Do you shuffle?
A break from the "Evolution" series to share a piece I read from David Kirkpatrick of FORTUNE. (Click on the title of this post - "Do you shuffle?" - to read Kirkpatrick's entire column.)
According to Kirkpatrick, the new iPod Shuffle has made it easier for him to live in a world of music. So right. I have one of the larger iPods, and I take it with me everywhere. It's my default player in the car; I listen to either NPR (usually the news programs) or my iPod. I try to walk each morning, and I always listen to music when I do. When I fly, I'm often plugged in.
I haven't listened to so much music since my teenage years. And 33 1/3 LP's were hardly portable.
But what is remarkable about Kirkpatrick's insight isn't what he writes about his iPod and music. It's this:
Why, he asks, "do I, and so many others want to cocoon ourselves off into our little music bubbles...? I think one reason has to do with the other technologies around us: cellphones, PCs, BlackBerries, laptops, etc.... For me, email is particularly annoying. Every day, I'm finding it more and more debilitating. There's just too much coming in, and it takes me way too much time to manage it all.... I never come close to catching up."
I'm a huge user (but, I hope, not an abuser) of email. Yet I've come to realize that email can be a curse as much as a boon. So I've lately tried to split my communications into a hierarchy of priority ranging from "immediate" (instant message, phone, Skype); "get it in writing, but conveniently" (email and email with attachments); and "formal and/or sincere," which is good ol' fashioned snail mail.
So many people use email now for everything, and you can sense their frustration when they don't receive an email reply in minutes. "Did you receive my email?" Maybe, but perhaps I haven't had a chance to read it yet. Possibly, but I'm traveling and haven't logged on since this morning. Yes, but I haven't yet replied. No, perhaps my email program catalogued it as spam.
I suggest we all consider the various communications tools we have and try harder to choose the one that is best fit to each task.
According to Kirkpatrick, the new iPod Shuffle has made it easier for him to live in a world of music. So right. I have one of the larger iPods, and I take it with me everywhere. It's my default player in the car; I listen to either NPR (usually the news programs) or my iPod. I try to walk each morning, and I always listen to music when I do. When I fly, I'm often plugged in.
I haven't listened to so much music since my teenage years. And 33 1/3 LP's were hardly portable.
But what is remarkable about Kirkpatrick's insight isn't what he writes about his iPod and music. It's this:
Why, he asks, "do I, and so many others want to cocoon ourselves off into our little music bubbles...? I think one reason has to do with the other technologies around us: cellphones, PCs, BlackBerries, laptops, etc.... For me, email is particularly annoying. Every day, I'm finding it more and more debilitating. There's just too much coming in, and it takes me way too much time to manage it all.... I never come close to catching up."
I'm a huge user (but, I hope, not an abuser) of email. Yet I've come to realize that email can be a curse as much as a boon. So I've lately tried to split my communications into a hierarchy of priority ranging from "immediate" (instant message, phone, Skype); "get it in writing, but conveniently" (email and email with attachments); and "formal and/or sincere," which is good ol' fashioned snail mail.
So many people use email now for everything, and you can sense their frustration when they don't receive an email reply in minutes. "Did you receive my email?" Maybe, but perhaps I haven't had a chance to read it yet. Possibly, but I'm traveling and haven't logged on since this morning. Yes, but I haven't yet replied. No, perhaps my email program catalogued it as spam.
I suggest we all consider the various communications tools we have and try harder to choose the one that is best fit to each task.
posted by Mark Burris - BURRIS at 3/25/2005 10:05:00 AM
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