Good reasons for not liking iPods

I've heard a lot of arguments as to why iPods and mp3 players are the devil, are going to destroy music/civilization, etc. None of them is particularly compelling, but and experience I had the other day really made me hate the damn things.

I was on the Mount Vernon shuttle coming back from class in the climactic roller-coaster that is the Hand Chapel. The Mount Vernon shuttle is weird - some days it will buzz with chatter, other days it will be totally silent. I haven't been able to determine why this is exactly, but it's an interesting sociological question. Anyhow, nobody cares about that, so I'll move on.

A perfectly cromulent individual person came and sat next to me. Cool, I think to myself. Tried to start a bit of conversation, by jumping in on a conversation about one of our esteemed classmates who won't shut the fuck up during class. I swear to God, there are a couple of people in that class that when they raise their hand, most of the room just wants to throw a fuckin brick at them. I'm sure everyone who reads this has encountered the type: they ask a question, shut up for a second, then answer their own question as they see it, then argue with the professor until they can convince themselves that whatever they're saying has some merit. All of this instead of just shoving a cork in it and listening to someone who knows a buttload more about the issue at hand than they do.

Anyhow, back to the perfectly cromulent individual. I jump in on ragging on the guy, because let's face it, he annoys the shit out of everyone. That class, he got owned by the professor, who simply replied to one of his dumbass assumptions by saying "Nope, that's not actually how it was at all." So we all exchanged a few words about how he got put down like an inbred puppy (not actually what I said). I do my part, then a lull in the conversation. I expect a continuation, but hearing none and still wanting to talk, I wasn't even able to go contingency on the whole thing. The mp3 player was deployed, effectively erecting an iron box of silence.

I definitely didn't say anything obtuse, I even got a genuine chuckle at something funny I said. But still, the conversation effectively ended there. And I see this particular individual take out the mp3-a-majig every single time on the shuttle. Why? I don't get it. Do people really love music that much? I know not everyone wants to talk all the time, but in a setting where you could meet someone, why cut yourself off from the chance? So in addition to expense, not wanting to be like the Abercrombie-clad GW blob, and the fact that I just don't have enough songs to put on an iPod, add "being open to meeting new people in ordinary settings" to my list of why I will never buy an iPod or mp3 dealie.