Wired Magazine always has interesting short articles on consumer etiquette. Recently, a parent lamented to the online magazine that their child wanted an iPod for Christmas so that he could "fit in" at school. I was expecting the advice columnist to answer with the typical "help your child be comfortable with himself; an iPod won't buy him friends" stance, but Wired took a dramatically different approach.

Comparing the iPod to the Red Ryder BB gun of generations past, Wired's entire answer was based on the assumption that buying the iPod wasn't even a question - of course the parent should buy the iPod. The question then, became how best to purchase the iPod; whether the child should be required to chip in with his allowance, or whether requiring the child to learn music history with the iPod would be the best tactic.

This answer disturbed me more than a little. If a parent chooses to purchase an expensive present (perhaps the ever-popular Juicy Couture tracksuit) for a child and then wants to use the gift to educate or help the child learn the value of a dollar, then so be it. However, if a child comes home, claiming that he or she "can't fit in at school" without a certain product, I would feel that purchasing said product would only reinforce that the child has friends based on what they have, instead of who they are.

Or maybe, like last week, I'm just not getting into the gift-giving spirit of the holidays. What do you think?