hist 390

We had to have read MP3 by Jonathan Sterne this week and I must say this was the most boring book I have ever read. Yes, even comparing to textbooks. I thought The Shallows was bad but, I was wrong. I really didn’t understand anything from the book like what his point was or what he was trying to prove. I felt like it was a jumble of randomness and incoherence. He went from talking about psychology to cat experiments to Word War 1 and then to formatting. I probably was doing shallow reading but, I can usually force myself to figure out the point the author was trying to make but, this was ridiculous. I’m not even really sure what to say about this book in my blog. I’m glad we went over what Sterne was trying to say because I had no idea.

Apparently one of Sterne’s points was the format of music and how it has become more accessible and privatized. After been told that, I can see how Sterne made his point. Sterne writes, “the iTunes store may be the world’s largest music retailer, but an extended web of Gnutella and BitTorrent sites and the users who frequent them make up an even larger, transnational swap meet for recordings” (185). He continues to explain how music companies are struggling to keep their songs from being illegally distributed resulting in a significant monetary loss. Music has continued to shift its format and needs to “undergo yet another of the massive reorganizations.” I am curious to see the new form music will undertake.

I didn’t get too much in depth with this book and it’s because I wasn’t interested in it. When I’m not intrigued, I will not put forth more effort. Sad but, the truth. Sterne could have made this book into an easier, simpler version but, chose not to. I don’t know if this is his style of writing or he was reaching out to a more educated, professional audience. Professor, I apologize for not giving a full analysis on this book but, a girl did not understand anything!

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