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Professor iPod Discusses Device's Social Impact
PurdueGraphicsMan writes "There's an interesting story over at Wired News, involving an interview with UK university professor Dr. Michael Bull, apparently the 'world's leading expert on the social impact of personal stereo devices,' according to The New York Times. The piece also mentions: 'Bull, a lecturer in media and culture at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom, is the author of 'Sounding out the City: Personal Stereos and the Management of Everyday Life', a book Bull calls the 'definitive treatment' of the impact of the Sony Walkman and its descendants.'"
Dr. Bull's work reminds me of Sweden's social engineering efforts. How we use something, how far do we go to utilize the device(s), etc.
Dr. Bull says, "It gives people totally private worlds." While that may be true, it also removes people from social interaction, which is vital for mental health.
It's sorta like the "world's greatest harmonica player, that fat guy in Blues Travelers" or "Zimphire, master of the man flute." They are titles that nobody is competing for.
"There's a lot of studies in the literature that demonstrate with the urban space, the more it's inhabited, the safer you feel. You feel safe if you can feel people there, but you don't want to interact with them."
When I use my iPod in public, I often realize that by avoiding that interaction, I may feel more 'safe' but I am also missing out. Usually I take my iPod headphones out when I'm in a situation where I could interact with people. I like my music, but I think the sense of security is very false.
Whether it's intuition or hard research, more often than not Apple gets it right. The other computer companies usually go for "good enough" and as cheap as they can make it, and that got them market share but not that much loyalty. Now that the computer companies are being forced by reduced margins into the consumer electronic space, they are going to be faced with a different mindset. People who buy electronic widgets do not say, "Hey, who cares if it's a beige box, I don't care what it looks like, I just want cheap!" Instead people want stereos and televisions and DVD players that have quality features and look good with the rest of their stuff. Low price works to some degree here, but high-end does quite well too.
Apple has been there all along. There's a reason Apple users tend to be loyal despite the occasional hiccups from Apple and historically higher margins: They get it right. And boy does that matter in the consumer electronic marketplace. For proof of that, just walk around any large city and count the iPods. They got it right.
Social interaction is vital, but it's not all mentally healthy. I used to be a regular bus commuter, and I was forced to interact with all kinds of people on the bus and at the bus stop, many of whom were unpleasant to be forced into close proximity.
A good Walkman was *vital* for my mental health.
And when I was in college walking to/from class or wherever, a good walkman made the walk more enjoyable. It's not like I was going to have a social interaction with 99.9999% of the strangers I walked past in the first place.
Under normal use, the battery has no problems. Under heavy usage situations, battery life can decline (as is also the case with most phones, PDAs, laptops, and anything else with a non-replacable lithium battery). Apple offers a battery-replacement service for $99, or you can do it yourself for half the price. Battery replacement is also covered by AppleCare. I fail to see where this is an issue,unless you think that Apple should wave a magic wand and create a perfect battery, or that iPods should be enlarged to make rare battery replacements more convenient.
It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
I feel the need to mention that (a) anecdotal evidence like this is prima facie absurd since by definition it is a non-representative sample, and (b) i, my father, sister and several of my friends all have iPods, and none have had any problems so for whatever specious value you attribute to your anecdote, my anecdote must even it out.
"Stumble before you crawl"
As far as "social isolation" goes, the iPod is not really any different than any other personal stereo device made in the past 20 years. Long before I had an iPod, I had a personal cassette player, a personal radio, a personal CD player, and yes, even a Rio 500. The iPod is better in the sense that it stores my entire CD collection. That fact sells iPods, but doesn't change the social relationship of the device.
Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
What the hell are they doing with them? Throwing them against a wall?
I've had my iPod for over a year and it's been working fine. I've had a couple of "oh no" moments when it made a short fall to the floor (2 feet or so), but it's been running fine. And I get excellent battery life.
iPod's battery isn't user-serviceable if you want to keep your warranty.
If it's under warranty, the battery replacement is free, so why would you want to crack it open yourself, anyways?
Hmm. Good point. I have to admit I didn't think about that. That said, if yours and Apple's definition of "dead battery" is different, you may have trouble. Also, if my battery is dead after 13 months (I bought mine before the extended warranty program), I still won't be happy. Point taken however.
Please enlighten me, what's so different between an iPod and Discman, MD player or a shitty RCA mp3 player from RadioShak ? We get all those articles about how iPod changes social relationships and such. Take the article about some people plugging their headphones into other people's iPods. What is so different about iPod that it deserves that much attention and an article ? I am sure many people did that before iPod, in the era of MD player and Discman. Now this article. What is the point here ? That iPod is somehow special and turns people into musicheads ? How is that different than me listening to $10 AM/FM radio on the bus ? Bullshit I say.
I punched a baby once.
it's not so often i come across people singing in the pubs anymore. old fellows, sure, but it's not so wide spread. Playing instruments, reading, even real conversations are being sweapt aside for game boy, iPod, and mobile phones.
It used to be only doctors had pagers and cellphones. now every schmuck in the world has them and they use them all the time with total disregard for those around them.
screw reading the newspaper on my morning metro ride! I'm going to lsiten to my iPod and chat on AIM via my mobile phone!!
and people wonder why the younger generation gets stupider and stupider. It may have a lot to do with hippie pot smoking parents, but i think the widespread use of mind numbing electionic devices is more responsible.
they do make excellent substitutes for actually raising your kids though.
Good for you! However, I've got 4000 CD quality songs on my 4.1 x 2.4 x .62" iPod with tracking of my favorite songs, play counts, custom playlists without re-burning CDs. It works WAY better for my needs than your CD MP3 player, so $400 is not too much for all those functions. If you want to bring all your contacts with you and transfer files between sites using firewire or USB 2.0, there's even more reason.
It's always a favorite thing of anti-iPod folks to say that it's only a "personal radio", but you sound like my Dad bitching at me when I was 15 for liking that "new-fangled acid rock". A bit outta touch....
Zed's dead baby. Zed's dead.
Anecdotal evidence about the battery replacement snafu seems to have been effective. It sure got Apple to change plans quickly in order to save face.
-- You see, there would be these conclusions that you could jump to
The most use that my iPod gets is playing a 48 minute playlist that I use for cycling. It's the same songs every time. There's a 45 second track at the beginning to give me time to get up on my bike, a 1 minute song near the end by NoFX to keep my RPMs high in my final sprint, and the song 'Sci-Fi Wasabi' by Cibbo Matto at the end for me to cool down with. I ride 3 - 5 times a week. It's important for me to listen to the same music every time.
That said, whenever I'm not cycling, I've got my playlist on random (actually, I've got a playlist of my least played songs rated 3 - 5 that's on random). I've got an iTrip, so I listen to it on the weekends when I drive around doing errands.
But anyway, there's lots of reasons to listen to a limited playlist.
This guy's got hit the nail right on the head. Mind you, i've seen a couple people with them, most of the time, this is based on assumptions, just because I see the white headphones. I also know 2 people who own them. However, I see at least 1/3 of people in the 16-30 age bracket with some form of personal music device. 80% of them are CD players. And nobody goes on and raves about the social impacts of these things.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
I don't know anyone who even has an iPod, but I know lots of people who have portable cd players, for instance - many of which can play mp3 discs. I did see an iPod in CompUSA, once.
I submit that the iPod hasn't had any meaningful social effect, but that digital music, in general, has had quite a bit of impact in popularizing [to joe shmo] the notion of intangible intellectual property.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
But really, who listens to that many songs in their rotation? I burn three or four cd-rw's with 400 songs each and I am set.
Me. I REALLY REALLY love music. It is #2 next to breathing on my priority list. I never know what I'll want to listen to and CDs are major, hassling, inconvenient, bulky, old hat now after seeing the light. I can listen to anything in my collection, any time I want, wherever I want, whenever I want.
I'm not saying that's for everyone, but for a HUGE music fan, it's gotta say something. It's a matter of degrees of music obsession perhaps.
Zed's dead baby. Zed's dead.
ok....so he's been at it for three years, going on four now.
The point the first poster was trying to make is be wary of folks that are called "experts" on topics like this.
Academia has a strange way of annoiting people with "expert" titles for things. You'd be shocked how many of these so called "experts" are bluffing their way through. I'm not saying their ALL like that, but seriously, there are a lot. I mean really, look at the guy they refer to. He's been at it for THREE YEARS. There are other people that have been at this for much longer, who are likely more worthy of the title "expert".
Those of you with jobs at universities will know what I'm talking about.
Ok so I don't own a iPod, I own a competeing product that's similar in size and capacity, and I only use it about an hour a day whenever I'm exercising. It's not attached to my head 24/7, and I don't understand how a simple mp3 player can have any impact on society. Cellphone sure, but mp3 player?
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
What your two anecdotes together establish is that in the absence of additional evidence, it appears that a certain non-zero percentage of iPods are faulty. Enough to construct a hypothesis that there may be something warranting further investigation. So in no sense is his anecdote "absurd." It's quite useful to me since it indicates something I might want to research before plunking down $400.
It's also a bit of unintended irony to use the legalese expression prima facie, since it's in a court of law that eyewitness (by definition anecdotal) testimony bears the most weight.
And before you are quick to whip out a response where you parrot further misinterpretations of Logical Fallacies 101, really reflect for a moment and consider how frequently you rely upon anecdotal evidence in your daily life. It's an indispensible tool. Just not a perfect one.
There are two kinds of people: 1) those who start arrays with one and 1) those who start them with zero.
However, I've got 4000 CD quality songs on my 4.1 x 2.4 x .62" iPod with tracking of my favorite songs, play counts, custom playlists without re-burning CDs.
Your point is interesting, but the cost issue still is most important for me.
The MP3 CD player is about three times larger than the iPod, still small but not shirt pocket size. The internal media storage of the iPod is a real plus, but storing 4000 songs on DVD-ROM takes only five disks. Assuming about five megabytes per song, it is about 28 CDs (a quarter stack). Larger, but still not an overwhelming issue.
But the cost of the stereo and the media is really different for the same functionality. 28 CDRs at 14 cents each is about $4 US and the CD stereo is $20. $400 vs. $24 for a package that is about four times as large. And 52x CD burners going for $40 meets the advantages of FireWire and USB2. Plus CDs are the universal media. Everybody will be able to read them with their computer.
There still are real advantages to having a stereo and complete music collection in the size of a pack of cigarettes or cell phone. But in five years, iPod clones will be selling for $20, the Apple units won't be collectable, Apple will stop supporting them, batteries will be unavailable, and something else really expensive will be cool.
Your comment about the disadvantages of using a CD player as a personal stereo are true and poignant. However, your argument that a $400 iPod is inherently superior than a $20 CD player with a mini CD stack is dependent on the unspoken assumption that there is an extra $400 to spend on a personal stereo.
If there is, then, yes, your reasoning trumps mine. But if all you have is $20 for a personal stereo, then having a CD player is far better than having no iPod.
The iPod is the latest of the Steve Jobs lifestyle accessories collection. Which is cool if you're a billlonaire who loves toys. Unfortunately Mr. Jobs fails to realize the extent that his presence in the media extolling cool toys that make him a ton of money is really getting irritating to all the rest of us on Planet Techno.
We tolerate him because we know that he's more often right, AND his toys will be available in a few years at a small fraction of the Jobs price.
Yet another person who's not going to buy an iPod.
Not exactly.
It's more Yet another person who's not going to buy an iPod but is going to get all the function and utility of the iPod experience and is willing to share the technical tips on how to do it to anyone who is interested.
"...Nobody cares..."
Not exactly correct there either. Millions of people who would buy an iPod if they weren't so expensive care. And they are willing to trade time to learn about the less costly alternatives, AND they are willing to give lots of money to the people who both provide them with alternatives and provide them with the information that they need to chose the one alternative to the iPod that is best for them.
Steven Jobs brought us the Mac computer. But it was just too expensive. Bill Gates created a inexpensive alternative and all the 'nobody cares' people made him the richest person on the planet.
No, it shows that poster number one (if he isn't trolling) knows some people who break their iPods a lot.
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
"buy an MP3 CD player" is not a brilliant technical insight there, Sparky.
Millions of people HAVE bought iPods, and think they're worth every penny. You have a different opinion, and that's just dandy. It's just not an opinion that is of any value or insight to anybody else.
I'd rather be Steve Jobs than Bill Gates any day. Both of them are megalomaniacal freaks, but at least Jobs' design philosophy makes products people actually enjoy using.
Richest man in the world? Sure, that'd be great, but not if I had to sell my integrity to do it. That's what Gates has done, time and again. I wouldn't make the same choices he did.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
This is plain and simple rubbish. I would rather listen to music in the car any day rather than some personal audio device. "Better" should be relaced with "more flexible" and then this would read true.
Music is about interaction. The most enjoyable moments when listening to music are usually the times when you are alone with it. Body movements come out easily as a reaction to your enjoyment. This can be done in the car but if you are doing it on the train most people are just going to look at you real funny (and perhaps point and laugh). The car also offers decent audio quality where you can feel the music rather than simply hear it.
Even though an ipod like device certainly makes my comute and other mindless boring moments far more enjoyable, its is far from my most enjoyable moments listening to music. I usually get home and put the same song I was listening to on the my 'real' stereo. Only then can I really enjoy it.
I think you are mistaking Bill Gates for somebody else - Microsoft never designed a computer yet. IBM invented what is now called a PC, and it was made affordable by various clone makers who ripped off the IBM design.
Microsoft's contribution was to sell an OS they didn't own to IBM, and then buy the OS from the owners without telling them about the IBM deal.
All right, I've gotten sucked into this pointless argument.
Absolutely anything can be stolen. Do you always buy the crappiest bike or car because "it can be stolen"? Crappiest TV and stereo? I suppose if all your belongings have as little value as possible then that may mitigate the likelyhood of thievery.
What was my point? Oh yeah. Anything can be stolen. You're better off worrying about securing what you have, than trying to make your possesions unappealing to potential thieves. I could steal your house with the proper equipment and motivation.
If it's not on fire, it's a software problem.
Having been a supporter of mp3 players for a while, I previously had the first Rio available, then went to mp3cd, had the first mp3cd available, then went with another mp3cd player.. and recently just got the iPod.
I by far like the iPod the best out of any of them. Firewire interface is great, was able to fill 15 gb within a couple of minutes.. I've found myself now listening to it on the way to my car, while folding laundry, in my car with iTrip FM broadcaster.. The size of the actual device, the ease of use of the interface and buttons, the large storage capacity, are all amazing.. battery life is enough to get me through a full day of work to.
Inherently superior? Surely not. Has a lot of advantages, that make people who spent the money feel like it was worthwhile? Arguably, yes.
The iPod isn't competing against your $20 CD player. They are after different segments of the market. To pretend otherwise is just silly.
I guaran-damn-tee you that fewer people lust over an Audiophase CD player than an iPod.
Steve Jobs might irritate you, because you don't think his stuff is of sufficient value to pay for it. That's cool. But, for those of us who ARE willing to spend money on good design and engineering, we say "Go Steve go!"
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!