Apple Ping

Apple Computers has issued press releases for some upgrades to some of their technology and a couple of new products.  Some people like to purchase the newest technological toys as soon as they hit the market.  Other folks like to wait a bit for the technology to stabilize before purchase.

There’s a new version of Apple’s iTunes.  For music fans, iTunes and the iPod have been a nice addition to their electronics.  iTunes allows the user to download individual songs, mostly for $.99 each (shades of the cost of the old 45s for those old enough to understand the reference).  iTunes also allows the user to play CDs and import the songs to the hard drive of Macintosh or PC machines, where they can be synced up with the owner’s iPod.

iTunes also allows access to many different styles of music through various online radio streaming covering most every genre of music.  It even allows the user to rent movies and TV shows and watch them on Macs or PCs.

Now the look of technology offers a bit of a contrast to traditionalists who might prefer things more along the lines of antique Persian rugs but the two are not incompatible.  The antique Persian rugs can help to soften the sound of the electronics.  The vintage rugs, some with muted colors, others with bright, vibrant colors can contrast to the lines and colors of the iPod or Macintosh.  The iPods often seem to come in pastels and the contrast with the natural shadings of the antique rugs can be the contrast of nature versus machine.

But not everyone who purchases iPods and iTunes wants to shop from the latest Ikea catalog.  There are many technology lovers who prefer to live amongst antiques but still like to have access to the latest technological widgets.  They want to kick back in the antique leather easy chair, with their feet resting on the antique Persian rug but want to watch their state of the art television set up on the antique sideboard while they have the music playing on their Macintosh laptop.  They see the mix of the old and new as almost a political statement.  They can take what they want from the new technology of today while still living with the comforts that years ago would have been available only to those of the upper class.  The technological tools and toys of today are far superior to those of even ten years ago and those of ten years from now will be superior to today’s.

But the comforts of the antiques will still be there in one hundred years, just as they were one hundred years ago.