I’m from New Orleans and when I spent a week in Chicago a while back I was holding doors open and saying Thanks to people (How dare I?). I was ready to just start yelling at them or come up with rude comments. I’d hold the door for someone or whatever and they’d just walk on by like they were a freakin’ rock star or something.
I used to work for a guy who would use his in meetings. He would have one earphone in and pretend to pay attention to what was going on. Every 5-10 minutes he would chime in with some stupid a$$ remark that was not relevant to the conversation, then go back to zoning out. jack-ass was probably making double my salary, and had no clue what he was doing…just a good bull-shitter/ass-kisser I guess. I wanted to slam his fkn head through the conference table and make him eat his ipod…
I only use mine at the gym to drown out the Jessica Simpson music and nonsensical training theory chatter of the rats doing curls in the squat rack…and to pump me up.
I hate iPods, but for a different reason. I’m too much of an audiophile to love anything but vinyl and CDs.
Although going to the gym without one is a bitch.
Take notice sometime that you will see more people distracting themselves with gadgets in a larger town/city, than you will in a small town/rural area. It’s a tool of distancing yourself from all those people. I do it too when I’ve been around people more than I’d like to be. I also agree that some people don’t possess the social skills and use these in lieu of actual human interaction. And it’s sad.
[quote]MrWhite wrote:
I’m from New Orleans and when I spent a week in Chicago a while back I was holding doors open and saying Thanks to people (How dare I?). I was ready to just start yelling at them or come up with rude comments. I’d hold the door for someone or whatever and they’d just walk on by like they were a freakin’ rock star or something.[/quote]
I work in NY, which gets the rep of being a rude, unfriendly city. That’s a rep not refuted by choice. But the fact is, a lot of people here will hold doors, say hi, even have conversations with strangers while standing in line, etc. There are also people at the opposite end of the spectrum, who are completely rude and don’t show any common courtesy whatsoever.
I don’t really have a point other than folks are folks everywhere. Some are funny, some aren’t. To quote George Thorogood, “Everybody funny, now you funny too.” IPods are not the cause.
DB
[quote]danmaftei wrote:
I hate iPods, but for a different reason. I’m too much of an audiophile to love anything but vinyl and CDs.
Although going to the gym without one is a bitch.[/quote]
I am very skeptical of people who claim they can truly tell a large difference between an MP3 and a CD. Hell, what about MP3’s that are saved on CD’s?
People who have their headphones on are in their own space and dont want to be bothered. Leave them alone!
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I agree that iPods are worthless (for me). I have computer with 5.1 surround at home. There is an entertainment center in the living room. My scion xB has a stereo with CD/MP3 disc player. Actually, the xB has a jack for an iPod too. The work computer has speakers. WHY THE HELL DO I NEED AN IPOD!? Well, for me, I don’t need an iPod. It’s understandable for those who use public transportation to have iPods. Otherwise, its a stupid-ass fashionable item for trend-whores to purchase.
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I just switched to a new Gym. The old gym was just too… fru-fru. (sp?) Too much nice equipment, too many tanning beds, too many people with perfect hair. The Gym I just switched to is about 1/2 for weight training and about 1/2 for boxing/fighting. The variety of equipement is not as plentiful but gives all you need. The nicest smell there is mint. People are sweating and working. The Boxers get so out of breath they can barely talk. People are freindly, but there for a reason. The place just ooozes … Testosterone.
[quote]danmaftei wrote:
I hate iPods, but for a different reason. I’m too much of an audiophile to love anything but vinyl and CDs.
Although going to the gym without one is a bitch.[/quote]
If you use EAC http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ and rip MP3s to “-alt present standard” or “-alt preset extreme” they are virtually indistinguishable from the source CDs. These MP3 files are larger than the average MP3s but they are Variable Bit Rate so that keeps them from being totally bloated.
BTW, a vinyl purist would be appalled to hear a person regard CDs as “quality”.
=D
[quote]Professor X wrote:
danmaftei wrote:
I hate iPods, but for a different reason. I’m too much of an audiophile to love anything but vinyl and CDs.
Although going to the gym without one is a bitch.
I am very skeptical of people who claim they can truly tell a large difference between an MP3 and a CD. Hell, what about MP3’s that are saved on CD’s?[/quote]
I think everyone should eat soy and stop eating meat. I’m very skeptical of anyone that thinks any protiens differ. Hell, what about soy burger?
MP3 is a LOSSY compression. You lose information. That can definitely be heard in the typical MP3. It does not matter what medium it’s saved to. It’s still lossy compression.
I find it more socially acceptable to wear my MP3 player at the gym than saying to someone “get the fuck away from me”.
To many people stand around they gym and talk or hit on the desk girl for hours.
Not to mention it’s really not very motivating listening to usher on the overhead speakers while trying to deadlift. I need some angry music.
What the hell kind of gym do you people go to that plays such crappy music?
[quote]speedy5323 wrote:
While they might be a technology marvel, I am sick of not being able to even speak to people on the street, in a gym, etc. due to the fact that everyone seems to have headphones stuck in their ears at all times. “Good mornings”, “How are you doing today” and the like are going to vanish from society due to the fact that individuals feel a need to listen to “Red Red Wine” 24 hours a day.
I live near a college campus, so I’m sure it’s more prevelant here than other places. I’m not trying to knock Apple’s stock down ( I actually own some, and an Ipod as well), but I honestly can see a shift from a society in which you can strike up a conversation with someone, to one in which people are annoyed to take a break from Hootie and the Blowfish’s “Cracked Rear View” to say hi or give you a spot. Any thoughts?[/quote]
I completely agree with you on your thoughts about i-pods. Almost everyone at my school has an i-pod and uses them whenever they can. Just the other day I was trying to ask someone a question and he couldnt hear me because of his i-pod and he just stared at me too lazy take his headphones off.
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
What the hell kind of gym do you people go to that plays such crappy music?[/quote]
LOL. My gym currently plays some old heavy metal station that seems to get all of its inspiration from the late 70’s. Most of it does not get me hype as that isn’t my particular favorite genre of music. At the 24 Hour Fitness I used to go to, it was not uncommon to hear Cher, Brittany, and Celine Dione one right after the other.
Do you know how hard it is to get motivated to “Do you believe in life after LOVE!”? To make it worse, there is always some guy in tight pink spandex leggings all too ready to dance to it a little too well in the mirror while I was trying to concentrate.
Do you understand how hard it is to concentrate with Cher screaming and a flaming spike-haired “hair dresser” shaking his ass to the beat in my line of sight?
[quote]BoxBabaX wrote:
Forget the gym, come look at my school UCSD and tell me they arent anti-social. Schools are supposed to be social places where you can interact with your peers, not places to put on head phones while staring at the ground and walking around.
Its sickening. [/quote]
Hahaha. You didn’t go to UCSD seriously expecting human contact, did you? (I’m an alum) It’s a surprisingly common mistake.
On another note, I think the main factor in how friendly strangers are is less regionalism and has more to do with the level of urbanization. It’s more significant for a rural person to see another human than it is for a city dweller who has to deal with oodles of dumbasses up close all day long.
Prof and 4est, it’s not an issue of sound quality. I realize audiophile was a really, really, REALLY bad word to use, heh.
So let me rephrase. I dislike iPods because they distance the general populace from the full-length medium, a body of work that is more than just a collection of songs. I love CDs and records because they provide a complete package, because they provide a single entity, a single work of art, and iPods don’t do that. I have seen nearly no one with an iPod who has whole albums ripped on it.
People hear a song on the radio, they download it, and that’s it. Or worse yet, they hear a song on the radio, they download it, and along with it, every single fucking album the band has ever made, and proceed to listen to none of it. And then when I ask them, “Hey, do you like Interpol?” they say, “Hell yeah, I love them!” despite having heard only one song off of Antics, and knowing nothing about their first album, the one that gave rise to their fame, and much better one.
Secondly, with iPods, you’re missing out on the artwork. Vinyl was such a cool medium because it created a whole new industry in jacket design. Who remembers King Crimson’s debut? Who remembers Warhol’s support of The Velvet Underground? Who remembers Floyd’s iconic album covers? iPods just don’t provide this, and though I know not many care, as a rabid musician, I do.
Thirdly, and this may be the weirdest point yet, I am a sucker for the complete package. I’m busting my ass at the moment to finish learning and mastering two new pieces in a month and a half because I refuse to give a concert playing a French Suite without the Gigue or Mussorgsky’s Pictures without Limoges. And so it is with contemporary music, I just like the whole package. I want the original LP with the original jacket cover, I want the CD with its linear notes and original artwork. I just can’t stand having the songs without the rest of the things associated with them.
But maybe I’m dating myself…
Now I’m as bad as the next guy with being uncomfortable with speaking to people I don’t really know but I think that’s kinda sad. I at least try to acknowledge people when I walk past them. A little smile, a nod, and “hi, how ya doin’”. I mean are people really that anti-social that they won’t give another person the time of day on the street. I mean that’s just sad. What if someone was planning on killing themselves that day and a simple, “Hey, how are you,” or striking up a small talk conversation with them changed their mind.
We are all generally so self absorbed these days that we don’t see anyone else as important or as worthy as ourselves. That sucks if you ask me… And you did.
Plus, technology like IM, message boards and forums, and email have basically made us all social retards. We’re all very expressive over the waves of technology but rarely know how to interact face to face with another warm body. So that causes me to ask the questions
“Technology: Good for us OR our downfall”?
[quote]danmaftei wrote:
Prof and 4est, it’s not an issue of sound quality. I realize audiophile was a really, really, REALLY bad word to use, heh.
So let me rephrase. I dislike iPods because they distance the general populace from the full-length medium, a body of work that is more than just a collection of songs. I love CDs and records because they provide a complete package, because they provide a single entity, a single work of art, and iPods don’t do that. I have seen nearly no one with an iPod who has whole albums ripped on it.
People hear a song on the radio, they download it, and that’s it. Or worse yet, they hear a song on the radio, they download it, and along with it, every single fucking album the band has ever made, and proceed to listen to none of it. And then when I ask them, “Hey, do you like Interpol?” they say, “Hell yeah, I love them!” despite having heard only one song off of Antics, and knowing nothing about their first album, the one that gave rise to their fame, and much better one.
Secondly, with iPods, you’re missing out on the artwork. Vinyl was such a cool medium because it created a whole new industry in jacket design. Who remembers King Crimson’s debut? Who remembers Warhol’s support of The Velvet Underground? Who remembers Floyd’s iconic album covers? iPods just don’t provide this, and though I know not many care, as a rabid musician, I do.
Thirdly, and this may be the weirdest point yet, I am a sucker for the complete package. I’m busting my ass at the moment to finish learning and mastering two new pieces in a month and a half because I refuse to give a concert playing a French Suite without the Gigue or Mussorgsky’s Pictures without Limoges. And so it is with contemporary music, I just like the whole package. I want the original LP with the original jacket cover, I want the CD with its linear notes and original artwork. I just can’t stand having the songs without the rest of the things associated with them.
But maybe I’m dating myself…[/quote]
Hey, the iPOD screen displays the album cover when you choose the artist and play the song. 
hahahaha… I feel ya though. The linear notes and cover and all give you that extra connection inside the psyche of the artist.
Eh, I like my IPOD, it’s kind of like having a soundtrack for my life. If I’m cruising around on the bus or in the gym, it’s a necessity.