After some encouragement from my wife, I finally bought an iPod. Granted, it’s a last-generation Shuffle, which is super basic, but that’s all I wanted right now. It’s funny it took me so long to buy one, since I work with software and other technology all day long. Perhaps working with this stuff for a living has made me averse to taking on any new gadgets, since it takes time to keep each new item running. But this also makes me wonder how you market to people who are high-tech by trade, but near-luddite in their personal lives.

Perhaps the answer is a marketing pitch based on ease of use and ease of ownership. Marketers could interview other similar professionals and have them talk about how well the product integrates into their lives, without any of the usual tech hassles. Whatever the solution, one thing’s for sure: Apple is very lucky that other people aren’t like me. Otherwise, they barely would have sold 50 iPods by now.