The conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan once grumpily lamented the rise of "the iPod people." Walking down a New York street in February 2005, Sullivan saw each person "in his own musical world, walking to their soundtrack, stars in their own music video, almost oblivious to the world around them." Even as he copped to owning an iPod of his own—one of 67 million sold since its debut in 2001—Sullivan saw civilization crumbling in the friendly, well-designed face of the little Apple digital music player.