By K. A. Laity
I named my iPod Touch Ianto. Yes, I'm a geek. Doubly so, I must admit for not only naming my equipment, but for taking a name from a histrionic SF show of uneven quality (although, it must also be admitted, it is one of the few shows around where hot guys get it on, a motif I certainly want to encourage television producers to produce).
But the name fits this beautiful device. After all, the handsome and efficient Ianto, played by Gareth David-Lloyd, is always ready with whatever Torchwood needs (usually coffee). My iPod may not produce steaming cups of java, but I don't drink coffee anyway. It does provide music, movies, Pandora, Facebook, Twitter and everything else I need at a moment's notice—and does so with an elegant stroke of my finger.
This is the real genius of it and the source of its appeal. I've had other PDAs and phones. They don't compare because there's something deliciously satisfying about the way I touch my iPod Touch. Admit it; when you hunch over your phone tapping away it makes you look like a squirrel cracking a nut. With the Touch, you imperiously sweep your finger this way and that as if you were laying paint on a canvas. Would you rather be Cezanne or a rodent?
I was demonstrating the Touch to a colleague who has absolutely no interest in gadgetry or the internet, but she was intrigued by the way the bright menus danced under my touch. Of all the apps I've loaded so far, it turned out that it was the iLevel app that captivated her completely. No wonder they use it in the adverts. Ingenious—such a simple thing, but it shows immediately how clever this little gadget is. That little bubble expertly mimics a real spirit level. Suddenly complicated technology works like magic.
Apple knows—people crave magic.
The sleek design of the iPod (like most Apple items) goes a long way toward selling it, but the grace of the interaction has a lot to do with that cachet. At department meetings, one of my younger colleagues and I surreptitiously finger our iPods—mine in a slim Ralph Steadman Gelaskin, hers in a chunky pink neoprene suit. We don't attract much attention because we're not noisily typing like our bored, furiously texting students.
It's addictive not just for all the time-sucking devices you can load onto it, but for that irresistible way you stroke it. One of my friends who has the sister iPhone now uses the sig line, "I love my iPhone in a way that's probably illegal in many states" (and I don't think it has anything to do with the vibrator setting…probably). If you think Mac users get fanatical, it's no comparison when it comes to those who own an iPod or iPhone.
Everything's better. I think I enjoy tweeting more on Ianto because I get to flick my finger and watch all the tweets roll by like a fruit machine about to pay out. I can flip tarot cards and pinch mahjong tiles to get a different angle. I can make music with the tip of my finger and Brian Eno's Bloom application.
Besides, who wouldn't want a gadget that demands you caress it? It must be love.
[Image via Most Wanted News]