Why Does Bill O'Reilly Hate The iPod?

He has a podcast so how much can he hate the iPod. More likely he just needs to rant about something, his target audience likes it.

Society has been saying the same thing about youth since the generation after day one. The message remains the same, just the technology that is ruining us changes.

I second your opinion... and also wonder why Billy'O likes to diss his premium listeners???

The reason why O'Reilly hates the ipod is that people can listen to other idiots besides him that rant away and sound like those weird people on the side of the road waiting for the bus. You know those people, the ones that have arguments with ghosts.

He just realizes that his 15 minutes are over.

From what you wrote I take it that you do not see any problems with the amount of time the
American youth are spending in the world of the iPod as well as on their X-Boxes and Playstations. I'm a 21 year old female and see it as a mojor problem that is affecting society. Nothing radical can really be done about it but it doesn't mean that stating that there is a problem is something you can't do. Kids are glued to their t.v.'s playing those videogames alone a lot of the time and guys in their mid 20's are glued to those too just wasting hours playing pointless games. It doesn't mean that they would be doing something more productive but at least they would have to think of something else to do.
It's the same for the internet, text messaging, all that technology which is making all of society so much more anti-social. People can write whatever they want and not have to have a full conversation with someone. Kids can chat with strangers for hours and go have dinner, take a shower, get back to the chat and then think there's nothing wrong with all of it; there is. Without actual social interaction where the person has to be in the presense of another an individual can't understand how to function in society.
I am also not some intellectual that stays online and reads articles all day long and posts. I'm completing my undergrad in Finance and working as a bartender in a restaurant to cover my expenses. Using your free time to live in some virtual safehaven is not a reality and I think that that is what Bill was getting at, and if not then ok.

I don't hate the ipod. I hate the hype. I've never liked the Apple magic hype. It's not better because it's apple. I am not a better photographer or musician on an Apple, and music does not sound better through an Ipod than other MP3 players. It's not more convenient to use. It's just an overpriced player, and people act like it's manna from heaven. I own three players, both disc based and flash memory based and am about to buy a fourth for my daughter's birthday. The Ipod is no better than either.

I've been using an mp3 player since 2000, and I find the ipod hype almost as sickening as Bill. Just like the announcement of the Zune, which wasn't hype, but , my GOD, why are the available colors so important?

Frankly, if Ipods weren't spoken of like lipstick or a fashion accessory instead of what it is -- a 21st Century Walkman, people who are either more practical and use other players, and people who who don't use them at all, wouldn't think it's so silly. And if Apple had marketed the Nano as being something besides a shiny trinket, they wouldn't have been sued when functional portable devices began to wear.

I wouldn't presume to tell other people what to buy, but please the Ipod does raise Ire in people because it simply isn't a new product, new idea or new service. The only thing new are the annoying commercials with people acting as if they've never heard music before.

One last thing: Cell phones will kill Ipods because people will own phones that can do everything that Ipods can do and they will have no need for the Ipod, but they won't kill Itunes. I bet Itunes will make even more money from Cell phones than Ipods.

...Jeff

Who cares about him? Seriously, who cares? Just another rambling man looking for a crowd.

Give us meat, not milk! :)

v., I ask in all seriousness: do you know what an iPod is? I don't think you or Bill O'Reilly do, to be honest.

It's a small, pocket-sized device for listening to music. You know, like the Walkman was in the 80s. You can put your own music on it or buy music online, legally, and listen to it. Kind of like making your own mixtapes or buying cassette tapes and listening to them on a Walkman.

It can do lots of things the old Walkman couldn't - like hold a week's worth of music to listen to, keep track of your appointments and phone numbers like a PDA, and even play movies. None of that really strikes me as society-destroying. Oh dear, our kids can carry a calendar and addressbook in their pocket that plays music! What's America coming to?

I doubt that Bill O'Reilly "hates" iPods; rather, I think he takes a dim view of some of its users who seem to have nothing better to do than to walk around with their iPods seemingly surgically attached to their bodies. I believe O'Reilly sees what I see in some iPod users, and that is that they seem to be disconnected from reality because they are engrossed in whatever is piped into their heads from their devices. It is true that some (NOT ALL!) iPod users are like ostriches in that they tune into their devices as a means of "escaping" from reality. I believe that O'Reilly speaks disparingly of the "ignorance is bliss" types of iPod users in the same sense that pundits used to speak of Sony Walkman users during the early 1980s. O'Reilly and other commentators are talking about the ABUSE of such devices in a way that allows certain users to "tune out" of the world, thereby turning a blind eye to reality. What concerns O'Reilly and other critical thinkers is that people who choose to be oblivious to life may never be prepared to face the realities of their lives. I think that O'Reilly (correctly) sees that all people should maintain a certain a certain level of life and world knowledge, and he probably feels that the people who immerse themselves in a sterile world of whatever they hear from their iPods may be doing themselves -- and society -- a disservice in the long run.

Bill O' Reilly is a troll. He lives on creating controversy. Please ignore Bill. Don't feed the trolls.

During every Christmas season Bill O'Lielly declares that the secular left has declared "war" on Christmas by insisting that everyone say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". Of course that single sentence has at least three lies in it, but lying is what the man does. And yet, his own e-commerce site will wish you "Happy Holidays" during the Christmas season.

And so it's no surprise that O'Lielly rants against the iPod while at the same time his web site is selling podcasts of his show. At least the man is consistent...

I agree with Kennie, the ingnorance is bliss types are a danger to a modern democratic, technological society. Like the folks who believe BillO and other "commentators" without thinking things through. We have problems in our society, MP3 payers are not them.

What is "the world of the iPod"? It's a music player. Saying you are anti-iPod is pretty darn equivalent to saying you are anti-music. Were portable CD players a problem before the iPod? Shouldn't O'Reilly feel the same way about people watching movies for entertainment? Or TV shows? Or books? Should all fiction be banned? Just because someone wants to escape into music now and then doesn't mean they are "tuning out." Sheesh. I have trouble seeing how iPods or PlayStations are any different from fishing and golf.

I listen to my iPod on my commute (plugged into my car stereo), in my house (plugged into my computer) and occasionally on the road (when on a flight, a bus ride, whatever). Not all iPod users are wandering around urban centers with white headphone cords fluttering to and fro. Bill O'Reilly probably thinks so, and that's just one more illustration of his ignorant nature.

Worth mentioning that you don't need an iPod to listen to a podcast, and indeed most podcasts are played on desktop or laptop computers and not a portable device.

Have you ever wondered why these people tune out of the real world. Perhaps its because there are rude know all people like Bill O'Reilly in the real world and they choose not to be a part of that. And maybe they are smarter than you give them credit for. Perhaps they see the futility of the aggressive pursuit of endless self-improvement and never-fulfilled financial reward and a life in McMansions as not even worth contemplating. Maybe their world is actually richer than the one Bill wants everyone to live in and not the sterile world you think it is.

Bill O' Riley is crazy and he talks crap 9 out of 10 times

Clearly, Mr. O'Reilly sohould invest in some of that robot insurance Sam Waterston used to sell on Saturday Night Live.
The machines are coming for us all....save us from the machines.

I have serious doubts about ANYONE who can rationalize anything Bill O'Riely says or believes. I'm looking at you V and Kennie.

Thank goodness, this is still a free country where people are free to play iPod and/or Playstation or any games of their choice.

Thank goodness that the whacko is not a dictator telling people what to do with their lives.

Btw, playing music and games are far better than sexually harassed a producer.

They should ban television and automobiles too. Do you know how many hours people spend with them when they should be taking leisurely long walks with friends to discuss important topics about the world.

Of 28 students in my daughter's 7th grade class, only one girl and 4 boys could do 3 chin ups (the easy way). Only 2 girls and 6 boys could run a mile in the 6-7 minute range. Most could not do 10 push ups or 10 sit ups. I believe his point is that we are becoming more insular and self-contained; that we are losing our view of the real world that would like to replace us with their politics/religion/business model, etc. Would you want to send your children to a public, inner city school? Now you have your answer.

If you read or believe anything B.O'R. says or writes you are more crazy than he is.

I think the point was: young society (of which I'm still a part at 25 y/o) is so enamored with music and video games (and might I add mySpace, movies, IM, 'miscellaneous other attnetion grabbers') that they almost entirely neglect the import things (to do and know). Import things that affect them now and will affect them in the future. His rant may have been inspired in part by the inquisition of several high school and college age students, many of whom didn't even know the name of the vice president among other things that were considered norm only a few decades (maybe a little longer) ago. The point may be: how are these kids and young adults going to be effective at making important decisions in life that affect themselves, and potentially many others, if all they know is music, movies, and video games? Just some food for thought.

Hi heard BOR rant .. somehow I never take what he says too literally.

Other people (psychologists, etc.) have also said between cell phones, iPods, x-Box, .. our social connection to the world is diminishing.

Can't vouch to its truth .. but Bill is NOT unique in his feelings.

I just about fell off my chair laughing when I ran across several sites talking about Orielly's rant. If I had been drinking milk, it would have probably popped out my ears.

You see, I'm in my mid thirties. I have gone from holding a boombox slapped or walking around with a Sony walkman to being an avid user of an Ipod. Do I feel less in touch with the world? Uhm, no. I still have the ability to communicate without creating cave drawings or grunting at passerbys.

Oh my, computers and games. Well, having owned about half the game consoles and living the geek computer dude life since I ran a BBS on my Commodore 64 in my mom's basement, I believe I still have the ability to know where the hell Iraq and where most countries reside on a globe. Okay, I'll admit, all those -stan countries? The knowledge is a little vague. They popped up after the USSR fell apart so in my mind I still think of them as a big red blob from social studies class in the early 80's.

I guess my words of wisdom to ORielly and all of his ilk would be go back to listening to your 8-track players, and watch Lawrence Welk on PBS and let the rest of us in the world IM, blog and MMRPG our way into oblivion. (Speaking of Oblivion, I have a game to get back to.)

First of all, Bill O'Reilly will say whatever gets him attention. If a lot of people like iPods, then he'll be the first to speak against them. If we all walked around with gloves he'd accuse us of being secretive with our hands. It's crazy, ranting nonsense in the end.
However, there is a very real anti-Pod sentiment out there. I understand some of it, I suppose. The Apple superiority complex and so on. But someone got angry with me for wearing my iPod to the grocery store, calling me anti-social. Now, I'm a social guy- overly so, in some cases haha- but I'll be honest, I don't care a whole lot about socializing at the grocery store. I'm not there for the people, I'm there for the food. Just because we're both in the bread aisle doesn't mean we have to have a chat about it. It actually comes down to what I like most about my iPod: choice. I choose when and where I use it (hopefully wisely), I choose what I listen to, and that choice and new freedom has expanded my music collection, introduced me to new bands and even genres. I think the mistake is that some people think I've put in those little white ear buds to ignore them personally. Solipsism, anyone?

I believe so many of the negative comments about Bill O'Reilly are written by liberals and others who cannot tolerate anything O'Reilly says. Sure, O'Reilly is a man of wide and deep convictions, but he is not merely a mouth that runs astray. His interviews/debates with liberals are most often quite fascinating. Most of them are left with egg on their face. I don't swallow everything he says as being infallible, but he makes a lot of sense more often than he doesn't. And I enjoy seeing the liberals squirm, or become so incensed that they begin to sputter and spit trying to find something cogent to say.

O'Reilly is indeed a "Cultural Warrior" who is not afraid to take a stand against the idiocy of the leftwingers and secular humanists.

More power to him!

Oh please. Every generation has some preoccupation that is supposedly ruining them. Before the ipod it was video games, MTV, arcades, walkmans, comic books, cartoons, television, rock and roll, drugs, sex, feminism.

I just can't take anything the Bill O'Lielly says seriously. The man is simply trying to create controversy so that more people will watch/listen to him.

You might find this interesting

Bill O'Reilly reports on Nintendo, circa 1989

http://www.reelpopblog.com/2007/03/bill_oreilly_re.html