by , 12:20 PM EST, March 28th, 2005
iPod owners, like Mac owners, often name and in other ways anthropomorphize their music players, and the Miami Herald looked at the phenomenon by profiling four such iPod owners. Part of the newspaper's cultural series "Tropical Life," the article shows a glimpse of the iPod culture to its mainstream readers.
"And he shall be called BoBo," wrote Knight-Ridder New Service reporter Heather Svokos. "With many iPod owners, this is how it starts. The anthropomorphizing sets in early. You cradle it -- for a piece of technology, perhaps a bit too lovingly.
"You show it off to your friends. You brag about all the songs it can play, all the tricks it can do, and you extol it and all its wondrous, bliss-filled, digital music-playing glory. Then you discover that you can give your iPod a name. And so you do. Hence the 'BoBo.'"
Bobob's owner is a dance instructor who once swore he would never own an iPod, and that they were a waste of time and money. Ms. Svokos also looked at Mac and iPod nut Paul Blight, who thinks of Apple products the same way he thinks about his religion, Kenneth Robinson, whose girlfriend knits iPod holders, and Susan Wade, whose 12-year old son told her she was happier after she got her iPod.
Entirely a fun piece, the full article has nothing in the way of "news," but does offer the iPod yet more exposure.