i quit streaming for a week, so i used an i pod instead. heres how it went:

soo... this was my first week without using streaming. Like... at all.                                                             I primarily use apple music but when im at school i use spotify (smh school chromebook.) but i have been getting exhausted from using these ugly interfaces with SO MANY ADS and having the music i like become compressed, and i cant even own it for 15 bucks a month.

following my frustrations, i dug up my old ipod shuffle i used non stop a few summers ago. it looks like this: 

this thing is fairly old, and it ended up working extremely well and has a fantastic battery life considering its age. (seriously, i went two days without charging it.)

so, i used my mom's old windows which still had a cd drive and i ripped a handful of cds onto it. i preferred this because you really have to think about what you choose to put in your library because you don't have access to millions of songs. i mainly had a bunch of 80s new wave hits and a handful of other songs from the 80s on here as well. thats mainly what i have been listening to on streaming apps anyway.

it was really refreshing to just have this small little thing in my pocket all day and i don't have to continuously whip out my phone to playlist jump, and end up getting distracted. it was super easy to add in songs and everything too, and overall a fun experience. I also really enjoyed the fact that i can listen to higher quality files such as WAV's or FLAC's. i bought a nice pair of koss porta-pros about a year ago with some spare paycheck money and it has been SO. WORTH. IT. it was such a pleasing experience to hear the music i like in such a quality format. this experiment has really kept me off my phone, like a lot. 

i think carrying around an ipod for me is a lot more fun and enjoyable than having to deal with streaming. im considering investing into an ipod classic 5.5 gen or 7th gen because i truly love the ipod. even after my week with being completely off streaming, i still want to use my ipod for all things music. i get to own my music, listen to it in a quality format + truly be immersed and nobody is going to say "oh no ur subscription expired. no more music unless you pay me 20 dollars." and i really enjoy that element.

its also a plus because i get to support the artist and small businesses directly within the fact of collecting cds and physical media. its so much more enjoyable to hold the music you listen to in your hand, and be able to take it anywhere, while also owning it. 

in concluding this anti-streaming experiment: i extremely recommend you try this too. even just for a day or two. we are in an age where everything is digital and you can't own anything anymore. its always about streaming. its just that much more enjoyable to be able to connect with an artist's work. 

i think i will be using my ipod all the time now. and maybe you should too.