Ohhh, look how much albums I have in my iTunes collection, look at the lovely covers, I can scroll through them for a good thirty seconds full speed without actually seeing anything but that I have loads of them. Nice eye candy aye ?
Sure enough, Coverflow offers a much better way to visualize your digital music collection than going trough a list of names, and it came as a relief when I first used it. Lately though, I found some discomfort using it, as if I felt it had no end. I think I figured why.
I made a little math today, using the (crazy) 40 000 songs numbers advertised for the new iPod :
40 000 songs = 3333 albums (12 tracks each) = 12,8m / 42 ft of vinyls records or 33m / 108 ft of CDs in cristal boxes.
Yep, that's it, I feel just as if I was in front of a 30 meters long shelve of CDs. Well, it's even worse than that : in this dark place called Coverflow, I just can see a small portion of it, not the whole 30 meters thing. But I know it's there, looking at me and waiting for me. It's a record continuum coming straight from the Matrix. Even if I could afford a house to display my record collection in this horizontal manner, I'm not sure I would find it usable. It would be sure beautiful, very minimal, repetitive and graphic, perhaps dramatic, but it would take so much time to go through and pick a record to listen to.
Ah, time.
The time you need to identify a record from its cover is what paces your progression in the collection, not the speed of your finger (wether it's flicking physical records or a mouse button), neither the distance you have to physically cover while browsing. Time is the common limiting factor between the n meters shelve and the Coverflow display.
Coverflow is a giant horizontal stack you'd better be patient to deal with if you don't already know what you're looking for. Ok, it's an organized continuum, in its inner alphabetical nature, but still, it feels a bit uncomfortable to apprenhend past, say, a hundred records. Cover flaw ? Sorry, it's really bad but I had to make this one.
I know a few freaks having the habit to classify their records in alphabetical order, but they are few. Usually, people tend to organize them differently : by music label, by sleeve designs, by time of purchase, by family of artists, or even by personal taste (duh !). In the cd or vinyl world, these groups would end on different shelves, or parts of a shelve.
I'd like to look at my digital records collection just as I would do when I sit on my couch and look at my record shelves : I can visualize everything in a single look, and I can find the music I want to listen to even if I can't recall the name of the artist or album because I know it's in the upper left corner. Shelves formalize emotions, moods, and in the music world, mood is a much better option than the alphabet to find your way.
I'd love some shelves in Coverflow. Christmas ?