Generation i-Pod

Now, that’s something you don’t see everyday, I thought to myself as I sat down in the train this morning. (Later, however, I corrected myself- this is something that I’m starting to see every day and everywhere I go.)

A few seats across mine, was a middle-aged salary man, his earphones plugged in, thumbing away on his sleek, black PSP. He was wearing glasses and on the fourth finger of his left hand was a simple wedding band. He looked like the kind of man who was willing to push in a couple of extra hours for overtime at the office, but would definitely not miss his son’s soccer game or his daughter’s piano recital. There were lines on his forehead; marks from the years etched by life. A family man- the kind who would bring words like safe, predictable and stable to your mind.

So… what was he doing with the PSP? Or for that matter, why did he even have one? Under his left arm was tucked a simple little bag, and one could spy a green tupperware in it- his lunch.

The entire sight of it all- a cotton carry bag under one arm while his hands operated a PSP was comical to me. A clash of the homely and technical.

That’s when it dawned to me; we’re the i-Pod generation. We have at our hands the latest of technology: 3 G cell phones that are connected to the internet (with GPS!), MP3 devices that seem to shrink continuously every time we look at them (who uses a walkman these days? And portable CD players are on their way out too), lap tops, digital cameras… you name it.

Thinking about things like this always brings to mind scenes from futuristic sci-fi films like The Matrix, where we walk out of fast moving trains dressed in black, hair slick and pulled back, with an array of little electronic gadgets tucked in our coat sleeves and pockets.

Only, the future is here. Looking at the man, the lines on his forehead screwed into a mass of broken wrinkles, intent he was over the game on his PSP, I realised that we’re probably going to be like that in 20 years- sitting quietly on the bus or train, or maybe even at home, as we adjust the volume on some musical device and position the head phones ever so slightly on our heads. Maybe even our own children would look at us (as I looked at the man on the train today) and actually be amazed at the fact that we still give a damn and try to keep up.

Because we are the i-Pod generation.