For example, this morning I sat in my kitchen having coffee and perusing the internet. I began to ponder the current state of the Washington, DC music scene, and recalled seeing a band several months ago I really liked called Beasts of No Nation. Years ago, I'd have had to write it down, stick the little piece of paper in my wallet, and hopefully remember to look for them and/or ask about them the next time I made the trek to Tower Records or Smash...because the mall stores were riddled with nothing more than top 40 pop garbage. However, this morning in my kitchen...in pajamas and sipping delicious Mayorga Cafe Cubano...I did a quick search on iTunes and found the June 2012 release, "Now More Than Ever". A few clicks and a few sips of coffee later, that music was on my computer - ready for listening. Sure, I could reminisce about how I miss the big record jackets with the big artwork and lyrics sheets and so forth...but space is hard to come by, and I'd rather create storage room for another bicycle than for another piece of furniture to store records...or tapes or CD's for that matter.
So I had the new Beasts of No Nation downloaded - but it was time for me to shower and get ready for work. I thought to myself; I just need to sync my iPhone before I leave for work so I can listen to that bad boy! However, I was up late working on a freelance graphic design job, and being a little light on sleep often makes me a little short on memory...and I forgot. I was a few minutes into my commute when I reached for the iPhone and plugged in the ear buds - and I thought...damn! I forgot to sync! Oh well...I'll just have to wait. So I happily popped in the ear buds, hit shuffle, took a sip of coffee and BAM! There was Beasts of No Nation! At first, I was quite confused. How the hell did that get on there? Then I remembered the day not long ago when I was prompted with the question; Do you want iTunes to Sync automatically to iCloud? Clearly I said yes - because that music was magically on my phone...and it was one of those moments when my inner geek was glowing, and I was brimming with appreciation for that technology. I looked at my phone in amazement and said, "How cool is that?!"
..and by the way, the iPhone IS the greatest gizmo ever.
