So, I spend at least a couple of hours every day on public transport, walking or working out, say.
Virtually always I’m listening to music during these times, pretty disconnected with the world around me.
Somehow it doesn’t seem healthy. I remember I used to be able to go for walks and have a deep think about things, or just enjoy being in the moment.
I can’t seem to do that any more. If I don’t bring my walkman I’m either bored, or worse, I’m fretting about something.
I usually wear my iPod while going for a walk, but sometimes I don’t, either - just like you say, sometimes I just want to be present in the world I’m walking in, with no noise in my head.
Make sure the volume isn’t too high or you might be damaging your hearing listening for extended periods of time.
I have my mp3 player on while i clean house, and i am listenig to it again while i goof off on the internets
Thanks, mom.
I’m almost always seen with my iPod in as well. People must think I’m a huge music fan, but I almost never listen to music. I’m mostly listening to BBC radio programs or other spoken word stuff.
I often have my headphones on when I’m on the train but with no music on. I have those ones with silicone rubber earpieces that are pretty effective earplugs. 
I’m the opposite - I rarely remember to just listen to music, and I go for 2-3 decently long walks every day. The times I do remember are much more thoughtful and introspective.
I wear headphones (the big, cover your ears type that works with my hearing aid) to listen to podcasts/music when I take my dogs for long walks on a local trail. I walk about 5 miles, encountering a few people from time to time.
The amazing thing is how many people approach me and begin speaking.:mad:
Each time someone talks to me, I have to take the iPod outa my pocket, bring up the screen, pause what I’m listening to, place iPod back in pocket, remove headphones, wait a few seconds for hearing aid to reset to none headphone mode.
And eventually I hear that the person wants to know, “What’re their names?”
If I see an approach early enough, I avert my eyes and continue walking. Sure, they might wanna tell me there is an escaped mental patient downtrail killing people, but I’ll take that risk.
Get a Sharpie and some masking tape and label your doggies before you go out!
Sure, but there are follow ups. “Where did you ever come up with that name”? “Why are they so good? My dogs would never walk so calmly”. “Can I pet them”? “blah, blah, blah, talkety talk talk”.
I’ve got some sort of music player near me at all times, all loaded with an extensive (by 1990 standards, anyway) collection of music. And I never think to turn them on – I bet I don’t listen to twenty hours of music a year.
I’m a grad student, and when I walk around campus, the large majority of people seem to be listening to their MP3 players (including me). It does make me wonder of what the effect of so many people all living in their own little worlds is. Are we ignoring each other? Should we be paying more attention to each other? Does it even make a difference? I don’t know.
To be honest, a lot of the time I appear to be listening to something, my iPod is off. I have trouble concentrating while listening to stuff, so if I just feel like thinking as I walk, I turn it off, but often leave the earbuds in.
I guess it would take a lot of tape to write down all that information…
I wear my headphones specifically so people won’t talk to me. My commute time is bad enough without having to listen to someone prattle on for an hour.
The worst is when I’ve got the headphones on, noise cancelling turned on, actual music going through them and I can STILL hear the woman in the next row yelling into her phone for a solid hour. I mean seriously, the entire bus isn’t that interested in your medical issues, why he’s still chasing that ho, your brother’s legal trouble or what colour you should dye your hair. REALLY.
So yes, I use the headphones to block out the world but the world asked for it I tell you!
Wasn’t there an SDMB thread just like this in the early 80s, when the Walkman came out?
I was thinking the same thing.
Hello, ipod did not invent the portable headphone music device. Somehow, the universe has not exploded yet. If you think you wear headphones too much… take 'em off for a bit! It isn’t hard.
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Remember when the fancy walkmans came out where you didn’t have to flip the tape? LUXURY!
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I’ve locked the volume on my iPod so the highest it goes isn’t too high, and I try to only listen at a volume where I can still hear people speaking with them on - my eyes are crap, and I don’t need to completely lose my hearing, too. I’m also thinking about getting noise-cancelling headphones so I can listen at a lower volume (and also so I don’t hear all the fucking advertising in Sears).
By the way, that’s a completely valid fear - young people are ruining their hearing en masse.
Guilty as charged… I couldn’t listen to my mp3 player at the gym today and got to listen to this guy prattle on and on about nothing. Yeah… gimme some limburgher with that wine lol
The only thing I would caution all of you about is security specific. You need to be twice as aware of your surroundings if you are walking around listening to your gear all day… It could make you a bigger target…
I was going to address this in the OP, because I’m also annoyed by the “Apple invented portable audio” meme.
Sure I’ve owned portable cassette and CD players. But with mp3 players (I don’t actually own an iPod; I just wanted a short thread title), they’re small enough and have a long enough battery that it’s a game changer. You can easily listen from a huge library of music, all your waking life with little effort.
I mentioned why I don’t do this in the OP.
FWIW, and to hijack my own thread, I’ve decided I’m going to see my doctor about depression. “If I’m not listening to music, I’m worrying about things” is just one symptom of a much larger problem for me.
Don’t forget about books on tape. Get some from your library. In addition to music you can rip the books on tape to your iPods and all the books you’ve been meaning to read you can finally get read.
Don’t forget the Archive (dot) org. They have public domain old time radio (OTR) shows you can download for free. You can follow the adventures of Lum and Abner, laugh with Jack Benny and listen to really well written crime drama all for free