The Idea Blog

Tomorrow is Todd’s birthday, officially number 46. When I checked in with him today to see what he planned, he was running down his activities (seems more like a “birth-week” celebration, I told him) and his gift.

“[His daughter] Emily gave me an iPod Shuffle,” he said, “and a set of headphones. I can plug them into my motorcycle and listen while I ride.”

“What do you listen to?” I asked. (And this is what kills me about technology.) “What’s in your computer’s iTunes?”

“Oh, no. I’m not going to buy any music. Emily loads the iPod for me from her computer.”

The iPod is ubiquitous; that’s clear. Now people are buying and receiving them as gifts, and they’re missing the other half of the equation. And if Todd’s situation is any indication, they don’t care. An iPod without iTunes is unimaginable to me. I listen to the radio via iTunes. I order new music via iTunes. I download audio and video podcasts, TV shows, even a movie every once in a while. In fact, iTunes is more important to me than my iPod; I’d gladly give up the latter before the former. But the iPod is just so cool, I guess, so “gotta have it,” the iTunes connection isn’t important to everyone.

Ride, TB, ride.