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Tuesday, July 25, 2006

To the good people at iPod

First of all, just let me say thank you for making a great product. My husband is thoroughly enjoying his new toy. He's already downloaded hundreds of songs, and because there's so much room, he even downloads a few for our daughters to enjoy. His great enjoyment of his iPod is obvious when we see him wandering around the house and yard singing at the top of his lungs to the music that's only in his head. Last night, he was lying on the couch chuckling, and though it looked like he'd misplaced his marbles, it was simply because he'd added some Monty Python to his iPod. So trust me when I say that your product is much enjoyed in our household.

There's just one tiny niggling thing I'd like you to address though. I'm wondering, with your access to vast numbers of brilliant electronics engineers, if you could possibly consider adding a new feature to your iPods. What I'd like to suggest is this... do you think you could install an automatic "wife speaking" shutdown mode? Here's how it works - in all other respects, the iPod works like normal, but the minute the wife (or spouse, perhaps) begins to speak, the sound is turned off instantly and the wearer of the iPod is left with only the lovely sounds of his wife's voice in his ear.

You see, I'm a little tired of talking to myself when I THINK my husband's in the room attentively listening to me. I've said some brilliant, thought-provoking things, only to discover that he never heard a word of it and I might as well be talking to the drapery. I'm also getting a little tired of waving my arms in front of his face when I need his attention, and I'm SURE he's a little tired of me tugging the earphones out of his ears and shouting "Hey iPod boy!"

I'm sure you wouldn't regret adding this new feature to your product. Think of all the parents who would be thrilled to be able to use a "parent speaking" mode and actually get the attention of their engrossed teens. I know a few parents, and at least one wife, who will be forever in your gratitude. You may even sell a few extra to those parents who have been reluctant in the past.

So what do you think - can you do it?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh this is just too funny .. for I am living with a similar predicament. Although.. not an iPod, my husband recently bought an MP3 player which he just loves. Here's hoping that if the Apple people develop the "wife speaking" mode ..that others are soon to copy it. I too am having trouble being heard. :-)

Linda said...

That's hilarious! It mustinclude a parent option too though. I seem to be repeating myself everytime I speak to Kristen.

Liz said...

Surprisingly, we are an iPod free home, even with 2 teenagers! But I support anything that gets me heard, either from the girls or my husband.

mmichele said...

i made micah read this:

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2160774/mp3-players-cause-deafness

don't know if marcel qualifies as a "young user."

Gina said...

I love my iPod, but you're right.

And you do have to be careful about having the volume on too loud, it can be tempting to crank it up on a good song.