Tabitha Farthing

With the advent of recorded sound and the technologies through which it is projected, it remained accessible to all available ears.

Correction: With the advent of recorded sound and the corresponding projection technologies, sound remained accessible to all available ears.

Kenney argues that this perspective ignores the many ways in which recorded music brought people together by asserting, “To emphasize solitary receptivity denies the phonograph’s power to stimulate…new musical cultures” (3).

Correction: Kenney contradicts Eisenberg’s perspective by drawing attention to the many ways in which recorded music brought people together by asserting, “To emphasize solitary receptivity denies the phonograph’s power to stimulate…new musical cultures” (3).

Headphones allow sound to take shape within the mind and transform an individual’s mentality, a function which highlights the privatization of sound as a result of the technology.

Correction: Headphones allow sound to take shape within the mind and transform an individual’s mental state, privatizing sound as a result.

Tabitha Farthing

In the article “Why The U.S. Chills Its Eggs And Most of the World Doesn’t,” author Rae Ellen Bichell writes in a very casual conversational tone.  He establishes the tone by describing a scene where eggs are not refrigerated, including the pronoun “you” which directs the piece at the reader.  The author follows up with rhetorical questions which the reader can relate to.  The pronoun “we” further emphasizes the casual tone, such as when he writes, “But we’re oddballs.”  While the tone is laid back, Bichell appeals to ethos by quoting credible sources on the topic of eggs.  He structures his argument in a way that is effective and easy to follow by making a statement then backing it up with relevant evidence.  This style causes his argument and voice to prevail, while still including thoughts from experts.

In the article about wooden spoons, the tone is practical yet artistic, abounding with rhetorical devices.  The author uses personification to describe the spoon, calling it “trusty and lovable” and “a quiet ensemble player.”  The author often uses anaphora or parallel sentence structures to stress specific aspects of the technology, such as at the end of the first paragraph.  The pronoun “we” is also used often so as to establish a community mindset about the wooden spoon and show how it interacts with society as a whole.  Sensory imagery is used to set the scene and create a strong argument for the value of the technology, such as when the author juxtaposes it with a stainless steel spoon, writing, “It clanks disagreeably, in contrast to the gentle tapping of wood.”  All these elements aid in creating a practical and focused tone that develops a pointed argument while still crafting the words in a way that is appealing to the reader.

Recorded sound and the technologies through which it is projected have revolutionized society.  From the phonograph to bluetooth speakers, the ability to playback sound has generated a myriad of cultural effects.  One such technology that has altered the fabric of society is headphones.  The introduction of headphones initiated a dramatic shift in social interactions, personalizing the audio landscape and generating a unique cultural response.

For the majority of human history, sound, a sensory dimension of the universe, has been ingested in an open audio environment.  With the advent of recorded sound and the technologies through which it is projected, it remained accessible to all available ears.  Then along came headphones, allowing sound waves to penetrate a single brain, effectively altering the very fabric of society.  The introduction of headphones initiated a dramatic shift in social interactions, personalizing the audio landscape and generating a unique cultural response.

Tabitha Farthing

My value will be the social aspect of the technology.

Thesis: The introduction of headphones initiated a dramatic shift in social interactions, personalizing the audio landscape and generating a unique cultural response.

Tabitha Farthing

They can fit in the nook of the human ear, projecting sound waves into the brain.  They can also enclose the outer ear in a seal or lay flat against it.  They are commonly made of plastic, magnets, nickel, and metal.  They can cut off outside noise from the listener, or literally make them deaf over time.  Young people often sport them as fashion statements, flashing the trendy brandname of their choice.  They can be used as a defense mechanism in the office or subway, warding off unwanted attention.  They have many practical applications, such as in the military.

Neighbors pass each other on the street, absorbed by the sound waves floating through their brain cavity.  They do not acknowledge each other or even see each other.  People fear the sound in the open air, they long for the personal audio escape.  Personal interaction is dead, people can only communicate through the wires that reach their ears.

People standing on subways, glancing around nervously, with no auditory escape to occupy their minds.  Gym-goers fighting over the music playlist played in the open air.  On airplanes, there might be increased interaction, however, conversations are full of bickering over the lost technology as babies screech in the background.  Runners on the street blast music from their phone.  Military personnel and government officials operating switchboards are consumed in a noisy chaos as they lack the device to focus in on an individual sound.

Without headphones, people would listen to music in the open environment, creating a social audio experience.  People would regularly gather around radios and stereos to enjoy the sound.  Music would be projected on the subways, streets, and gym.  Rooms and offices might be sound proof in order for the listener to play the music or radio station of their choice without interfering with others in the vicinity.

Tabitha Farthing

Special to The New York Times. “Jersey township passes curb on headphones.” New York Times, 12 July 1982. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/121986996? accountid=14902. Accessed 9 Nov 2016.

This article, published during the period of the Walkman frenzy, reports on a proposed ban on wearing headphones while walking across the street, driving, or biking in the Woodbridge Township of New Jersey.  The penalty for this offense is proposed to be up to fifty dollars in fines, fifteen days in prison, or both.  I thought this was interesting because any given offender would obviously pay the small fine rather than spend two weeks in jail.  It states the reasoning for this measure is that there could be potentially be room for danger with everyone wearing headphones, due to their supposed inattention to their surroundings.  The article claims that there has not been much public resistance to the proposition, which I believe is extreme and prohibits necessary freedoms.  It also casts the non-noise canceling ability of Sony’s headphones in a positive light.  The company even provides a warning on the product that turning up the volume too high could result in blocking out ambient noise.  I think this is an interesting detail because society today highly values the noise canceling function of headphones, which contrasts with this early perspective on the technology.  Often today, if they are lacking in this area, they are viewed as useless.

This source is unrelated to most of my sources, however, it does connect in the sense of the noise-canceling function.  It offers a negative perspective of the feature, that of the safety implications.  If I investigate this further, I would look into the proposed distraction headphones may cause in activities such as driving and whether there are any real legal bans on the use of headphones in certain environments.

Tabitha Farthing

LaCapria, Kim. “Buds Zapper.” Snopes, 7 July 2015, http://www.snopes.com/girl-killed-earbuds/ #!. Accessed 9 Nov. 2016.

This source addresses the claim that a girl died of electrocution by wearing earbuds plugged into an iPhone while it was charging. It shows an image of the supposedly electrocuted girl. The author disputes the credibility of the news story by showing that the same headline circulated on several other news sites at the same time, in different countries, with varying details. I found the news story very humorous, for it is clearly fake, using unprofessional language and lacking in emotion. This story reveals society’s innate fear of technology and electricity as something foreign to its basic understanding of how things work.

This source offers a new dimension to the understanding of my topic: the emotional response to the technology. It reveals the fear associated with headphones with something as outlandish as electrocution resulting from their use. This allows me to investigate other possible fears that stem from headphone use, some which may be valid, such as hearing loss and inattentive walking or driving.

This newspaper article argues against the widespread use of headphones.  It describes how the original intended use of headphones was not for isolation.  The author argues that sounds should exist in their natural “audio habitat” and be a social experience rather than cut one off from the rest of the world.  She also mentions how headphones damage teenagers’ hearing, citing it as the primary danger of digital culture.

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