While I am not a big fan of political sections of magazines, I do often try to enlighten myself by looking at the technology and business sections. For the sole reason of humoring myself on what humanity seems to be coming up next.
In particular, one article stood out to me: Kyle Chayka's Popping the Bubble of Noise-Cancelling Headphones. Which was about a Japanese company that made a product that was essentially the anti-headphones".
Of course the article's goal wasn't to persuade everyone to buy it. No, it's the fact that there was presumably enough of a market for this that and how "noise-cancelling headphones are a fundamentally antisocial technology." 1(Chayka), that the author believed that it should be its own article in The New Yorker.
My gripes with this particular product is that it is almost a situation in search for a problem? You want to hear more noise? Don't have headphones on. But people will say that they like having some semblance of ear protection when out and about.
I think in that regard, people forget that wearing headphones in public is a relatively recent phenomenon in the historical timeline. You would interact with people on your way to work, talk to peers before class starts, and etc.
But over the past 10 years, more so exuberated by the COVID pandemic, people have given up the interaction and chosen to keep to themselves in the bubble known as their headphones; and oftentimes do not talk to, much less pay attention to, people around them.
It is rather depressing when in environments where it is usually bustling with activity and commotion, it's instead silent. No one wants to speak to each other, and instead wants to live in their own bubble with their own music and little following on social media.
Now, I would like to point out that I follow this trend. Do I talk to classmates before the lecture begins? No. Do I probably keep to myself more than I should? Of course, and I am aware that it isn't healthy, hence my trying to change what I'm doing and attempt to be more social.
But of course this is now a societal problem. People have been becoming more individualistic for quite some time, and the headphones are a key symbol of that. I feel that this is something that goes deeper than the headphones... which brings me back to the question on these "anti-headphones" as I'll call them. Why would you spend $300 to have more sound in your life when you can just not have anything on your ears and listen uninterrupted? I'm not saying that it's a sham because the product does do what it is advertised to do, but compared to other items worth the money, there must be a limit when people wonder: "Maybe we should stop and wonder why this even exists" rather than just gobbling it up and propelling the machine.
So perhaps instead of buying the less techy gear, you get off your headphones and try to interact with others. Maybe it'll start a movement.
Or not, at this point I'm just in for the ride regardless.
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