I think the concept of the IPod is an extremely interesting one. Though I consider myself technically savvy, I have not yet embraced this foreign, somewhat intrusive piece of equipment that reminds me all too much of the tiny bug-like pieces that were pierced into the ears of the protagonist's wife in "Fahrenheit 451." Instead, I too have a hard time understanding why anyone would want to block out the sounds of life, to substitute the often surprising or unusual sound effects or conversations around us from our environment and out neighbors in it. Why can't the whistle of the leaves and a playful argument between schoolchildren be the soundtrack to our lives instead of My Chemical Romance? While we lose the sense of hearing and awareness of the world around us, we gain something of a presence, as the speaker describes as the sudden belief that the environment has become a reflection of "me." Only in an egotistical world as this one would the IPod become so rapidly and broadly popular.