Read this: More than just a pretty interface
If you thought you liked the iPod because of its looks, think again. It could, according to one academic, be a way of regaining your personal space.
Research into headphones as acoustic environment is nothing new, but what makes this interesting is that the iPod is being singled out as a separate medium in its own right. With a walkman, or a discman (or their non-Sony branded counterparts), you select an album to be the soundtrack to your commute to work, or stroll through the streets.
With an iPod – you can have a random selection of all the music you’ve ever owned, borrowed or stolen. It’s still your music – but it has the capacity to surprise you.
And here’s where radio stations often let people down: no station’s playlist reflects anything like the diversity of anyone’s music collection. Nobody only buys the music that would fit on a single station. People are eclectic. Radio is “reliable”.
