That's a wonderful line--that with personal stereos, we have "the means to multiply the aesthetic potential of any situation." I have very fond memories of listening to Massive Attack's "Mezzanine" in the Sagrada Familia a few years ago. I guess part of the reason personal stereos work for these moments is that with headphones, the music sounds as if it's coming right from the middle of your brain.

"The easiest method of taking an average moment and making it wicked sick is to add fucking rock." -- Xopher Johnson

Homelessness. Global warming. National debt. Government corruption. Avian flu. Social security. Child welfare. Education. and so on. and so on, etc.

*Who's* not paying attention? Look, I have ADHD like nobody's business, but it seems a lot like conservatives are missing much of what goes on in the world. I think what they must really mean is that it's harder to brush past someone quickly as though they don't matter if the person in question doesn't preemptively jump out of the way 'cause they've got their groove on. It forces a busy important conservative to actually *shove* someone in order to make it to that next meeting. Ick... touching people.

But hey, I don't have an ipod, walkman or even a working car stereo at the moment, so maybe I'm biased. (I do have a pretty nice car stereo, it's just broken right now).

I should aso mention that I will cut people off in traffic... I'm not in a hurry, don't have anywhere important to be, and don't hate slow drivers. It's just fun and keeps me from getting too bored at the wheel.

I'm kidding on the square here, but still...

I wonder if what conservatives are really affraid of is what people choose to listen to. Sure, iPods may cut people off from the external, which means a lot of we're constantly being fed messages to fear or buy or just swallow.

What's worse, is if the message on the iPod (e.g., podcasts, socially-conscious music) is actually antithetical to the alternative message pervassive in the world.

I have said before that people place too much importance on being able to listen to the latest Fitty Cent track at any time. And it's true, that by passifying oneself through constant pop, one may become less aware of the ails of socienty that surround us. But, the message may actually stimulate thought, rather than surpress it, in which case, conservatives should be very, very affraid.

I don't think there's any doubt that people use headphones to create personal space for themselves. If the world is crushing in on you (on the subway, for instance), personal music devices are the perfect tools for creating virtual space around you. What I found strange about Pavel's story was that he felt the urge to create virtual space for himself among the trees at St. Moritz. Are natural surroundings so foreign to us, that we need to psychologically separate ourselves from them?

looks pretty much obvios to me. Its not what you choose to listen to that worries them, its the fact that you choose. And even worse - no one can monitor it.

Think podcasts. Anyone can get her messege out for anyone to listen to in anywhere and at anytime they wish. A conservative's nightmare!

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of podcasts are evangelist.

I think it would be cool if Ipods came with weak transmitters and receivers (which could be turned on or off according to user preference) so that if you were on a train, for example, with several other people listening to their ipods, you could tune in. I think this would go some way in addressing the concern that social critics voice that listening to music through headphones is antisocial. Besides that, I think it would be cool if it were technically feasible.

Amazing conversation here!

Yeah, the question of personal choice has long bedeviled modern social conservatives -- in their minds, it's tied inextricably to the emergence of limp-wristed hippie relativism, feminism, abortion (via the idea of a constitutional right to privacy), and pretty much anything else they don't like. So it's perhaps not that surprising that they'd be annoyed by any technology in which choice is the major marketing point.

Clive, I'm sure Corey Hart is a very talented musician, listening to him is nothing to be ashamed of, really...

[falls off chair]

:)

On the other hand, Michael S., Mezzanine in Sagrada Familia? That must have been a trip.

I have definitely experienced this phenomenon myself. Just a few weeks ago I was waiting for my brother to land at the airport and listened to Sun Kil Moon's Tiny Cities (iTunes), I'd be a liar if I said it didn't make me try to look into the strangers around me deeper than I usually do.

I don't think I've ever missed my stop through listening to my iPod, I've missed it plenty of times through reading a book though.

One of the added benefits of wearing a Walkman/IPod in the city, for a woman, is deflecting the comments (rude and otherwise) of male admirers that we are subjected to throughout the day.

I've noticed more and more women keeping their headphones on all the time when they're out in public, and I know for a fact that sometimes they're not even turned on. It just reduces the amount of harassment you get. (This also helps with harassment from religious/homeless crazies).

Considering a few experiences I've had with young men trying *really hard* to get me to take off the headphones and pay attention to them, I would suspect this is where a little of the frustration comes in. You want me to stop whatever I'm doing and flirt with you? You want to give me your horrible dead fetus pamphlet, or your gideon bible? La la la I can't hear you!!

;)

Peter, heh. Tomp, yes, I've missed more stops because of magazines ...

Lizzybeth, that's a really interesting observation, which makes perfect sense!

I'm not going to question the statement that conservatives don't like personal stereos, but the reasons given don't make a lot of sense. Just another of the contradictions of modern American conservatism, I suppose, but there is that very strong strain of individualism that runs through conservative thought, especially among the more libertarian leaning conservatives--you know, a strong defense of personal property rights, a resentment of taxation, and of course an abhorrence of any hint of "collectivism" in economic or social policy. Besides, a product that discourages sharing, so that everyone has to have their own, should be a capitalist's dream.

I guess this is one of those cases where you see how uneasy the alliance is between the free-market types and the social conservatives.