I'm back from vacation and, as a first post, thought I'd recount something that happened during my trip. I visited my cousin in London and he mentioned to me that he had finally gotten an "iPod" (he had visited the States a few months earlier and had talked about getting one). I congratulated him and asked him which one only to find out that his "iPod" is a 'generic' mp3 player with fm radio and some other featuers (he couldn't even remember the actual brand). While one anecdote does not a trend make, it is instructive in that it seems Apple is succeeding on its goal of becoming the next generation "Walkman" from a branding perspective. This will become all the more important as portable music players of all stripes continue to enter the market.