In an article entitled "Are iPod users more honest?", The Hollywood Reporter provides some interesting statistics indicating that, in general, iPod users pirate music less than music downloaders who don't own iPods. (The Hollywood Reporter requires a subscription to read the article, but you can read it for free at azcentral.com using the link provided here.)

Among the statistics:

• 25% of general music downloaders do so illegally.
  
• Only 7% of iPod-owning music downloaders do so illegally.
  
• Half of iPod owners regularly shop at the iTunes Music Store.
  
• iPod owners buy 2.26 CDs per month, 25% more than average.
  

FreeiPodGuy's thoughts:

1. I suspect that both the 25% and 7% figures are low. Many people who get a phone call from someone claiming to be doing a poll asking whether they had downloaded music illegally would wisely refuse to answer (or even lie) out of fear that the caller is actually the sue-happy RIAA posing as a pollster.

2. This doesn't have any moral implication for iPod owners (they aren't any better than anyone else), but I think it does demonstrate that when purveyors of music make it EASY to buy music downloads, as Apple has done an excellent job of in the iTunes Music Store, then people are much less likely to steal music.  

I wouldn't bet on a true iPod phone until more solid information comes out, but there are plenty of rumors flying of late. You can read a bit about it here.  

iPods have made substantial inroads into institutions of higher education over the last couple of years, not just as entertainment devices, but as education tools.

While this has occasionally caused some problems in the eyes of instructors (like students skipping lectures, opting instead for the podcast version), TIME.com brings an interesting article today about the iPod being used to train medical students to use a stethescope by allowing them to listen closely and repeatedly to sounds identifying various heart conditions.  

TVWeek.com posted an interesting article yesterday reporting that though iTunes Music Store downloads constitute a very small part of overall viewership for the television shows offered there, indicates are that iTunes purchasers are new viewers. Concern that the iTunes Music Store would cannibalize TV viewership is legitimate, so this is an important finding.

(They never explain how they can tell however, so it seems suspect. Hopefully it is true; positive results will be likely to bring more TV content to the iTMS.)  

Joy Davia at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle has written an article providing etiquette tips for using the iPod in an office work setting. Here's what I got from the article (restated in my own terms):

1. Consider how co-workers or your boss will perceive your iPod use. Will they think you don't want to talk to them? If so, are they correct? And is that OK?

2. When a co-worker or boss approaches, do you remove both earbuds? It is disrespectful not to.

3. Do you bother co-workers by singing, head-bopping, or tapping? (Tapping is FreeiPodGuy's failing.)

4. Will it appear that you are not doing your job?

I'll one of my own: does the iPod actually keep you from doing your job? I've found that listening to music helps me concentrate, but listening to more information-based audio (like tech podcasts) makes it difficult to concentrate on work that requires deep thought. When doing mindlessly repetitive tasks, podcasts are great. When doing technical writing, music is better.