On Apple Music

So The Ravishing Mrs. TB, in an initial "free trial" which accidentally extended itself, subscribed to Apple Music.

It is amazing.

At the touch of my fingers, I have virtually every song I ever listened to from 1977 to 1989.

I know.  If you are young, you are laughing at this.  If you are old, you get it.

Imagine ("Sherman, set the Wayback Machine") a time where you do not have access to all music everywhere.  You have access to the music you own.  If you are lucky, you have cassette player, on which you can record music as played on the radio or on a "record"  (hang with me here, people).  The radio stations you listen to (KRXQ or KFOG or 104.1, whatever that stations was) only seldom announce what the next song is.  If you really like a song, you find yourself turning the dial (Literally.  It was a dial.  No metaphor there.) or maybe hitting the "memory" buttons from station to station, trying to find a song you like and are looking for (with that damnable wire that passed for an antenna climbing the wall behind your combination record player/dual cassette player/radio unit).  If you are trying to record a song, it is worse:  you sit there poised with your hand over the "Record" button, hoping to capture the song at the beginning of it so you get the whole thing - if not, your recording starts at the 20 second moment and you just cut into it.

But now, that is all changed.  Any song I want - any one (to date) that I desire is there for my listening pleasure.  Crystal clear quality.  In many cases, the whole album too - so even the songs that did not get as much air time are there as well.

Is it better? I am not sure.  Honestly, having all of it at fingertips is overwhelming.  I switch from song to song to song and listen to each - but having all of them there makes it less, I do not really know, interesting in a way.  There was something to the patience of waiting or listening to different artists (you never now have to do this if you do not want) or even owning the actual album (instead of the individual song) that seems to have made the whole experience more magical.  For a fact, the way I listen to songs and the radio now is much different than back in the day.

On the one hand, it is somewhat fun reliving my youth through song:  hours spent at my friend's, rolling dice in role playing games and making plans we never really intended to carry out.  On the other hand, now that I have all of this at my fingertips, the magic is gone:  I have the power of selection, but that very power seems to have denied me of the joy I once had.