United in our Geekhood

Glenn Reynolds inadvertantly openned the floodgates. The most read blogger on the web asks his readers for advice on the iPod and then he's surprised when he gets a gajillion emails on the subject. I'm a devoted instapundit reader, so it surprises me that a gadget lover like Reynolds would miss the likelihood that his blog post would doubtless be read by lots of huge nerds (I mean, we're talking about blogs. It's a fairly self-selecting sample. Fortunately, the internet magnifies our numbers and our influence! Mwa ha ha!)

The truth is, nothing motivates nerds quite like the most beloved sources of our nerdiness. The iPod has become something of a symbol of nerd-chic. I mean, it's a hard drive with white headphones. I repeat IT'S A HARD DRIVE WITH WHITE HEADPHONES. Yet, the fashionistas can't get enough of it. And we nerds who own one spend every waking hour with it as close to our hearts as we can manage. It's a symbol of our power and our growing influence over the culture. Last year, a movie about elves, dwarves and orcs won the oscar for Best Picture. We've won. The cultural power of the nerd finally equals the affluence he gained during the 80's and 90's.

However, I do think the iPod love portends something a little less apocalyptic than the rise of the nerd. Reynolds' readers are presumably more conservative than liberal (though I'm sure he has a large contingent of liberal readers), yet people from every side of the spectrum are just as enamoured with the little white headphoned hard drive as the other. The New York Times writes about iPod and iTunes news every chance they get. Red and Blue America, UNITE! Party affiliation may be only skill deep, but we're dorks all the way to the bone.