iPod Sociology

Mar. 31, 2011

By Alex Allison info

Alexander J. Allison (b. 1991) is a poet from London living in York. He has work published or forthcoming in ...

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I try to value my time in London. Returning to home from University can feel akin to spiritual rebirth; the getting back in touch with a more ‘real’ world. With more than a little glee, I like to indulge in the city, exploiting it in ways I had been too lax or lazy to bother with during the years I lived here full-time. Consequently, whist home, my perceptions of the city have been altered and heightened, and one of the things for me which has grown from passing observation to sustained inquiry is the change I’ve observed in people’s headphone habits.

Of all the portable trendsetting technological innovations, the iPod stands head-and-shoulders above all other machines who exist as a devoted commodities. Though handheld games consoles are widely used, more so now than ever before, it is almost novel to see one being used in a public setting. Perhaps assumptions WRT the ‘childish’ nature of playing games has limited their public audience somewhat. Also, unlike MP3 players, handheld games consoles demand complete engagement, where both hands are at constant attention. Music holds a universal appeal when placed in comparison, plus the MP3 is happy to sit in a pocket and blast out a playlist at your convenience.

Henceforth, it came as more of a revelation when I realised upon my return to the city how few people had headphones in (or over) their ears. I can vividly remember back to 2005/6 (around the initial boom of iPod’s dominance), seeing everyone with white buds sprouting from their ears. I remember both envying the commuters who could afford the machines (they who weren’t confined to the dumb old silent literature that I had to occupy myself with), and simultaneously resenting them for being selfish enough to dare to distract me with the whirring internal mechanisms that plumbed inevitably bad music to their brain.

Even back then, it was rare to see someone on the underground ever just listening to music. It was typically music and work, or music and the morning paper, or music and their accompanying laptop. Regardless, the music was there. It spanned an enviable age bracket. In school, iPods were justified to me as a ‘cool’ commodity by being an item worth mugging someone for.

Whilst my observations in London are by no means a scientific study, I have found myself trying to hypothesise why people would have stopped using their iPods. Music has not lost its popularity, despite Rebecca Black’s best efforts, and Apple is still experiencing great levels of commercial success. So far, I have come up with four depressingly viable possibilities:

  1. Since the functionality of mobile phones have been combined with MP3 software, people prefer to conserve their battery life for the more important phone based functions
  2. Over the past six to seven years, most MP3 users have exhausted their music tastes and grown sick of the entire content their libraries, never finding the time or finances to clear it out and start afresh with new material.
  3. Since Apple advertises itself as a fashion statement or lifestyle choice, and Apple technology evolves so quickly, people are ashamed to be using older models of their hardware and are reluctant to keep up to date.
  4. The world is more dangerous/people are more afraid of being mugged for their even more expensive machines.

Of course, these hypotheses are not mutually exclusive. I would also remind the reader that these are a geographically located observation and not a broad speculation on the inevitable decline of mobile media. My purpose in writing this article is to provoke your attention, and explore the possibility that this might be a more global phenomenon.

Please comment with your findings! TC mark

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  • https://twitter.com/#!/nvvmxac danne rassle

    iPod says you enjoy music
    iPhone says you might be a prick

  • crstbl

    puede ser que la música actual apeste tb no?

  • Tim

    Boy, you need an editor. I believe in paragraph 2 you mean appeal, not appear. And your list is four items long, not five.

    Anyway, it's nice to hear that iPod use is dying down in London maybe just a little. I listen to music on the bus somedays, but mostly I read, and it's much more enjoyable way to spend the trip if I'm honest with myself.

    I don't really have so much of a problem with all-encompassing iPod usage, it's the people who blast their music at ridiculous volumes that frustrates me. As a middle class white kid I want to yell at them, didn't your mother tell you you're going to lose your hearing (…like mine did)?

    • Alex Allison

      thanks for picking up on this. the list was originally five long. much obliged.

  • jmbg

    *four depressingly viable possibilities

  • Caaalebbb

    maybe we were more carefree in our relationship with music in 2005/2006 before the relationship 'evolved' into an uptight an unhealthy self awareness…

  • Guest

    based on my non-scientific observations of new york, about 50-65% of people still use iPods. Mostly they are the younger ones.

  • burgy

    not in so-cal. i see people at the grocery store listening to their ipods while they shop.

  • http://phmadore.com P. H. Madore

    Pardon me, but don't more people have cell phones than iPods — far and away?

  • http://twitter.com/brownnnbear Jocelyn

    from what i've seen [esp. working at a computer store], more people are utilizing the built-in music player on their phones rather than having two devices. & especially with the boom of semi-affordable smart phones like iphones & droids, they can handle playing music, social networking, calls, texts, games, etc. versus an ipod that only plays music & maybe a game or two.

  • EmiliaBedelia

    this is pretty interesting! i honestly haven't noticed, since i'm too disengaged in my ipod-sphere to look at those around me. but if people aren't listening to music in public spaces what are they doing? they certainly aren't being social… is more time being dedicating to crafting networking profiles? hmm

  • http://thetimewornwhat.blogspot.com/ shaun gannon

    why hasnt richard posted the 3 ipods yet

  • PERFECTCIRCLES

    I listen to music while I can read (sitting on train, bus, carriage, etc.) and listen to podcasts while I'm in motion (walking, crawling, dancing, etc.).

  • http://richardchiem.blogspot.com richard chiem

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  • Jigaboo

    it died for the same reason facebook will die in 2020

  • breezie28

    I listen to the ipod function on my phone everywhere I go…I for one have not gotten over having my music be my personal to my life.

  • Lucia

    Maybe they like taking in the sounds of the city. Headphones create a bubble around you. Nobody will talk to you. It will make you even more lonely than the average city dweller. Maybe Londoners aren't afraid of their own thoughts so they don't need to be permanently distracted.

  • NCK

    I disagree with all of these.

    1) Yes, phones have combined MP3 capabilities, but they hold a paltry amount of music and thus can not perform the same as an ipod. Plus, people didn't toss their ipod when they got their new phone. They have at least two pockets, so carrying both is viable.
    2) The internet is full of ways to find new and related music through websites like last.fm, pandora, and the traditional music reviewers. Also, cost of music is only an impediment to those who have impeccable morals and don't steal their music.
    3) I think this would only apply to the most narcissistic of the “early adapters.”
    4) Violent crime has been decreasing in the US for the last 10 years. Not sure about London, tho, but it's worth digging up.

    I started college in 05/06. Coming from a small, poor, rural town to a college town with many affluent students, I, too noticed ipods everywhere. I was shocked at how shut off and unfriendly – even rude – these ipod people were. I thought I would never be that way. Then I got a new car with ipod capabilities and traded in my stack of CD cases for an ipod. Then the unthinkable happened…

    • Alex Allison

      thanks for your insight bro.

  • http://twitter.com/RussWCheney Russ Cheney

    completely agree with your 2nd reason. Ipod, or any portable music device for that matter, has “conditioned” us to listen to music differently… for the average/casual listener anyways. It's made us passive listeners. Your not truly listening while your reading or writing. I've noticed in transit they're often used as social detterents; people think since they're occupying one of their main senses other people won't try and start a conversation with them.

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