And you're in love with all the wonder it brings

By the time that my kids are grown, all of the products that Steve Jobs has been involved with will be second nature (if they aren't already). But the amazing thing is that when I was their age, no one could have dreamed that things like Smart phones and handheld tablet computers could ever exist. I mean, when I was ten, I had to wait until the  6 p.m. news on the radio (the radio!!) to get the Yankees score from the game that afternoon. Watch the game on your computer or phone? That was something from the Jetsons, if that.

And that is why Jobs, who died yesterday, was a visionary. He thought of things that were unthinkable just a short time ago.

Now, I'm not a big Apple guy. I have a MacBook and an iPod, and the MacBook is just fine; not that much different to me (really) than some other laptops I have owned. In fact, as a mostly PC guy, it sometimes annoys me.

But it's the iPod that I have issues with. It's great. Spectacular, even. Essential. All of these great songs, and it fits in your pocket. And you can hear whatever you want, whenever you want.

And despite the fact that I now could not live without it, I will forever be mad at Steve Jobs.

Why?

Because Steve Jobs and his ilk had a hand in destroying one of my favorite things.

Steve Jobs killed record stores.

For years and years and years, record stores were the only thing I liked as much as girls. The wonder, the mystery. the treasures (just like girls). The unknown discovery that might be lurking at the back of the promo copy bin. At the Big N, a long-ago-vanished department store in Willamsport, PA, they didn't even categorize the albums. They just threw them into the bins. You almost had to go through every record, every time you went to the store. How else to find the new Grin album?

This is what passed for adventure during my teen years, and it was insanely great.

I spent all week gearing up for trips to Joe Nardone's Gallery of Sound, the afore-mentioned Big N, The Stereo House, Wayne Department Store. And then I went home to my bedroom, put the vinyl on the turntable and studied the record jacket and memorized the players, the lyrics and any other information that might be listed.

And I listened, and listened, and listened.

This was my education.

And that ritual is gone forever (well, some stores, like Joe Nardone's, may still be still be around, but it's not the same).

I miss those times.

It's all because Steve Jobs thought we should live in a digital world with his fancy-pants iTunes.  Now, with music available instantly, who now has the time or space for a CD, let alone a record?

And that's a shame.

But I sure do love my iPod.