Many years ago, after a couple of friends got married, my husband teasingly asked them if they’d merged their music collections yet.
It was also quite a poignant question…
When we first moved in together we both had our own record and CD collections.
He had his.
I had mine.
To merge… or not to merge.
Eventually we did, as we discovered we both had copies of the same albums… and it was just a sensible thing to do.
The couple in question though, just looked puzzled at this question.
“What music collection?” they asked.
Nowadays everyone streams everything… on demand.
They don’t want the clutter of shelves of CDs, DVDs, records and books.
I get that.
But then a headline caught my eye yesterday…
‘If you can’t hold it, you don’t own it…’
Now I know that’s not strictly true… you can borrow media from libraries…
So you can hold it, but not own it…
But I’m being pedantic.
I get the message… and I think it’s true.
There’s so much on so many streaming channels.
But say there’s a series or film you watched and enjoyed… and you want to rewatch it.
So often it’s gone… or you see items listed with disappearing soon or a date when it will be removed.
You never have the option to just grab it off your shelf.
It’s like books.
I do enough work onscreen… the last thing I want to do is read a book online.
I love the feel of a book in my lap…
The smell of a new book!
The occasional times I use public transport… I always like to look around and spot the odd ones out…
Those not plugged into their phones or laptops.
The odd book here and there.
And those very few people who are like me… I like to look around and see what’s happening…
Talk to the person I’m travelling with…
Notice where I am.
I find that last point particularly important.
I have been known in the past to be so involved in a Sudoku while on a train… that I glanced up, saw a ‘B’ at the start of the station name… and jumped off.
I can’t remember if I got off at Bray Park or Bald Hills, but it was the wrong station, and I ended up having to get a taxi to my appointment!
I digress.
Going back to the article… it was really interesting noting, while many people still tapped into the option to stream…
They had also moved back to the idea of media ownership.
From people in their 20s to people in their 60s… around the world.
The thrill of watching a favourite DVD with the kids… including the trailers… over and over.
The physical connection with music…
The idea of supporting artists…
The need to get away from constant algorithms.
We’re exactly the same.
We stream from time to time.
But we love watching our DVDs, listening to our records and CDs…
We even discovererd we still have a cassette player in the garage, with a cassette in it… and it still works!
And finally, hopefully in retirement, getting to read the oh so many books… that we have and can hold.
Ann 🙏