Comment by tomxor | Hacker News Reader

Comment by tomxor | Hacker News Reader

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For smartphones!? I can only imagine that being more hazardous.

Do you notice how we negotiate paths when we are walking? body language, with particular emphasis on the position of the head and eyes. Try this experiment: as you walk towards someone without a clear path to their left or right - walk with intent to go slightly one side with your eyes/head slightly to the other, usually your intent comes across far more ambiguous and requires more negotiation than usual... now imagine people are not looking where they are going (literally), while appearing to be looking where they are going. And I don't buy that AR magically solves concentration by keeping your field of view.

At least with those zombies staring down it's clear they are distracted so you can ignore their body language.

I'm sure I'm showing my age when I say that I really don't like walking in cities (or anywhere really) with ear buds/headphones in. It's too much isolation from the environment and I'm just not comfortable with it. I imagine that's a minority option though and many will claim that the isolation really isn't a problem with the right earpieces. But I can only speak to how I personally feel.

I’m 35 and have mostly abandoned the idea of smartphones being better than a laptop. I travel with it as little as possible, and still study maps before I travel and carry papers with me.

I hate tech in the world, and meet younger people who feel similar. Personally I love the city, but if tech people take over I can be swayed to move to a fruit farm and never leave.

Transparency mode works well on Airpods pro but I never walk around busy streets with both earbuds in. I strongly recommend only using one and listening to audio books or podcasts

I've heard that about the Airpod Pros.

I guess part of it is that I don't really feel a need to always be listening to some kind of soundtrack. I actually do listen to podcasts when I drive, especially on the highway. But I don't even routinely have music on in my house and don't really like working with music in the background.

Ugh, I hate that, those people with contonuous soundtracks. They don't seem to realize it's loud, makes them speak louder still and is a huge hit to their ability to pay attention.

Smart glasses obviously.

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