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'White Bud' guerilla targets one iPod at a time

Save a life - and stop crime

When we suggested that iPods need Health Warnings recently, little did we know that concerned citizens have already taken action.

So let's hear from Euan Lindsay, who has targeted fellow students at Glasgow University. Campuses are becoming hotbeds of iPodism, with students wandering around like farts in a trance.

Enough's enough, thought Euan, who printed out the following flyer and handed it to people wearing iPods.

"Flyers were handed out to anyone walking around with their iPods held in their hands or headphones dangling in a rather showy manner," he tells us.

Destroy your iPod: a communique

And what was the reaction?

"The reaction of the majority of people was quite comical. I carried a few in my pocket and got one ready whenever I spotted someone with their iPod, stopping to hand them one. In most cases, they would say no thank you, do a double take, see that it looks like an iPod and then take it off me. Most people laughed, some gave me frightened looks."

"I did it partly for learning and partly for fun. I had been wanting to learn Illustrator for a while and just decided one afternoon to just do something. I had a discussion with a friend of mine about the amount of people around campus with iPods using them purely as a fashion accesssory. We found this to be quite distasteful considering how many students are struggling to eat, let alone buy something fashionable," he says.

"We jokingly talked about doing a bit of a guerilla campaign under the tag 'iPods are evil, destroy your iPod' and this was the first thing that came to mind."

Apple fan

"I'm not against the iPod or Apple in general. I regularly enjoy using a G5 Power Mac and various eMacs, and, in fact, I'm saving for a 12" iBook. I'm actually a 3rd Year Computing Science student and seem to be one of the few Apple supporters in my year.

"I love what you can do with an iPod and I partly want to take it back to a geek toy rather than a fashion icon."

But wasn't the iPod just the latest manifestation of the Walkman?

"I've never known people to carry their Walkmen or Discmen infront of them while walking down the street yet this seems to be the common pose with an iPod."

How many "White Bud" guerillas are out there, we can only guess.

It's one of the most constructive campaigns we've heard of. Not only might iPodders get a life, but crime may fall.

Robberies on the New York subway have spiked recently, we learn from a report entitled IPod Thieves Hit Subways. Is Anyone Listening? in yesterday's New York Times and the iPod is a "major factor" in the 24 per cent jump. Muggers have targeted iPod-toting students. Muggers can be very discerning.

Meanwhile, our Health Warning competition closes very soon, so hurry! ®

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