Comedian Emily Heller had some questions about the new Zach Braff comedy Alex, Inc. and Twitter was there for her. After seeing a promo shot for the TV show, she noticed a drawing in the corner and simply couldn’t get past it. Heller took to Twitter, determined to get to the bottom of this puzzle wrapped in a riddle.
Who drew this iPod on a poster for a 2018 TV show and why pic.twitter.com/xM961X4Oh5
— Emily Heller (@MrEmilyHeller) April 6, 2018
The photo seems straightforward enough:
But this… this outdated iPod? It was just too much. What did it mean? Why was it there?
Writer Andrew Michael Flynn offered a suggestion:
it's an expository device just like the overly used but still somehow charming voice-over narration the show has
— Andrew Michael Flynn (@OHPFstory) April 6, 2018
But Heller wasn’t having any of that nonsense:
LOOK AT THE IPOD. THEY DO NOT NAKE THOSE ANYMORE
— Emily Heller (@MrEmilyHeller) April 6, 2018
Not everyone was seeing the problem:
I still have one. *blush* And yes, I get teased about it. Particularly by my 20 y.o. son.
— Jennifer Edwards (@jexx3030) April 6, 2018
I still have an iPod Classic too. I prefer it – very expensive to get a phone with that much storage, and every podcast app I've tried for Android sucks.
— Beric Erg (@aBerginthehand) April 6, 2018
My podcast device, 2018 *shrug* pic.twitter.com/oGcmqegG3u
— Jont (@jontlewis) April 6, 2018
I get where you're coming from with this, but I have an old clickwheel iPod and that thing is a tank! I love it.
— Erin Donovan (@goodyerin) April 7, 2018
I still listen to podcasts on a 5th gen iPod. I have to plug it in to my home computer to get new episodes and can only listen at regular speed, it rules
— Mike Puterbaugh (@mike_puterbaugh) April 6, 2018
The conversation was not going where Emily wanted it to go:
Wow ok no more replies telling me you still use one of these, we are all full up!!
— Emily Heller (@MrEmilyHeller) April 7, 2018
Way to take control of your social media platform, girl. Others tip-toed forward to share some thoughts:
Its more of a symbol now
— AmericanSaikyo (@Gooseman1691) April 7, 2018
For the same reason that an envelope is the icon for my email app. It's a recognizable symbol that's associated with podcasts, even if the device itself is outdated
— Nuclear Warrior (@Gene_Kreemer) April 6, 2018
Representative symbol, kind of like the “Phone” icon on a cell phone.
— House Cat Diff (@BigDiff7) April 7, 2018
iPods are the international symbol of podcasts just like the international symbol for cars is horses
— Bobson Dugnutt (@dr_spaceman138) April 7, 2018
Why is the floppy disk still used as a save icon? Some physical objects become ubiquitous symbols that live beyond their lifetime. In this case iPod is one of those items.
— Eric Beatty (@theericbeatty) April 7, 2018
Of course, there’s always this option:
— Chagres (@ChagresPTY) April 7, 2018
H/T: Twitter