The Ipod

!1 The iPod: A User-Biased Medium In his article “The New Languages,” Edmund Carpenter suggests that modern mass media that we consume today are actually new languages that each “codifies reality differently” (Carpenter 257). Indeed, every communication medium holds some sort of bias that determines what kinds of information it imparts and how effective it completes this task. One such medium bias is found in the iPod. The iPod is essentially a personal media device that has the ability to display on its screen, text, sound, picture, and video. The text is generally explanatory, navigating the user through the device while the sound, picture, and video is placed on the device directly by the user. The sound is usually in the form of music or audiobook, the pictures usually those of an individual’s albums, and the video usually from a personal movie or music video collection. Because the material on the iPod is placed their by the user, it naturally displays a bias to that particular user. The music would be only those songs chosen by the user’s preference, not a general representation of all music. The situation is similar for both pictures and video, as the bias of the user would determine what is communicated. The iPod provides a easy-to-read text interface and click-wheel navigation system designed to allow the user to display only what they have placed on the device, without confusion. Common users of the iPod generally range in age from young adults to adults and even, in recent years, senior citizens. As was Apple’s intent, each of these characteristics is able to be directly related to the physical characteristics of the iPod. The size of the iPod is small enough to hold in one’s hand and accurately navigate through the content. The size of the screen is such that the text used to choose your media is readable and clear while it should be noted that the small screen size often

!2 makes it rather difficult to view picture an video. The iPod weighs...