iPoddery

Tony Fadell, one of the creators of Apple’s defining product, the iPod, recently reminded us that the music player was launched on October 23, 2001. As I was in the process of moving back to New York, I bought one from a local Apple dealer. Soon, I observed an interesting social behavior upon my arrival: people with white headphones nodded at each other in public, as if acknowledging a shared coolness. We were all part of a tribe — smaller than most realized. It was weird kind of a snobbery. Today, while Apple seems ubiquitous, back then, it was distinctly the underdog.

I quickly penned a short, back-of-the-book piece titled “iPoddery” for Red Herring magazine. Over the following decades, I faithfully bought and upgraded every model of the iPod. I still have several lying around in my apartment. Yet, it was the iPod Shuffle that truly captured my heart.

It inspired me to develop a life philosophy I call “the iShuffle Principle,” long before Marie Kondo introduced her Live Better strategy. To summarize the principle for those who might skip the piece: “More is just more! Often, small and mostly predictable things are the most fun. That’s the iShuffle principle.” Adhering to this philosophy isn’t easy — consumerism is a curse. Living by the iShuffle principle requires constant effort and is an ongoing journey.

If you’re in the mood for some nostalgic iPod-related reading, I have a couple of pieces from the archives.

• The iShuffle Principle (2005)
• iPod, Kindle, Facebook — and a Nomad called me. (2009)
• The Forgotten Joy of the iPod Shuffle (2015)
• Streaming Killed the Download Star. (2015)
• iPod: 20 Years later. (2021)

October 26, 2023. New York City.