And as it has occurred in the last two millennia, just like that, another year passes by. Messi and Argentina won the soccer World Cup, while my country failed at another cricket World Cup final. The beloved Arsenal ran out of gas for the Premier League title. There was another year of war in Ukraine and Russia, and more misery piled up with atrocities committed in the war between Hamas and Israel. Altman got fired and hired back, and the stock markets keep hitting new highs. The forecast predicts positive economic growth.
I try my best to remain positive and hopeful. Since I’ve lived in 2023 for a good part of the year, my brain has been engaged, trying to demystify the advances of AI, and make sense of where they will lead me and humanity. I’ve had to keep myself constantly updated with the latest technology, and even allowed myself to be surprised when John Lennon entertained me, goofing around in the new Beatles video “Now and Then.”
the routine..
But now it is that time of the year to shut up and make new resolutions… I have to get back to normal… my monotonous life, turn my attention to mundane tasks, accomplish tedious tasks to make my nondescript life meaningful… pay bills, shop for groceries, cook, do laundry… clean… every week. And then there are the annual chores of clearing drawers, cupboards… just clearing stuff that is no longer useful and arranging the new stuff that will become obsolete with the new tides of technology… Out of boredom, I pull out a drawer and… I pause, looking at the neatly stacked 4″ x 2.5″ colorful boxes. It’s been a long time since I stacked them and forgot. Years have rolled by and they have remained untouched… I did not throw them away because they were dear to me.
the flashback..
I vaguely remember, I was in 12th standard. Dad brought a double cassette player recorder for the family. I was super excited, my dream of making my own audio cassette with all my favourite songs would finally turn to reality.The next few weeks were engaged in perfecting the art of making the perfect mixtape, back then I did not know it was called mixtape, it was just a collection of the most popular songs of that time which my friends had on them and from whom I got to know how to record from one tape to another and from my school friends I acquired a strong desire to make my own tape.
the art & the tape..
make my list …cue the tape in the player to a couple of seconds before the song starts… insert the blank tape in the recorder… release the play and record button at the same time…song ends…wait for a second…stop….rewind…check if the start is good…forward…cue the tape…pause…next song in the player…cue to the start of the song…release play and record button…repeated to perfection…till the both the sides of the tape were fully recorded…happiness…share with friends…done with Rock songs…next…love songs…pop…rap…discover new styles…fade ins & fade outs…match beats…abrupt start…abrupt ends..just the basic with the basic cassette player & recorder…for the listening pleasure…the tape should sound seamless transitioning from one song to another.
* few of my mix tapes that survived
the compact discs…
Gradually as I moved from school to college..audio cassette were replaced with CD’s but the music remained…and the music continued existence with CD’s…cassette walkman was replaced with CD walkman…mixtape made way for mixcd…I found it easier to burn a CD with your favourite songs…than record a mixtape….the process was the same, different technology…new era…no tapes…hello to WAV & MP3 …from single cd players to quaraple cd players…personal computers with CD writers…listening to music on computers…tides of technology ushered in new time
* my old audio CD & DVD collection collecting dust
the digital…
and then the world decides to go the digital way…banking, paying taxes, shopping, food delivery, binge watching TV, movies, buying music…and just like that CD’s are consigned to the drawers…shuffling and playlists is the name of the game… iPod is in vogue…the tides of technology…I am huddled at a party with genz blasting music on boombox from from iPod, phones & laptops…I found myself in EDM…watching kids go crazy to the hooks…having grown on rock and pop, i felt a little awkward at first but then body slowly started moving to the electronic grooves…and with data connectivity growing strong…comes the new wave of music subscription models and my iPod gradually became an antique, put to sleep in my cupboard.
* my old iPod now beyond any new updates and mostly asleep
and now ai…
The development of digital technology inevitably led to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Since the creation of the first digital computers, the growth of AI was only a matter of time. Although its development has been ongoing for many years, this year AI took centre stage with public debates about its potential and possible dangers. It remains to be seen how AI will shape our future in the coming years.
For my part, I am amazed at my journey from audio cassettes to the present with Spotify. As a kid, I never imagined this change… I merely flowed with the tide, adapting and evolving. Being a professional in video production, I’ve witnessed tides of changes, new possibilities, and reasoning. However, at the core, we remain human. The Beatles video was just a reminder of the possibilities and how AI will shape the future of music and video production, as well as the world we live in… But deep down, there is something within me where I can switch a tune on or off… because the music remains inside me…
An emotional or visual prompt stirs the strings of my heart to play the beat in my brain. No matter how AI is going to change the way music is produced and recorded, there is still a part of music that will remain in my heart.
blufussion 
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