ipod before social skills/safety

[kirant]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

The ability to hear the outside world is the difference I'd imagine.

Or hear at all in a few years I assume.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by holden

Whats the difference between having ear buds in, or having it on the stereo? Is it really 'insane' ?

Unless you have really bad ear buds, they cut off a lot of the noise that you could normally hear with just the car speakers blaring.

From time to time I do listen to podcasts in my car, but I only ever have one ear bud in for this exact reason. (my adapter won't work in my car)

My uncle once listed "watching the office on my ipod while driving home" as one of the things he likes to do on his Facebook page. A week or so after he posted it, it disappeared. Understandably, he got a lot of flak for it.

[nik-]

Everyday I have to resist the incredibly strong urge to bodycheck someone walking with their head down buried in a Blackberry.

[Weiser Wonder]

Originally Posted by macker

Lately everywhere I go I seem to run into ipod situations....
-ipod dog walkers : almost ride (bike) right over them, as they walk with their heads down
-ipod drivers : not sure why with all the technology but they are out there...
-ipod shoppers : bumping around oblivious to the outside world
-ipod kid : "in the back seat" "with their arms folded tight" "Win Butler"
-ipod racer : why even show up to a public race? If you didn't are you sure anyone would miss you? Just go for a long run/bike on your own on an open stretch I am sure you will get the same effect. I have done a few tri's this year and it is great that they don't allow ipods...
-ipod dad/parent : On holidays and then recently at the Heritage Day/Princess Island event. Why be around your family with your ipod on? Time to tune in...guess the ipod kids need to learn somewhere....even this situation is beyond one ear bud in....any stats out there on ipod related deaths or injuries.....correlations between being plugged in and diminishing social skills?..any good books on this topic? Based on my experiences I am interested....Cool story bro I know....but you could always skip to the end or shuffle

I get not driving with headphones on, but the rest of these are absolutely lame. Who really cares when or where someone listens to their iPod? So people like listening to music and running or walking or riding in the car. It's not indicative of anything more than people like music. Walkmans have been around for a long time, this isn't anything new.

[Engine09]

"Back in the day" you had to really be into music to buy one of the bulky cassette walkmans.

Nothing but poseurs today, people who don't even like music suddenly have to have the fruity white ear buds in wherever they go playing some horrid sounding 96k mp3.

[Coach]

I dont see why I cant listen to my iPod if Im walking by myself or shopping by myself. Isnt that what theyre for? Im not there to socialize with anyone. Actually when Im shopping its great if I dont want to be annoyed by sales people. I understand and agree with the driving thing but a lot of these things are exactly why people have iPods in the first place.

PS: I take offence to the notion that if a young person is listening to their iPod they must be pumping Lady Gaga. Some of us have taste.

[Pinner]

Originally Posted by Kryzsky

"Back in the day" you had to really be into music to buy one of the bulky cassette walkmans.

And they were $250 30 yr's ago, big money then.

[Acey]

I admit to having a bit of a Twitter addiction. In the last while I've made a serious effort to just throw my phone on silent and leave it in my pocket. I'd imagine I'm somewhat irritating to be around when I read tweets every 5 minutes.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by MattyC

I dont see why I cant listen to my iPod if Im walking by myself or shopping by myself. Isnt that what theyre for? Im not there to socialize with anyone. Actually when Im shopping its great if I dont want to be annoyed by sales people. I understand and agree with the driving thing but a lot of these things are exactly why people have iPods in the first place.

PS: I take offence to the notion that if a young person is listening to their iPod they must be pumping Lady Gaga. Some of us have taste.

I think the problem is, if everyone gets into that habit, eventually nobody will have any real spontaneous social skills. People will develop some sort of form of iPod autism where everyone is immersed in their own little worlds. We are already seeing how technology is making people more anti social with the phone cam voyeur effect. a lot of people now are more interested in producing the best new youtube or liveleak video than they are in actually helping.

[JustAnotherGuy]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Downtime = playing a game sitting in a restaurant?

That kid will just become one of those people who sit among friends at a table, only to stare at their cell phone in an awkward silence.

There is usually a time and place for certain things. Playing a game and ignoring others in your immediate surrounding is not nor should it be accepted by parents as socially acceptable behavior.

I am not talking about for the entire meal and giving bad attitude if told/asked to put it away. I am talking about some down time as the family chills for a bit after a busy day.

I could be wrong. Although my daughter is going into grade 12 and is very social and well balanced and getting very good grades.

I suppose I should not have let her play that electronic game for a few minutes when we want out for a meal after a busy day.

Yes, kids need some of their own mental space after a busy school day. Just like adults need some down time too.

[JustAnotherGuy]

Originally Posted by Pinner

I hope your daughter is not a kid. If she needs downtime from being a kid, something is wrong with that.

Going out for dinner as a family was a fun, special thing for me/us as a kid

Everybody needs down time. Even kids. Do you have children?

These days dinner out as family is alot about part of the busy day. Especially with both parents working.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by The Goon

People drive while listening to their iPod...as in with ear/headphones? That's insane.

No, what’s insane is seeing bus drivers do this, left ear only of course so passengers hopefully don’t notice....something I see with alarming frequency.

[3 Justin 3]

I always have my iPod in, except at social occasions, whats the problem with having it in when I am alone grocery shopping or walking around the mall?

I am driving to Kelowna on Saturday and they'll be in the whole time (I have never done that before) because I don't want my parents to suffer from my choice of music which I know they hate, and I only have the one earbud in, the other is open.

[Pinner]

Originally Posted by JustAnotherGuy

These days dinner out as family is alot about part of the busy day. Especially with both parents working.

Exactly my point, if Canadians, living in the wealthiest country in the world need both parents working, and their kids are missing a carefree childhood, we are doing it wrong. You got the rest of your live to be busy, kids can only be kids for a short time.

Nothing personal JAG

[STeeLy]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

No, what’s insane is seeing bus drivers do this, left ear only of course so passengers hopefully don’t notice....something I see with alarming frequency.

Can you see their iPod? Or could it be their handsfree device for their phone and they decide to use the wired one instead of a bluetooth?

When I'm driving out of town, chances are, there will be an ear bud in my left ear. Why? not because I'm listening to music, but rather, that's the handsfree for my phone. I don't need bluetooth when a wired one comes with my phone.

If I'm trying to talk to someone and they have their earbuds/headphones on, I'd find that extremely rude if they don't take them off, like hang it around your neck or something so they're not directly in or on your ears.

Otherwise, if they're doing some sort of individual activity (running walking, jogging), I have no problems with provided that they are visually aware of their surroundings so that they don't run into traffic and such. when you're drowned out in your music, you may be less attentive than you are without music.

[Russic]

I'm surprised to see the annoyance towards people just out and about listening to iPods. What other people choose to do while buying milk or picking up some cereal is really none of my business so I'm not sure why if I want to listen to music while shopping it should bother anybody else.

I'm a social person, I enjoy getting out and being with people I like. Striking up a conversation with a stranger in a safeway though is not my idea of a fun time.

As for concerns of safety i absolutely agree. When driving you should be focused as much as you can on the road (and that goes for stereos that are loud enough to drown out external noise too IMO). I also see the perspective of some parents letting their kids use ds's and iPods. It might not be my thing, but who am I to tell others how to raise their kids? Hopefully they screw them up socially enough that my kid has a better shot at the job pool when he gets out of school.

If you're jut going about your business though in an activity that doesn't require you to be attentive for the safety of others then I see no problems.

[MrMastodonFarm]

I would think being taken out for diner is a chance to unwind, for parents and children alike.

I remember really wanting to finish that Tetris game on my Gameboy as a kid, but it didn't kill me when my parents wouldn't let me bring it to Boston Pizza night.

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by Russic

I'm surprised to see the annoyance towards people just out and about listening to iPods. What other people choose to do while buying milk or picking up some cereal is really none of my business so I'm not sure why if I want to listen to music while shopping it should bother anybody else.

I'm a social person, I enjoy getting out and being with people I like. Striking up a conversation with a stranger in a safeway though is not my idea of a fun time.

This is exactly how I feel. I wear headphones to the store because I usually walk there and want to listen to music or podcasts. I take them off when I'm at a counter or cashier and need to talk. I'm not being anti-social, just enjoying something I love while doing a chore.

But I do think it is rude to text, or anything like that, when you're out in a social situation. That tells me you'd rather be somewhere (or with someone) else.

[STeeLy]

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

But I do think it is rude to text, or anything like that, when you're out in a social situation. That tells me you'd rather be somewhere (or with someone) else.

I don't think that is necessarily so... if I'm out with a group of friends and my buddy texts me something that is absolutely urgent, I'm sorry, but I'm going to text back.

I get a lot of long distance texts mainly because I move around a fair bit. If one of those out of province texts was from a friend saying they're about to do something stupid, I'm going to do my best, then and there to stop it, I'm not going to wait.

P.S. I'm not supporting texting in social situations, I'm just saying that sometimes, it's necessary.

[DownInFlames]

That's cool. It's the people who do it constantly who are rude.