rasx() on Media: From Woodstock to iStock
I think it was in Lords and New Creatures, where Jim Morrison writes something like, “…we have come from wild men dancing on hillsides to two eyes staring in the dark.” Jim Morrison, under the cruel gaze of the rabid cynic, is a “failed” filmmaker. So when he refers to the eyes staring in the dark we may dismiss his critique as a bowl of sour grapes displayed in a shop window. However, when I see this iPod billboard, I think of “Native Americans,” Woodstock, hippies and this Jim Morrison line.
The hippies dancing around in the mud at Woodstock used an open air environment and their collective massive presence to enjoy their music. When they listened to music it soared across the sky on loudspeakers. When they danced it was among throngs of like-minded people—people dressed up like Hollywood B-movie Indians. So when I see this little white box attached to the skull of this dancing figure by catheter-like tubules, I see an almost medical treatment of musical freedom. Jim Morrison’s dreaded theater with the eyes staring in the dark is made into micro-sized white boxes administered individually to the masses in controlled $99 doses.
My horrible little science fiction story is that large corporations don’t need to win over fully mature customers. All they have to do is have enough resources to grow their own customers. This billboard looks like freedom to so many young people. Yes, and we have heard of those tales of humans being raised by wolves. This means that humans are frighteningly adaptable. So my guess is that the iPod customer clearly can’t dance around like this alone in public. This means that she has to imagine that she can move like this while she is enjoying her digital music. This goes beyond Jim Morrison’s theatre into a world of pure, vaporware imagination. I have said it before and this is probably my first time writing this, Steve Jobs is a straight-up pimp. To put it in secular terms, he’s “building a brand.”
I’m an iTunes user. I can’t tell you in detail how I use iTunes because I think it’s illegal in the United States to tell you. Let’s me just write the acronym SPDIF and move on… My personal, portable computer is central to my flashy and exciting W2 lifestyle. This means that there is not much difference to me between an iPod and a USB storage device. However, I remember the Sony Walkman craze and that was cool for riding the school bus. I never thought it was appropriate for jogging or any other strenuous, physical activities outdoors. When the opportunity presents itself for me to be outdoors, let me be outdoors—not inside some idealized, little white box.