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The AirPods Effect

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Re: The AirPods Effect

#131

Post by jorisw »

camillomiller wrote: post #127
jorisw wrote: post #125

> Where I live, in southwest Germany, AirPods are far less common. FWIW I live in Amsterdam (also western Europe) and anyone in the streets under 50 is wearing them, myself included. > They keep them in while ordering and paying for things in stores and supermarkets. As a GenYer I find this rude and I'll take them out any time I interact with someone. My point being that their ubiquity doesn't have to mean people bei…

>> As a GenYer I find this rude and I'll take them out any time I interact with someone. Interesting point. Airpods actually work great as hearing aids and I personally use that in loud environments, but I find myself cringing when I do because exactly of what you say. So maybe normalizing their use even when interacting is fine? Still, I can't shake off the idea that I'm not fully connected with you if I'm talking t…

Yeah, to me personally it just seems like treating the other person (e.g. a cashier or waiter) like a tool or utility rather than a human being. Even if your music is paused (which they can't know)

Re: The AirPods Effect

#132

Post by watwut »

galleywest200 wrote: post #41
jvican wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The EU is large and most importantly very diverse. Pretty much all the West and South of Europe has a very strong small talk culture. You shall not stereotype a country, and even less so a political and economical union of countries.

The US is larger than Europe and importantly very diverse, a melting pot you could say. You will find people in the South are far more talkative than people in the Northwest. The “Seattle Freeze” is real and I believe that it does not exist to the same extent in the South.

They all talk or at least understand English. The cultural exchange between Spain and Hungary is much smaller. Or France and Poland. And historical shaping is much different - they did not went through the same dictatorships and same wars.

Re: The AirPods Effect

#133

Post by jorisw »

Hoodedcrow wrote: post #129
jorisw wrote: post #125

> Where I live, in southwest Germany, AirPods are far less common. FWIW I live in Amsterdam (also western Europe) and anyone in the streets under 50 is wearing them, myself included. > They keep them in while ordering and paying for things in stores and supermarkets. As a GenYer I find this rude and I'll take them out any time I interact with someone. My point being that their ubiquity doesn't have to mean people bei…

> > They keep them in while ordering and paying for things in stores and supermarkets. > As a GenYer I find this rude and I'll take them out any time I interact with someone. I don't take my headphones off while paying for things in a supermarket - because you aren't really expected to talk or listen in this scenario, and the cashier doesn't want to interact with you either. But for anything more involved, like order…

> aren't really expected to talk

This is an assumption that I would interpret as rude if I were the cashier

Re: The AirPods Effect

#134

Post by Hoodedcrow »

bananamogul wrote: post #55
nozzlegear wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That just sounds like another version of what the author is talking about: using [device] to avoid human interaction.

I remember in the 70s and 80s people on buses and subways reading magazines and newspapers. The idea that electronic devices have ushered in some age where humans want to interact with each other less is a myth I think.

Also "Father hiding behind his newspaper at the dinner table" has been a meme since forever.

Re: The AirPods Effect

#135

Post by pinko »

tptacek wrote: post #112
wenc wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone from Chicago (actual Chicago, south side, not the suburbs), randomly talking to strangers is what we do. We're talking to strangers at the bus stop, at the grocery check out, or just wherever. It's just phatic conversation, nothing needs to come of it. Chicagoans aren't just friendly, they actually love the art of the conversation -- every conversation is a chance to put in the reps. But the minute you ste…

I grew up on the south side and lived for years in Lakeview; we moved back from Ann Arbor to Oak Park, much later, the only time I've lived "in the suburbs", and Oak Park is more urban than Beverly or Jeff Park are. And then, of course, even after we moved to Oak Park, I still worked in the city every day. No, this doesn't track my experience of Chicago at all.

It's a class thing more than a geography thing. Culturally working-class urban Americans are chatty in almost every American city, save the most recently-urbanized ones (like PHX -- and even there there Latinos are chatty even if whitey ain't...)

Re: The AirPods Effect

#136

Post by BoingBoomTschak »

XorNot wrote: post #87
basisword wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> I try avoid inviting weirdos to complain about minorities or marginalized people from someone who has driven away anyone close to them. I would suggest that it's your avoidance of talking to strangers that makes you think this is how a lot of them think. And it kind of proves the point that society can suffer because of it. If you went out tomorrow and talked to 100 random strangers for 10mins I'd be surprised if…

That is statistically unlikely. Almost everyone has a "racist uncle" type story and that's what, out of 10 people in your family tops? Chances are at least 20 of them would.

Most of the racist uncles don't use that as first subject with complete strangers, that's more of a family thing.

Re: The AirPods Effect

#138

Post by norome »

exmadscientist wrote: post #45
tptacek wrote: post #5

I don't remember any time in my life where it ever felt normal to me to randomly talk to strangers. I went to London when I was a teenager and was made uncomfortable by how chatty the cab drivers were. Later, I worked at a startup and my boss was preternaturally gifted at chatting up strangers, which he did habitually in every setting we were in when we traveled; on the plane, on the bus from the airport, &c. I remem…

Talking to strangers is a skill. You can practice it! I've made a point of trying to practice, albeit halfheartedly, and even though it's difficult for me, because I like it when other people try to talk to me . Earbuds stop this practice dead in its tracks. You can't deny that.

I just pretend I haven't noticed they have earbuds in and start talking to them. Virtually everyone seems happy to have an interaction, I get the feeling people are a bit starved for random friendly contact.

Re: The AirPods Effect

#139

Post by __alias »

SyneRyder wrote: post #130
ErroneousBosh wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't remember any time in my life where it ever felt normal to me to randomly talk to strangers > And I'm not an introvert! See that's interesting, because I *am* an introvert, but I'm quite happy to sit and talk to strangers. I don't mind it at all. One of the few cultural similarities that I feel like London has with Scotland (where I live) is that you can just talk to people. People will talk. If you go to Gl…

That's strange to me that you mention London as being similar to Glasgow. I've not had the chance to visit either, but my go-to on this topic has always been this faux news story on the Mash Report: Northener Terrifies Londoners By Saying "Hello" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YxLiLFjYKc I hadn't noticed it before, but they even specifically mention the use of headphones as a defense mechanism near the end.

Yeah the most unbelievable part of this is people randomly chatting in London.

I live in London, and I remember flying to Ireland at some point, and I was seated next to an Irish lady returning home from holiday who sparked up a conversation.

My initial reaction was "Why the fuck are you talking to me?" because I had lived in London so long I was thrown off by a random person sparking conversation. But turns out she was just a lovely Irish lady flying from from holiday

Re: The AirPods Effect

#140

Post by steve1977 »

norome wrote: post #138
exmadscientist wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Talking to strangers is a skill. You can practice it! I've made a point of trying to practice, albeit halfheartedly, and even though it's difficult for me, because I like it when other people try to talk to me . Earbuds stop this practice dead in its tracks. You can't deny that.

I just pretend I haven't noticed they have earbuds in and start talking to them. Virtually everyone seems happy to have an interaction, I get the feeling people are a bit starved for random friendly contact.

I would get very irritated by such behavior. One reason I wear earbuds is to signal that I don't want to get talked to.
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