Do you know someone who can't stop talking about their latest purchase from Apple? You've found a gift they'll enjoy. Do you know someone who spends hours trying to convince the first person they could have gotten a far better computer for much less from Dell? You've found a gift that they'll completely loathe. From the very outset, it is fairly obvious this book is aimed at Apple devotees.

From the book: "Fire, the wheel, and the iPod. In the history of invention, gadgets don't get more iconic than Apple's digital music player. The iPod is to the 21st century what the big band was to the '20s, the radio to the '40s, or the jukebox to the '50s -- the signature technology that defines the musical culture of the era. And what a marvelous technology the iPod is. Inside Apple's little white box is magic -- pure magic -- in the guise of music."

Despite its obvious bias, The Cult of iPod is a fascinating look at Apple's signature product, its impact on how people listen to music, and ultimately how they relate to each other.

Doing it with style

The book can be separated into two sections. The first section spans the first three chapters which introduce us to the iPod, telling us what it is, how it affects us, and where it came from. The second section spans the rest of the book, covering a diverse range of iPod-related topics. What makes the second section so interesting is that it is almost completely random. It goes from homemade iPod ads, to various celebrities' custom iPods, to iPod DJs, to iPod-inspired products. It's almost as if they placed all the material on an iPod and hit the shuffle button.

This brings up an interesting point about the book -- in fact, almost the first thing I noticed: The Cult of iPod is designed to resemble the iPod. From the cover (which resembles the front of an iPod), to the table of contents (which resembles the iTunes library list), to the arrangement of photos intermixed with the text of the book, the reader cannot help but compare the layout with the iPod and the Macintosh computer they probably use every day. Physically, the book is printed on heavy stock, and is easy to read, with vivid, colorful photos on nearly every page. In fact, despite being 160 pages long, the reader can easily read the book in less than a couple of hours due to the sheer number of pictures. You'll probably spend more time looking over the many photos than you do reading.

Style and substance

While the book talks about the iPod, it is more about how the iPod affects us as individuals and influences society as a whole. The exploded view of the iPod internals on pages 36 and 37 is fascinating, but the discussion on iPod jacking starting on page 103 is eye-opening to those who haven't encountered this phenomenon. Imagine walking along the sidewalk and having a perfect stranger unplug your headphones to plug them into their own iPod. Then we have the diametric opposite -- people who use their iPods to block out the rest of the world. We read about people who use the white ear buds to show they are part of the clique, and about people who deliberately use ordinary headphones to hide the fact that they are one of the millions hooked on the iPod.

The book ranges from humorous, such as the section relating the perils of being a Microsoft employee and an iPod user, to thought-provoking, such as the section on iRAQ -- posters mimicking the iPod ads but which protest the Iraq war. We are presented with photos like P. Diddy's diamond-encrusted iPod, and iPod skins spanning the range from bunnies to a dominatrix straddling a giant hotdog. The wide variety of material will keep you turning the pages until you reach the end of the book. Then you'll flip back to the start and go through it again, since you cannot possible absorb it all in one sitting. In the end, that is what stuck with me. This book might seem light on the surface, but the depth is enough to keep your interest long after you've forgotten the latest thriller novel.

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Copyright 2006 Joe Fenton.