Show are the New Black I Nick Parker Opinion Besides being the coolest innovation in music history sin since e the advent of the ukulele the has definitely definitely definitely become one of the biggest fashion trends in the past year Whether its it's the mini the photo the special edition the shuffle or just the plain old Apples Apple's coolest little gizmo has made major headway here in America players are not new I had one six years ago That's right in 1999 you could listen listen lis lis- listen ten to a pocket sized music device that took external flash media or had built in storage with sometimes up to tau I U songs Due to extreme advances in the fields of audio technology weve we've obtained the possibility for millions of songs in a small handheld device The convenience convenience convenience of players is astounding Having your entire music collection at your fingertips is definitely the eighth wonder of the world As the of this burgeoning market the in all its different forms has stood out as the highest quality quality quality ity and most recognizable inthe in inthe inthe the industry Its signature d. d Pr y I 3 I 1 s1 f 4 P Y s IP d 1 a white headphones are seen everywhere from downtown streets to college campuses They've even invaded the Whitehouse Yes even President Bush owns and uses an just like the rest of us cool kids His play list includes Joni Mitchell The Knack John Fogerty George Jones and a aunch bunch of crappy Nashville pseudo Even though his tastes may be a little stagnant our In Commander-In-Chief is still connecting with the kids in some way The youth of the nation have embraced the to new heights Besides being a convenient and cool way to listen to music or transport files the headphones are like way cute Runways across the world have even taken up the headphones to accentuate the fashions on display The tiny Shuffle was released earlier this year and has been marketed as a fashionable fashionable fashionable fash fash- way way to listen to music They're banking on the notoriety of the white wires by adding a stylish lanyard This is supposed to 1 allo allow for free movement on those days where spontaneous spontaneous spontaneous fits of break dancing occur during class as a means of necessity Although you may not get jiggy with it during French class you may need it so that you might have the small unit ready for a quick switch between the Spice Girls and Cannibal Corpse and fashion haven't had such interaction since Bill Gates See continued on page 11 iii tM r rK K i ii rl rh c cont from hi p page g 9 9 went to the GAP in Seattle With an easily accessible downloadable interface known as the streams anywhere from songs to a behemoth tunes to your sweet little ears Most weigh less than an average cell phone Some come with viewing photo-viewing capability and some do away with display screens altogether so that they may maybe maybe maybe be smaller than a package of gum All of this convenience and fashion sense comes at a aprice aprice aprice price though To a starving college student isn't very possible for something that can only hold of Tupac's post-mortem post jams What happens when you want to hear songs he actually actually actually actu actu- ally released in his lifetime You'd have to spring for the photo version just to get those sweet ghetto jams As a highly satisfied user of current technology u I I say its worth it Having its Having the ability to listen in on a abrand abrand abrand brand new comedy bit by Dane Cook then rock out to Tools Tool's entire catalogue all while downloading the exclusive version of the Star Wars Episode 3 single single single sin sin- gle is enough to make me giddier than Gollum at The Shane Company So before you lose all coolness in your body run out to your nearest retailer and buy an or a comparable comparable comparable compa compa- rable digital music player You'll be able to have your entire Britney Spears collection collection collection tion in the same place and andon andon andon on the go within the hour Being a part of this new cultural cultural cultural cul cul- tural phenomenon will almost make you as cool as flannel shirt dude in the early nineties and platform boot lady in the seventies This fad will never die Even when were we're 90 and flying around in hover cars well we'll still be saying on your |