Slashdot pointed out an interesting interview that Wired News conducted with Dr. Michael Bull, a lecturer at the University of Sussex in the UK, about the cultural impact of the iPod and the iPod mini. This is up Bull’s alley because he has done extensive research into the cultural impact of portable audio devices, beginning with the Sony Walkman.
It’s clear from this interview that Dr. Bull has himself interviewed a lot of iPod users. It’s refreshing to hear the views of someone who can speak definitively about the collective experience of others with these devices, instead of either speaking entirely from a personal perspective or simply pontificating.
You should read this interview if you are interested in such issues as:
- the prospects for the iPod mini,
- the transfer of the aesthetic from the record album or CD jewel case to the portable audio device,
- the mix of perennial favorites versus new music on people’s iPods, and
- the “control factor” in the use of the iPod.
Interestingly, Dr. Bull doesn’t get into usability of the device much. For instance, I’d like to know more about the use of iPods during exercise. Do people really find the iPod difficult to use while running? If so, how does this impact the choice of portable audio device made by athletic people, and will the iPod mini change that situation?
Dr. Bull is writing a book on the impact of mobile phones, car stereo systems, and portable audio devices like the iPod to be released in the Spring of 2005. In the mean time, his previous book
Sounding Out the City: Personal Stereos and the Management of Everyday Life, written in 2000, could be interesting reading.