Great article on the life and death of the Apple iPod in the SMH. Some really interesting comments on the iPod as the “first cultural icon of the 21st century”. Here’s a snippet:
Apple has changed the way we think about technology and design, the way we shop, the way we consume media and the way we interact with each other. Via the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad it has opened up doors for other methods of technology to come into our lives. None of that would have happened without the iPod. “It was the first cultural icon of the 21st century,” says Dr Michael Bull, a lecturer in media and film at the University Of Sussex, south-east England, where his studies on the sociology around the MP3 player have earned him the sobriquet “Professor iPod”. “It was the first MP3 player that really worked. With the earlier ones you had to get down on your knees and pray to get a bit of music out of them. And it became symbolic of the way people like to move around in cities. It fitted the desire for a technological freedom, whereby you moved to your own soundscape. Roland Barthes argued that, in medieval society, cathedrals were the iconic form. Then by the 1950s it had become the car – the Citroen DS. I argue that 50 years later it was the iPod, this technology that let you fit your whole world in your pocket. It was representative of a key moment in the social world of the 21st century.”
Read the rest here. Some of the content reminded me of some of Stu Crawshaw’s thoughts from his Youth Ministry as Shock Absorber article.
Do you have an iPod? Do you still use it? Can you name a competitor for other 21st Century icons?
One thing I can’t live without is my iPod.
I’ve got an iPod Classic, “the take everything-everywhere iPod”. Mine’s a couple of years old, but the latest iPod Classic fits 160GB of stuff. That’s 40,000 songs, 200 hours of video, or 25,000 photos… “More than enough room for a day’s – or a lifetime’s – worth of entertainment”.
“Which iPod are you?”
You might be the iPod shuffle, where “small is huge”. You’re someone on the move, who wants to go running with the smallest possible music player.
Or maybe you’re the iPod nano? You want multi-touch control of your clip on music player. You want to record video or tune in to digital radio.
Perhaps you’re the iPod touch? You want, “State of the art fun”. You want to, “Share good times with friends over FaceTime. Shoot scenes in HD. Or play games on the highest-resolution iPod screen ever.”
Or perhaps you’re too sophisticated for toys, or closer to the truth you disguise you’re toys as essential items. You’re an iPhone.
One thing all iPod’s have in common is they improve your image. We know how fashionable we look with our white ear-bud sticking out our shirt. We like it when people ask what’s on our play-list. We love it when it’s our iPod playing at the party.
Whatever type of iPod we are, we all want the same thing. We want, “Everything we need to be entertained”. We all want entertainment whenever, and wherever, but we also want to choose. Whatever I find entertaining, you might never have found entertaining. And what I find entertaining thismorning might be boring by thisafternoon.
With an iPod you’re in control. You select the playlist to suit your mood. You play the games that you like to play. It doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks, with an iPod you do what you want.
You can personalise your iPod however you want. Sometimes the screen is too bright at night, so you just fade the brightness. Or some songs need more bass than others, so you simply adjust the EQ.
With an iPod you control the environment you’re in. An iPod can change something boring into something bearable. Waiting for a bus, walking to school, working on an assignment, sitting in an English lesson… you can escape the mundane. Life never has to be dull.
An iPod never gets boring. You simply go into iTunes and download more music or movies or aps, whatever it is you need.
When you start to think about it, how did we survive without iPods? I guess you had to carry your discman, with a few CDs. But then if you wanted games you had to carry your Gameboy as well. And if you wanted to look at your photos, well you had to carry a photo album around…
So why is it we’re always looking for more portable entertainment? Why do we want to control every environment we’re in? Why do we get so bored? Why do we need distraction from everyday life?
The answer is we want more rest.
I’m not talking about beauty-sleep. I’m talking about rest for the soul.
An iPod helps us do exactly that. Every day an iPod rescues us from the boring bits. Every day an iPod comforts us like a familiar friend. Everyday an iPod gives us energy to keep going. Who needs God when you’ve got an iPod?
iPods teach us a lot about ourselves. They tell us that in 2011 we expect instant gratification… also that rest is individual not relational… and that we want to be in control. iPods also tell us that with today’s technology we can solve our own problems.
I expect “everything I need to be entertained”. I expect to find rest and contentment whenever and wherever. But there’s all kinds of things that get in the way like… a boring day at school… or someone telling me what to do… or stress… or too much work… An iPod seems to be the answer. The only problem is, I’m never satisfied with the rest I get… I always want more!
The Bible tells us we want more rest because God created us this way.
When God created Adam & Eve they weren’t looking for rest. They weren’t bored with life. Life was good. That doesn’t mean they sat around all day doing nothing, they worked in the Garden of Eden, and they were happy. It wasn’t until after they rebelled against God that life became difficult. God punished Adam & Eve, and all creation, for rejecting him.
Today, we’re all looking for the same rest Adam & Eve originally had. Not surprisingly, the Bible tells us where to find it. Out of mercy God came to earth as the man Jesus to bring us back into that place of rest. Jesus said,
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matt 11:28)
Even though he was pure Jesus was punished. He took on himself the burden of guilt and shame at the cross. He did it so that now he can offer us rest – rest from failing God, rest from being separated from him.
Where do I find rest? The answer is Jesus. When we come to Jesus he gives us rest for our souls. It’s the type of rest that never runs out and never leaves us wanting more.
Whenever we get dissatisfied, or bored, or looking for an escape it’s because we’ve lost sight of Jesus. And until we come to Jesus we’ll keep looking for more rest… and continue to be left wanting more.
An iPod can keep us entertained for a short while. It can make the boring bits bearable. It can even make you look cool… but after a while we’ll want something else.
If you find yourself wanting more rest, you need to come to Jesus.
matt – you should start blogging with comments like that!
i’m preaching on Matthew 11-12 this weekend… let’s see if we can get the iPod in there!!!
thanks mate.