Wednesday, I bought my first digital "album," Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster (Deluxe Version) as a reward for completing a novel synopsis. I'd been eyeing it for a while at a certain department store when DH asked bluntly, "Don't you still have that $50 iTunes gift card from the Brenda Novak auction?"
He had a point. So why was I reluctant to buy digital music? I've bought e-books and digital TV episodes to take with me on business trips and vacations years before such downloads exploded in popularity. Hell, I've written all of my novels on laptops because my typing can keep up with my thought better than my longhand.
Maybe the computer programmer still lives deep inside of me. Over the years, I've converted everything myself. (For my own personal use. Get your hackles down, FBI!) From records to magnetic tapes to CDs to MP3 files. So even with an electronic version, I'm used to having a hard copy of everything somewhere in the house.
Maybe I'm reluctant to give up the artwork. All those iconic images, from Paul McCartney without shoes to Madonna's BDSM Candyland, evoke moods and memories.
Or maybe I don't want to give up the liner notes. Sometimes the songs make more sense when I actually know what the lyrics are.
And maybe all my worries are for naught. The Fame Monster even included a .PDF or the CD's liners notes. So yeah, I understand the folks digging in heels over the e-publishing tsunami a little better. But I also know I can't stop the change.
Because now I've tasted the future. "And I'm a free bitch, baby!"**
**Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
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