The iPod Cool Factor

03.05.07 - 03:40pm

Based on a survey conducted by the University of Virginia, the iPod is more popular than working out, MTV, and concerts, a trend that one can see by simply walking onto any college campus - the little white earbuds are prevalent everywhere.

According to the survey 67% of the 1,200 students surveyed said that iPods were “in” on campus, with only 42% saying the same for MTV, 40% for concerts and 57% for working out.

Some of the students don’t really care for the iPod as reflected in the opinion of Cara Magoon, who does not own an iPod. She said, “There might be less idea generation. People like to walk and think and they don’t do that now. It’s more of a submission than creation deal [with iPods].”

Yet crowd trends shift more towards sophomore Lynne Ellison’s opinion who said, “It gives me a little motivation during the day. I pop in my iPod and it makes me happy when I’m going to class.”

Bottom line, while some prefer the sound of silence to that of music, music effects not only your mood but also changes the way you breathe, and even your circulation.

BBC news wrote a article on the results of Beethoven vs techno on the body. The results showed the participants synchronizing their breathing with the music beats being played.

“Faster music and more complex rhythms speeded up breathing and circulation,” stated one of the researchers.

Music has also been shown to “respond differently” in the brain. Professor Peter Janata from Dartmouth College stated after performing a study that “one chunk of the brain was responding when the melody was in G major or E minor and another part of the circuit was responding to it when it was in E minor.” Thus different notes will either relax or pump up a person depending on which area of the brain is stimulated.

The Institute of cancer Research in London, England is using music to treat their patients. They say there is a 30 percent reduction in the symptoms that come from the debilitating cancer treatments when patients relax and are uplifted by music.

So it is little wonder that the iPod is such a campus hit. Young people listen to music an average of 2.5 hours a day and when something lousy has happened or you are stressed for a test listening to your favorite song can lift your spirits and make you smile - as the song goes “Don’t worry, be happy,” and while there is the worry of Technological Isolation Syndrome, iPods are also used as a social tool - a way of sharing your music and thus a bit of who you are with someone who used to be a stranger.

Category: iPod | Tags: campus, iPod, students