Walk down the street, sit on a train, or fly on a plane, and what do you see? Most likely, many people with wires coming out of their ears. They’ve got earphones stuffed deep into their eardrums, drowning out the sounds of the world by blasting music directly into their brains.
I do this too. In fact I love listening to music while I’m on the go.
But I started thinking, what if we all spent a day without iPods or other music players crammed into our ears? What would happen?
Maybe instead of running away from our world by short-circuiting one of our senses, we could stop to appreciate it. Or at least acknowledge it.
We could all hear the sounds of the world around us for a change. We’d have a new appreciation for the people in our world. We could hear someone saying, “Excuse me” as they are trying to get by us. We might have a conversation with someone we wouldn’t normally talk to. We’d save our ears from a day’s worth of pounding, a day’s worth of hearing loss.
We would also hear a baby crying or a couple fighting. Sounds that might be considered unpleasant. We would learn to face this kind of reality even when we’re not used to doing so.
It can’t be that tough to deal with. After all, portable music was only invented recently. Somehow, we humans made it 200,000 years without portable music. Surely we could handle one more day without it.
Putting down our iPods for a day doesn’t mean we have to stop listening to music. We could listen to it on the stereo, or go to a concert. Listen to music in an open space, with other people, instead of closing ourselves off from the world.
And I’m not saying we should all toss out our earphones for good. On the contrary, a day without iPods will encourage us to appreciate even more the technology that we enjoy almost every other day.
Are you with me? Let’s do this for real.
I propose Wednesday, February 29th. On that day, everyone in the world who is interested in participating will go without using iPods (or other music players with earphones) for one day. From the time you wake up until the time you go to sleep.
I picked that day for two reasons. One, I have a long train trip scheduled for that day. It’s sure to be a challenge for myself personally. Two, it’s February 29th, a leap year. There’s something symbolically interesting about making that the day without earphones.
If you’d like to participate, just don’t put earphones in your ears on that day. That’s it. If you want to help even more, you can share this blog post with your friends on Facebook or wherever.
Want to get an email reminder about No iPod Day? Enter your email below. I’ll only email you about No iPod Day. Promise.
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I choose to run without music. We as humans need time to be out in nature with no distractions. It is my opportunity to think what I want without having my choice in music impact my thoughts. I focus on my breathing, my cadence and once in a while I am able to avoid being nailed by a cyclist or a car.
Ha ha ha! Watch out for those cars.
I am not into running but I suspect I’d be tempted to always wear my iPod if I did. I think you’re right there’s something beneficial to us humans — something humanizing — about being exposed to the outside world, unvarnished.
Thanks Alex
I am 52 I have worked in the Tech industry for 32 years, and have become increasingly concerned about the banality of people’s everyday closed lives and the dominance of triviality new technology has brought. I undfortunately spend alot of time on aircraft. It astonishes me, particularly in the middle east, that people no longer seem able to board an aircraft or depart one without having a banal conversation which I have to share whilst seated in their aircraft seat. People walk the streets no longer engaging with those around them, but focussed on their little screen tweeting or face booking, One day they will look up and realize that apples grow on trees and are not only from that nice little store on the high street.
Thanks Kevin. Yes I do appreciate being able to reach other people with a couple clicks of the button on my phone, but when you do that too often or fail to pay attention to what’s going on around you, you really start to miss out on life as it passes you by. Not miss out on it entirely of course but you can start missing out on the richness of what’s around you when distracted by the little bits of information on your phone. Thanks for stopping by.
Saturday is my no pc day so I totally agree. Having worked in NYC for 20 yrs, I can also agree with the traffic noise issue. All that said, I have noticed a lack of common courtesy from many people who are connected to something electronic especially cell phone users who basically ignore cashiers at grocery stores and nearby people when they assume others are interested in their conversation. Despite the need to minimize traffic noise, i believe ( just my thoughts) that being plugged in can be a real safety issue. Being too shut off from your surroundings on a subway could be dangerous. Sometimes the humm of the city is energizing, sometimes not. All these words just to say I agree with a iPod day!
Thanks for your comment Mary. Yes I lived in NYC for many years and it’s so noisy, I agree it’s really tempting to tune out with headphones. Actually on the 29th I’ll be going into NYC so I’ll have the opportunity to experience the city in all its noisy glory. I actually thought of this idea partially the other day when I was on the subway, with my iPod in as usual, and someone was trying to get off the subway and I was blocking them. But I couldn’t hear them say excuse me. Nobody got hurt or anything! But it did make me think about my habits and whether I might take a voluntary break from the plugged-in life. Cheers
Hi
Perhaps it’s because I’m a musician and auditory-type of person that I disagree with this.
I totally agree that constantly walking round with earphones in and iPod on is a poor idea, but so many people walk round areas that they are so used to and wish they could hear things other than heavy traffic, screaming children and adults, and other disturbing noises. I also travel a lot by train and find it a great place to work (no phone signal!). I find that a 3 hour train journey allows me to be very productive, particularly assisted by a specific playlist of relaxing music. If I don’t use my iPod on the train, I can be easily distracted by others.
Finally, it’s less time to take in the many wonderful podcasts that are around – I feel a whole new world of education and motivation has been opened up since the invention of theiPod. My recommendation – replace listening to one album by taking in a new podcast on a subject that interests you.
Hi Ian, thanks for your comment. I actually agree with everything you said — having some relaxing music playing can be very stimulating. And podcasts are a great way to learn something interesting. I wouldn’t want to take those things away from my life either. If anything I think a day away from iPods will make me appreciate those wonders even more. Of course, I think it’s also an educational experience in many ways to NOT listen to music or podcasts and just experience our surroundings and our own thoughts, uncluttered for a change. Even if only for a day. Cheers