Large scale MP3 filesharing was cool, or rather: once it hit mainstream, not having very much music available made you an exceptionally boring person. A few yea

Large scale MP3 filesharing was cool, or rather: once it hit mainstream, not having very much music available made you an exceptionally boring person. A few years earlier, this had been the exclusive privilege of professional music journalists, DJs and record store owners, and even just getting a tiny fraction of that music availability was the dominant teenage status symbol. Once access to music exploded (via p2p), that status currency went through a massive inflation cycle, before it eventually lost most of its relevance. This hyped inflation cycle is right where the iPod came in: the iPod was what made those collections portable outside of bedrooms and basements. The advertisements in the style of Len Lye's Rainbow Dance came later, expanding the market domination, not starting it.