iPods as Social Isolators

No Probs! I am enjoying the site, keep up the great work :)

Hey Chris, I updated the post. Total typo on the Syndney thing. Fixed. Thanks.

Chris here from Sunny (Actually its kinda crappy weather here today) Australia. Yup this is for a High School. The name of the School is International Grammar School. Grammar is just part of the name. O and by the way its spelt Sydney NOT Syndney

Rick...really? That's odd.

Off the subject slightly, but I think a grammar school in aus is a high school, not elementary/ primary school.

Quote: " And iPods isolating people and cell phones where people are talking into thin air in front of other people as if they don't exist does not seem like a step forward in any way. Some media outlets are starting to talk about the issue. But wait a bit and it will be more and more of a prominent issue where the non-techs will start to take notice." Okay, granted, the cell phone thing and the iPods, and the computer isolation--we may have a problem developing. My point is that blaming it on the iPod is silly. This is a social construct that has been building. A few hours with some headphones on isn't the end of the world as we know it, as some media commentators have made it seem. However, the larger issue is an important one that deserves attention. Let's just not make it into iPod bashing just because they are popular. Kim

Wouldn't want any of that nasty social isolating. Get the kids into peer groups, so they can start drinking, shagging and taking the drugs! Ain't no-one gonna socially engineer unsociable bastards like me off the planet. Grrr.

"We should only worry about social isolation as it gets out of hand." Actually, if you look at Silicon Valley and San Francisco as the forbearer of things to come as technology pervades society, the rate of Asperger's Syndrome there is a strong indicator that social isolation is becoming more and more prevalent with people who rely on technology just a tad too much. Don't get me wrong. I like technology, but there's a point where too much is not helpful. And iPods isolating people and cell phones where people are talking into thin air in front of other people as if they don't exist does not seem like a step forward in any way. Some media outlets are starting to talk about the issue. But wait a bit and it will be more and more of a prominent issue where the non-techs will start to take notice.

"A boombox is inherently more social since more people can be included or part of the music." I don't consider a boombox social. It is anti-social. I don't want to hear your music and shouldn't have to. These people are not doing a public service by blaring their music to us. I would much rather see little white ear buds and these people keeping their music to themselves. We have a right to isolate ourselves if we want to and it shouldn't bother anyone else if we aren't a danger because of it (stepping into the path of a car or something else because we are oblivious). We should only worry about social isolation as it gets out of hand. If more and more people spend all of their time only in a world of their own--encouraged to do so by ipods, computers, etc. then we can worry --but to blame one gadget or to do so based on minor usage (a few hours by our choice), seems out of control.

David said: "So is a boombox cranked up to 11. So's a book, a magazine, a conversation with a friend, a daydream, or a ham sandwich." Not the same thing in any way. A boombox is inherently more social since more people can be included or part of the music. Book? Magazine? Conversation? Daydream? Ham sandwich? C'mon. Those are not even close with the social isolation of an iPod. iPod zombies have really irked the hell out of me. Unlike other activities, the only way to get an iPod zombies' attention is to poke them with a stick. And it's worse than walkmans or discmans since the music never ends since there is so much of it. But that said, I have a 60 gig iPod that I love. But I have never used it with headphones; it's strictly connected to my home stereo. I can't imagine living in NYC and locking yourself out of the sights and sounds of daily life; the good, the bad, and the ugly.