Jim Minichiello - The other day I was browsing through iTunes, trying to build up my Jazz collection, and it had occurred to me that I hadn't yet downloaded "Miles and Quincy Live at Montreux". So I typed in the name of the album in the search bar in the upper right hand corner of the app, and there it was in the blink of an eye. This made me laugh for two reasons, the first was because I was amazed iTunes had this album, and two because I remembered a time when Miles at Montreux was almost impossible to find. This sudden realization also made me a little sad, because I realized that iTunes had taken away one of the things that I used to enjoy about being a music lover, the search.
I remember, not too long ago, when I would drive into Boston with my dad to go to the Tower Records on Boylston street. This Tower Records stood out from the rest because The Berklee School of Music was right around the corner. Which meant that this was basically a church where music lovers could go and worship their gods on regular basis. Three floors filled with hard to find albums and employees who actually knew something about music. It was here with my Dad that I received my education in music. We would head straight to the top floor, which housed the Jazz Section. Jazz had its own separate room cut off from the rest of the store. It was here that I learned about Miles, Monk, and Rich. It was here that I became a music lover. I didn't always know what I was looking for, sometimes I would strike gold other times not so much. Then there were the times when you would search through the racks and come across that album that was a rare find, and you held onto it like it was pure gold.
Sadly, those days are gone. Tower Records has long since gone out of business and replaced by the iTunes and Amazon among others. It's simply not the same experience. This is an old issue that's been discussed many times but it's still relevant as Books and Movies are headed in the same direction. We take for granted that all this information that is at our finger tips and it's made us lazy. We no longer have to seek information out it's simply right there in front of us, much to our detriment. Sitting behind a computer typing in the name of the album I want, isn't near as satisfying of an experience.
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