Dear the Recording Industry Association of America,
I just wanted to let you know how I'm doing and what I have been up to. It's Friday here in New York, but I thought it was Thursday until Mrs. Robot said, "no silly, today is Friday." I was happy that it was Friday, but sad because I had things planned for Thursday. I mean, not much, but I needed to get some work done and do laundry. I am on my last pair of socks. Now I feel like I am a day behind.
It's funny how a chain reaction happens - how the smallest insignificant thing can lead to unrelated things happening. For instance this letter. The reason that the opportunity arose to write this letter is because Matt came by and took his 28k modem back.
So, 28k modem = letter to RIAA.
How? Stay with me.
Years ago, Matt loaned me an external 28k modem. My DSL had been on the fritz and I needed something just so I could check my mail and he was nice enough to loan me this old one that had been sitting there covered in dust. He told me stories about the day he bought the 28k one and how exciting it was - I think that was in the 1970's or something.
Now, the foot has turned and the table is on the other shoe. Matt's DSL is down, so he trots over and grabs his old 28k. The modem had sat on my tower and the phone line went in (as they are apt to do) and then another one went out and traveled all the way around the room to our answering machine on Mrs. Robot's desk.
After the modem left, I had no way to plug the answering machine in due to lack of long phone cords and one of those female-to-female connectors. We left the answering machine unplugged (which you would of known if you had tried to call).
Mrs. Robot says, "what you really need is a desk phone with answering machine on it". I agree. My current desk phone works fine except for a few quirky annoyances that I have grown to ignore, but which drive her crazy. "Yes, that is what you should do. Go get a whole new phone with an answer machine and speakerphone"
Let me try to speed this up here and say that I spent some hours online looking for phones, plus spent a good amount of time pounding the pavement (with my feet this time) going to stores to find something. The market for good phones is shrinking, due I suspect to the attention that cell phones get. But, let me say, there are some real crappy phones out there. The AT&T have buggy answering machines, The Panasonics (if I remember) had no mute button... shoddy. Read all the reviews, and 99% were just shoddy. I finally found one on Amazon that had very few issues.
So, I am on Amazon buying a phone. The phone isn't that much money and I decide to order a few books and cds that I have wanted for a while. A few months ago, I had downloaded a bunch of Bew Kweller songs off the internet, and I decided that I really wanted to own his CD. I ordered it.
I ordered it after downloading and listening to his mp3s.
The interesting thing is that if I hadn't downloaded the mp3s, I would have never bought the cd in the first place. It's not like any of my friends listen to him - I just came across his name on a website and they said he sounded like this guy and that guy. I downloaded the songs and liked them. I would have never bought the CD any other way. I would have not bought the CD unless I was somehow guaranteed that I would like it - and the mp3s basically helped do that.
In fact, the last 6 cds I have bought were because I came across the mp3s and downloaded them. And not just one track, but a handful. There would have been no other way for me to hear these bands.
Take away my ability to download music, and you take away my ability to buy music.
So, to sum up. I downloaded some music. And then I bought some music.
