Dancing in a One-iPod Family
I love this comic from Ballard Street:
The couple looks so happy sharing their earbuds. The first time I ever saw anyone share earbuds, Mike and I were in Vegas. A busload of teenage girls were waiting for their bus while we waited in the taxi line. They were all quite noisy and excitable, as only teenage girls can be. One girl had a lime green iPod Mini. I had been coveting that very model of iPod. I watched as she offered an earbud to another girl. The other girl came in close and the two of them danced to the music.
When I was a teenager, I never had a girlfriend that I would have shared an earbud with. I had plenty of guy friends that I would have shared with, but never a female friend that close. I had girlfriends, but never one THAT close.
I felt the jealousy wash over me and I wanted an iPod more than ever.
Our gadgets change us. Our gadgets motivate us. Our gadgets define us, no matter how much we want to deny it.