Why the iPod is losing its cool

Apple has added ever more extras to its digital music-player in a bid
to stem falling sales. But fears are rising that the device is now too
common to be cutting edge



The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in search
of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd
gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week
for a live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or
break one of the consumer icons of the Western world.



The iPod, the digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's
Chris Martin to President George Bush, is in danger of losing its
sheen. Sales are declining at an unprecedented rate. Industry experts
talk of a 'backlash' and of the iPod 'wilting away before our eyes'.
Most disastrously, Apple's signature pocket device with white earphones
may simply have become too common to be cool.



On Tuesday the eyes of iPod-lovers the world over will be on Steve
Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, when he seeks to
allay fears that it could follow Sony's tape-playing Walkman into the
recycling bin of history.