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But while quietly enjoying some chamber music one evening in August, Crandalls polite nodding protocol was rudely shattered. Crandall was boldly approached by another iPod user, a 30ish woman bopping enthusiastically to some high-energy tune. She walked right up to me and got within my comfort field, Crandall stammered. She pulled out the earbuds on her iPod and indicated the jack with her eyes. Warily unplugging his own earbuds, Crandall gingerly plugged them into the womans iPod, and was greeted by a rush of techno. This time, she was sharing her iPod with another iPod regular Crandall had spotted on his walks. Within a couple of days, Crandall had performed the iPod sharing ritual with all the other four or five regulars he sees on his walks. Since August, theyve listened to each others music dozens of times.
In fact, Crandall has taken to carrying pen and paper to jot down titles he likes. Generally, no one speaks, but its a very friendly sort of thing, Crandall said. Since posting a couple of notes about his experiences on his blog , Crandall has received several responses from others who also have shared their iPods with strangers. I tried this at Oberlin today, and the five people I passed all reciprocated, someone called Cindy noted in a comment. Crandall said he has received other reports - not published on his blog - that iPod jack sharing has since taken off at Oberlin College, and is also practiced in Cambridge in the United Kingdom, another college town. It is so common in Cambridge, someone has printed a T-shirt that says, Feel free to jack into my plug, Crandall said. Crandall said hes also been told the practice is quite popular on the Emeryville, California, campus of Pixar Animation Studios Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs other company. However, Crandall was unable to provide contacts by press time, and a spokeswoman for Pixar said shed not personally witnessed employees sharing iPods. The Pixar spokeswoman added she was too busy with the recent DVD release of Finding Nemo to look into it. Its not widespread at all, but its the kind of thing that might take off at a campus or in a small community, Crandall said. Crandall said he tried sharing iPods in New Yorks SoHo district with about six people he passed on the sidewalk. Three gave him dirty looks and moved quickly on, while the other three reciprocated. Story continued on Page 2 Page 1 of 2 next Related Stories ITunes Undermines Social Security Nov.
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