A few weeks ago, I was searching for something in my dresser, and came across an old friend. Covered in dust, frayed cord held together with electrical tape, but what a sight to behold regardless. I hadn’t powered up my iPod Touch in nearly a decade. Just holding it in my hand again led to a burst of nostalgia so intense it practically knocked me over.
I loved this thing so much. Music has always been instrumental in my life (hell yeah, that pun is intended!); I find it impossible to work or drive without rock ‘n roll blaring from a speaker, headphone, or earbuds. I listen to music for a solid 4-5 hours each day. And from 2009-2015, most of that listening was done on my trusty lil’ iPod Touch.
When I bought my first iPod that year, I skimped and got the 32 GB version. I quickly realized that didn’t have nearly enough storage space for my needs, so after just a few weeks I sold it on Craigslist and upgraded to the 64 GB version. I’ve had this guy ever since, even though he’s been buried beneath a pile of socks since Vancouver, Washington.
I once tried to figure out how much money I spent in the iTunes store but gave up because the amount was embarrassingly high. Like, hundreds of dollars high. Eventually I got a smartphone, and discovered Spotify, and suddenly my beloved little iPod felt like an antique, irrelevant and unused. All that money I spent on songs over the years might as well have been flushed down the toilet because, as Dave Holmes points out in his excellent Esquire article, “The Deleted Years,” that music is essentially lost forever. Sayeth he:
If you were an early adopter of Apple Music Store, as I was, everything you bought from 2003 to 2009 is stuck on a dusty iPod for which a charger can no longer be found, or on a MacBook that’s three MacBooks ago. Whether you bought that whole first Kaiser Chiefs album or just plunked down the 99 cents for “I Predict A Riot,” you don’t have it anymore. It simply does not exist for you, and it didn’t even leave behind a record sleeve to let you know it ever did.
Totally me, right down to The Kaiser Chiefs.
Holding my iPod again, I thought of all the money I spent, and wondered if I could somehow recoup my investment. Sure, most of the songs I purchased over the years can be (and are) streamed on Spotify, but it’s the principle of the matter, you know?
First, I had to see if my iPod still worked. Could he be raised from the dead, Lazarus-like, or had he gone to the great discarded electronics graveyard in the sky, spending eternity amongst a ghostly entourage of fax machines and VCRs and eight-track players? Only one way to find out! Tara and I were running errands one recent Saturday, so I plugged it into the adapter on my Kona, and was thrilled to see the battery charging icon light up. After a few minutes, we were able to access my music library again…but much to my dismay, there were only a handful of songs on there. A mere drop in the bucket considering how many I had paid for. Had I deleted all my music files in a mad frenzy to declutter, much as I had ingloriously tossed 90% of my CDs into the trash in Rapid City? This seemed illogical, as MP3s don’t take up any physical space, but at the same time it felt just Mark-like enough to be credible.
Sometimes, I have a penchant for short-sightedness. Call it a character flaw.
I would have to log back into my iTunes account to see if all my music was still there, I realized. There were just two problems: 1) I wasn’t sure if iTunes even existed anymore, and even if it did, B) My login information was long ago lost to time. I’ve had several email addresses and multiple passwords since those halcyon days of the early aughts. Accessing my account, if it was still around, seemed like a longshot.
Luckily, for better or worse, nothing on the internet is ever truly gone forever. Yes, iTunes is still around. And after a bit of effort and pluckitude, I figured out how to get back into my long-dormant account. Voila! All my purchased songs were still there, trapped in a time capsule where Obama was president and The Walking Dead was still must-see TV. There were hundreds of them, from A.C. Newman to The Zombies. Proof that I did, in fact, spend an awful lot of money on music. After some trial and error, I figured out how to download those songs back to my iPod. Suddenly, I was listening to music I hadn’t heard in 10 years or longer. It was like stumbling upon an old safe deposit box you forgot existed and finding it filled with treasures.
What. A. Trip.
It felt like a great wrong had been righted and helped justify all the moolah I shelled out (admittedly through some pretty lean times, too). I even bought a new cord – just a few dollars on Amazon – so I wouldn’t have to worry about electrocuting myself the next time I queued up Wolfmother.
Tara accused me of breathing new life into this old technology just for nostalgia’s sake, but even if that’s true, is it really such a bad thing? Many of the songs and artists I had completely forgotten about: Calla, Dark Captain Light, Dead Man’s Bones, Goldfrapp, Explode Into Colors, Howling Bells, Ivy, Longwave, MS MR, Ought, School of Seven Bells, and Wishyunu, to name just a few. They transport me back to a specific place in time, a large chunk of which overlapped with our courtship. Don’t be a hater, man.
And, while Spotify is a juggernaut, it doesn’t have everything. Like “Portland, Oregon,” a great duet by Loretta Lynn and Jack White that came out in 2005 but isn’t streaming anywhere. Or “In the Sun,” a Michael Stipe/Coldplay collab released that same year to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims. I am listening to both on my iPod while writing this. Bought and paid for a lifetime ago.
Score, bitches!
Plus, you know, it’s nice to actually have digital music you own. Artists sometimes pull their catalogs from streaming services. Remember when Neil Young got into a feud with Spotify and disappeared for a couple of years? I could have still rocked out to “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” or “Walk On” or any of the other songs of his I bought all those years ago if I’d resuscitated my iPod back then.
I’m not saying I’m ditching Spotify or anything that drastic. It’s still my go-to music source most days. But g-damn, I’ve missed my iPod. We spent many years together and had some great adventures: trips to the coast, to the mountains, to freakin’ Ohio, man. That’s commitment. He was my one constant companion and brought me great joy, lifting my spirits when I was down and always getting my toes a-tapping. If I speak of him as though he’s human, that just illustrates how much he meant – still means – to me. He’s like a long-lost family member who has finally come home after an extended absence.
Never again shall he be relegated to the sock drawer, I promise.
Heading (Way) Up North
The fall colors are poppin’ up early this year, at least two weeks ahead of schedule. We had something like 23 consecutive days of temperatures at or below normal, including several pretty cold mornings, and that has the trees thinking winter is coming. Like, now. Exhibit A: our backyard.
Unfortunately, we’re expecting mid- to upper-80s and humidity returning this weekend, so summer isn’t finished having her way with us quite yet. But it won’t last much longer.
I’m excited because today is my Friday! Team MarTar turns 12 on Sunday (wedded bliss-wise; that day also marks our 14th dating anniversary), so we’re headed Up North to celebrate. There should be quite a bit more fall foliage in northern Wisconsin.
Last year, I took a solo trip to Superior, just a quick overnighter while Tara was out of town for a wedding, with a lunch stop in Bayfield. I called the Gateway to the Apostle Islands “charming AF” (I have such a way with words!) and vowed to return for a longer stay, next time with my wife. Welp, I’m a man of my word, guys: I found a great deal on a hotel in Bayfield, right on Lake Superior. We’re heading out early Friday morning and returning home Sunday evening, with a full slate of activities planned. We’re cramming a lot into 48 hours, but it’s been a long time since we’ve had a weekend getaway and done any exploring, so I’m jazzed as hell.
Expect a full recap next week.
And yes, my iPod will be accompanying us. Two’s company but three’s even more company, ya dig?
Did (or do) you own an iPod? What obsolete electronic technology do you miss the most? Any fall foliage in your neck of the woods yet?
Mark My Words 
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