Friday, October 24, 2008

A dark day...

What the hell? Why does it seem that my recent days are littered with dark days? To many, this will seem like I'm a whiner, and to a certain degree I am; but this issue is important to me.

Take away all other websites, but leave me my internet radio!

We recently received a memo at work re-stating the computer use policy. Teamed with the purchase of some new internet logging software, management wants to crack down on internet use. Generally speaking I don't have any problem with that. They already filter out Facebook, and I could give a rip about Myspace. Obviously, without the distraction of the internet, there's nothing really else to do except work.

Here's my dilemma. I've been with this particular company for 9 years. I've been listening to internet radio the entire time. I've watched internet radio go from flourishing in the beginning to the almost skeletal state that resides now. I've written several posts celebrating Pandora for its unique idea, and song selection methods. I've been listening to Pandora almost exclusively for the last 3-4 years. I've found that I'm most productive with the headphones on, and Pandora rockin'. I'm able to tune out all the BS that goes on, and concentrate on my work.

I've written before that music is a lifeblood of mine. I get cranky when I don't get my daily allowance; think of it as sleep. It's hard to explain so I won't do it here. Let's just say music plays an extremely important role in my life so a change like this has its adverse affects.

I can hear it now from all 3 of you...”get an MP3 player!” You're actually missing the point. Internet radio contains music I don't have. In the case of Pandora, it's all about music discovery; finding music I might like based on what I do like. Quite often, they're right. The alternatives (read: bit-Torrent) I don't consider practical; not for music discovery. The radio is a joke, so don't even say it.

I stand by my headline, “take any website, just don't take my internet radio.”



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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

we are not "allowed" to listen to streaming music at my place of business