Ignore The iPod Nod

It’s been a little over a month now that I have my own iPod. It’s become a regular part of my digital life on the move. My mobile phone is still king but the iPod comes a close second. My digital camera and watch(es) are both tied for the distant third spot.

I remember getting my Sony Ericsson (T630). Brand spanking new it was. Nobody had one yet, and by pulling the phone out of my pocket I got some “could that be an iPod” looks and once someone came up to me to ask, where in the hell I bought it, I want one too? In reality most people just couldn’t give a flying monkey what type of phone you have. I never really considered myself going for the latest gadgetry. I can rationalize the choice but there is no point. I got it so I could try and be “cool”, that, in the end is the appeal, the association. Products confirm and reaffirm the image we have of and, more often, want for ourselves. So really we could call the iPod an iPose because we wannabe this, that and the other.

It’s no mistake or coincidence that Sony Eriksson’s T630 looks a bit like an iPod. Okay, you need to do a lot of squinting but it’s enough to make the association with Apple’s flashy music player. I heard from someone that Apple is officially cool, even if the word cool itself isn’t anymore. It’s so 70’s.

And honestly, is it cool to get the so-called iPod nod? I heard the rumor that iPod owners had been voluntary interacting in this way. The horror crept over me and I stood before the choice of opting for a generic earphone set to avoid the iPod “you belong with us now” crowd. Nodding is pretty daft anyway and doing it to strangers in public deserves the finger, if you ask me. But before I start getting all antisocial about it, it does make me realize why the Microsoft herd keeps on mooing on about this elitist gang of Apple zealots.

The iPod effect has let people to start thinking that coolness is a shared experience, and it’s not. Please don’t think the same, and for the love of God please stop giving each other the nod because we think alike, that doesn’t cut it either. Be different, be an individual and be damned with being the same and alike. Make your own choice, understand it and then get whatever you want because the iPod is going to be like the mobile phone, everybody will have one.