Okay, I love my iPod too, but “a new dimension to existence“?? The writer feels connected to all the other earbud-wearers crossing the campus quad; they inhabit a new stratum of society participating in a smug technological superiority and enjoy their music collections in an unprecedented way that represents a major step in human cultural-technological evolution, to listen to this gushing essay. I have the opposite experience when I listen; that I am encased in a shell, oblivious to my social surroundings as well as a salient portion of the ambient environment, and this is not necessarily for the better. Maybe it is because I am not a student confining much of my perambulations to a college campus as the writer does, but I feel more and more that the contexts where I am willing to use it are more and more restricted, as time goes on. And, although it is good at screening out annoying environmental noise, an iPod cannot really be used for background music. I used to take it to the cafe I frequent to sit for a couple of hours with a pot of tea and a book, figuring I would enjoy my own playlist more than the neo-muzak the place plays. But the music from the iPod is so in-my-face that it is not possible to concentrate on a book. So I conclude that my iPod is more for active, deliberate listening, for example while out for a walk with the dog, taking a run or, most frequently these days, to have my entire music collection with me during a long road trip.

And as for adding a new dimension to my existence, probably not unless I add one of these things to my iPod…