iPods and Bowling Alone

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I've gotten to the point where, Apple loyalist though I claim to be, I can't stand seeing those goddamn white wires peaking out through the various layers of winter clothing that New Yorkers have been forced to wear into March. White wires that signify one thing: iPod on board.

I loathe the prospect of walking onto yet another train, which was once the ultimate equalizer, only to be reminded at every turn, in any section of the train car that I'm unfortunate enough to stand or sit in, that I am and will remain a disgruntled member of the iPod have-nots. At first, it was simply a matter of cost. It still remains a matter of cheddar, but more than anything, my refusal to buy or yearn for a little white box is now a matter of principle. No longer a signifier of rebellion, anti-monopoly, or underdog, the Apple logo in this context simply replaces the Microsoft logo in the OS wars.

And what's perhaps far worse is that it has become the ultimate symbol of urban chic.

White iPod wires hang all around me in my morning commute, indicating that the train I take has become more overrun by the yuppie, hipster crowd that I don't identify with. Moreover, if I were to take a demographic snapshot of the riders on trains and compare that with the race of the iPodders, I am sure that the correlation between whiteness and propensity to have white earbuds sticking out of your ears would be very interesting, if not outright damning.

For a while last summer, I took to wearing an old pair of iPod earbuds that I'd acquired through the adoption of a dying (since deceased) iPod from a friend. I would put on my earbuds, and put the other end of the wire into my pocket, my bag, anywhere. And at some point during the trip, I would deliberately pull out the wire and put it back, just to see if anyone would notice that I was an imposter. No such luck, and I soon grew tired of my little game. But I could feel the eyes of the iPodders upon me. I just knew that they were trying to figure out what I was up to...

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It seems that more and more people are plugging into some kind of listening, or now viewing, device while on the trains. One of the remarkable elements of the NYC Subway is the tremendous mix of people who ride the trains. As I'd written before about the DC Metro, it really felt like you only had college/graduate students, lawyers, and bureaucrats. But in NYC, you have students, elders, kids, suits, rags, whatever. And folks eat, and it's raucous, and there's so much interesting reading, music, and storytelling going on. It's a microcosm of the giant and everchanging city up above. But it seems that more and more people are closing themselves off to that - ears tuned into their own private memories, or their favorite video game or film, as Gameboy and portable DVD players break into the subterranean market.

It feels isolating, sort of like the feeling I got after hearing my pal Rags tell me about Los Angeles drivers, each in his or her own world as they head to work, the beach, wherever. The public spaces provided by the subway system are a natural breeding ground for peace, love, and understanding. Or in the very least, tolerance, shared experience, and funny stories. But as people withdraw from that shared space, into a self-imposed isolation created by headphones and moving images, are they withdrawing from a part of the shared New Yorker identity? Are we moving apart from one another, and cutting the threads that bind the city together in this and other isolating acts? Are we all destined to bowl alone?