iPod Invisa

The first iPodOne area where Apple's planned obsolescence works is in the iPod market. Early on in the market there were really improvements to each edition. The addition of photos was particularly interesting, and that was my first iPod. I kept that one three years until the hard drive broke. I am still using my second iPod, the one with 160 gig hard drive. Why do I need such a large hard drive? I use over half of the space as I have 6000 songs. With the use of Apple playlists, I listen to them all in a rotation. I will add about 1000 songs this year, so I need the larger memory.  (If you are curious about the 1000 songs, I will bring them back from Russia when we go this year.) The iPod really changed the way I listen to music, and I am grateful that I no longer have to listen to ad-supported radio. I am especially glad to not have to listen to Rush Limbaugh anymore! 

There is one form of obsolescence I have no objection to. That is the form where advances in technology make the new product more compelling. But the iPod has, as near as I can tell, reached a limit beyond which the new technology will not replace the old technology in any meaningful way. Even a heavy user like me already has a lot more storage than I need. How then does obsolescence work? Here is how Wikipedia describes it:

An older iPod, too square for us hip music fans! When a product is no longer desirable because it has gone out of the popular fashion, its style is obsolete. One example is flared leg jeans; although this article of clothing may still be perfectly functional, it is no longer desirable because style trends have moved away from the flared leg cut.
Because of the "fashion cycle", stylistically obsolete products may eventually regain popularity and cease to be obsolete. A current example is "acid-wash" jeans, which were popular in the 1980s, became stylistically obsolete in the mid to late 1990s, and returned to popularity in the 2000s.

So the way that Apple does this is to periodically change the looks of the product, making it smaller and thinner. Or change the shape for no good reason. If you have a square iPod, when the current model is oblong, you are just a square yourself, and if you have a white one when your friend Connie got the special edition red one, you are not going to be asked to the prom. 

Is our worth determined by the things we own? 

Yes. 

However, this is true only if you are part of the system I call Babylon. When someone asks me to define Babylon quickly, I point out the bumper sticker, "The one who dies with the most toys wins." This is the heart of Babylon. 

This is the already obsolete iPod pequeño. So I am sorry Apple, as long as my iPod works I will not get another. It is on its last legs, so I may buy one soon, but not before the old one quits working. 

Saturday Night Live had a very funny parody that I want to put on the blog, but SNL is very picky about such things so it is not on YouTube. Instead click here to view that newest product, the iPod Invisa!  Sorry about the ad you will have to watch, but at least it is in German. 

While I am ranting against Apple marketing, if there was an iPod Invisa, I would definitely buy it. 

Tomorrow I will talk about the iPhone.