bundled with an iPod

...and in the 21st century Apple said, "Let there be neophilia".
My iPod has been the cynosure of my eyes, has been and i suppose will be. Its been by my side all round the clock every hour, every minute and and every second since i bought it ...yesterday. For a pint sized object which belts out unrelenting and often obscure music (you cant keep track of all the 3700 songs which are on it - maybe at any moment you will know 300 of them and like 50 but you GOTTA have 3700) , it sure bundles a lot of pride and joy in it. Strutting with the thing in my 'buk pocket' (if you dont get it - well better luck next time being born a bengali) I go among the ignorant rabble flaunting my piece of ultra coolness in an aerodynamic package. I shake my head a lot (although i am listening to gurudeb), talk loudly, apologize profusely for not listening coz "my 'pod's playin' ..." everytime anybody even makes eye contact. I am the 'been there done thats' among the wanna haves....and that feels better to my ego than any extra 5 inches anywhere.

My wife bought me the gadget after a month of non stop cribbing about how important it is for me to always carry over a thousand songs with me. So my birthday, pujo and anniversary gifts came all bundled into a 3 by 5 inch, sexy as all the girls who got to hell, shiny black package. Naturally excited I opened this packing box and fell head over heels in love. The way I handled and caressed it would have made any sufficiently aroused female have a meg ryan (see ‘when harry met sally’). That over I went ahead to read the entire manual aloud (with appropriate noises of pleasure) to my - bored to death wife - who then promptly put on the headphones and cranked up the volume.

Its been a while I have had the iPod now. I have been quite amused at its bundled features. Though nowhere mentioned in the manuals and help guides, these are the things which keep me from regretting a giftless coming year. The most endearing feature is its ‘buck up’ facility. Stressed out? Roll down to the van halen, def leppard playlist and pres s play. This amazing utility has diffused many a potential holocausts between me and my wife. Then there is the built in Song-O-Pedia which means you know the tunes and the words to almost all the songs you would care to sing. An amazing gen-gap bridger, I can finally have a meaningful conversation with my 13 year old neice, and as I discovered it is also a hit with my hard of hearing grandma-in-law, thanks to its dolby shaking sound and my not unimpressive collection of rabindra shangeet. And then ….the list is endless.

So dear apple people keep up the good work, because although you are selling just a damn impressive piece of hardware, it’s the bundled software which has made me happy to have taken a bite.

AND IT DOES VIDEO TOO.

PS - “How do adders Multiply?”