The Playlist: Music devices over streaming services
I vividly remember my first mp3 player: it was a small device as thick as my thumb and the size of a standard flash drive. No, it was not one of the first ipod shuffles; it was a standard mp3 player. The only options were to shuffle or listen to your music alphabetically. Since then, mp3 devices have come a long way from Apple’s iPod shuffles and nanos. Music devices have not only evolved but have also fell out of style, with streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora becoming more common on phones. Hardly anyone carries around an iPod. The fact that Apple has recently announced that they are discontinuing iPods saddens me, since they are convenient devices to use on a day to day base. I think that music devices should still hold their prestigious merit that they did in the early 2000s.
Music is something that most people consider to be a key factor in their life and an mp3 of sorts carries some of the most important music to carry us through our days. All of my favorite songs and ballads are carried on my iPod, as opposed to my phone due to limited storage on my phone because of all the constant updates and apps I use daily. It’s nice to have music that you want without the concern of deleting a few songs just to make room for the next update or another app.
When listening to music attached to a phone whether it’s from a streaming service or the phone itself, the volume turns down or turns off due to a phone call or text message. It kinda sucks. Especially if someone is listening through speakers at a party with friends. I’m pretty sure most people don’t want the music to stop because the host’s mom is calling. Musical devices that are attached to speakers by bluetooth or an AUX cord will keep the music going uninterrupted by inconvenient calls and messages.
Despite streaming services giving you all of your favorite songs and more, they have the ever so annoying ads, unless you pay to get rid of ads. As for me I hate ads with a burning passion, most of the time they just prove to be distracting from the mood of music the someone is listening to. Not to mention, limited skipping. As much as I enjoy discovering new music, sometimes I just want to skip the songs that make me want to tear off my ears. With an iPod, I’m free to do whatever; I can skip to my heart’s desire, and avoid the ever so obnoxious ads.
Traveling with music streaming services is also another downside, but that varies whether or not a consumer pays for premium service or not. If the consumer does not have premium they face data and cell service issues. Many issues that arise include songs not playing, sound quality decreasing , and a lack of data available to use surfaces as a problem for some users. As for those who pay for music streaming services, they either use data to listen to whatever songs they want, or they have to download songs over wifi to listen to later.
Downsides with iPods are still apparent, but most of it is mainly preference for the user. For music nerds, finding new music is mainly a no go deal, since the user is limited to what is in their music library. Not to mention there is convience that comes into play, I know that everyone does not to carry around two devices because it’s bulky, just another thing to worry about, or it just seems inconvenient to not have all music and apps in the same place on one handy device. I get it, having everything in the same place is nice for some people, it’s just convenient to those who want that.
Music devices are seen as relics or some kind of fossil that has now become irrelevant to most smartphone users. As for me, I still carry around an iPod since I enjoy uninterrupted music in my life. My iPod I consider to be one of my most valuable possessions to carry due to its reliability of not consuming data or having to program eat up storage space with constant updates.