Ottawa is officially an iPod city!

[Commodus]

You can tell how closely cities follow trends by how much they lag behind other cities that are known as trendsetters, like New York. The iPod was already pretty big in NYC by mid-2004, but in Ottawa, iPods were practically non-existent. It was practically an event to see one! I felt like a vanguard even though I was late to the iPod party (I bought my 4th-gen in September 2004). It doesn't help that this is a government town, so people can't always justify the money spent.

Something big happened with Christmas 2004, though. It's not just that a lot of people bought iPods then; it's that, ever since then, the number of visible iPods in Ottawa has just been getting larger and larger. Let me demonstrate how I know this.

I now have what I like to call an "iPod sighting quota." Every day I'm on the bus, I expect to see at least one other person who's obviously using an iPod (usually, it's the unique earbuds that give them away). I didn't have the quota at all before this year, and even just 2-3 months ago it used to be that if I saw one, I'd see only one.

In the past month, though, the number's been going up. Waaaay up. I saw my first second-generation iPod. Earlier this month I ran across 7-10. There was a very surreal moment that day when I wandered near the iPod section of the Chapters bookstore while listening to my iPod, and someone else with an iPod wandered up to the shelving. Today, my iPod ended up starting a good ten minutes of conversation while I was photocopying some class reading material. I probably 'sold' the concept of the iPod to two people right there. I even saw someone with an iPod mini today - I never see people with iPod minis around here!

It's interesting to see how a cultural trend spreads almost exponentially like that, going from almost nothing to ubiquitiousness in the space of a few months. I wouldn't be surprised if portable CD players became a rare species by the end of the year...

[Doug Gilmour]

This sounds very familiar to what I noticed in Toronto about ten months ago.

When I first got mine in November 2003 very few had any and very few knew what iPods were. After Christmas 2003 I noticed that more had iPods, but still a very small amount. I find I can judge the amount of iPods in the city at a given moment by the bus and subway commuters as they usually give a pretty accurate depiction of the rest of the city (as you also seem to attest to). Next, the iPod subway ads were installed, in March I believe. I found more people knew what iPods were, but still it hadn't caught on with the city.

Throughout the year more and more were getting iPods, and it started to get very popular. It became more common to see one, a few on the subway, but the iPod population was not yet very large, yet people wanted them. The police started reporting iPod thefts in the subways soon after. It was evident that the iPod was getting very hot at this point.

From October to December the iPod population seemed to explode. Christmas brought in a massive amount of iPods to satisfy all those that had known about and wanted an iPod from the past few months. Whenever I take the subway or bus I see at least thirty people with iPods on a given morning. Quite ridiculous, but interesting (and amusing) to see how the city became an iPod city, being one of the early iPod owners in the city, and an onlooker.

-Dan

[thesire]

This is also the same thing about iPods in London. (London Ontario) Before the 4G came out, i never saw anybody with an iPod. Now people are everywhere showing off their iPods. Its crazy. Maybe this is a western ontario thing?

[skateboarderx24]

har maybe those people are slow...very slow

[btvsrocks]

Has anyone been on the campus of York University?

iPods are ubiquitous here. Every couple of feet, you'll see the signature earbuds or see the iPod itself.

I remember my first 2 years where you'd barely ever see anyone with an iPod. And when I DID, I would think "hey, someone with an iPod, that's not something you see all the time". But now, that's not the case at all. Especially after December 2004...

I think maybe it has a LITTLE to do with the big iPod giveaway with pepsi where it seems like people were all winning iPods (not me though, unfortunately). Then maybe with all that promotion, it might've helped iPod sales *shrugs*

Oh and on campus, I tend to see iPod minis more than the standard ones.

[shuffling]

I'm in Ottawa too and have noticed a huge increase in seeing ipods. Everytime I go out now I see at least one person with the white ear buds. There has been a huge increase in iPod sighting from even 6 months ago I'd never see anyone with the white earbuds.

It's also interesting to see every time I go near the iPod display in Future Shop or Best Buy there is at least 4-6 people crowded around wanting to to play with them.

[kay.eye.emm]

I also live in Ottawa and I completely agree about the increased sightings of white earphones. I wouldn't put us on par with NYC yet in terms of sheer numbers (every 2nd person and their grandma seems to have an iPod there), but iPod use is definitely growing. I bet it's partly due to all the high-tech workers and the fact that there are two universities and a college in town.

I use the Sony MDREX51LP earphones myself, so no one knows I have an iPod, but I see at least one or two on my daily commute to work. The majority seem to be iPod minis and shuffles. Not too many have a full-size iPod.

[boolean]

word to that. Ottawa is a city on the... grow?

It is kind of funny watching the trends trickle down. Ottawa's pretty far down on the "cool" list, IMO so it's fitting that the iPod snowball has landed here 2 years after it was reaching critical mass in NYC.

[mr.k.2k5]

I've noticed more and more people at my high school (in Calgary) that have iPods (all three types - regular, mini, and shuffle). I've also seen more people with iPods around the city as well. The number of people with iPods has increased dramatically from 2004 (I got my iPod in December 2004). The iPod fever is spreading....

[WebsnapX2]

Winnipeg too. Maybe it's just a cultural phenomenon, but I usually see about 5 or six a day with less that half be general reoccurrence. It's a good trend, but I hope no one is flashing them. If the trend of the local visual Ipod boom surfaced late in canada, then the trend of people getting mugged due to their pretty white-corded companions being neon jackpot signs could be arriving soon.

be safe everyone…

[boolean]

That is a good point. We need the iTazer attachment and a 20,000v battery.

[Bemanix88]

Originally posted by Commodus
I wouldn't be surprised if portable CD players became a rare species by the end of the year...

Around here where I live, they already have. I'm willing to bet 30-40% of my high school population owns an iPod. Maybe even half. The 9 or 10 kids I hang out with during open periods all have iPods, it gets hard to keep track of sometimes (mines is U2 edition so it's distinctive). There are a few odd kids who buy Dell DJ's or Zens to be different, but nearly everyone else owns an iPod in some form or another. Last year it was totally different--If you walked through the halls a year ago, you would have seen Sony wraparound headphones everywhere from those CD players they make. This year, it's white headphones as far as the eye can see.

Granted, I live in a town filled with trendy rich (often spoiled) New England kids. At my old high school in the midwest, I don't think iPods have caught on nearly to the level as they have here.

[BiReL41r]

Yes, I totally agree with what all of you are saying. Especially in Toronto, after Christmas almost everyone in my school as an iPod now.

[Vishalca]

Calgary is huge on the iPod craze. When the iPod shuffle was released, the Herald had a front page article on it, and iPods in general. It was quite amazing!

[Kristiano]

Singapore is growing more and more to become an iPod city then Happy are we.