One of the most unique traits of the iPod is the white color of the device along with it’s white headphones. From the launch of the iPod in 2001, the white headphones have become icons in the public’s eye from Apple’s advertising campaigns, and as I mentioned in my previous usability critique, a quick glimpse of white wires straying from a user’s ears on the street is a sure-fire sign that the person is droning out to a musical library stored in a iPod encasing.

Why do I know that someone is probably droning out to a vast musical library? Because I am one of those iPodders, who is zoning off to other worlds with a musical soundtrack to my surroundings.

Over the past two decades, I have always had a portable music player within an arm’s reach. From my first steel-gray colored Sony Walkman to my new pearl-white colored iPod, a portable music device has been in the palm of my hand, my side coat pocket, or the front pocket of my pants. With those memories in my mind right now, I can look at the size of the iPod and appreciate the performance level that is now offered to me at this time in my life.

The iPod is neither a clunky item with plastic buttons nor a device that holds just one mixtape or one CD that is controlled with constant ejecting, rewinding, and fast-forwarding. It’s a device that holds a musical library in the palm of my hand. A library that will play 6 days of music non-stop and can hold 40 GB of MP3s, which allows me to access any song that I feel may suit the moment. Is this empowering feeling for me? Yes…Why? Because I can choose a file to fit that particular moment in time, and that brings the feelings of strength, empowerment, and independency to me.

When I hold the iPod in my hands, the white color of it’s front encasing sealed with it’s metallic backing gives the device a clean and stainless appearance that results in a soft impenetrable feeling for me. The feeling that I have is that the mechanism is fragile, yet protected at the same time. The feeling that I receive from an iPod resting in my hand is the same feeling that I have when I have a small animal in my hand. The device is solid, but soft enough that when gripped too tightly the mechanism would crush.

I often experience that feeling when I use the plastic pathway surrounding the toggle button on the iPod’s frontal side. I often feel that when I’m rolling my finger down the pathway, the feeling is as if I’m petting a small live animal that moves with the touch of my finger. The device is impenetrable, but fragile at the same time.

That’s a pretty strong feeling for someone to feel about a data storage device, and the feeling of fragility that emanates from the device probably doesn’t fit the best of my needs. However, I am extremely rugged during my activities with the iPod, and with the fragile front encasing, I know that a slippery bobble of my iPod could lead to the device smashing onto a pavement during one of my physical workouts or long jogs. So, with workouts and heavy activity in mind, is the iPod suited for durability and constructed for rugged use? Probably not, but I have not had any problems whatsoever with a few short drops of the iPod from my coat pocket, and my device has survived several sweat and rain soaked workouts during a humid Southern summer. Does that institute good construction, and satisfy my needs? As of right now…yes.

The value that the iPod gives me is not only a sense of freedom, but also a sense of community with music listening. When I pass by a fellow iPod user or someone using iTunes, there is a communal feeling that only people “in-the-know” can share. That nod of the head or the “What’s up?” look that only two people can share when they’re experiencing the same thing. The iPod is giving off the same type of communal feelings to people, and the value that comes from that type of feeling is the best a product can offer.

BD

December, 2004