How the iPod took over the world

Like thousands of others, I got an iPod nano for Christmas. It's a gorgeous object. But in use the striking thing about Apple's iconic music player is neither its sexy looks nor even its playback performance - which is much the same as that of a dozen rivals. This tiny object does a lot more than play music: as part of a larger system with iTunes and the iTunes music store, it defines a new relationship between customer and producer and reshapes an industry. One day all products and services will be like this.