It’s been just about 18 months since I’ve been carrying my MP3 player almost everywhere. I don’t think about it any more — unless I run it out of content and forget to reload. That happened recently and I was forced to turn on the radio in my car.
And just as quickly shut it off again.
Scrabbling thru my playlist I found a couple of podcasts that were worthy of a re-run and let them play rather than listen to the aggravating babble on the airwaves.
I realized at that moment that my iRiver has become the sound track in my life. Sometimes it’s music, mostly it’s not. But I’ve noticed some things that are different now than BP (Before Podcasts).
Start with the easy one … I don’t have to wait for a good story to get over before I get out of the car. The first time I noticed this it kinda weirded me out. I pulled into my parking space, shut off the engine, and was halfway across the parking lot before I actually twigged that the lecture I was listening to in my buds never paused. In the past, I’d been known to have what Public Radio refers to in their pledge drives as “driveway moments” waiting for that engaging story to end. No more.
Next, is the sound itself. Yes, it’s a buffer against the outside world, but as a 50-something male of industrial decent, I confess freely that I don’t hear as well as I used to. It’s embarassing to have to ask people to repeat themselves all the time. Now, if somebody speaks to me, they have to get my attention first and as I pop out an earbud, the most natural thing is to get that repetition — which I usually am able to make out when they’re actually looking at me and I can pay attention to them. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
And on the subject of hearing loss … I’m too old to worry about it. I’d already lost a lot of it before I ever saw an MP3 player … what I have left, I plan to use. And I can’t even make you understand what it’s like to be able to hear clearly without having to answer the age old question, “CAN YOU HEAR IT?!” Yes, it’s probably accelerating the inevitable. But I might get hit by a truck tomorrow, too, and if I do, I’m not gonna lay there bleeding out and think, “If I’d only been better to my ears…”
Beyond that, having access to content from around the world always on tap has been amazing. I have my favorite shows but I listen to a lot of stuff just on the chance that I’ll find out something odd. The BBC has some downloads that are by turns fascinating, aggravating, and put-you-to-sleep-in-5-minutes-flat boring. But that’s the beauty of it. If it’s boring, a quick flip of the finger and we’re onto the next track — music from Africa, or a political speech from the Carribean, or a key note address from a recent conference.
There are some downsides. I don’t have a lot of time when I’m just thinking quietly. Yes, I can — and do — turn it off periodically so I can concentrate on something — like this post. But before long, I find I crave the input.
I’m not sure what all this means beyond the obvious. My digital input continues even when I’m away from the keyboard. I listen when I walk or drive — or washing dishes or folding laundry. Lots of times I’ll sit at the computer and plug in the buds while I’m doing some routine task. Along the way I ponder this as an “educational medium” and I kinda hope it never gets to be known for “being educational.”
I’m learning too much from it now to have it reduced to being “educational.”