Who me? iPod?

I would not classify myself as an iPod person. I own one only because I won it in a contest at work along with a Bose Soundock. We loaded music on the iPod two years ago and haven’t changed anything since. We just don’t do a lot of activities where the iPod seems essential, but I find it creeping into our daily lives more and more.

For instance, last summer we bought a new car, a Scion xB. Kind of ugly, and a little flashy, Scion is Toyota’s low end line made for a younger crowd. Two days after we bought the car, we headed to a family reunion—18 hours one way with a one-year-old. But the Scion came equipped with an iPod connection, so in those long stretches of nothingness when the only radio options are the livestock report or static, we were able to listen to our own music selection. For the first time, we tasted the freedom an iPod can bring. The iPod lived in the car after that until this Christmas.

I was determined to find at least one gift for my husband that would be both useful and something he wouldn’t think to get himself so I could break out of my usual gift card routine. Thanks to the iPod, I found it. He loves to ski and needed a new helmet, so I found one with an iPod connection. Now, he rocks out to his favorite tunes while waiting for me to catch up at the bottom of the intermediate runs. And he really enjoys it on the expert slopes, when it’s just him and his favorite songs rocketing down a vertical cliff. And, bonus for me, he sings to me on the chairlift ride back up to the top.

We’re not necessarily diving head first into the iPod pool, but both of us appreciate the flexibility it offers in different situations. Next time we head out for a road trip for example, I plan to load up the iPod with audio books. Since I can control it right from the console (and the steering wheel), it’s much more convenient that messing around with swapping out CDs. We’ll slowly join the rest of the world on this iPod craze after all.