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The iPod as a fashion accessory
Last night I accompanied Michelle to the nail salon (parlor? shop?), and watched a dozen self-important beauty queens have their feet and hands polished and pampered while they chatted on cell phones, made small talk with each other, or bitched at the person doing their nails.
(One woman tells her attendant, an Asian-American boy, to “hurry up.” Seizing the opportunity to complain, he says “I’m doing the best that I can! You think I want to be here? Hell no, I wish I wasn’t. But I have no choice — they make me!” while gesturing toward his parents).
One of the beauty queens caught my eye. She was tall, skinny and blond, perched on a chair with a smug look on her face. She spoke on her white camera phone while holding it between her cheek and shoulder. Her Tiffany bracelets dangled on the table top as she dried her nails under the light.
Around her neck was a thin white cord. One end split into two, where foam-covered ear buds swung back and forth as she moved. The other end fell over her black tank-top and down her right side, leading to a pink iPod Mini, proudly displayed on her hip. Her outfit — the aforementioned top and a pair of pinstriped white cotton pants — was surprisingly sparse, and she was wearing little jewelry.
As Michelle and I talked over dinner, I realized that this girl had chosen to wear her iPod as an accessory. It was hanging from her pants just in front of her hip, where no practical minded geek would put it. And the display of the headphones, dangling around her neck, made it clear she was trying to make a statement. We never saw her listen to the iPod, so she must have had something else in mind.
Apple, you’ve created a monster.