Its a bit of nonsense, (In my lifetime) people have always had earphones so its not quite the 'revolution' it thinks it is.

First of all, they said this when the walkman was invented. Secondly, as for, "That bloke next to you on the bus could be listening to heavy metal or a Gregorian chant. You’ll never know". Yes, we do bloody know since we can hear the incessant noise out the damn earphones. As we have done since the age of the walkman. As for "Manhattan’s downtown is now a Disney-like string of malls, riverside parks and pretty upper-middle-class villages". I remember the place in the early 80s and it was a cess pit in the era of Mayor Koch. Although the sleazy New York of that era did produce Lou Reed and Martin Scorcese. Hmm, safe surroundings or great art ? Hard choice. Jesus, this guy must have just crawled out from under a rock. The world has changed and he is stuck back in the 1970s. No wonder he endorsed Kerry.

Thats a very old opinion to be touting around - i think john mcnaughton in the observer (the best tech writer around) made the same point about 18 months ago. at least i think it was him because he's the only one i read - the rest just rehash press releases and do written blow jobs in return for free tech gear. Or the whole "ipod/iworld" thing could have been in some style piece somewhere else? anyway, old opinion and totally bunkum

I don't think he actually makes any valid points in his article. He has tried to take the issue of the mass consumption of ipods/mp3 players, which has been done to death in most publications by now, while also attaching the point that these mini music players are disconnecting people from society. One of the simple facts that he didn't mention was that a huge number of people, in every major city from Dublin to NY, commute on public transport everyday. When people are in a rush commuting, the ipod helps them unwind and the cell phone helps them to arrange, connect and plan things during the rustle & bustle of the busy metro, the packed sidewalks or the dingy Dublin Bus. He seems to throw phrases around throughout the article to highlight his own intelligence, and also a snobbery type of attitude. What does it matter what the person next to you on the bus is listening to? It's not as if the majority of people on the bus instantly spark up conversation with the person next to them anyway. He took on a good point ('the more ipods are sold, the more disconnected people might get with society') but failed to entertain or provide a fresh point of view.

On a related note there is an interesting article on pitchfork about "podcasting". http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/columns/get-that-out-of-your-mouth/05-02-25.shtml

People in large urban envoironments have been ignoring each other for years, the only difference is now they have some nice tunes to do it to. Maybe they need something like the Cirlcle Line Party, I dare any of you Dubs to try organise something like this on the Dart/Luas http://www.spacehijackers.co.uk/html/projects/circle.html