iPods, Soma, and Turning On, Tuning In, Dropping Out

Alex Pang has written an insightful and provocative article entitled "From iPod to ourpod: Will it become a more social machine" in the Mercury News, in which he talks about the evolution of personal music technologies (including transistor radios, Sony Walkmans, and portable CD players) that have enabled us to carry our music with us.  Younger people have naturally gravitated toward such devices, as they allow users to escape from being subjected to the musical dictates of their parents (and other authorities). The Applie iPod represents the most advanced instrument for the construction and maintenance of this personal musical space. 

Alex points to a number of interesting social dimensions of widespread iPod use, such as podjacking (momentarily plugging one’s earbuds into another’s iPod) and the sharing of playlists on a computer network, and references a futuristic scenario sketched out by Clay Shirky involving group playlists dynamically constructed at a bar.  [I recently blogged about a number of other prototypes that illustrate community-oriented possibilities for technology and music.]  However, I do not believe that iPods themselves will lead to stronger community bonds, and, in fact, believe that such personal devices will lead to more technology-enhanced isolation, as iPod users can more effectively ignore the people — and sounds — around them while on an "iPod holiday" … similar to the antisocial effects of WiFi laptop users who can ignore the people in their physical community (even when physically present in "third places" with high levels of community and social interaction) while tunneling out to their virtual communities, many of whom wear earbuds, presumably to reinforce the walls of the virtual tunnel.

Reading the article, I was reminded of Timothy Leary’s famous "turn on, tune in, drop out" catch-phrase from the 1960s … and although I don’t want to make too much of an analogy between iPods and psychadelic drugs, I do think that iPod addiction is a potential risk.  I was also, in turn, reminded of the recreational drug soma in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World:

"Swallowing half an hour before closing time, that second dose of soma had raised a quite impenetrable wall between the actual universe and their minds."

"I don’t understand anything," she said with decision, determined to preserve her incomprehension intact. "Nothing. Least of all," she continued in another tone "why you don’t take soma when you have these dreadful ideas of yours. You’d forget all about them. And instead of feeling miserable, you’d be jolly."

I agree with Alex’ claims that people often have very strong intimate connections to individual pieces of music, and that listening to those pieces of music can evoke powerful emotions.  I also believe that emotionally charged revelations — including revealing one’s most intimate musical experiences — can foster stronger connections with others (and in fact, I recently experienced this through the emails I received after I wrote about a very strong emotional reaction to CSN’s Long Time Gone).  However, I believe that the iPod devices themselves are just another brick in the wall of social isolation.