Not so long ago, in this space, I wrote about my reluctance to abandon cassettes in favor of what all the kids are calling "new media." But the MP3 beckoned, thanks to listservs and MP3 blogs, and in 2004 I found myself with a burgeoning collection of digital music. I knew it was only a matter of time before I owned an Ipod and so, when one appeared at Christmas, I decided to give it a try.

I set a few ground rules for myself:
1. no white headphones; they seem too trendy and uncomfortable.
2. no comprehensive back-loading of every CD I ever owned; I'm saving my space for new things yet undiscovered.

How's it been going? So far, not bad. I have noticed the following things:

The Ipod is frighteningly fragile (I tend to drop things).
It is reasonably sensitive, but does not respond well when I am wearing mittens.
Its controls require more attention than I am used to giving while walking home, so I find myself nipping into doorways and storefronts, hunching over and clicking.
It takes time; I have to set aside an hour or so a week to "work on the Ipod."
It apparently can't go into a deep sleep or I will again encounter the dreaded "corrupt file" error (a Windows bug detailed here).

On the up side, I can now compete with E. for equal time in the car with the handy Itrip device that lets us listen in the car. I can play selected tunes again and again, obsessively (assuming I can reach the right button), without anyone catching on. The shuffle mode and the games are fun and the endless trainspotting of playlists is addictive.

That said...there is still ground rule number 3. Ground rule number 3 is that I hang on to my old media. The problem of what to do with 20 years' worth of cassettes and records isn't going away. I don't have the time or energy to transfer all that stuff to MP3s (although what a playlist that would be!). Yet sometimes the soundtrack of my life requires a song from 1994 or 1990 or earlier. And that's a call I must heed.

See, it's like this. In 1994 I visited Minneapolis for the first time. On a sunny September Saturday, knowing no one and having only a sketchy map of the city, I decided to take a walk. I ended up walking all day, and it was a day I'll never forget (and would do again in a minute, although this time I'd try not to forget to eat, an oversight that caused problems later). I had one particular mix tape with me and sometimes I just want to hear those songs again. So...shh. Don't tell my Ipod, but I took a cassette out today, and with Versus and Calvin Johnson and Hole, it was 1994 all over again.