iPod fever

My grandmother had real record albums. They looked like photo albums, and each "page" held a 78rpm record. Most disks only had one side. Taken together, they held the contents of 33rpm LP (long-playing record).

When I was a kid, I had a few 45s. Each had one song per side. My first was "A Rose and a Baby Ruth/If You Don't Know" by George Hamilton IV. Now, I own one 78 (R. Crumb on Red Goose records).

Banjo player Frank Lee says he learned he was old when he heard a younger musician say to his friends, "Frank's on vinyl."

For a while, there was a spate of storage-media startups, each trying to create the "next CD." Minidisks and minicasettes of various shapes and sizes came and went, each with its own recorder/player.

Meanwhile, the iPod appeared. For a little while, I thought, "Why would I want one?" Then I had the Aha!

Last night, I carpooled to a dance with four (other) middle-aged, ex-hippies. A year ago, the music in the car would have come from a CD or a casette. Instead, it was an iPod, broadcasting over an unused radio channel.

Today, Slashdot is announcing Queen buys Apple, like we're supposed to be amazed. Like we're supposed to ask, "What next? A telephone?"