Nano Note: The Servant Problem

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Listening to a new iPod Shuffle loaded with secret vices, I understand how much better we are equipped, today, to deal with the servant problem.

iPods, when you think about it, are like servants. They all do the same thing, basically: they serve. Two iPods can’t do anything that just one can’t — but they can do twice as much of it. Which, in iPod terms, means that this Nano, loaded with baroque music, will remember exactly where to pick up when you tire of listening to Rufus on the Shuffle.

Instead of footmen (who would undoubtedly drink too much in the evenings), I have Nanos: two tall and slender 16Gs, three squat but sturdy 8Gs, two merely squat 4Gs, and now the 4G Shuffle, which is tiny — the number of objects in my personal possession bigger than the Shuffle is bewilderingly large. The device may never be taxed to its memory’s limits; there aren’t that many good songs in the world.

But that’s the whole duty of servants. Reserve power.