Future Technology - LP,Tape,CD or download;What have we lost and gained?
Entertainment, Gadgets, Hollywood, Music, Products, Retail, Services, cell phones, electroinics, technology
Nothing moves faster and nothing arrives slower than the latest in technology. Whether it’s cell phones, computers or in this case, the way we listen to music.
If you were to show a 14 year old an album, that is a 33 rpm long playing vinyl disc most would not be able to tell you how it worked. They may recognize it from what their club DJ plays or rather scratches but what of the technology behind it?
In the span of 50 years we have moved from the mass production and distribution of vinyl discs that are played on a turn table with a stylus to downloading encrypted code of digital sound from our laptop computers directly into an iPod or MPe3. Or in some cases downloading everything directly via and into our phone.
The argument has been made as to what is truly better sound. LP or Digital. Not wanting to get into the science behind why an LP is of higher quality, the real question is what comes after the download?
LP’s were replaced by the 8 track tape which was passed up by the cassette which was forsaken for the CD which begot the digital download. What was lost and what did we gain?
The LP was more than a physical product, labored by musician and record producer but also it was something you could hold onto while listening. There was more to it than just a cardboard sleeve to hold your platter. As they evolved over the decades from the 40’s to the 60’s the cover became a real art form and as highly prized as the music inside of them.
An LP had cover art that was usually original, made just for that album, that artist and was displayed no where else. But the cover wasn’t the only treasure to be found as more and more musicians used the album jacket to express their views and philosophies. They included the lyrics to the songs, liner notes about the band itself and sometimes special pages or items inside. Special editions could be of different colors and hidden messages in the art work or photography created mystery and speculation for years to come.
Just ask Sgt. Pepper.
When the LP gave way to the 8 track and cassette the album cover was immediately lost. The convenience and mobility of a cassette allowed fans to create their own traveling soundtrack as they cruised down the highways, popping in and out personal choices of music establishing water mark of freedom from commercialized radio. No longer a slave to a station’s DJ choice of songs, the owner of the cassette player became their own master of music. They gained mobility but lost some sound quality and of course all the goodies that came from an album sleeve.
The cassette was knocked over by the introduction of the CD. Better sound using the digital mix which eliminated that hissing sound in between cuts and the CD brought back the album jacket. Sort of.
Cds condensed more than just the space in which to hold your music they reduced the size of the jacket cover art. Now you had your album on a shiny disc with instead of an album jacket, you’ve got a pamphlet. Nice try but still doesn’t compare.
The CD pamphlet contained art work, lyrics and liner notes; all at about 1/8 the scale. The information was there and that’s cause for celebration but the size reduced not just the type size but the experience. Hold an album cover and you feel like you have something of worth and substance. Flip through the pages of a CD pamphlet and it’s more like tumbling through a People magazine while sitting on the toilet.
Now we have the digital download. No hard product, just musical sound waves reduced to program code. Like the old expression - “there’s no there, there’.
We now have absolute mobility, ease of access and complete dictatorship of what we hear, what order we hear it in and whether we want to hear the whole album, selected cuts and the ability to stop and start it at will.
What we don’t have is any art work, liner notes, lyrics or anything to hold on to.
In the advent of the next wave of technology appears on the horizon, that is the introduction of the iPod’s video player, we’ll get to have music video.
That’s a good thing, right?
Torchon @ August 13, 2008