What has the iPod done to us?

I'm certainly as guilty as the next person of "tuning out" while working out. But the iPod has done something to me (and everyone else) that really changes the gym dynamic: people don't talk to each other much any more. Back in the day, the old Walkman was too bulky to really make it convenient to do every exercise while listening to cassette tapes. But nowadays, the iPod is so small that the most cumbersome part of the gadget is the ear buds that weigh only a couple ounces. There isn't anything we can't do with an iPod hitched securely to our person! I even toyed with getting one that allows you to view video but I'm resisting just so I don't become even more of a prisoner to all this technology! All the old school stuff that I loved in my youth has been invaded by technology. I just got back from golfing and if your golf cart doesn't have a GPS in it, you must be playing some kind of bogus city course! The gym I worked out in as a kid had the local rock station playing at decibel levels unsafe to all humans and now we play satellite music at a comfortable volume so as not to disturb the throngs of iPod users casually going through their workouts! All the cardio equipment will soon be iPod compatible so the BIGGEST LOSER in the gym will be the art of conversation! Maybe I should pitch an iPod Heart Monitor with an alarm that rings in your ears when your heart rate stays too low during your workout? Some of these folks are really tuning out so much that their biggest workout is song selection and not the exercise at hand! Oh well....
by Chris Scully