The Man and his tool of cool

In this space where we talk about music and all its ancillary domains I must commend the i-pod marketing team. Talking to a peer the other day she asked me what I had in my hand, I said it was an mp3 player, a standard model made by a company called i- river. A comment which explained itself or so I thought. However, her reply was “what’s that?” and my reaction was deemed to be this “like an i-pod”. I briefly got into the difference between the two but I was most surprised with her reaction after I said it was an mp3 player. I have had this on more than one occasion where mp3 player or any other branding of such a device doesn’t seem to register, and that these few were conditioned to believe music from your computer goes onto an i-pod – period. I-pod has become the forefront of all digital music devices, mp3, ACC or not, if you don’t have the white ear phones coming out of your ears then you must be listening to your music on something that is of lesser quality. The i-pod marketing team have brilliantly kidnapped or persuaded a generation to desire the music players of all music players, the mighty i-pod. People spend huge amounts of money acquiring this thing that glows an aura of cultural capital, the epitome of cool. I love it how the Man relentlessly shuts down the very people it kidnaps, as if to say “fool, look what I have done to you”. This is how it happens, you get the i-pod its pink cover and, not to forget, the commodified i-pod sock, which half the i-pod owning population believe they invented, and you take it home to try it out in all its awesomeness. They take it from the box only to realise i-pod requires a computer, something they don’t have, no computer=no music so they use their friend Jane’s computer. It is now they realise that Jane holds the power not them, they cannot charge (in some cases) or put music on their tool of cool without Jane being home. This situation I have come across all too many times. So in closing like Lucas on Empire records says “don’t let the Man get you down”, in this case, the Man creates an expensive commodity, and can trick a generation into believing it is the sole being of all music playing devices, and can even get them to spend their money on something they cant use without Jane’s permission to come round after school. The Man doesn’t get me down, he cracks me up. Well done Steve!