# Are headphones extinct, or is it courtesy?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-headphones-extinct-or-is-it-courtesy/705734>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [November 27, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-headphones-extinct-or-is-it-courtesy/705734 "2014-11-27T01:43:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-headphones-extinct-or-is-it-courtesy/705734/41 "2014-12-04T00:44:50Z")

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> [@JRDelirious](#):
>
> That’s when a merchant vessel grade foghorn becomes a worthwhile aftermarket addition to your vehicle 😃

Good idea here. Must suggest this to my husband. 🙂

> [@](#):
>
> I’m buying stock in makers of hearing aids. And telling college entrants interested in the health fields to consider audiology.

QFT. I firmly believe hearing aids will be a growth industry in the next few decades.

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**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-headphones-extinct-or-is-it-courtesy/705734/42 "2014-12-04T19:26:15Z")

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And all the TVs seem to be locked onto sports (or FOX news). Now, I’m the type of person who once observed that Marx’s famous quote about religion being the opiate of the massed predated the advent of televised sport, however I can see the desirability for sports fans to watching events even with the sound off.

I can not see any desirability, however, to watching people _talk_ about sports with the friggin’ sound off.

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**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-headphones-extinct-or-is-it-courtesy/705734/43 "2014-12-04T20:48:20Z")

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I’ll ask my boss in the Sacramento area if she has ever experienced this. Here in San Francisco, it’s headphones/earbuds exclusively, on the street and on public transportation, which I ride every day. The only time I ever hear someone else’s music, it’s coming from a car with the windows open. I would have said the exact opposite from the OP, that headphones have become required wear.

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