Early adopter-oriented outlets give every new iPod/iTunes wrinkle maximum coverage. When the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg highlights new technology, he speaks to a more mainstream audience. His influence is why I take note of his articles.

Today, Mossberg and Katherine Boehret wrote about the new iPod and iTunes and the increased competition from Microsoft's Zune and Rhapsody's branded SanDisk player. Their verdict?

"The new iPods are more versatile and less costly than ever, but the new iTunes software is an even bigger improvement, although it has one big downside -- its coolest feature is so graphically demanding that it doesn't work right on some older consumers."

The big winner was the new iTunes feature called Cover Flow, which they called "just a parlor trick" but they "love it" because it reminded them of "flipping through a box of old vinyl albums or watching an old jukebox in a diner." The article is not aimed at Generation Y, obviously.