Lighter note: iPod index makes some noise

IT seems one of Australia’s most authoritative economic commentators, CommSec, had way too much time on its hands this week. Forget base metals and property stocks, CommSec spruiker and TV regular Craig James sent out a new report this week revealing world iPod prices. According to the CommSec iPod index, Australia is the seventh cheapest place of 56 countries around the globe to buy an Apple iPod 4GB nano music player, an improvement of one place from October, and courtesy of currency changes. In Australian dollar terms, the iPod can be purchased for just over $199 in Australia, which is around $34 cheaper than in the UK and $52 cheaper than in Germany. Brazil remains the dearest country in the world in which to buy the popular music player model at $386, while Hong Kong is the cheapest at $171. CommSec said the index was a light-hearted approach to assessing the pricing of a standard product sold worldwide, which could have ‘real world’ uses such as helping Apple to adjust its pricing in different markets.