Interesting phenomenon
I have been noticing something more and more lately. When I chaperoned the recent 8th grade trip to New York City, I observed that students in every pair of seats were sharing a single set of earbuds attached to one music or DVD player; one student was using the left one and one was using the right. I wondered how it sounded, since one student was listening to the right channel and one to the left. Was one hearing just the melody and one hearing just the bass line?
I also noticed this was not happening because every other student did not have some type of a device. Every student on the bus seemed to have a music player of some sort.
I would never think of sharing music this way. I guess this has become a common practice because, first, many of the popular audio players do not have a speaker, so the use of a headphone is the only way to listen to the music, and, second, the dramatic rise in the use of the earbud style of headphone lends itself well to this practice.
Interestingly enough, I noticed a few laptops at the local computer store that now have two audio-out jacks built-in. Well, at least if students are sharing a movie on this brand of computer, they will each have access to the full stereo experience via their own set of earbuds!
Have you noticed any other "interesting" cultural practices lately due to technology advances?
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Labels: earbud, Kathy Schrock
posted by Kathy Schrock at 7:07 AM
9 Comments:
I've seen this too. It is interesting that as we move forward and everything becomes more HD, better sound, etc. Kids don't seem to care about the quality (though maybe they just focus on the volume) some of mine have started carrying around a splitter so they both can plug in (or share with two more friends it seems).
I've also noticed this and wondered. I teach at an all-girls high school and continually see girls either sitting together or walking down the hall sharing earbuds to listen to the same tune. Some will bring external speakers, but teachers often frown on the volume level, even at lunch.
The best thing I've seen though, was two girls walking down the hall side by side texting each other and then commenting on their texts! How weird is that?
I've watched my teens do this with their friends. I asked them why they did this since I bought each of them "Y" splitters to allow two pairs of headphones in one player. My 13 year old explained that they can share music and still talk when they have an ear free.
YES!!
25 years ago my mom wouldn't let me take my Walkman on a church youth trip because she said it would isolate me from everyone else on the trip. Today's youth have found a way to enjoy their high-tech devices and maintain what's FAR more important to them - SOCIAL INTERACTIONS!!!
This happened all year at school. We called them "ear buddies."
My kids do this too. I think it is more about sharing an experience than the actual tune they are listening to. Also, my daughter freely allows her friends to read text messages on her phone. There is NO PRIVACY with teenagers and text meassages. I find it disturbing but they act like it is no big deal.
I work at an international school in Beijing and for the first year I was here we were brought to school of a bus. I had just got my first MP3 player and I used to sit beside a friend and we would share my earphones like that.That was five years ago and the MP3 player was an iRiver.
Now a lot of my friends have the special earphones that have one plug in but two sets of earphones attached for this situation. I love the growth of technology.
My students do this quite often, but now I find myself doing it when I am sharing music or a video with someone!
Interestingly enough the newer ear buds have the same sound coming out of each bud! Headphones have come a long way from the large earmuff type!
This is so true! I think it happens way more than we realize, like with little things such at earphones. We all notice the big advancements and how they change our culture. I think the smaller things are more interesting though. My church created a group on Facebook, who would have thought something like that would happen ten years ago?
I have noticed this too. Our school just started allowing music players (MP3, CD, etc..)between classes and during lunch. We have even gone as far as saying that the students may use them in class when given permission by the teacher. Since this has gone into effect, the music industry has exploded upon our students. MP3 players are coming out of the woodwork (they were probably already there, but hidden). The sharing of headphones is everywhere. Overall, this seems to have been a good thing for the school, as students seem to have a good time relaxing, listening to tunes at lunch.
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