Living the iLife

It might be part of some subversive plot...or it might be shrewd product placement. Either way, anything that's name begins with the minor case "i" has become an integral part of life as we know it. Soon, we will be unable to function except under the watchful gaze of several "i" products.
It all started innocently enough when the computer age began to infiltrate average life. The iMac was cute, functional and easy to use. Several generations of computing devices later, there's the iPod which has spawned numerous "must have" accessories in addition to several models: some have more memory...some will play songs in random order...some are small yet contain 240 sound tracks...most now have video capability. All need accessories like iTravel, iBox and iHome which allow us to take our tunes everywhere. Now, of course, there's the iPhone which seemingly does everything but fix dinner. It's all about accessorizing, it seems. And I will admit a certain attraction to these items.
I have three iPods: a 1G shuffle which I use all the time while exercising; a 20G iPod which stores about 4,000 tracks; and a 60G iPod which holds every single piece of music that I own. It has made my stereo system obsolete since everything is stored in my computer and on my iPod. CD jukeboxes anyone? I don't need 'em anymore. At least I haven't gotten into the mass of accessories Apple wants everyone to have...yet. I don't have a bed headboard which contains a docking station for my iPod (Skyline Furniture is available at Target!), and I don't have a shirt, jacket or backpack which has a pocket and and/or headphone jack for my MP3 player. I also passed up a Nike stocking hat which had built-in speakers for the cold-weather outdoorsperson; my car has a CD player, but it does not have a connector for my iPod though over 70% of all American-made autos have such capability. Supposedly, there are over 4,000 products made specifically with iPod adaptation capability. The most intriguing, however, has to be the "Concerto," a dining room table with built-in speakers and docking station. Nicholas Lovegrave and Demian Rapucci have produced this item and hope to sell it for $14,000. It comes in black or white (I'll take a white one) and is shaped like a grand piano. As one might expect, any savvy dinner host wants to control the mood during dinner, and access to the iPod allows this. Apple's iTunes program even offers playlist suggestions for dinner music. While this item is not exactly flying off the showroom floor, it is a perfect example of how, in this day and age, the "i's" have it.