By Glenn Farr


    Here in the NACA Office, there used to be a small group of fellow employees who would bet, in jest of course, what gizmo I might be buying next. These people had followed me through innumerable RAM upgrades to past computers, along with hard drive upgrades, additions of CD burners and even followed me as I transferred the basis of my online life from a mammoth industrial strength desktop computer to my first laptop and wireless home network.
At some point during these evolutions, Apple® introduced its soon-to-be-ubiquitous iPod and the odds were even that I’d soon have one.
    But, it didn’t happen.
    And the office odds-makers were perplexed.
    With each new iteration of the iPod, whispers circulated that “maybe he’ll get THIS one.”
    But, again, it didn’t happen.
    Not with the introduction of iPods in colors reminiscent of the original iMac.
    Not with the introduction of the economical iPod Shuffle.
    Not with ever-increasing storage capacity.
    Not with the introduction of the video iPod.
    And not even with the introduction of the iPhone, which includes the iPod’s music playback capabilities.
OK, I came close with respect to the iPhone. I was due for a cell phone upgrade and gave it serious consideration. A friend showed me his, and I was amazed at how moving your fingers across the glossy screen magically made things happen. But then that friend showed me the special shock-absorbing second skin in which he felt obliged to swaddle his new techno-toy and I remembered how many times I had dropped cheaper, less glamorous phones on everything from hardwood floors to pavement—and how upset I had been when those new toys emerged scuffed, dented and otherwise no longer perfect.
    I decided to postpone the potential grief—and financial consequences—from damaging an iPhone. Indefinitely.
    So, no iPhone and so iPod, either.
    And even I wonder why not?
    I digitized my old LP collection and emerged with about 11,000 mp3 files.
    I research and play music with respect to my theatrical pursuits—even using iTunes to find and purchase songs that are effective as pre-show or incidental music for live theatre.
    I create my own mixes and on the odd occasion when I host a party, I plug my iBook into my TV to take advantage of iTunes’ visualizer to create a retro light show for my living room.
    But still no iPod.
    I read about each new iteration of the device. I even lust after specific models from time to time, but when it comes down to why I don’t have one, I guess you can blame it on avoidance of duplication. My Palm Pilot and my Sony Ericsson phone both include media players that read mp3 files from removable media cards, which are becoming increasingly cheap and allow for virtually unlimited storage space.
    Or, you can blame it on my age. I am long removed from the teenagers and 20-somethings who’ve played a large part in the iPod’s success. While I still enjoy music, I also enjoy silence a lot more than I did even a few years ago. You won’t see me walking down the street with white cords (or cords of any color) dangling from my ears. I’ve come to prefer the ambient sound of wherever I happen to be.
    Or, you can blame it on other emerging technologies, such as HDTV. Sometime, I’ll tell you how I spent a morning watching a moose wade through a pond in Maine just because the picture was soooooo P-R-E-T-T-Y, as well as how much I paid to be able to watch that danged moose. (But that’s another blog for another time.)
    Still, I’m glad almost every other music loving person on the planet owns an iPod. The gizmo has in essence transformed a niche computer company into a major industry player. And since that computer company has always produced the machines and interfaces that suit my personality best, and taught me to actually like computers, I’m very grateful to the little mp3 player that could.
In the late 1990s, when pundits were pounding nails in Apple’s® figurative coffin, a friend of mine, who was no fan of Macs, told me, “You might as well buy a PC, because all that’s left for Apple® is to turn out the lights and go home.”
    Every time Apple® has a record-breaking quarter (www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/04/23results.html), I taunt her by reminding her of her errant prognostication.
    She doesn’t enjoy that too much, but she is considering getting an iPhone.


Glenn Farr is editor of NACA’s Campus Activities Programming and a technophile who chooses not to age gracefully in that respect. While he’s enjoyed every Mac he’s ever owned, this blog is not to be construed as an endorsement for Apple® or its products—including the iPod.

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Posted Tue, Jun 10 2008 10:30 AM by glennf@naca.org