Now we know what's between Bush's ears

BOY, did George Bush start something. No, I'm not talking about the war with Iraq. I'm talking about all this fuss being made about iPods.

If you're tempted to ask 'iWhats' you obviously haven't been listening. iPods (am I supposed to capitalise that opening 'I' at the beginning of a sentence or not?) are the latest must-have gadget for anyone with an ounce of street cred. They are little, shiny, hand-held gizmos vaguely resembling a mobile phone that permit the proud owner to download and then carry around with them as many as 5,000 of their favourite songs, to be listened to over headphones.

They are, in other words, Sony Walkmans with lots of knobs on for the 3-G generation.

It somehow emerged at the beginning of this week that US President George Bush has one, so that he can plug in to his favourite tunes while exercising.

If further proof were needed about how desperately uncool they are, personally I'd have thought this was it. Yet this hasn't stopped a frenzy of wannabe-hip chatter in the national papers this week along the lines of 'what does your iPod reveal about you?'

Thus, we have learned that top of Kelly Osbourne's iPod playlist is Barbie Girl by Aqua. Abi Titmuss loves doing whatever it is she does to the sound of Dolly Parton's 9 To 5, while Terry Wogan's number one iPod song is All I Have by Beth Nielsen Chapman. Predictably, even politicians are trying to make themselves hip again by proclaiming their iPod playlist for all to hear. Want to hear what Michael Ancram's top song is, anyone? No, thought not. But here it is, anyway. This Love, by Maroon 5.

Fibbers boss Tim Hornsby points out that you have to be careful about trying to tell too much about someone from their iPod playlist.

Yes, the music people like can reveal a lot about the kind of person they are, he says. But people do have this unfortunate tendency to pretend to like things they don't really like, because they think it makes them look good.

"You only have to look through someone's record collection to see what they are like," he says. "Or should that be look through what people display in their record collection - to see what they are trying to say about themselves?"

Tim doesn't have an iPod: but he does have an MP3, which is apparently just about the same thing (what's the difference? Don't ask me: something to do with which type of computer you can download your music from).

So what does Tim have on his MP3 playlist? "I give it to anyone and let them load it up with lots of songs," he says. "I listen to anything and everything. The best song is the next one I haven't listened to. You can never have too broad a music taste."

Now there's a bit of one-upmanship for you. George Bush's iPod playlist, apparently, is headed by John Hiatt's Circle Back; (You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care by Joni Mitchell and 1979 hit My Sharona by The Knack.

What does Tim think that reveals about the Prez? "They are three amazing artists," he says approvingly. "Very much of their time, I would say, but good old American rock." If he were an American himself, would the President's musical taste have persuaded Tim to vote for him? "No comment." Would he ever vote for a politician based on the music they profess to like? "I don't vote!"

Despite clearly being sceptical as to the value of iPod or MP3 playlists as an indicator of character, Tim is a big fan.

"They are fantastic," he says. "Anything that gets people listening to music has to be applauded. Music is everything!"

But doesn't he worry about the fact we have a whole generation of youngsters now wandering around almost 24 hours a day with noise being piped into their ears? No. "If everybody was listening to music rather than getting angry and threatening each other, it would be a better world. Plus, listening to music concentrates your mind, and makes you do your homework so much better."

York musician and music technology tutor Dave Young of the Jam Factory is another iPod fan. He loves the way iPod charts are beginning to take over from the traditional radio charts, which were restricted in the type of music played.

The fact that people can now download music they are interested in from the internet is encouraging them to listen to a wider range of music, he says. And that is great for struggling musicians who are trying to get their music heard. Dave's own band Monkey Business had 4,000 internet downloads for a single track last year. "I can put my own music on the same site as Metallica or U2," he says. "It is democratising music."

Maybe. I'm just dreading the moment when more politicians wake up to the iPod's cool factor and start trying to tell us what is on their playlist. What's the betting on who will make it first, Tony Blair or Michael Howard?

Francine Clee, I love iPods...

I WAS never broody. They looked cute, but I never wanted one so much that I wasn't perfectly happy to hand it back when I'd finished playing with it.

It wasn't until my partner got an iPod for Christmas that I started to feel the longing for a little one all of my own.

Four weeks later, and not without pain to my wallet, my mini-iPod arrived, and I can honestly say my life has been transformed.

Just look at it. Oh, it's so beautiful, so tactile, all pink matt metal with a gorgeous little white wheel that emits a discreet click as it whirls me through 'music, playlists, extras...'

It's so dinky. Hundreds and hundreds of tunes magically condensed into a machine that's barely bigger than the credit card that got caned so hard when I bought it.

No piles of tapes or CD cases to lug around, no AA batteries grinding to a halt.

Exercising is all but bearable. I can drown out local radio in the back of a taxi cab, and waiting around at airports is a positive pleasure.

When I can't sleep I stick in the earphones and the Other Half slumbers on, none the wiser. If he's snoring - sorry, breathing deeply - I no longer hear him.

What I do hear is an ever-changing party tape, a soundtrack to my adult life.

One minute I'm back down the disco, checking out my new skank with the Pretenders, the next I'm asking how soon is now with the Smiths.

Part of me would like to say that my playlists are as cutting-edge as the iPod was itself about two years ago.

But who's that mostly singing in my ear? Kicking tunes from Franz Ferdinand or Kaiser Chiefs, perhaps? No thanks. It's that lovely Crowded House front man, Neil Finn, in all his 46-year-old glory. I saw him in concert a fortnight ago, by the way...

Stephen Lewis, I hate iPods...

What is it about music in this country?

We're obsessed with the stuff. It's piped wherever we go, it gushes from the radio and TV and it causes endless boring conversations at work. We elevate charmless, self-obsessed artists with bloated egos to the status of cultural icons just because they can carry a tune. And we even try to define who we are through the kind of music we like. How sad is that?

Now we've got the iPod - this shiny little gizmo that allows you to download up to 5,000 of your favourite songs and carry them around with you. You can listen to them on your headphones wherever you happen to be; and boast to your mates about what's top of your playlist.

There are several reasons why I hate these things. They're too expensive. They're shiny. They remind me of mobile phones. And they're yet another wedge driven between the generations. (How many grandmothers or even middle-aged mums do you know with one? It's just another thing people of different generations can't talk to each other about).

I even think they're bad for music. Great music is supposed to be an event: it's what you listen to in the smoky back room of a jazz pub; or with thousands of other people roaring their hearts out at the Sheffield Arena. Listening glassy-eyed over headphones, nodding your head to a beat no one else can hear, music has no context and so no meaning. It is just another way of separating us into private, locked-away worlds. What is wrong with having a bit of peace and quiet in our heads for a change, so we can think or say hello to somebody sitting next to us on the bus?

What I really hate about iPods is the way they have been appropriated by those desperate to appear cool. They're fashion accessories. It's not about the music any more, it's about image. Like every other bloody thing in this day and age.

Carl Morgan, 22, from James Street, York.

"Isn't it one of those music things? I'm not bothered about that sort of stuff. I like listening to R'n'B when I'm sitting at home - it passes the time - but I don't need to listen to music when I'm out and about."

Stephen Wilson, 18, from Pocklington.

"An iPod is one of them white things, isn't it? I couldn't afford one; they're well expensive. I'd probably get one for Christmas or something, but you need a computer really and although we've got one in our house, I don't ordinarily use it. I like rock and dance music when I'm in the car and when I go fishing. I find System Of The Down relieves the boredom of not catching anything."

Roger Dunning, 61, from Westow, near York.

"I've never heard of it. Is it something to do with computers? We tend to listen to music on the radio at home, especially Classic FM, and we do own a few CDs. Digital radio sounds like a good idea but we haven't bothered yet - we're fairly basic."

Jade Jackson, 19, from Heworth, York.

"I know what an iPod is but I'm happy with my CD walkman. I'm listening to Encore by Eminem right now but I also like dance music so I'd have that sort of thing on my iPod if I had one, but I'm not interested in technology."

Kate Gardner, 27, from Fawcett Street, York.

"I'm listening to a band called Blind Melon on CD. They're an American group from the early '90s, a bit like Pearl Jam but maybe a bit bluesier. I haven't got an iPod and I'm not at all into gadgets - I haven't even got a phone or a TV and I prefer records and tapes to CDs."

iPod factfile

There are four different versions of the iPod. The fourth-generation iPod retails at £209 and can hold 5,000 songs; the iPod Photo at £309 holds the most at 15,000; the iPod Mini holds 1,000 or 1,500 tunes and retails from £169, while the iPod Shuffle at £69 carries 250 but is the size of a packet of chewing gum.

Updated: 09:30 Friday, April 15, 2005