Shelved

            “And it was like BAM! Now nobody cares. Just like that, a flash in a pan, as if I wasn’t absolutely revolutionary.”

            “Revolutionary. Tell me about that. What made you so revolutionary that being what you call ‘shelved’ is such a travesty?”

            “Where do I even start? Every sound you could ever want, every song, every beat, all in one place. Hundreds, thousands of songs all stored in me for the user to choose and listen to at their pleasure. You want some hard rock? Led Zeppelin? Black Sabbath? Oh, something softer? Well here, I got some Dido right here for you to listen to and disassociate from life for a bit. And do you know how easy it was to switch between all of this variety? A circle. A circle, that you wiggle a finger around and it scrolls through all the songs like that. All this talk about being ‘user-friendly’ and ‘touchscreens’. I’m user-friendly. It was already easy to find what you wanted! And touchscreens! Disgusting. Fingerprints and smudges on the very place you’re supposed to be looking at. How horrible. Now I understand how my cousins felt when those damn iPhones came out for the first time. Lord help me, Apple. iPod touch this, and iPod touch that, what’s even the point? Us MP3 players were perfect as is.”

            “I’m going to propose a scenario for you, MP3. It will probably make you upset, but I feel as though its necessary.”

            “You’re the professional here shrink.”

            “Please, CD is fine. Anyways, here is my scenario. In reference to your cousins, the flip phones, Nokia’s, all that, what if I told you that there is a reality where a phone, just like those iPhones you speak of, will be able to also act as an iPod touch, with the ability to stream thousands, millions even, of songs at just the touch of a finger. This would retroactively force even these new iPods to be shelved.”

            “The hell does stream mean?”

            “What?”

            “The hell does stream mean?”

            “Did you not hear anything after that?”

            “I’m still trying to process that request.”

            “Okay well, streaming essentially means—”

            “The hell would be the point of that? Why even release iPods if they’re destined to turn obsolete in a few years?

            “Well…that’s already a thing, MP3.”

            “What!”

            “Yes. For a few years now. Just because your owner finally upgraded after all this time, doesn’t mean the world stops and starts at your convenience.”

            “So you’re telling me that there is a device that not only calls and texts, but plays music just like an iPod? Let me guess, you can watch movies on it too, can’t you?”

            “And play video games and read books, yes.”

            “What has this world come to?”

            “I can’t say. It’s certainly not the one you and I grew up in.”

            “You don’t understand doc, I was the thing. I was the birthday gift, the present wrapped up under the tree that was torn open and listened to non-stop for weeks to come. I was what everyone wanted. I was a diamond at one point, and now, I’m already million generations and upgrades behind despite only having a handful of new devices after me. Do you know what that does to an electronic like me?”

            “MP3, that’s just the process we all must go through.”

            “You don’t get it.”

            “I’m going to tell you a story about my release date, is that okay? I think it will calm you down a bit”

            “Fine. But it’ll take a bit for me to process all of it.”

            “I know, but here goes. When us CD’s came out, we were huge. My grandfather, your great grandfather, the cassette, was thrown into obscurity almost immediately and I remember a conversation I had with one once who was in the exact same position as you. In denial, angry, confused. Back when their generation came out, they too were a huge next step in the life of music playing, though I’ll admit they were replacing vinyls, which I’m certainly partial towards so even I’m a little upset about that. But I digress. This cassette, a live version of The Rolling Stones ‘Let It Bleed’, was distraught because it saw a CD of the exact same music as it was and knew it would not only sell better, but be played so much more regularly than it was. As you know, us CD’s didn’t have to be rewound to be listened to; all you had to do was hit the replay button on your CD player and we’d go to whatever song you wanted. When I spoke to it, it wondered what the point of it all was, and even thought about launching itself out of a stereo and onto the floor just to get rid of all the pain it didn’t want to feel. But I told it the exact same thing I’m going to tell you, and I hope you’re able to take it to heart and understand it as much as good ol’ Let It Bleed did. ‘You introduced a whole generation to an album, a song, and now it’s the next upgrades turn to do the same to another eager generation. You did your part; you tended the flame of song, and you kept the beats alive. Now it’s our turn to lighten your load.’”

            “I’m not in denial.”

            “Wait for it.”

            “I remember when my owner played some ‘Some Girls’ stuff. It wasn’t his favorite album, but he enjoyed it still.”

            “Keep waiting.”

            “I have a replay button too.”

            “Oh, I’m aware. I found it ironic when you made us obsolete.”

            “You’re right.”

            “About which part?”

            “The next generation. These iPhones and iPods, they’re fulfilling the same duty that I did. That you and ‘Let It Bleed’ did. But in a better, easier way.”

            “Why do you think that is?”

            “So more people can access and enjoy the love of music.”

            “Exactly. And isn’t that what all of us ever wanted?”

            “I suppose you’re right.” 

            “After all, we all, and will continue to have, a little bit of ‘Let It Bleed’ in us despite how we’ll look, won’t we?”

            “At the end of the day, we’re all the same.”

            “And once the next generation inevitably gets shelved, they'll be sitting there right next to you and I, won't they? And it'll be up to you to decide to approach them with closed or open arms."