently
led to the demise of one of my
all-time favorite pass-times: listening
to music.

Throughout my junior high
and high school career, most of
my days consisted of coming
home from school, putting the
current album that I was obsessed
with into my CD player,

getting comfortable and listening;
that’s it- just pure, uninterrupted
listening.

But times have changed, and
today I have an iPhone, which
on one hand serves as a portal
for me to access any artist or
song imaginable instantly, and
even more convenient, I can hold
my enormous music collection
in the palm of my hand. However,
in hindsight, this deceiving
little technological advance has
robbed me of the art of listening
to music.

These days, I literally compose
a soundtrack to my life and music
accompanies me during all of
my mundane daily activities like
working out, studying, cleaning
and driving. And although I am
hearing the music, I am missing
the depth of the artist’s message.

It is as if the art of listening to
music died, and I was too blindsided
by a shiny little gadget to
make it to the funeral.

I have learned my lesson
though and will not let it happen
again with the recent craze
of downloadable books on products
like Kindle and the new
iPad.

There is a certain sentimental
value that comes along with
physical copies of books; I love
to collect them and to be able
to make handwritten notes in
them, even their scent has a certain
appeal to me. What’s more
is that I also love the act of shopping
for books (another hobby
that will be in serious danger of
extinction as the popularity of
technology rises). Whether it is in
an obscure little shop or secondhand
store, I love the excitement
of finding a classic piece of literature
that looks like someone else
loved it as much as I will.

And let’s face it; it is just not
the same snuggling up by the
fireplace in your pajamas and
favorite blanket on a cold night
and pulling out your Kindle.

I get it though, times are
changing and so is the way that
we store information, and convenience
and accessibility will
undoubtedly over-take the inefficient
ways of the past. I just
dread the day when I have to
remind my grandchildren of a
time that I actually had to carry
more than one book at a time all
the way to school and back.