For five days this week, my son and I were fixated on making his second-generation iPod play through the car stereo system of his 2002 Pontiac. He researched the question online and bought a gizmo. Despite an hour spent talking to the help desk while lying in the car trunk, two trips to dealerships and a visit to a car stereo place, he couldn't make it work.

The Generation Gap and the Disposable iPod