In Search of Better Music

The first essay on music I have published was "Why I Keep Company With Music" almost 15 years ago. As the years go by, I find myself enjoying a variety of music, not to mention reasons for passion in music. When Dad took me to a nursery school well before the last decade of 20th Century, he never fail to explain teachers that I could fall asleep by just hearing a song from the radio, via a huge tuning box probably the most advanced technology at that time!

     When I became a young student at local public high school in 1986, my elder brother was awarded a prize from Dad. That's a somewhat cassette player smaller than a radio box, but it still took almost the whole space on a medium-sized cupboard. In our summer vacation he purchased cassette tapes from nearby cities, like widely popular albums by Sai Htee Saing, Htoo Ein Thin, etc.

     After about a decade, I had to prepare for high school final exam in the late 90s. Studying was a must but I often couldn't help playing music from a Sony Walkman player. To buy a branded Walkman was even a dream as they usually came with auto-rotate function so that listeners had no hassle for putting the tape in and out for playing both sides. The songs were interrupted when played on a moving bus and the quality of music deteriorated with time.

     The Walkman was a well-accepted technology until MP3 players were common after Microsoft's launch of Windows 98. However, even after joining medical school I still couldn't exchange my Walkman with the first MP3 player in my life. It's become a reality only in my fourth year, paying a maximum price at a downtown computer accessories retailer. That changed the function of music listening and set a firm platform for songs—no press for moving forward or backward, no waiting time for shuffling songs, loads of albums in one tiny device. Just before the era of MP3 players, we youngsters also tried to possess a single-CD player, which seemed less popular and most people even didn't know about it.

     Based on MP3 technology, later versions called MP4 devices came into the market in droves mostly from China; a JXD brand still seemed popular. The difference with MP3 players is it incorporates video to be played in screen sizes of 2 to 3 inches.

     After getting wider access to internet and greater coverage of mobile networks in the last decade, a multi-purpose gadget known as smartphones become very popular. Smartphone manufacturers have become the world's most profitable companies. Now you can download one of your favorite local or international singers' latest hits to your hand-held device and listen the best quality song wherever you are, including videos if you prefer. It's anyway exciting to hope for another advanced technology for better music although the current one seems mostly perfect and convenient for all music fans like me. In fact, I've passed through history of listening to music in different times.