So my iPod was stolen. I’ve only had it for a few months, and I really did like it. But I made the mistake of leaving it sitting in my car when parking it downtown for a few hours. I didn’t figure anyone in this town would go to the energy of getting into a locked car just for an iPod. Consider me proved wrong.

On the positive side, this thief didn’t take anything else or cause any damage to my car. And whoever it is gets a huge collection of really good music! For some reason I imagine a kid that gets into a locked 1998 Honda Civic to steal an iPod (and nothing else) probably listens to crappy music. Like Insane Clown Posse. Or Staind. I listened to Staind in high school when I didn’t know any better, but that’s another story

I haven’t decided this for sure yet — since my discovery of this theft happened less than an hour before writing this — but I might take this as a challenge to live simpler. I don’t really need an iPod. It’s a nice convenience, especially for someone that does music journalism as a hobby. But I don’t really need it. So I might see how long I can go without it. Any bets on how long I last?

Okay, I’ll admit it: I have way too much music. To be fair, I think I should be allowed a bit more than the average dude, and I’m appalled at some people when they tell me how much music they have, because they aren’t even music people at all.

All this doesn’t really matter much any more, though, thanks to technology. Storage costs keep dropping, for one thing.

But the question still remains: what do we do with all that music? Certainly we can’t listen to it all. In my case, if I started my iTunes library at the top and didn’t stop playing til every song was done, it would take about a month. Yeah, I know. It’s sad.

And then along came the iTunes Genius feature. I can pick a song I want to hear right now, and it will go through my library and find other tracks I might want to hear after it. It’s quite magical. And now I have this ridiculous 120 GB iPod where I can hold down a button and it will do the Genius thing while I’m on the go! What is the world coming to?

There’s also its lesser-known, still-beta cousin Last.fm Boffin, which I’ve found to be just as good, if not better. Lots of potential there.

Now, it’s become my mentality when I find a digital track I like from one of my many sources (usually Stereogum, Pitchfork and the like), if it’s something I enjoy even remotely, or even if it’s something I could only imagine myself enjoying in the future, I hang onto it. I mean, why not?

It’s kind of like I have my own set of radio stations or something. What gets played will always surprise me, but I’ll always like it. What could be better?

On a deeper level, I like how technology is starting to address the issue of the paradox of choice.