Santa came down the chimney and dragged me into the 21^st century when he stuck an iPod in my stocking this past Christmas. I'd wanted one for a while but felt it would mean the end of my record collection as I know it. I figured once things got loaded onto this little black gadget the size of a deck of cards, I'd no longer need to dust off the vinyl and drop the needle --- an exercise I find as exhilarating or soothing as actually listening to the music.

On the other hand, the possibility of having it all right there (wherever there was) was awesome. And these two perspectives now have me re-evaluating my collection.

What albums will make the cut? Will I load every tune off an album? If it ain't iPod-worthy, does that mean it's no good?

I think the random shuffle feature is ultimately what sold me. It puts songs in the context of those preceding and following them instead of the chronology they've marched to for so long. I can go from The Replacements to Miles Davis to The Blasters to The Stooges to Tom Waits to Etta James to Cheap Trick to Black Sabbath to The White Stripes, as if suffering from chronic DJ ADD.

Some albums, some songs aren't gonna make the cut, but that doesn't mean they're going in the trash. That thrill of sitting with my portable record player, a cup of coffee, a bowl of Cocoa Crispies, and a lapful of wife on a Saturday afternoon will never be replaced.

COMING UP NEXT: Frank dissects what songs make the digital leap, or not.