Recently, I went to an all-day conference at Betaworks Studios in New York dedicated to the current and future trends of audio technology. The most eye-opening presentation was by Nick Pappageorge, Senior Intelligence Analyst, Frontier Tech at CB Insights, which opened my mind (and ears) to a change in our society that’s in plain sight, but I had never stopped to notice.
As a result of his session, now as I walk around New York City I’m noticing more and more people with AirPods in their ears all the time. They go into a restaurant or a store and they don’t pull them out. Last night I was walking down the street and observed two business executives speaking with each other in a normal conversation for blocks, and one of them had AirPods in his ears the entire time. And when I’m in a store, I talk with people who have AirPods on. It’s a little disconcerting because I never know if that person is listening to me. That said, this is becoming more and more commonplace, which means I’ll get used to it.
Nick postulated that what’s happening is an early form of “transhumanism,” which he defined as “the belief or theory that the human race can evolve beyond its current physical and mental limitations, especially by means of science and technology.” Read the Article
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