Bono, Steve Jobs, etc.

[Carvill, John]

> What were these "people" who now listen to iPods listening to their  
music on previously?

Are you asking that question because you're genuinely interested in the answer? Or are you just having a go? Your use of inverted commas around 'people' suggests the latter. But anyway...

Today's MP3 players, i.e. (digital) portable audio devices, roughly equate to the old (analog) cassette Walkman devices which proliferated during the 1980s. The rise of portable MP3 players, such as iPods, has, of course, coincided with the rise of a number of digital formats, notably MP3, wma, etc. The iPod age has seen a huge surge in the number of people (or, if you will, 'people') using portable audio. Popular though the Walkman was, the iPod is surely more common? The huge numbers of people using iPods (or equivalent) today, coupled with the popularity of the MP3 format, means there are enormous numbers of MP3 audio files being listened to, right now.

Therefore, it's not just a question of 'what were people listening to previously', because it's not the case that the number of 'portable audio device owners' has stayed constant while the format (cassette, MP3) changed. The new digital formats go hand in hand with the new digital devices. The new digital devices have brought about a big increase in the number of people using portable audio devices, and a lot of these people are using the MP3 format.

All of this seems obvious to me.



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On Behalf Of Keith
Sent: 11 January 2010 14:17
To: Pynchon Index Cacorum
Subject: Re: Bono, Steve Jobs, etc.

On Jan 11, 2010, at 2:31 AM, John Carvill wrote:

People have been sold iPods, god knows how many tens of millions of  
them, and
the success of these MP3 players has led to a decline in the average
quality of music being listened to, on the planet, right now.
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What were these "people" who now listen to iPods listening to their  
music on previously?