iPod touch myself.

Well, I abstained for as long as I was able, but in the end my hand was forced and I succumbed to the inevitable: I've just got myself a shiny new 16GB iPod touch.


And I have to say, it's even better than I imagined. The hyperbole just wasn't hyperbolly enough. The interface is incredible, the screen is incredible, browsing the actual web over WI-FI is incredible, the little details are incredible... it's just incredible full stop.

So, yeah, I was planning to hold out for a 30GB model, but last week I had a little butterfingers incident where my beloved third-gen iPod took a tumble onto the footpath and came up not so shiny. It was still playing, mind you, but the enclosure had come apart and needed to be clicked shut, and when I turned it on the next day I discovered its entire contents had somehow been erased. No albums, no playlists, nothing. And when I plugged it into my Mac, Finder kept crashing. Not a healthy sign.

So, vale third-generation touch-wheel iPod. You were a faithful and steady companion, and your monochrome screen was second to no other monochrome screen. And if I ever complained about 20GB being too restrictive, please overlook the fact that you've been replaced by a younger, slimmer model that holds only 16. The key, you see, as I've recently learned, is smart playlist management and avoiding so called "dark matter": those quirks of your collection that found their way in but have remained unplayed ever since. Sure, a day may come where it would've been handy to have some obscure track at hand, but is that chance worth denying yourself the wonders of a touch interface in the meantime?

I didn't think so, and it was off to JB for me. And yes, I've already done like everyone else on YouTube and let Winter scroll through the photos and tap her way around the apps. She's a little heavy-handed, but she took to it right away.

Speaking of YouTube, I just came across the very first iPod promotional video from 2001. It's seven minutes long, but it's a great watch; if only to see how much things have changed in six years.

Although, it's funny how relative things are. The audio could be used all but unchanged for the iPod touch, but to hear the heads marvel at how "thin" the first-gen iPod was is quite amusing. Well, to me, anyway. And only 1000 songs in your pocket? How did we ever survive back then?

UPDATE: The iPod touch: so simple even a dog can use one.

UPDATE 2: Kate informs me the iPod promotional video is not a great watch. :)

UPDATE 3: Just noticed that if the iPod touch is playing and you pull out the headphones, it automatically pauses playback. Nice. It's the little things...

UPDATE 4: Today, October 23, is the iPod's sixth birthday. And if you've not yet had your fill of old school iPod video goodness, here's another for you with His Steveness launching the iPod back in 2001. Boom.

Kate may disagree, but I reckon it's another cracker watch.

And watching it I've just noticed that Jobs doesn't call it "the iPod", just "iPod". Like it's a person. Huh. Weird.

The Apple-a-Day Massacre.

Tragedy on the streets of Melbourne today as another iPod-using hipster was gunned down in a tram shelter on Elizabeth Street. By some freak of providential timing, I happened to be right across the street with my camera, and managed to capture the exact moment of death on film. Or on CCD, rather.


With work already underway adapting Robert Capa's famous photograph for a new iPod ad campaign, Apple contacted me hoping to honour this second young hipster's choice of digital audio player by incorporating his image into their poster as well. I felt a little uncomfortable about handing the image over, but they drove a truckload of iPods up to my house and I'm not made of stone.


I still don't get how this is meant to sell iPods, but the marketing dude I spoke to seemed pretty sure they were onto another "epoch-defining, gold-class winner." I guess we'll see.

Neither victim has so far been identified.

Magic iPod.

I love my iPod. Even if it is merely a third-generation iPod whose small storage capacity and even smaller monochrome screen makes the kids of today wonder how I can even bear to be alive. “How do you handle having to watch movies in black and white? What? You can’t even watch movies on it? Wow; go to bed, old man. How old did you say that thing was?”

But after yesterday I love my iPod even more. For you see I have discovered that my iPod is not just an iPod, it is a Magic iPod!

The day began like any other: at my Mac, strong long black and a quick flick through my RSS Reader for the news of the day. I noticed Apple had just released a new ad for Apple TV, so I went and had a look. It uses a clip from Jack Black’s film, School of Rock, where he’s instructing his students on how to play the rock classic, ‘Smoke on the Water.’ Nice ad. Playtime over, I put on my headphones, set my iPod to shuffle all songs and pressed Play. Of the 4312 tracks it had to choose from, guess what it chose? Yep, Smoke on the Water. What are the odds? Like, seriously? Talk about push advertising. I nearly fell off my chair!

Then! If that wasn't enough, last night I headed to the cinema for an evening drenched in blood, glory and spittle as 300 Spartans shouted themselves hoarse while hacking an endless sea of Persians to pieces. Magnificent. Anyway, I popped into the Men's Room before the session and heard Veruca Salt's 'Volcano Girls' playing over the PA. It was quite a surprise to hear something I actually liked over a PA, something that was very much not the easy-listenin' musak you would normally expect. And they must have given Kylie the night off because then as I walked into the cinema, Radiohead's 'Sit Down, Stand Up' came on. "Wow," I commented, "two good songs in a row. It's like they've got my iPod plugged in." And then next up, also to be found on my iPod, was the stomping 'Seven Nation Army' by the White Stripes. I couldn't believe it. Three from three! The pre-show "entertainment" then started up, so my run came to an end, but only for two hours because as the movie ended and the lights came on, so too did Lamb's 'Gabriel,' which is not only one of my all-time favourite songs, but also the track Kate sauntered down the aisle to! It was Pirate Radio and my iPod (tucked away in my satchel) was at the board pushing the buttons. (Or whatever it is you do at a Pirate Radio).

I know Bill Gates' smart-house will create a personal playlist based on preferences stored in that chip in your skull and pipe your music after you as you walk from room to room, but Apple have trumped him once again by extending the feature out into public places! With an astounding, apparently unique, magic-feature like this, I think I can mollify the upgrade desire for a few more years at least...

UPDATE: The Magic Lives On, and not just in the hearts of children, but within the electronic heart of my Magical iPod as well, as it continues to broadcast its playlists out through ethereal pipes and into the world around. Huzzah!

I’ve just finished watching the third episode of the last ever absolutely the last final full stop never again nine episodes of The Sopranos. And of these three episodes, two have featured tracks taken directly from my Best. Jazz. Ever. playlist on my iPod. First up was the sublime perfection of Dave Brubeck’s, ‘Take Five,’ which was followed two episodes later by Benny Goodman’s stomping, ‘Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing).’ If either of the next two episodes feature Charles Mingus’ pinnacle of jazz expression, ‘II B.S.’ I’m declaring this magic-to-be-or-not-to-be speculation officially settled.

UPDATE 2: I know you’ll think I’m joking, but there’s some freakshow over here who reckons he prefers—get this—his old 2nd-gen iPod to his new 5th-gen video iPod! I know, I know! Crazy fool. Hopefully he’ll let us know when the shuttle lands.

UPDATE 3: SO CLOSE! When laying down a fleece to test the Magicalness of my iPod, I chose to use my all time favourite jazz track, 'II B.S' by Charles Mingus. Well, I didn't manage to land that stomper, but the final Soprano's episode, did feature another of my Top Five favourite jazz tracks, Duke Ellington's standard, Caravan; a track I love so much I've collected 42 different versions of it (and counting). It wasn't my favourite version, but it was still a track on my iPod! So, how amazing is that? Three of my Top Five in the final run of seven episodes. Magic!

Number one with a bullet.

Seems like getting mugged isn't the only risk facing iPod users out there on the streets today. There's also a chance you'll get shot!


That's assuming I'm reading this current iPod image correctly, of course? To my eye, the young hipster above would look right at home taking a bullet on the bloody battlefields of the Spanish Civil war.


Apple have been known to appropriate iconic images to advertise their wares, so maybe this is an intentional reference to Robert Capa’s renowned image? Can't for the life of me think why though. Maybe it's a start of a new campaign? Do you think Capa would have used an iPod?

Or maybe this is just what the kids call "dancing" these days, hey? :)

UPDATE: Bomber, I think you could be on to something (see Comments)! I just stumbled across the image below and your prediction was very close. It's a whole new round of iconic image appropriation to sell stuff! More iPods! Wooo!