I particularly enjoyed Paul Ford’s lament to a fallen hard drive and his lost music collection, though he hardly seems bothered, instead viewing it as a blessing worthy of praise, calling it a “Loss as Gain”.
This is quite contrary to my own experience, when I lost my entire music collection a number of years ago (while, of course, living at the House of Irony). This was at the height of the Napster era, and my 12GB hard drive was brimming with songs, including all the music from the House of Irony parties—some of which I’ve never been able to replace.
Ahem.
I swore no such thing would happen again, and in the process became more of a collector than a listener, with my strict naming conventions and elaborate backup methodology. And this is no doubt what Mr. Ford is driving at, his release from the new burden of post-consumer life, where your media collection is curtailed only by the size of your hard drive and the management of such a collection becomes more of a distraction than the data itself. When everything is plentiful, the only meaning something has is the one you give it.
I wonder what I might gain from losing it all again, and what shape it would take if started from a blank slate—a theoretical question for sure, but one that I plan to think on more.
This topic reminds me of the Buddhist monks who draw elaborate designs in the sand each morning knowing that the weather will destroy it.
I think he’s a better man than I am. Or more jaded to music.
I only have, like, 10.7 days of stuff. Nothing compared to his collection. So I’m at the point that if I lost it all… I would really loose it. Seriously… I would just flip the fuck out.
Firstly, this topic is clearly insane.
Second, I didn’t have time to read the dudes entire rant, but all I know is that he said he didn’t need to listen to ‘Original Pirate Material’ by The Streets anymore, but said the second album they released was great. In fact I couldn’t disagree more, so I’m not sure he’s of right mind. Therefore I’m not sure I’d even take his theories into consideration at all.
I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing that all aspects of culture are becoming more easier to find and collect, but I do think not having to work as hard to find things or having any barriers to how much can be accumulated diminishes the magic somewhat. I know that as a kid I cherished the few things I had, be it comics, music, etc. Even watching a movie at the theatre or on TV was a special event, where I had to be completely attentive and allow the spectacle to wash over me for fear that I would never experience it again.
It’s still entirely possible to experience this, but like exploration in the first half of the 20th century, the world of pop culture is getting smaller, and some of the mystery is dissipating.