It is a daily ritual. Every morning before he leaves for work, San Diego twenty-something Terrance Smalls unplugs his iPod Nano from his home computer, plugs it into his car adapter for the rush-hour commute, and upon arrival, transfers the 4-gigabyte device to a futuristic docking station on his desk. On the way to his office at the Coronado Naval Base he’ll pass by a coworker or two with one peeking out from a messenger bag or designer purse. And later on, while working out at his local gym, he’ll encounter a few more fellow iPod owners scattered about on treadmills or weight machines.

To say that the iPod is ubiquitous would be an understatement. With over 200 million sold since its 2001 debut, the miniature machine sparked an aural revolution the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the launch of the Sony Walkman 20 years before. Two versions, the iPod Shuffle and the Nano, a 2-inch, 2.5 oz. device, were the reigning champions of American top-selling music players only months after their 2005 release. ...

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