It’s no secret that in psychological terms, humans have a tendancy to project their world view onto others. Because of this, they often have have quite distorted views of reality. I found this iPod user review to be a classic example. It seems iPod users have been giving each other “the nod”. His assumption is that because he bought his to “be cool”, that so too have all other iPod users. How absurd.
Some of us buy iPods because we’ve got 35GB of audible content in iTunes and want to listen to ALL of it in the car, while taking evening walks, or while trail running in the woods. Most specifically, our beloved Audible.com content. There’s nothing better to turn a 12 hour car ride into an enjoyable event. On our last trip, my wife and I vicariously spent 7 hours in Baghdad. You hate to pull off the freeway because you’re enjoying the trip.
My first iPod purchase was for my wife, to replace the cheesy Rio that was her x-mas present the year before. She loves to listen to music while running and guess who got the job of rotating music onto it’s 64MB flash card? Coolness wasn’t even a consideration. I bought my first iPod to de-stress my commute. With my iPod and audible.com subscription, traffic stalls on the freeway are just more “reading” time. That’s far better than steaming at the world.
My father-in-law bought an iPod *only* to use it with his Belkin media reader and professional Canon digital camera. He was quite pleased with it strictly for that purpose. Two months later I was with him and spent two days ripping his entire CD collection into iTunes to sync to his iPod. His iPod is no longer just a photography tool, and the iPod has helped rekindle his love of music. It was almost a nuisance to access before (get up from the chair, dig through CD’s, insert into Bose player, select the right track, return to chair). When you’re in your late 70’s, you too will feel differently about that much effort.
Another friend is buying his aging father an iPod. His father had an illness that nearly destroyed his vision. Some experimental treatments have prevented total blindless but he can no longer read. That’s a serious blow. He’s buying an iPod and an Audible.com subscription for him. He’s giving him back a part of his life that’s sorely missed.
My wife doesn’t love her iPod because it makes her feel cool, it’s just a gadget that makes it possible for her listen to whatever she wants, whenever she wants.
I’m a utilitarian, so I naturally assume that people acquire stuff because it brings something of value (joy, convenience, utility) to their lives. I also have a healthy self-esteem so I wouldn’t have assumed that folks would buy an iPod because they need an ego boost. When I see someone else with an iPod, I may give them the nod, or get the nod. It’s not because we’re stroking each others ego, we’re just saying, “aren’t these things great?”
The same applies for nearly anything else that is truly excellent. If it’s that great, you want to share it with others. You want them to experience the benefits that something brings to your life. I love to drive, and my vehicles have enthusaist web sites where other folks that love to drive share their passion. We wave at each other on the road. We’re not members of an exclusive eletist club, we’re birds of a feather. We’ve got something good, we know it, and we’re excited to share it with others.