Mark Montgomery, professor of economics, ponders aging and iPods

One day not long ago I was startled to hear voices coming from the front pocket of my shirt. They were weak and strangely high-pitched, but still distinctly human voices. I was concerned. At my age, approaching 60, hearing your shirt talk to you is a symptom of either very late schizophrenia, or somewhat early dementia. But suddenly I remembered: I'd put my new iPod Shuffle in my pocket. It must have accidentally turned on. (Short-term memory loss has arrived right on time.) The point of this story is to illustrate a question I've been struggling with lately: Is wearing an iPod age-appropriate behavior for someone like me?