Earbuds: Convenience At A Cost

CBS News Tech Guru Larry Magid Says Small Devices Can Compromise Quality, Hearing And Alertness

(CBS)  Apple last week confirmed that iTunes had outpaced Wal-Mart in January and February as the nation’s No. 1 seller of music. The Apple announcement followed an earlier report by NPD Group that compared iTunes music sales with those of major retailers. Pardon the pun but it’s not exactly an “Apples to Apples” comparison because stores typically sell albums while iTunes allows users to download one track at a time. To more or less even the score, 12 tracks were considered the same as a single album. It was only a month earlier that Apple passed Best Buy to become the No. 2 music retailer.

What’s interesting about iTunes’ meteoric rise in popularity is that it is doing very well despite some downsides to the format and the portable devices people typically use to listen to the music. For one thing, most songs purchased on iTunes are saddled with so-called digital rights management that limits what you can do with them, including what devices you can play them on. The CDs that Wal-Mart and other retailers sell don’t have DRM, so they can be ripped as MP3s and played on any digital music player.

Another difference between downloaded music and CDs is compression. Although many people can’t perceive it, there is definitely a difference between the sound of an MP3 and the sound of an uncompressed CD. What’s more, a lot of people listen to most of their music through little earbuds.

When I was in my 20s, I and many of my contemporaries spent as much as we could afford on stereo equipment so we could get the best possible sound quality from our LPs. Even though it was “more than 20 years ago today,” I still remember how incredible it was to listen to “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” on a pair of Koss headphones. Even with the scratches from the vinyl record, it seems to me that the sound quality might have been better back then than what you get today by listening to compressed files through earbuds. When it comes to audio quality, it can no longer be said that “it’s getting better all the time.”

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Podcast: Larry Magid talks about the dehumanizing effect of some gadgets.

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Today it’s all about convenience. We want to be able to listen to our music wherever we happen to be and we’re willing to make compromises to do so, though I must admit I’m not sure at this stage that I can tell the difference between a really high-quality sound source and an MP3 on an iPod. The sad irony is that by the time we reach the age where we can afford high-end audio equipment, many of us have suffered enough hearing loss to not be able to tell the difference.

Now, technology as well as aging can be blamed for that loss. I worry about kids who listen to loud music through earbuds. There is increasing evidence that improper use of these devices can damage hearing.

And as long as I’m on a rant, I have one more complaint. It seems that between iPods and cell phones, many people you see walking around in public spaces are actually in their own private world. I notice this when I need directions while walking on a sidewalk but can’t get through to the person standing next to me because he is immersed in his own little world.

It also bugs me when I ride my bike on my local bike/pedestrian/skater path. If I want to politely ask a skater or walker to let me pass, I have to shout into their ear because their earbuds are blanking out the world.

[gmond]

What?

[pbarcher]

I sympathize, but I am one of the folks who are lost in their own little world. In today''s overcrowded, fast-paced world, it is sometimes our only link to sanity.

[ibzjem]

Listening to and iPod (or non-Pod) might put someone in their own world, but if you can''t hear the music from someone else''s ear-buds, then they most likely can hear you.

[rf35]

I hate earbuds...they''re disgusting, getting all covered in ear wax and stuff. I prefer the earphones that sit on the outside of the ears. I use the ones with hooks like glasses when I run. My favorite pair for most other situations are my noise-cancelling headphones. They are especially useful on plane rides, but also a nice way to block out the rest of the world any time it gets too loud.

[shaihalud-2009]

Let it be said iTunes does offers DRM free music. Cds dont have DRM but who goes to Wal-mart for a CD anymore?? Most record stores are closing and CDs are soon to be a wasteful plastic thing of the past. Let''s face it.. Apple has done more to legalize, organize, and deliver real market innovation than RIAA or Walmart will ever dream of. Although the DRM-free music is limited in availability, leave it to Steve Jobs to fix that.

Earbuds: people who dont care about "optimum quality and pristine clarity" use earbuds. They''re compact, easy, dicrete. Most people can''t detect the difference between mp3 or CD files anyway. If you''re a audio purist, iTunes Plus is DRM free and higher quality music.

Socially, people with music in their ears can be offsetting but I think most people would pop out the earbuds if you motioned that you intend to ask a question. Kind of like when you motion to a driver to roll down the window so you can ask a question. No?

[sharncedar]

You are not actually in your own private world you are actually in the real world, the only world.

Being in your own private world is a euphemism for mental disorder. Yes, many of the young people growing up today are psychotic and unable to cope with actual reality. Not surprising, since they spend so many years incarcerated in a custom brainwashing facility (often called school) and when not present in their brainwashing facility they are subject to constant hypnosis from noisy light-emitting screens.

It is a testimony to the strength of the human spirit that some, not many, but some of these young people actaully are finding sanity, and learning to exist in the real world, the only world, where there are no hypnotic colored flashing lights or noises, just cars and trees and smoke and the occaisional rat.

[quatermass2]

Ah, I''m old enough to remember the nasty, frequently disappointing world of vinyl LPs. Some had pops and clicks right out of the sleeve. You could spend a fortune on audio gear, and then have to listen to a "pop......pop......POP.....pop....pop". When CDs came out, oh, how the "golden ears" squawked and yammered. The sound was "glassy" and "inorganic", "buzzy". And now it''s MP3s. OK, I had to do a side-by-side test, running my iPod through my olde-fashioned Technics integrated amp and Mirage speakers, comparing it to the source CD on a Harmon Kardon player. Yes, I *could* tell the difference, but only JUST. Of course, I''m 53, but I think my hearing is still reasonably intact.

That said, I have always preferred the "software" to the "hardware". I listen to classical, and have about 600 CDs. And now, ALL of those CDs are stored on ONE 80G iPod. To me, the biggest downside is that the CD manufacturers don''t seem to give a *** about labelling their product. You''d be amazed at how many classical CDs have either totally incorrect labelling, useless labelling, Japanese kanji, or even variations on all of the above in a BOXED SET. Creating "playlists" by composer and piece was a nightmare, and iTunes is no help there either.

Oh, sorry, I went into "Grumpy Old Man" mode there for a second... ;-)

[tngreen]

I finally broke down and got an MP3 player for Christmas. Although it is very convenient to have so much music in such a portable format, it is also very disconcerting to listen to well-known tunes and hear chunks of the music...missing! Surely the people doing the compressing don''t think the difference is subtle. News flash: it''s not! Big empty holes where music used to be. Very disappointing.

[rf35]

tngreen, buy a MP3 player that costs more than twenty dollars and you shouldn''t have that problem. iPod, Zune, and most higher-end Rio products are good. If it has a picture of SpongeBob or Hannah Montana on it, stay away! Personally, I went with the iPod because of the prevalence of iTunes and the fact that Zune didn''t exist at the time. I have constant problems with it, like all other Apple products I''ve ever used, but once I get it to actually copy the songs off my PC, it sounds pretty good. My biggest gripe is that whenever I want to add songs, I have to do a "restore to factory setting" and then let it run all night copying EVERYTHING. I''m thinking of going to Zune soon...at least it should be more compatible with my computer.

[michellem99-2009]

I hear ye and yes I am 53..I really don''t miss the lps and 54s..I hate cassettes..talking books are on them..I don''t have them ipods nope..see no need for it..I like CDs. They are blind friendly...Years ago I was talking about it would be nice if they had a means of playing thr recording w/o needle and fliping it over..They thot I was out of my mind..

[michellem99-2009]

Eevry one is yakking on a cell or hearing their music..They in their oun little world..We see a notebook/laptop computer and that is cool. Hello ..Have ye forget we are social beings..