The Escape or Engage Dialectic

I read with interest a recent PBS News Hour report on the iPod (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/jan-june06/ipod_05-15.html) The report provides a brief overview of the various "is the iPod good" or "is the iPod evil" aspects of the debate, looking in particular at the concerns of those who feel the iPod is isolating versus those who feel empowered by the device.

Many of those quoted in the story, however, missed the main point. I'm often amazed at people's horror over the fact that when people are listening to their iPods in public they aren't talking to each other and making new friends. Did people really make new friends on the bus and on the streets before? Haven't we always found ways to make it clear to others that there are times when we need private space, even in public? If we want to meet people in public we go to appropriate venues for that activity (bars, churches, the like). The iPod certainly makes it easier to separate ourselves, but this is not a new phenomenon brought about by this technology.

In fact, the iPod may or may not be "isolating," but that simply doesn't matter. What really matters is how people are using the device to engage -- whether in the latest "Top 10" or in interesting and thought -provoking content. When it comes down to it, in order to achieve an "escape" (whether it be through an iPod, video games or even a good book), one must engage in something else: short of meditation, it's the only way to take one's mind completely off that which one wants to escape.

Hence, the real question, when it comes to looking at the iPod and the content it delivers, is how we as individuals use technology to ENGAGE, not escape. I would encourage everyone to consider that next time they become annoyed at the person next to them on the plane who prefers to listen to their iPod instead of chatting. That person is not necessarily "zoning out" he or she may, in fact, be listening to PBS News Hour via podcast -- and engaging in some of the most thought provoking content on the planet!