iPods both divide, unite

I’m one of the few people I know who doesn’t have an iPod.

Everywhere I go, I see people… I’m one of the few people I know who doesn’t have an iPod.

Everywhere I go, I see people with white headphones hanging from their ears, completely oblivious to the world around them, in a trance of unheard music. I stare at them longingly and think of how superior their slick iPods are to my beat up CD player that sucks all the battery life before it can get through a single CD.

What can I do? iPods are expensive. As much as they tempt me with their weightlessness and convenience, and as much as I desire the possibility of storing and listening to a wide array of music, I can’t bring myself to fork more than the $200 for one.

But I’ll admit it. It’s not just the money. I have grown more and more uninterested in iPods just by observing people who listen to them. Most people who listen to iPods seem to be detached from the rest of their surroundings. Once class is over, they stuff the headphones into their ears, as if completely unable to go through one extra minute without their music. And from that moment on, we’ve lost them. Perhaps forever. They’ve left Earth for a much better, more entertaining, and dare I say sexier world – Planet Justin Timberlake, population one.

I first became aware of this risk of detachment as I was walking down Forbes Avenue one morning. I almost screamed with excitement because I had seen one of my best friends from high school walking toward me. Her sweatshirt hood was up, but she was staring straight ahead, so I recognized her immediately. As we neared each other I practically yelled her name out loud. When that didn’t grab her attention, I waved at her – first one hand, then both. But she walked right past me. All I got was a few weird stares from passersby.

Now there could be a lot of explanations for this embarrassing incident. One, she could hate me. Two, she could have gone both blind and deaf since we started college. Or three, she was listening to music on her iPod. I’m going with the last. Not just because the other two examples make me feel slightly uncomfortable, but also because I remember seeing headphones hanging from her ears and leading to her sweatshirt pocket.

But it’s not fair to place all the blame on iPods. They’re not the only pieces of technological advancement that pose the risk of detachment. Now, I’m not against cell phones. I don’t even know what I would do without mine. However, it does bug me when people let their cell phones dominate their lives. For example, after class one day I was having a conversation with a fellow pupil about the lecture, when he suddenly stopped the conversation midway to answer his cell phone, only to start a completely new conversation while I was standing awkwardly to the side.

Furthermore, it bothers me when people insist upon having loud and public cell phone conversations, totally unaware of the other people who can hear them. One time, I was forced to listen to a woman on the bus give away the entire ending of a movie I was planning on seeing. And then she proceeded to explain how she got rid of the wart on her left hand.

Also I know I’m not the only one who has pretended to be on the phone for the sole purpose of avoiding someone or with the intention of trying to impress a crush by appearing important or popular.

And of course there’s television and video games that keep us glued to the screen and cause us to ignore our surroundings, mesmerized by the glowing, moving images.

Now maybe I’m turning into a grumpy old woman, but I can’t help but feel that technology is dividing us into our own separate worlds. And as cheesy as it may sound, it would be nice if people could just appreciate the beauty of the world around them, instead of seeking their own.

Wait a second. I’m being unreasonable. While writing this column, I have taken at least 10 Facebook breaks. The news feed has kept me updated on the lives of my friends, the groups that I’ve joined unite me with people that share my interests, and the wall postings keep me in constant contact with others. I’ve checked my e-mail and received messages from relatives who live halfway across the globe. I’ve browsed online news websites and immediately learned about the happenings in other countries. And I’ve used my cell phone to send an instant text message to a friend who lives in San Francisco.

Then, it dawns on me. Perhaps technology unifies us as much as it divides us. And whether it unifies more than divides or divides more than unifies all depends on how we decide to use it. Are we allowing technology to consume and dictate our lives, or are we able to use it without falling into the detachment trap? It all comes down to who’s in control – you or your iPod?

Elham wants to receive uniting e-mails. Send her one at elk23@pitt.edu.