iPod iSolation, or why Steve Jobs became so successful

[Falcon]

You guys aren't getting the point.

Don't agree on this one. I worked in a tech environment that produced an early pre-ipod MP3 player. It was cool but the memory was tiny (you could only put less than 100 songs on it) and the GUI was clunky to use. We knew if someone could create a nice interface with a large drive, they'd have a winner. I year later the ipod came out and our device was history.

What makes the ipod brilliant is you can carry your entire music collection (which in my case has been accumulated for over 30 years) with you in a tiny device. Whether or not you listen to that music in isolation or with others is up to you. My iphone has a strong enough speaker to easily fill up a room. On my recent trip to Boracay we were always listening to music together on the iphone or watching movies on my ipad.

I am not blaming the iPod itself. I am talking about the misuse of it that leads to social dysfunction. It is indeed a brilliant invention, and would be great to use for maybe an hour on an island in the Philippines with a cute date. Moderate use of iGadgets isn't bad at all. Moderation in everything, folks. But I am talking about chronic addiction to these iPhones and iThingies, where half the population walks around with those things and don't speak to anyone around them.

Have you ever been on a U.S. college campus these days? You'd see how everyone is incredibly addicted to their iGadgets, constantly texting their "friends" and checking Facebook while having their ears drowned out by cheesy American pop music. They do it in lecture, on the bus, during lunch, in the bathroom, and on and on. The second class ends, people grab out their phones, and no one talks to each other. They are on those things for hours, hours, and hours every single day, which cuts down face-to-face interaction to a minimum. This makes both the men and women hard to approach and cranky (because they'd be irritated when you try to interrupt their iPhone session).

People don´t want to interact with strangers because mostly nothing good comes out of it. Don´t blame the ipods.

In many non-Western countries, people interact with strangers all the time in big cities. I suppose those are all medieval countries.

[Billy]

Falcon, yes somekind of medieval countries. That´s why they are called developing nations. Though no problem with that. There are many people who would love to live in these times. For modern life you need some tools to control your input.
But when you want a mor relaxed lifestyle so you should maybe go to these countries. Which is allso my plan. But for earnin money modern countries are better. You can not have both.

[Falcon]

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc ... nely/8930/

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