iPad, iHype, iBend

In another bit of mindless trivia, Net Applications (whatever that is) claims that Bend is No. 5 in the nation for highest percentage of iPad owners.

Bend trails only San Francisco, Grand Junction, Colo., Santa Barbara and Honolulu, according to the May 1 report. See story here.

Amid our high unemployment (around 15 percent), our record number of defaults and foreclosures and with our recent voter-approved tax hikes, how is it possible that Bend could rank so high in conspicuous consumption?

Apparently, we have plenty of people here with disposable income. Or their credit cards aren't tapped out. Or they're rich grandmothers with a penchant for gadgets, according to this article.

While the iPhone was the best invention ever by Apple, the iPad, a fancy e-book reader, is likely to be an expensive paper weight even though Apple sold more than a million iPads quicker than the first iPhone.

The iPhone contains all that any young hipster needs to get along in this iworld. That's why they're called the iGeneration. It's no longer about "me," it's about "i."

Grandmothers, too, love the iPhone, which is replacing the notebook/netbook computer as the dominant idevice.

Bend received dubious press in the 1980s when it ranked No. 1 for percentage of VCR owners.

It meant then that there was either nothing to do in Bend or that our credit cards hadn't maxed out yet. Possibly both.

And, we have ranked in the top 10 for percentage of hybrid vehicle owners during the Aughties.

Here we are again on the "cutting edge" of hipness. Who knew that Bend could be so trendy or "cool."