JOIN THE CLUB

One of our office-mates recently approached us at the water cooler (actually, we don't mingle around the water cooler as much as the color laser printers) to announce he had joined the club. The night before, he had received an iPod Shuffle as a birthday gift. And our new digitally accessorized co-worker wanted to know if there was an official handshake.

"You need at least a iPod mini to be in the club," Bill S. responded.

"We could put him in the junior division," I suggested, "which iPod Shuffle did you get?"

"I'm a minimalist so I got the 512. I don't need more than 512..." Steve, our new iPod owner said confidently.

"Yes, what we have here is an apprentice. He's in training" Bill S., a 15Gig and iPod Shuffle owner observed, as evident from his confident statement about not needing more than 512, "We are obliviously dealing with a newbie."

"As for the handshake," I said, "There are different handshakes for different models. The club for the iPod Photo is tres exclusive, in fact, I am the only member of the club in this office so I shake my own hand." This brought a puzzled look and raised eyebrow to their faces.

"And, the handsake for the iPod Shuffle is completely random. It changes every time." Bill S. explained.