Cleanliness Is Next To Podliness

"i-pod, therefore i-am."

This is engraved onto the back of the silver iPod which my sisters presented to me last Christmas. Having suffered through 3+ hours of daily commuting on public (and stinky) transport last year, with only an unreliable Nokia pop-port FM headset for company, it was like some kind of Podly gift from heaven.

I hadn't really planned on getting an iPod in particular- I was going through one of those 'everyone-has-one-so-I-want-to-be-different' stages, but when I held that slim, silver little iPod in my hands and flicked on that bright little coloured screen...

...well, you probably think it's weird for maternal instincts to arise over a piece of technology.

In which case, I probably shouldn't mention the fact that I sometimes call my little 2GB bundle of joy "Señor i-Poddy Poddy".

*awkward silence*

Not to get all defensive or anything, but surely that's a better name than say...Tiger Lily or Peaches or Apple or young Shiloh Pitt? (Or as I like think of it- Piloh Shitt. Tee hee.)

i-pod, therefore i-am.

It's true- the iPod has no longer become the status symbol of the schoolyard. It's progressed to become an almost natural accessory, something that everyone is simply expected to carry. The worldwide retail price is so stable that it's replaced the Big Mac index. It's almost frightening to look around on the bus to see 99% of passenger with those telling white earbuds jammed in to their ears.

It's even more frightening to realise that I am also one of these anti-social iPodding people, standing alone in my own little world listening to the Overture of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Take a look here and here.

Yes folks, that's the new iPod Touch and the new generation of Nano. The iPod videos have been renamed the iPod Classic, and have shot up to 160GB for the same price as the 80GB. The Nanos have a bigger screen, seem to resemble a Creative Zen V Plus, and can now play video. I get the feeling that I will soon be repeating this mantra to every second customer who walks into the store.

I don't like the new colours though- I have a little vendetta against pastel shades.

I think the main reason why this iPod phenomenon unsettles me is because they're so common....because they have now become the ultimate symbol of the middle-class. Maybe it's partly because of my line of work, and the fact that the aforementioned middle-class come in droves to seek them out, and I get to repeat the same old thing over and over.

I can thus understand why some people are so anti-iPod. It's not just because some iPods have a strange habit of suddenly packing up for no apparent reason after the one-year warranty, and it's not just because some people have an ingrained anti-Mac streak which makes them rabid...maybe it's just because they want to ignore the status quo.

This is the Pro/Con list I generally go through with each customer who wants to buy an MP3 player and always asks the age-old question: "So what's the difference between the iPods and everything else?"

Pros of Poddy-ness

- colour screen
- slim design, battery life of up to sixteen hours
- scroll/click wheel
- easy access to playlists and genres
- iTunes store
- almost everything is now iPod-tailored (e.g speaker docks, skins)
- games
- relatively cheap for a video player
- Shuffle and 4GB come in such pretty colours

Cons of Poddy-ness

- unlike virtually every other MP3 on the market, it lacks an FM tuner and a voice recorder. Both accessories can be purchased for $79 and $99 respectively, but ain't that a bit annoying?
- songs must be converted into AAC format, which is often not compatible with non-Apple devices (some phones play AAC but you can't play copy-protected AAC on an XBox 360)
- can't 'drag and drop' or use as a backup flash drive
- can't play copy-protected WMAs (unless you burn to disc and transfer them back)
- I personally believe that AAC has an inferior sound quality

But I love Señor i-Poddy Poddy. When he's not safely sheathed in his X-Treme Mac Neoprene case, he's one damn sexy piece of technology.