I quickly became aware that it wasn’t safe to use an iPod while cycling, whether along the Lake Shore Drive bike path, or while on the road. And I wish that other people would stop using them as well – joggers, rollerbladers, other cyclists. Not safe.
I stopped driving my car, which was a primary place I used it, and have only ended up riding the El somewhat infrequently. When I do, I only resort to using it when I’m annoyed by something (noise, noisy people, etc) and need to tune it out. So in a way, I’m negatively reinforcing my own use of the iPod by only using it when something bad is happening. And I hardly ever bring it along with me.
Still makes for a decent hard drive, I guess. Heh. And I’ll hook it up when I’m at home because my laptop’s HD doesn’t have the room for all of my music.
The funny thing about my attitude is, I’m a huge proponent of the technology. It makes sense. People want it. I rigged something up for playback of mp3s in my car before it came out, then I bought one when I saw how well it handled the problem. But it doesn’t fit my current lifestyle very well; I need my ears open when I’m in transit, because most of the time that’s by bike…
I fully expect that with the arrival of new video-capable iPods, people will be staring at their screens and getting in more accidents and etc. And there’ll be some sort of new term coined, vidcasts or some crap. And I’ll care just as much…