temporal neurosis, music, and sales culture

Future Shock of the Month Award goes to disquiet.com for its post on Apple music apps and interface lag. Seems that the designers change the buttons as fast as consumers learn them. This complaint is by no means restricted to Apple, or even music production, for that matter. If you find a type of toothpaste you like (whitening + tartar control + sensitive gums + low radiation) the next time you go to buy a tube it will not be there and you will have to figure out whether "non-darkening + TartarGone + gum care + radiation free" will work just as well. Apparently there is a class in MBA school now called Consumer Anxiety and the Myth of Brand Loyalty.

In the software world the main rule is "If it ain't broke, fix the shit out of it." Thus constant useless "upgrades" keep the consumer rattled and plugged into the changing product specs.

It is possible to drop out of the rat race and just work with one program, as it ages into near-obsolescence and gives your music a wonderful "retro" vibe. Eventually the platform or operating system will change and then you will spend all your time buying and maintaining old computers, burrowing as anxiously into the past as your contemporaries are trying to catch up with the future. Or, you could buy a flute, but then fairly soon none of your peers will know any of the songs you are playing on it.