Generation iPod

Last modified on September 28th, 2013

As of October of 2007, Apple has sold approximately 120 million iPods worldwide. At approximately $250 each, that’s $30 billion dollars in revenue. It is without a doubt one of Apple’s crowning technical achievements, both for the ingenuity of the hardware and for the revolutionary integration with software on several platforms.



And yet lately, as I’ve trekked the 30 minute walk between my home and work with my iPod blaring away, I’ve started to wonder what the impact of this technology really is. For starters, those of us who listen to iPods frequently are subjecting ourselves to potential hearing damage. Even at my age, I find myself frequently asking people to repeat themselves. I’ve also found that I have a great deal of difficulty hearing individuals in crowded places or bars with lots of chatter. And while my hearing has never been perfect (thanks to an uncle that went a little nuts with a firecracker when I was a kid), I am quite certain it has degraded quite a bit in the last few years.

And while I can’t say with 100% certainty that my iPod has caused any harm to my hearing, experts have started voicing their concerts about the long term consequences of the MP3 generation.:

Audiologists believe tens of thousands of young people are causing serious damage to themselves, and are likely to suffer tinnitus and loss of hearing in later life. The experts say MP3 players should be designed to prevent people playing music above 90db, about two-thirds of the maximum volume of a typical device,” the report warns.

Apple’s device easily exceeds that volume limit – in fact a French law (emulated by Apple across Europe) requires that the computer company cap the iPods volume, but even the capped maximum still exceeds expert recommendations, at 100db.

And while the physical manifestations of the MP3 phenomenon may be limited to hearing loss in a small subset of buyers, there is an ever-growing concern about the social implications of personal music players. A recent article in the Seattle weekly discusses some of these:

The great paradox of the iPod is that the cultural phenom (more than 120 million sold) is purely isolationist. Whereas social networking and cell phones make the private public, iPods—more ubiquitous than the Walkmen they replaced—turn music from a public aesthetic experience into a private, mobile affair. (Note the failure of Microsoft’s Zune, an attempt to make MP3 players a social affair by allowing users to share music wirelessly.)

This social isolation is another likely outcome of iPod use, according to Areni, a professor at the University of Sydney who studies environmental psychology, music, and cognition. “Have you ever tried saying ‘hello’ to somebody listening to an iPod? If I see the white or black wires sticking out of somebody’s ears, I don’t even bother, even if it’s a friend. Again, in crowded public spaces, this may be a desirable outcome.

I think that last line is extremely relevant. On my daily walk each day, I basically cross from one side of downtown Vancouver to the other, often passing corner after corner of homeless people, especially down near the business sectors on Burrard Street. While most people generally ignore the homeless individuals begging for change, you’ll often notice many of these same people walk by with headphones firmly planted in their ears, completely impervious to any verbal requests, and perhaps even to whatever guilt they might have once felt. I realize that some of them undoubtedly just want to listen to music, but I suspect there are those who use MP3s and iPods and a means to limit social interaction, or at least have become comfortable with that secondary outcome. Despite the prevalence of social networks, cell phones, emails, and all this endless technology that was meant to bring people together, I somehow have this feeling lately like we are actually moving backwards, despite the constant forward motion I see outside my window daily.

I was talking to my grandmother at Christmas and she remarked how things have changed since she was a little girl. Back then, she said, people used to get together often, have dinners, stay up late on Christmas, attend each other’s birthday parties, laugh often, and even stop by unexpectedly a few times a week for tea. Now she says most people are just too tired or busy to come out most of the time, something that after 85 years of a happy, social life tends to saddens her. I think even in my own life there was a time when I used to pick up the phone to call friends every couple of days, and now with instant messaging and email, I find that I rarely have the impulse to. It’s guess it’s just far easier to send an email.

I have always been worried about the dangers of technology. While it is true that it is the use of the technology and generally not the technology itself that makes it harmful, I think we have the capacity to become too wrapped up in it all and lose ourselves. And while a MP3 player at the end of the day is simply a technological device to play music, I think there are dangerous social trends developing with their usage that are counterproductive to real-world communities and social, human interaction.

If we’re not careful, our generation may ultimately be remembered as the one that strolled through life with our heads down and our earbuds in, a generation of people oblivious to all sounds except for that faint static we made ourselves.

Updated: Matt posted this great article in his previous Facebook entry that talks about some of these social issues in the context of Facebook. Definitely a good read.

46 responses to “Generation iPod”

  1. Nick says:

    I listen for the music but I appreciate the barrier it provides. Honestly I don’t like talking to people when I’m on the bus or walking to work or school or something and if people leave me alone because I’m listening to music, all the better.

  2. PWalker says:

    I think that it’s more about social interaction being on people’s own terms. As mobile phones, IM & social networking become a larger part of our daily lives, social interaction would grow to a point of overload if other areas of were not decreased somewhat. As the Seattle weekly story you quoted said, “social networking and cell phones make the private public” — and people have a need for private time too – Mp3 players are making public life more private – but I do not think this outweighs the effects of enhanced communication. Of course, this all depends upon whether the person wants to be left alone…

  3. [quote comment=”39107″]I listen for the music but I appreciate the barrier it provides. Honestly I don’t like talking to people when I’m on the bus or walking to work or school or something and if people leave me alone because I’m listening to music, all the better.[/quote]

    Ditto. In my situation, I’m allowed to listen to my iPod at work. When someone wants me, they can get my attention as needed. Other than that, I want to be left alone. I have enough problems with focus, at least when I can zone out with whatever I know I’m making an attempt to get to work. And when I’m really in a state when I can’t focus to save my job, it becomes the IV in my mental life support – 10 minutes of dissecting a song (guitar rifts, time signatures, chord progressions, etc) and I’m right as rain to try again.

    I’m at the point of no return with my hearing, but that started the day I first stepped foot in a concert venue (Matt, you maybe be all soft and acoustic now, but back then… :P) Standing in front of a drummer for three school years didn’t make matters any better.

  4. girl friday says:

    I agree with the other posters. If I’ve got my headphones on it’s simply because I love music and it makes the walk or bus ride to where ever more enjoyable. I too would rather keep to myself on the bus because I’m simply a shy and reserved person who isn’t likely to strike up conversations with strangers(although I have on those occasions that I do not have music with me). I’m just not a forward person. It’s in no way a slight against anyone who may want to chat, it’s just who I am.

  5. Brent says:

    I wear my earphones from 8AM to 430PM. They are a constant fixture in my ears while I’m at work (one of the things I like most about my job is that they don’t mind mp3 players). So I agree with Emily, I use it as somewhat of a stress-reliever and a vitamin, if-you-will, that helps me get through each and every day spent in the same little laboratory.

  6. Steven says:

    Interesting points, thanks for posting. I must say, however, that the same studies and the same dire remarks were made by doctors in the 1980s, but they were speaking about Sony Walkman cassette players.

    I remember when I had my first one, I would listen to it as much as now, the only difference being the number of songs I could carry around (i.e. how many tapes I was willing to carry). My hearing has not degraded enough to notice, if at all I think, in the last 20 years.

    Moreover, my iPod today does not seem to go as loud as my Walkman did back then. On my iPod (in my house we have three of them, old 2G mini, 1G Nano, and latest Nano) today, I find that I listen to music when outside at about 75-85% of the max volume. I remember my Walkman back in the day was so bloody loud that I only had the volume at “6” (out of 10) in a moderately noisy environment, and if I turned it on without checking first if the volume had been accidentally moved to the max, then my ear drums would feel like they were going to explode. Maybe this is proof of hearing loss, who knows.

    When I bring my iPod with me in public it is to listen to music. I try to balance it so at least half of the time that I walk around alone I do not have my iPod, so I can enjoy the sounds of the city. In all, I would estimate that I listen to my iPod about 25% of the time I am in public.

    The only time I purposely put on my iPod to be anti-social is on the airplane, where I connect my Bose noise-cancelling headset to the iPod and then the whole plane disappears and I am transported to a much better place, where I try to forget how bloody uncomfortable the damn coach (cattle) class is. Still, some people who end up sitting next to me can’t resist, and insist on trying to talk to me… Most people, however, are trying to do the same and leave you alone.

  7. Dale Mugford says:

    Why are we desiring to be left alone? Possibly because we’ve already had our attention asked for in excess of 2,000 times a day by car salesmen, cologne swindlers, proactiv pushers and home depot helpers.

    Advertising, its ubiquitous come on all around us, is in my opinion the #1 overlooked social change agent, and mostly in ways which are detrimental.

  8. Eva says:

    I find that when I need to concentrate on something at work and avoid distractions, I tend to put the headphones on. I guess the music is my “white noise” of sorts.

  9. Fearless4 says:

    I got my first Walkman when I was 13 years old. It was a Sanyo cassette player with a radio and was as big as a library book. I thought then, as I do now, that it was one of the best things that technology did for someone with my particular personality. Although always a fairly popular student and a class clown, I thoroughly enjoyed my private time with my Walkman enveloped in my world of personal and private music and social detachment. To me, there was always a time for “small talk” and definitely a time for “no talk”. My walkman/ discman/ Minidisk/ IPod permanent attachments were like a necessary extra limb. My need for a soundtrack constantly playing in my life’s movie has never gone away since I was 13.

    I can’t imagine ever saying “I’ve listened to way too much music” unless excessive volume eventually causes me to experience hearing loss, but I can now say, with confidence, that I HAVE spent too much time in the last 20-so years in pointless and senseless conversation. Hooray for personal audio devices!

  10. ErikH says:

    “but I suspect there are those who use MP3s and iPods and a means to limit social interaction, or at least have become comfortable with that secondary outcome.”

    This is so true, I know a lot of people who just don’t like talking to anyone on the bus or strangers who are friendly because of course they are by definition “weirdos”. That being said, there are times I wear my headphones, especially if i’m “in a mood” and the music helps me. Other then that I try to limit my iPod use, but I just end up reading on the bus instead. I guess i am a bit of a solitary cat – but that being said the whole iPod phenomenon has really bothered me to.
    Sitting on a bus surrounded by people with iPods in their ears i realized that someone could likely have a heart-attack right in their seat and nobody would really notice because they wouldn’t be able to hear the persons often slight reactions to an oncoming heart attack. That might sound crazy but imagine if people were not wearing those headphones, would everyone just sit there in silence? I doubt it, people would talk, and if someone were visibly in trouble someone might do something.

    p.s. I am also going deaf because of my iPod, and that also really bothers me, i am an idiot.

  11. just thought i’d chime in and say i DON’T wear earbuds as often as most people.

    i’m an audio engineer, i listen to my music very low. i wear earplugs at ALL live shows.

    protect your ears. i think i’d happily choose blindness over deafness. i think i’d even give up my legs, or maybe even a hand to keep my ears. i need music, and i need NEW music. i’d HATE to go deaf BEFORE some great band put out a great record. it’s the music that MIGHT be that keeps me most alive.

  12. Kordan says:

    I think that there are a thousand and one reasons for the social isolation that we see becoming more and more prevalent in North American society. Dale hits on one pretty well. Blaming the iPod for the social trends is like blaming video games for youth violence.

    The iPod got popular because people love music. They can now take their music anywhere. The fact that this isolates them on a bus ride or a train ride, seems from the posters here, to be an added benefit. Meaning that they already wanted to be isolated before they got their iPod, the thing just gave them a really effective way to do it.

    I think there are many other, much worse, contributors to this trend than just the iPod.

  13. fleeter says:

    Having read the above comments I must add that I most often wear my headphones at work and when I’m out walking or jogging. My wife thinks I’m going deaf and I must agree that I have sustained some hearing loss but I really can’t blame my IPOD – I usually run the volume at 50-75% and have rarely had it full, however I’m a guitar player and I”ve played in a rock band for the past 12 years and I would say that a Marshall amplifier and the drum kit I’ve been beside have contributed greatly.

    On the social side I can see tne point above. When we travel anywhere all 3 of my kids have mp3 players on while they text away on their cell phones……. I always thougt of it as them just passing the tme during the car rides.

    I’ve owned a few mp3 players and I’ve got to say that I have never heard anything that sounds near as good as my IPOD….

  14. AaronV says:

    I have the exact same problem with hearing people in a bar/crowd environment, undoubtedly from playing my music or guitar too loud. I have yet to succumb to the ipod craze, but have used other personal music players in the past.

    I think the problem with limiting the output volume is for people who like to use their devices to connect the audio into a soundcard, stereo amplifier, or in my case one of those weak FM transmitters. While its possible with most modern, higher end amplifiers to boost the sound to an acceptable level, its not always the case.

    You are right about the slavery to technology though, cell phones and blackberrys keeping people perpetually tied to their work have to be the worst of it in my mind.

  15. Becca Steps says:

    My father bought me an ipod for christmas. Awesome. Have I used it in public yet…NO. It sounds strange, but when I got home from Calgary, I immediately bought a docking station for it and I listen to it at home.

    Duane – I’ve been having the same thoughts for years. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

    We are living in an Ostrich Paradise – heads in sand.

  16. uglyredhonda says:

    I honestly blame a lot of it on the popularity of those earbud-type headphones.

    I’ve always preferred the more old-school type Walkman headphones, so I just kept using those at the office. Out of concern that my co-workers would think I wasn’t paying attention, I decided to grab a pair of iPod earbuds that I had lying around just so I could put one of them in my left ear and leave my right ear open. (I usually do the same with the Walkman headphones, just putting the right one behind my ear, but for some reason, it makes me look “busy”.)

    I usually listen to a webcast during the morning at work. So, this particular morning, I plugged the earbud into my computer and raised the volume to the lowest I could get it and still understand what the hosts were saying. After half-an-hour of listening, I took the earbud out and walked outside. I was shocked – my left ear had a notably dull sound, not unlike if I’d just walked out of a concert. And that was only a half-hour at low volume.

    I went back to my Walkman headphones. Same volume as usual, no problem.

    The earbuds seem to favor the midrange frequencies, and that’s just not good. The high and low end help with the details of the sound, which means you don’t have to crank it up as loud.

    Might be a worthwhile challenge – put in the earbuds, set the volume where you usually listen to it, then take one of them out. After half-an-hour, take the other one out and see there’s a problem.

  17. xarcadia says:

    I listen to my ipod for the isolationist in me. Sometimes I just need some downtime. A lot of times I don’t even have it on anymore, I just plug the headphones in to avoid superfluous conversation. And my hearing was going long before the ipod. My walkman, my mindisk player (LOVED That thing) and a variety of mp3 players have probably contributed in equal parts.

    However, I agree so much with your grandmother Duane. When I was growing up, there were always relative just “stopping by to say hello”. I feel like I socially interacted so much more. Over the last 10-15 years I have lost that social aspect of my life. I don’t even know most of my extended family anymore. But I think that has less to do with ipods and more to do with the nature of life these days.

  18. lenova says:

    Duane,

    Do you realize that these same complaints/arguments were made when Sony released the original Walkman back in the 80s?

  19. 120 million iPods… And none of them mine *cries*. I want one so that when I ride the bus, I don’t have to talk to people. Which I guess is exactly the type of thing you’re talking about… But if I saw a friend, I’d turn it off and talk. My mother just always told me not to talk to strangers :P.

  20. Usher says:

    There was a artist who coined the phrase iGeneration for my generation (which would be the y’s). I just bought an iPod for the second time last week and I got it almost entirly for when I go biking. I use it at work as well but I also work maintenance/custodial so there are a lot of times where I am doing repetitive tasks for long periods of time. I had one of the originals (which I paid $500 for 15 gigs in gr.10) and have always loved being able to take my entire music collection with me at any time.

    As for hearing loss, I was screwed a long time ago. I have spent countless hours at punk shows right beside speakers that weren’t mixed right so its not really a concern of mine.

    Finally, the “social” change is going to happen again very soon. As you pointed out, during my grandparents days, everything was a bit less hectic, there were no “work-a-holics” yet and then the baby boomers came in and they created the term. They created the term because there were so many of them and so few jobs, so they worked their asses of to get paid less then they should of to keep their job so the 15 other guys wouldn’t take it from them. That is now changing again, where my generation (again the Y) is going to have all the power and it will shift back to the way it was before the boomers. All of a sudden there are way too many jobs and not enough workers. I am going to be able to go into a job and say “I want to get off every friday at 2 to be with my family and want 4 weeks of vacation right away” and I will get it. They will give it to me because if they don’t another place will.

  21. tracy- says:

    My iPod has all ready caused me to have hearing problems. I bring it with me everywhere I go.. I listen to it to and from work (an hour and a half there and an hour and a half back home) And I’ve noticed that since I got it back in June 06 I have had to keep increasing the volume from about half way.. to almost full. The volume I used to have it at is no longer loud, it’s almost too quiet. I’m only 20 years old I shouldn’t be having these type of problems. I guess it’s my fault for loving music too much.

  22. xarcadia says:

    This is an anecdote. Its about the way the meanings of words have changed a little in the tech age. My friends sister N wanted to go to the Mac store, so she called her sister F and asked where she could find one. She wanted to get an ipen. Sister F had never heard of the ipen and said, “Theres one at the mall near my house, we can go together”. So they go to the mall, and F walks her to the Mac store and they go in. And N goes “F, where is the Mac store” And F says “This IS the Mac Store, where’s the ipen?”.

    Turns out, N wanted to go to the makeup Mac store to get an eye-pen.

    Now this may be a difference in lifestyles as well. But essentailly 10 years ago, if someone had said Mac store for an eyepen to me, I would have known they meant make up. Now…everything is i-something. I have an ineed. Its a great little massager. THis has nothing to do with the post, but does reference the comment earlier about us being the iGeneration.

  23. that girl says:

    What can be said, we are living in a technocracy.

    That said, I’m a proud owner of 4 iPods. I never bought any of them. 3 were gifts, and one I found on the street and never found anything posted for 2 weeks about it being lost. I don’t know what I would do without portable music. In part it’s to avoid the randoms talking to me on the bus, but it’s also just for destressing; creating a soundtrack to my day. I don’t buy earbuds that allow me have the volume really high without others hearing it, because it makes me keep the volume down, thus protecting my ears..

    I’ve come to realize it doesn’t keep the crazies away though. Especially in the summer, I keep earbuds in, and sunglasses on to avoid the crazies (even if the battery dies, I keep the earbuds in). For some reason, even with a bus completely full of people without “leave me alone devices” they always start talking to me. I would find it flattering if it wasn’t that it’s so annoying. Walking down the street downtown, I am painfully aware of those who ask for money. If I had the means, I would share. If I could, I would take food orders and go get them something to eat (I believe in not giving money, but food or a source of warmth/protection instead).

    There is no denying that technology has greatly impacted how we communicate. It has gone full circle though. We are back to living in a time of instantaenous communications in comparison to the written-based societies (I realize for the most part we communicate in the written form, but it is still immediate, rather than the letter-in-the-mail means). This has brought society closer by expanding it’s borders of time and space. I wouldn’t say it’s bad, just different. People still go for dinner, have birthday parties and get together for tea… they just use facebook or msn instead of a telephone.

  24. Duane Storey says:

    [quote comment=”39123″]
    Advertising, its ubiquitous come on all around us, is in my opinion the #1 overlooked social change agent, and mostly in ways which are detrimental.[/quote]

    Many of the new devices coming out have built in GPS units, not just for navigational purposes, but also for starting to first wave of location-based advertising (think Minority Report, where personalized adverts appear as you walk by).

  25. thirdhour says:

    If you think about experience being based on your surroundings, all of your senses are involved. Say someone takes a trip to a new, beautiful land and spends the entire time sitting in their hotel room watching tv. They’ve wasted the experience they could have had just experiencing the sights of this place. I kind of feel like sound too is intricately involved with one’s experience. Think of a thai marketplace, or a city square in mexico. The sights, the sounds, the smells, everything is part of your response. I prefer to listen to the world around me in my everyday life. We often ignore the beauty of just sitting and listening to the world around us. I don’t have, nor do I want, an iPod.

    Also on those rare occasions when I am listening to music in public, I find it so bizarre to be rocking out to a song in my headphones, and then turn it off and realize no one else can hear it and the world is actually quite silent in comparison. Just me?

  26. MStocker says:

    I’m a little surprised at how many people use iPods to shut people out.
    I use mine on the train to work in the mornings, not because the car is so loud or because people are actively talking to me, but because it’s so sullen and dead at 6:30 that I feel as if I’m riding a train full of zombies. The fluorescent lighting and jerky, head-bobbing with the trains movement don’t help to dismiss that image…

    Music helps to shut out the living dead.

  27. Nick says:

    There’s a good reason people like to be left alone. People are a lot more active now, always doing something. For example I can’t remember the last time my whole family was home for dinner, someone is always at work or school or out with friends. I think one of the reasons for this is because transportation is a lot more readily available now than when your grandmother was younger. Anyway with so much going on, people have less personal time and so they supplement this by using public time (ie: bus rides).

  28. Nick says:

    [quote comment=”39177″]My iPod has all ready caused me to have hearing problems. I bring it with me everywhere I go.. I listen to it to and from work (an hour and a half there and an hour and a half back home) And I’ve noticed that since I got it back in June 06 I have had to keep increasing the volume from about half way.. to almost full. The volume I used to have it at is no longer loud, it’s almost too quiet. I’m only 20 years old I shouldn’t be having these type of problems. I guess it’s my fault for loving music too much.[/quote]

    Actually the earphones the iPod comes with aren’t that great. If you listen to your iPod a lot, the max volume slowly decreases. I had the same problem and was amazed at how much my hearing “improved” when I bought a new set of earphones.

  29. Frozen Tex says:

    I just got my second iPod (both gifts) upgrading form 30Gb to 80Gb; now I can have ALL my music, plus podcasts all at once.

    That said, I only use the headphones when I’m alone (meaning no friends or family around), and otherwise use it with docked speakers or a car adapter. I could use headphones at work, but I would get annoyed at having the extra couple of seconds spent when coworkers try to get my attention, not to mention the phone. I’m just glad I have a job where I can listen to music again. In the last 10 years, only 2 jobs have been tuneless, and one lasted 2 weeks 7 years ago, the other was this summer/fall, and it was there (service department for a car dealership) that I realized how much I missed music at work. I didn’t walk (too far) or even drive my own car (company shuttle bus) so I couldn’t listen to or from work, even. I’m much happier, now.

  30. ewhitten says:

    I make a point of never listening to my iPod above the half-way mark, which I find loud enough for most songs, even on the Metro. Although I just got a new iPod, and I noticed that with the same headphones, it is a bit quieter at the half-way point than my 3.5 year old iPod. Ah, changing technology. My dad is always saying stuff about how my hearing will go, but fortunately, to this point, it’s fine (and I worked at a big concert amphitheater for 7 summers, too! ) I think it’s important to make users AWARE that listening above 1/2-2/3 volume level can hurt, and then hopefully more people won’t listen too loudly.

    I will not deny that I am glad of my iPod when the homeless guy who sits on the corner EVERY MORNING near my work asks for change. I am completely aware of him, but since I can barely pay off my loans and rent right now, it’s not like I’d be giving him change or anything if I didn’t have my headphones. It just allows me to minimize an intrusion that wouldn’t benefit anyone anyway. (And it’s not like I’m suddenly not aware of homeless people because of it. Sadly, there are way too many in DC.)

    I think the concerns about isolation are well noted, and particularly your observation about calling vs. emailing, etc. But one thing I always loved about headphone-related music (Walkman, minidisk, and now mp3 players) is that when you NEED that quiet time with just you and music, you can have it. When I was little I could block out my parents fighting about things. In college I could relax between classes on campus with music…it’s great. Also, for me at least, I still associate certain songs with “that happy walk back from class in the nice fall foliage” and things. Listening brings the good feelings back, which is nice.

  31. As much as technology astonishes me, I’m think I’m old fashioned for my age. I have an ipod that I use when I’m on an airplane (music soothes me because I hate flying) and when I’m on a long trip. Other than that, I listen to my music in my apartment via the computer speakers.

    My cell phone is just that… a phone. I make calls on it to a lot of people who think making and receiving phone calls is too time consuming. Everyone loves to text message and I think it’s lazy, so much so that when I receive texts, I call the person back. Text messaging is so one dimensional and I do believe that conversational skills suffer because of people’s reliance on it. I briefly dated a girl not too long ago who was so dependent on the text message that when I would call her, she would stumble through conversation and would always tell me that she much preferred texting because ‘she wasn’t the best conversationalist.’

    I completely understand people not wanting to be bothered at times and how people want to immerse themselves in music to get through a tough day, to unwind, or just to have something more pleasant to listen to other than the load roar of the bus or the moronic phone conversation taking place right next to you. To me though, being able to hear all the random things being said around you is one of the true joys of life and has many times led to me engaging or being engaged by total strangers in conversation. I guess to each their own.

  32. cinderous says:

    I was never a big iPod fan until this past year when I received a Nano for Christmas. Since then I’ve filled it with songs and used it regularly. But immediately I noticed the social barrier I created for myself. I decided to never bring it to school, and only use it for my own enjoyment on long drives or when doing homework. As more and more people bought iPods and brought them to school I realized how much everyone was affected by them. I found myself frustrated talking to people with one bud in their ear and the other hanging around their neck, I felt like what I was saying meant nothing to them. This year my teacher encouraged us to bring in our iPods so that we could use them for projects (like making podcasts and stuff like that) so I brought my iPod in to class. But instead of walking the halls with the buds in I would only use it when we were working in class as, like Duane said, a social barrier to show everyone I was busy working. I noticed that because of this I got more work done in class and talked less in class, which isn’t all that bad as long as I was social outside of class. But since few others try to limit their use of their iPods I think that as a whole the iPod has had a negative effect on our generation by blowing our hearing and making that social barrier that shouldn’t always be there.

  33. Becca Steps says:

    I had an afterthought.

    I think the problem is technology. Not just iPods. But texting, facebook, myspace, and laptops. (Sorry Matt, I know you love yours, I love mine, too). I think the problem stems down to people really not giving shit about anyone else, except the people they already know.

    I agree with Communist Dan. To each his own. But these “crazies,” and these “weirdos,” could be you, too. I don’t think it’s fair to say that these people really affect you. They don’t. In fact has it occured to anyone that to them you might be the crazies.

    Anyways, food for thought. I think the point is that, it’s important to remember who you are, the values your grandparents/parents instilled in you, and being kind to others. All of which are lacking in this ever-changing world of iME and iYou’s. It is never to late to change. And it’s like the poem “All I ever need to know I learned in Kindergarten.” It’s great and it really does project the values that we teach our children early, but often don’t reflect in our actions as we get older.

    Cheers!

  34. Witchy Woman says:

    Good post Duane and great response everyone. Nothing like walking down the sidewalk trying to smile or say hello to someone who doesnt even know you are passing them by. This cannot be having a good impact on the future if we are not wanting to even talk to one another. Come on people, come out of your shell. It won’t kill you, but listening to your music so loud might if you go crossing the street and get ran over. Geesh,ha ha.

  35. paulonious says:

    it can also be said this type of technology has allowed people to be themselves, as opposed to Matt’s suggestion that we becoming social fractions of our former selves. Back in the old days, it was expected that you say hello and engage in friendly banter with whomever spoke to you. Think about all the naturally shy and meek people having to deal with this on a daily basis, how stressful might be for them. Now, this is not me, I’m a farily social being within my own group, but if I’m on the bus or walking down the street, I prefer to be left alone, and my iPod and a good pair of shades aids me in my quest to be solitary during these moments. Given the hectic nature of the day, the iPod of today has replaced the quiet moment in the park of old. I look forward to closing my eyes as I sit comfortably on the stress-free drive to work and just sink into the music. This is my own personal time. I wouldn’t say the iPod has changed the way I socialize with the world, I was like this before and I enjoy life more because of my iPod. Sound materialistic? Maybe. It’s just that I love music so much that I love that it can be so much more a part of my day now. This all being said, this will probably change in the summer, as I love walking in the park or at the cottage just listening to nature. I’ll just listen to my iPod on my iMode on my patio having a beer in the evening!

    Just for the record, I am a responsible iPod user. If I can’t hear someone talking to me even with my buds in, then it’s too loud. I want to be able to listen to “Alive” when I’m 80.

    I absolutly agree with the whole Facebook/MSN/email argument though. That has definitely made it easier not to talk to anyone. It’s pretty ridiculous when I sit in my cubicle at work and I’m emailing the person next to me instead of just standing up and talking to them. It makes me feel like an emotionless drone. So I get up and talk as much as possible.

    Time to get off the pc and go have a chat with my wife. She is the other human, after all, in this love triangle with the computer.

  36. whackystrings says:

    Scenario: On bus – stick in earbud headphones – power-up mp3 player – realize that volume setting “1” that I had it set to from my previous night’s in-bed enjoyment of Pink Floyd’s “Echoes” is barely whispering through – now turn volume up to “17”….hmmm, better, but now feeling a bit bombarded.

    I am a firm believer in “cans”-styled headphones, especially those of the studio grade – no, not the kind at London Drugs…why? yes, they make me look like a rather masculine Princess Leia {shudder} but the sound is so much better and the volume stays very low due to the superior sound isolation (in and out) qualities.

    Yes, I am concerned about music being the soundtrack of my life as I am out in public. I have come to realize that I am missing out on all the subtleties of sound in our life….but putting aside the social implications of earbud isolation, there is a very real safety matter that we must not forget: cyclists, motorists, and pedestrians are all potential victims/causes of injury by not being fully aware of their surroundings due to mp3 player usage. Yes, motorists, too!

  37. skysosmrt says:

    I believe that there are special jacks that will allow two sets of headphones to listen to the same music player although it’d be better if we saw more people, like back in the day, that walked down the street with ghetto blaster firmly planted on their shoulder. I don’t blare my music that loud as I still want to be able to hear the street sounds. And then there’s other times where it’s just as good to stroll with no music at all. As for screen face time over real face time, it’s all in how you use it. If you solely depend on communicating through your internet, then the isolation starts right there. I still call up friends to chat on the phone but will follow up conversations or make plans via e-mail and social networking sites as well. And I’d gladly prefer to meet up with people in person but it’s a two-way street and both parties have to have the time.

    it’ll be sad when the new generation won’t know how to write a letter.

  38. It’s interesting no one has really mentioned the annoyance of having someone nearby on the bus or SkyTrain blaring their music. The worst I find is when it’s a packed train and there’s somebody at the other end listening to something so loud even I can hear it. (Once it was Marilyn Manson; probably not the most appropriate thing to be blaring in the intimate presence of working adults.) Usually I can hear theirs and can’t hear mine! Personally I don’t like being completely shut out, especially when it comes to safety, but I do find when talking to people I need to take one or both out not just to be polite. I use my iPod on the long commute to keep myself entertained. Last summer, though, I almost never used it on the way home; I preferred taking in the pleasure of my environment, mostly outside the train. I mostly listen to music on the bus/train and when walking long distances.

    I listen to mine at less than halfway on the bus, which means I can’t always hear it very well. I’m shocked when someone else hands me theirs (or if I’ve lent mine to someone) and discover it’s at at least 3/4 volume. Ouch! I’d like to keep my hearing, thanks. When I was younger I tried to get a band going but I didn’t enjoy being in such a loud environment and couldn’t hear myself play/sing. Your iPod doesn’t make you go deaf; you do.

    I had a Sanyo brick-player when I was 15 and enjoyed it a lot while travelling. I still remember feeling like a cool cat listening to Matthew Good Band in the middle of CAPP 10 class.

    Listening to our iPods at work is generally frowned upon as we’re in a very small, open-concept studio but we rotate our playlists over the speakers. It’s true we email each other often instead of turning around but sometimes it works better that way.

    It seems in the Western world we’re “people-haters,” like our busy lifestyles have made us impatient with people and resistant to conversation. We’re in such a hurry we insult people (whether they know it or not) when they, e.g., block the stairwell, cut us off, try to hand us newspapers or take too long making decisions. It’s troubling. Think of the amount of time suburbian dwellers spend alone in their vehicles, too?

  39. Moonlight Graham says:

    I have never owned an Ipod or an Mp3 player. Just listen to music on my PC. I guess i don’t travel enough to want one.

  40. Shermanator says:

    This whole idea of “the way things used to be” is a worthless notion. The fact is, as time moves forward – things change. Its an inevitable fact. So why try to hold on to whats eventually going to leave us. For fuck sakes, if things didn’t change from the way they were 10, 50, or 100 years ago, where would you be? Probably not sitting in a big warm house, not going to the mall to relax, and not listening to iPods.
    I’m sure at your age and beyond your parents had the same thoughts about how these new technologies are changing who we are, but it keeps escalating, some of the things being said in here are so borderline neo-Fabian its ridiculous.

    “it’ll be sad when the new generation won’t know how to write a letter.”

    “Nothing like walking down the sidewalk trying to smile or say hello to someone who doesnt even know you are passing them by.”

    “I think the problem is technology. Not just iPods. But texting, facebook, myspace, and laptops.”

    “…Despite the prevalence of social networks, cell phones, emails, and all this endless technology that was meant to bring people together, I somehow have this feeling lately like we are actually moving backwards…”

    I find it rare in a day when I get a hello from a passer-by, if I’m still writing letters to everyone I know by 2050, Im probably going to dig a deep hole and hide in it. Theres all of this great tech. out there but everyones afraid they’ll “lose their identity” if they use it
    This annoys me.

    “I think even in my own life there was a time when I used to pick up the phone to call friends every couple of days, and now with instant messaging and email, I find that I rarely have the impulse to. It’s guess it’s just far easier to send an email.

    “If we’re not careful, our generation may ultimately be remembered as the one that strolled through life with our heads down and our earbuds in, a generation of people oblivious to all sounds except for that faint static we made ourselves.”

    One second your talking about communicating with your friends and the next its like everyone who uses an some other source of technology to do so becomes an immediate hermit. If its easier to send an email then whats the difference. The phone call was easier then a written letter. A text is easier then a call. Is it convenient? Yes. Does that make it necessarily bad?
    Why should it?
    My iPods great, my cell is great, my hotmail account is great. Has that changed who I am? No , just how I talk to my friends.
    Could I live without it? Of course.
    Its not a respirator.
    It is what it is.
    It plays pretty music.

    Now, I just got a text to go play Rock Band with some friends.
    I will proceed to text back with an inarguable yes.

    ps.
    Marilyn Manson isn’t near as bad as he’s made off to be.

  41. tracy- says:

    [quote comment=”39218″][quote comment=”39177″]My iPod has all ready caused me to have hearing problems. I bring it with me everywhere I go.. I listen to it to and from work (an hour and a half there and an hour and a half back home) And I’ve noticed that since I got it back in June 06 I have had to keep increasing the volume from about half way.. to almost full. The volume I used to have it at is no longer loud, it’s almost too quiet. I’m only 20 years old I shouldn’t be having these type of problems. I guess it’s my fault for loving music too much.[/quote]

    Actually the earphones the iPod comes with aren’t that great. If you listen to your iPod a lot, the max volume slowly decreases. I had the same problem and was amazed at how much my hearing “improved” when I bought a new set of earphones.[/quote]
    I haven’t used iPod earphones for just over a year.. they broke and I decided not to spend 40 bucks and replace them.. but try a new kind. I’m a huge fan of the (I want to say they are JVC) But they are called Marshmellows (I think) they are like earplugs, to when they are in you really can’t hear anything but the music. They are wonderful. I’ve gone through 2 pairs already.

  42. Frozen Tex says:

    [quote comment=”39415″][quote comment=”39218″][quote comment=”39177″]My iPod has all ready caused me to have hearing problems. I bring it with me everywhere I go.. I listen to it to and from work (an hour and a half there and an hour and a half back home) And I’ve noticed that since I got it back in June 06 I have had to keep increasing the volume from about half way.. to almost full. The volume I used to have it at is no longer loud, it’s almost too quiet. I’m only 20 years old I shouldn’t be having these type of problems. I guess it’s my fault for loving music too much.[/quote]

    Actually the earphones the iPod comes with aren’t that great. If you listen to your iPod a lot, the max volume slowly decreases. I had the same problem and was amazed at how much my hearing “improved” when I bought a new set of earphones.[/quote]
    I haven’t used iPod earphones for just over a year.. they broke and I decided not to spend 40 bucks and replace them.. but try a new kind. I’m a huge fan of the (I want to say they are JVC) But they are called Marshmellows (I think) they are like earplugs, to when they are in you really can’t hear anything but the music. They are wonderful. I’ve gone through 2 pairs already.[/quote]

    Sounds like you’ve got noise-cancelling type headphones; I thought about getting some, but I want to be able to hear that bus coming up behind me…

  43. chris f says:

    I think I am the opposite of everyone else here…..I do not own an Ipod or anything that plugs into my ears. I am the annoying person who would happily talk to anyone while taking any kind of transportation. But, I also prefer listening to music through old-fashioned speakers, which are stationed in every major location in my house, including the backyard (no wonder my neighbours hate me).

  44. chris f says:

    That article give me that creepy feeling up the back of my neck….chills.

  45. Duane and friends.

    I should note the reason as to WHY the Zune failed- although the artcle is right and makes a spooky reasoning to the isoationist world (to which I agree with abit- only for conturys to help themselves before they help euchother- thats it) it fails to tell WHY Zune failed:

    wifi was great but it was badly incroperatied- when we shared music, it will only play for three times in which they would want us to BUY the song, further fueling the croperate greed/push to make people buy music. All of that times in to the corperates though- as music is used as a tool for big greedious marketing. People hated it the idea- weather they knew that they weren’t gonna pay (further powering the truth to radioheads lead singer’s (forgot the name), qoute on todays strombo show “young people don’t expct to pay for their music” it wasn’t bitching about it for the record- he thought it was fasancating) or a major complaint to the DRM deal- which is BS and is coming to a stagy downfall- humans just aern’t that stupid

    off topic, yet simlar to what were talking about- it all leads to inslaving the oblivious, fearful and unconious mankind

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