Clive Thompson, usually a fine chronicler of interesting tech trends, misses a beat with this post, bewilderingly titled
"Why Conservatives Hate MP3 Players".
He cites Allan Bloom's opposition to the Walkman, and mentions another conservative writer who recently bemoaned how the proliferation of iPods has seemed to cut people off from one another.
I could also cite Andrew Sullivan and Northwest writer
Matt Rosenberg as other conservatives who have gone on the record with their concerns over the gadgets. I'm sure there are plently of other thinkers, even liberal ones, who have varying degrees of concern.
Yes, it is debatable as to whether Andrew Sullivan is a conservative. But in a way, that's my point -- what does Clive mean by "conservative"? Even using some narrow, extreme definition of the word to refer to social conservatives like Pat Robertson, I doubt that many people who describe themselves as conservatives would actually fit the profile of "hating MP3 players". I certainly doubt that either Andrew Sullivan or Matt Rosenberg would go that far.
Things get even weirder in Clive's comments. Take "Steve E", for example:
I wonder if what conservatives are really affraid of is what people choose to listen to. Sure, iPods may cut people off from the external, which means a lot of we're constantly being fed messages to fear or buy or just swallow.
What's worse, is if the message on the iPod (e.g., podcasts, socially-conscious music) is actually antithetical to the alternative message pervassive in the world.
I have said before that people place too much importance on being able to listen to the latest Fitty Cent track at any time. And it's true, that by passifying oneself through constant pop, one may become less aware of the ails of socienty that surround us. But, the message may actually stimulate thought, rather than surpress it, in which case, conservatives should be very, very affraid.
The biggest strawman here is of course the idea that conservatives are all hot and bothered by the idea that *gasp* people are actually listening to the music they want to! Whenever they want! And, wouldn't you know it, some of that music is performed by
filthy hippies! Again, apart from some knuckle-draggers like Pat Robertson, I can't think of many people who actually think like this.
Also, the concept of portable music did not magically materialize with the appearance of the iPod. As Clive's piece notes, personal audio players have been around for 20 years. People have been able to make mix tapes (or, more recently, CDs) and play them at home, in the car, at the gym, etc. Why would anyone suddenly start hating this practice just because there's a convenient new format for it?
Sadly, Clive also goes off the deep end with a reply:
Amazing conversation here!
Yeah, the question of personal choice has long bedeviled modern social conservatives -- in their minds, it's tied inextricably to the emergence of limp-wristed hippie relativism, feminism, abortion (via the idea of a constitutional right to privacy), and pretty much anything else they don't like. So it's perhaps not that surprising that they'd be annoyed by any technology in which choice is the major marketing point.
Okay, I don't really consider myself conservative, but for the sake of this argument, let's say I am. I also know that a big chunk of my vast and highly intelligent readership is conservative. How many of you hate MP3 players? How many of you
own an MP3 player? Does anyone
hate hate the idea of personal choice, especially personal choice in
music players?
Also, liberals are behind plenty of movements to restrict choice of various kinds. Seattle just passed a referendum to ban smoking not only in bars, restaurants and other private businesses, but also within 25 feet of any door, window or ventilation opening. Liberals are the most vociferous opponents of educational policies such as school vouchers and charter schools meant to give parents more choice in what kind of education their kids get.
This whole rant is not meant to pick on Clive. He's one of the best tech journalists out there, and I will read anything he writes, precisely because he's original, thoughtful and thought-provoking. But this whole line that "conservatives hate MP3 players because they hate the idea of free choice" is just a bizarre liberal fantasy with zero resemblance to reality.
Oh, so where do I stand on MP3 players? I own two, a 20-Gb Rio Karma and a 256-Mb Rio Cali. I love them both, and I constantly listen to my music on the way to and from work. I was firmly
against the idea that they in any way isolated me from society or made me inaccessible to my fellow citizens.
That is, until about two weeks ago.
I was taking the BART -- the Bay Area's light rail system -- for the first time from our new apartment. I had my headphones on and was checking out the route map figuring out which train to take. Just as I had worked it out and was turning to leave, a bearded man in a hat and jacket came up and said something to me that I couldn't quite make out through my music. "Jeez," I thought. "Another panhandler." I shook my head brusquely, turned and left. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the guy walk back to the corner of the station, where he was selling newspapers. Only then did his words filter through to my brain: "Can I help you find a train?"
I agree with Clive wholeheartedly that music can imbue a scene with another layer of depth and meaning. I can clearly recall, just days after seeing the original "The Matrix", walking the streets of downtown LA with that soundtrack playing (on my Intel Pocket Concert MP3 player, incidentally) and feeling like I was totally on another plane of reality and could bend spoons and all that shit. I
love having the perfect song right at my fingertips. It really is like having a soundtrack to my life.
But in this case, a kind man tried to help me, but because I was so absorbed in my own zone, sensory organs focused inward, I was extremely rude and probably hurtful. What if my actions caused this guy to think, "Ah screw it, if people are going to be so rude, I'm not going to offer to help any more." That little incident changed my listening habits profoundly. I now only put on the headphones when I am walking and unlikely to be approached. They come off when I enter the train station, my office building, or even a Starbucks.
As with so many alluring things in this day and age -- video games, movies, uh, porn -- it's all about moderation. The real test, be you liberal, conservative, or anything in between, is are you going to define your playlists, or are they going to define you?
