It snowed briefly last night, but then it switched to rain. Shame...I'm eager to see my first snowstorm of the season.
Today I did work and handled administrative tasks. Based on Shiva's recommendation, I tried the spicy basil noodle dish at Thai Café, and it was actually really good! I had tried something else there before and it sucked, but this one is a winner.
I continued my workout streak. Three days doesn't seem like a lot, but at the end of last semester I was probably working out once a week, if that, so if I can keep this up, it'll be great.
I installed Office 2008 after getting fed up with little bugs that seem to be all over OpenOffice. I like the interface, and so far I haven't noticed any problems. I'm doing a lot of spreadsheet work for my research, and OO kept causing problems, so I'm hoping this will be better.
I'm wondering about whether I should generally try to acquire music in digital or physical form from this point forward. Pros of digital: cheaper, quicker to acquire, nothing to lug around when you move, and better for the environment / pros of CDs: beautiful physical object, decoration for a room. My pros for CDs might sound weak, but I think they're important. I enjoy entering a room with a robust and varied CD collection on a shelf. It's a pleasure to physically scan the labels, pull one out, admire the book, read liner notes, and hold an actual object in your hands. I want to get Arvo Part's Tabula Rasa album, but I don't know which format to get it in. Thoughts?
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
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3 comments:
I would relate by analogy of books. If you like looking at the CD insert (hopefully it is substantial and not just a single sheet), then I would say go for the CD. I like the idea of actually having a book in my hand, too. It is important to me. So I'd buy the book rather than use some digital book-reading device.
I thought of that analogy too, but I don't think it's completely appropriate. The actual manner of enjoying music is the same regardless of my choice of format, i.e., even if I buy a physical CD, I'd still upload it to my computer and listen to it off my HD in the future. This makes the physical object less compelling than in the case with books, where the manner of enjoying a book fundamentally changes based on format, and for that reason, I think there's a stronger argument for buying physical books because I'd much rather look at a real, paper page than a screen.
But with books, the chances are you'll read it and then shelve it for some time. Perhaps you'll be talking with Shiva and a question will be raised from one of the Dialogues of Plato and you'll whip out the book. Similarly, you may be listening to the music and maybe you'll reference the Arvo Part booklet.
Personally I'd go for the simpler, cheaper, and allegedly environmentally friendly option when it comes to music. In the end, what matters is what you feel most compelled to do. Will you really miss the physical CD?
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