Welcome to the Age of Convergence

Robert Frigault

In 1999 I separated from two significant things: I got rid of my entire CD collection and I threw out my television. I was ready for the age of convergence. The medium had changed, but the people around me hadn't grasped the significance. Before I got rid of my collection, I ripped it. Then I stuffed the CD's (over 500 hundred of them) into a large duffle bag. On my way to Art and Trash, the local secondhand music store, I ran into a friend. An avid music fan, I let him take what he wanted and he was thrilled at his newfound bonanza. I'll have to look him up and ask him if he still uses any of those CDs. If he doesn't, I'll remind him that he only has a few more years left to enjoy them before they expire. According to manufacturers, CDs will last 20 years, but recent statements by the United National Archives and Records Administration suggest that a lifespan of 3 - 5 years is more accurate. Apparently the aluminum coating on which the data is recorded is vulnerable to oxidation.

Now, over 10 years later, in the era of iTunes and the iPod, people are still holding on to their CDs. I asked a friend why he likes CDs and his response was that it's a physical medium. He said he likes the security: if his computer is ever stolen or crashes, he will have a backup. I'm not buying it. I reminded him that the medium has changed - he can just as well make a back up on a server. I sent him a link to Media Temple. If their facility is as advertised, my friend's MP3 collection would survive a nuclear holocaust. I told him that he's trying to hold on to the "real" world. When I emphasized the mortality of CDs, he finally acquiesced to the reliability of digital media. He declared, "I like MP3, it keeps things in 100% good shape." "But you won't throw out the CDs," I persisted, "why?" He confessed that he is a bit nostalgic (right answer), that he likes looking at his collection even though it's obsolete. It's hard to let go of our material objects. They become part of our identity, they bring us comfort. I'm reminded of another friend whose hobby was collecting comic books. His apartment was filled with thousands upon thousands of comics. He dreamed of going to work in a foreign country, but could never leave his collection; it would have been too difficult and too expensive to move.