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| iPod City | | Date Created: Sep 23, 2004, 03:32 PM |
On my way to work this morning, shuffling through the crowds on the train, making my way through the streets, I noticed that I am truly not alone. Three years ago this fall, I was the only one. I remember the day clearly. The country was still getting over the shocking events of the previous month, and the mood on the buses and trains was dour.
To get me through my long commute, I would carry around a stack of CD's that I had created, which held as much of the music that I wanted to carry along and could carry. I think I had around ten cd's with me. My girlfriend had been lamenting about the lack of a cd player in my car, and we, being music fans, needed to do something about it. Music puts the world away for a bit. Takes you to another place.
Over the summer, I had purchased an inexpensive MP3 player - a small, portable device that could carry about 10 songs, and you, in turn, could carry it in your pocket. I liked the device, except, like many items made mainly for the Windows market, it never worked right. It was always crashing. Always experiencing difficulties. Always needing recharging. And I could only listen to maybe 10-14 songs in tolerable quality. Not very good to listen to at all. Being that I had a long ride to and from work, this would just not do.
In the fall, Apple released the first version of what it called an "iPod". At first, the device looked overly tech- a bit too gadgety, and way over priced. But at $299, it seemed like it was the solution to my problems. It promised it could hold a THOUSAND SONGS IN YOUR POCKET. I thought again about the 250 dollars it was going to cost to put a car stereo in. Everyone in the press thought the gadget was cool, but that Apple was crazy. No one would pay that much for an MP3 player. (I am beginning to suspect that the first model actually cost a lot more than that -- I don't recall as I'd gotten a special price and spent a bonus check on it. But I think the inital price was closer to $349 for 5 gig!!!!)
In December, I got a surprise bonus check from work for some work we'd done that had surpassed expectations. I again toyed with the idea of the iPod, but decided against it - thinking it was too much of a luxury device... But then... It happened.
On an unusually bumpy bus ride home, I clutched onto the handrail to stop myself from falling onto the floor. Unfortunately, in that same motion, my cd player went crashing to the ground, and several of the CD's I had in it went clattering all over the dirty street corner. I saw this as a sign. My use of the player necessitated weekly trips to the store to get batteries, and the player itself was a 60 dollar replacement for one I had already dropped too many times on the floor. I made up my mind right then and there to get an iPod...
Now in December of 2001, this was not as easy as it sounds. The first places I looked, of course, were the computer stores, who were... well.. Out of stock. It was approximately three weeks before Christmas, and the 300 dollar items had already found their way into many a sterile holiday sock. Knowing that MY stocking would never carry anything as cool as that, I had to get this one for myself, so I continued visiting every electronics store I could find that night - all to no avail. The stores that had them, were sold out. And the stores that didn't, had no idea what the heck I was talking about!
Flustered, floundering, and frustrated, I decided to turn to where I should have gone first. The catalogs! I had often ordered items from the computer catalogs and had been delighted to find the items arriving before I even had a chance to think about them. I leaved through one catalogue that promised overnight delivery, and had a great price. But then it struck me that I should try the web. And of all of my lucky days, I stumbled upon an Internet Only sale - one in which there would also be no tax or shipping charged with purchase!! It was more than I could bear! I placed my order, and within 24 hours, I was the proud owner of a spanking new Apple iPod.
The packaging was a joy to unravel. An origami box, that fancily unfolded and presented itself as if it were putting itself on display. I quickly imported a bunch of songs and within minutes I was listening to the most amazing sounding recording to emanate from a tiny, cigarette box shaped device. I listened to the Beatles' song "Getting Better", as a nod to the commercial about technology getting better with time. The little white box in my pocket quickly filled up before I got a chance to give it everything I wanted to listen to - but that didn't really matter. Within days, I was among the first people in New York City to ride the subways listening to just about any song I chose to from my entire music collection. And I was loving it.
The white earphones did stand out a bunch, though. I would often change them for cheaper, more inferior sets, so that I wouldn't be identified in a crowd. Back then, white headphone wired looked really strange.
It took about two years for the public consciousness to become aware of the many marvels of the iPod. But now it seems to have gotten out of hand. I see them everywhere. I counted at least 10 during my commute this morning. Many people who are new to them ( easy to spot by the way they handle them -- without a case -- one of the first lessons you learn is that iPods need CASES!!!), walk about discovering how nifty it is to have all that music on them at once. Nowadays, models hold up to 5,000 songs. Sounds like a lot, but I know a few people who would even find that to be too little.
I know why I bought my iPod. It was a necessity for my well being to be able to sink into a good piece of music, a good radio series (I was also among the first to be able to commute and listen to the downloadable "Your Mac Life" internet radio show), or even a good book. And it still is. I rarely go anywhere without it. My initial reasoning for it's price would be to think that it was worth at least a penny a day a year. And in my case, it's been worth even more than that!
But why does everybody else have one?
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