My first thought on hearing the words “on demand” and “download instantly” are not complementary. It’s pretty much, “Ugh. More noise to fight through,” with perhaps a choice swear word thrown in for spice.  As if having the ability to watch Air Bud 12 anytime I want is somehow a service worth paying the cable company for. As someone trying to move my life and values away from Stuff and collections, I usually give short shrift to these kinds of “conveniences.”  I’m beginning to rethink this attitude, though, and it all goes back to an old school mix tape recorded off the radio in roughly 1988.

Collecting (Dust) for Posterity

Remember waiting patiently by the radio to record a favorite song onto a blank tape? It might take hours of listening, but eventually, you’d get your jam and it would be yours to listen to whenever you wanted. Once you were old enough to have some cash, you probably started buying tapes or CDs. (Vinyl, anyone?)   Why? To be able to listen to what you loved, anytime you wanted. Owning an album meant having immediate access.

It’s the same story with books. Owning a book, even one you’ve read and just kind of liked, gives you the same security of immediate access. After all, you may get the overwhelming urge someday to read that book again someday, despite the fact that you distinctly remember it being mediocre.  You may need to reference it, or loan it to a friend.  You never know, so you may as well just keep the stupid book around.

Ditto with DVDs. It’s the exact same story.

Embarrassing Confessions from a Pop Music Junkie

Mix TapeOkay, back to the mix tape from 1988.  My bugaboo is music. I want it all, every song I’ve ever tapped my foot to, just in case. I spent years searching for a song that was never all that popular or beloved, simply because I knew it existed and I rocked out to it back in fourth grade. (For the curious, it’s “The Girl I Used to Know” by Brother Beyond. Turns out it was never on an album till 2005, long after I gave up.)

I never want to think, “Dude, I really need to hear some Expose, or maybe some Fine Young Cannibals,” and not be able to satisfy the whim. In the past, this led to an underwhelming collection of mix tapes and music that was like an unsatisfying security blanket.  When individual mp3s became commodities, I could have died with delight. I could now buy every song I’d ever heard and have it in my collection just in case! (”Martika’s Toy Soldiers available for download? I totally forgot that song existed. Thank goodness I can buy it!“)

Make Immediacy Your Secret Weapon

Here’s the good news: the culture of immediacy that urges us to download now and expect immediate gratification has become a secret weapon of simple living fans. Now that so many books, songs, instructions, and ideas are available at our fingertips, massive media collections have become somewhat obsolete.

I don’t need to keep a copy of that old college textbook around just on the off chance that I might need to reference something in it someday. If that situation ever comes up, I’m pretty much assured of easy access via Amazon. If I ever get an unstoppable craving to listen to the greatest hits of Milli Vanilli, I can hit up the iTunes store.  Access has trumped ownership.

When the World’s at Your Fingertips, Enjoy It at Your Leisure

Here’s the even better news: just knowing you can access something often kills the desire to acquire it immediately. If someone told me that this might be the only chance I had to hear the laughing Elvis recording, I might (quite reasonably) become obsessed with the idea of capturing it and owning it for future posterity. I might be willing to buy a copy of it and store it for years, or shell out more money than I should to lock up that possibility. On the other hand, if someone told me that, sure, I could have it now, but I could just as easily have it tomorrow or in 10 years, that crazy acquisitiveness easily fades into the background. If I can have something whenever I want, maybe I don’t really need it right now.

So maybe it’s time to embrace the on-demand era of instant gratification for what it is: a fantastic way to have access to everything you ever wanted without having to own a thing at all. Sweet. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go listen to Baby Don’t Forget My Number.  (You just wish I was kidding…)

So what’s your take? When it comes to pop culture paraphernalia, does access trump ownership? What are the arguments for building collections? Drop into the comments to share your thoughts.

Photo courtesy of abopics

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