iPod because iCan

@RANDOM

Seen in Kolkata: handpainted T-shirt slogan that said, "iThink Because iAm, iPod because iCan". The iPod, the digital music player from Apple that became the industry standard in 2004, was on most of my friends' wishlists last year.

This year, the iPod is as easy to buy in India as an ordinary cellphone. The iPod Mini, the U2-endorsed special edition, the iPod photo and the plain vanilla iPod are here, and Apple's music store, iTunes, is on its way.

The appeal of the iPod isn't what it does. A digital music player is basically a hard drive on which you can store music files attached to a pair of speakers, with a system that allows you to sort your music by genre, artist or album, all of it shoved inside a case and rendered portable.

From Sony to South Korea's ReignCom, there are several companies producing the 21st century's version of the Walkman. But none of their products elicit the kind of drooling that the iPod does.

That's Apple's classic design at work: the iPod's smooth case offers the tactile appeal of a cigarette packet for non-smokers, its patented ClickWheel is far easier to use when you're sorting through files than miniaturised touchpads or mini-mouses, and then, of course, the iPod Mini comes in colours.

It's also simply that, like the Blackberry, the iPod bridges the gap between ubergeek accessory and mainstream hip icon.

Early adopters might grumble at the present ubiquity of the iPod, but to ordinary mortals, the iPod is a new, rocking status symbol "" especially since it's ridiculously easy to use.

And the signature white earbuds have become a social signal in themselves (depending on perspective, according to one Apple blogger, it says "I have the power" or "Mug me").

In a classic example of inverse snobbery, as Wired.com reported, it is now even cooler to replace the iPod's signature white earbuds with ordinary black headphones or ultraspecialised headphones such as the Shure E5c.

The latter currently retails at almost twice the price of the iPod itself, so this columnist won't be lining up for the Shure set; but like some users, I find Apple's earbuds uncomfortable and would suggest iPod buyers shop around for a set they're at ease with.

What can you play on an iPod? Unlike Sony, which made a huge mistake by pushing its own proprietary music file format, Apple's iPod supports MP3s "" the most popular digital music format worldwide "" with a few caveats.

Transferring files off CD or your own computer onto the iPod isn't an issue. You can buy tracks online "" but only from Apple's proprietary iTunes store.

This makes as much sense as Barnes & Noble or Crossword stipulating that customers can only read books bought from their stores, but Apple has ferociously protected its turf.

When Real Networks tried to introduce Harmony, which would have converted music files encrypted by Real into files that mimicked Apple's encryption, it got stepped on pretty hard.

Apple also filed suits against PlayFair, a software programme that allowed users to remove encryption from music files.

These are only the first salvos on the digital music battleground: with users demanding the right to share music files without interference, and the big music companies demanding tighter controls, more encryption and no outright piracy, the debate is heating up.

Most iPod users, though, should be happy with iTunes, which has one of the largest digital music catalogues worldwide.