Too much of a good thing?

The Washington Post had an interesting article last month about music addicts -- and how MP3 players and other technology are allowing people to set their entire day to music of their choosing. Much of the article is a profile of this one guy who listens to music 14 hours a day -- he has to have two iPods so one can always be charging.

According to the article:

... Cabrera packs his own tunes -- with the help of a waterproof device and headphones -- while practicing at the University of Maryland pool, which already has underwater speakers piping music to swimmers. He listens to music of his own choosing while: eating, running, painting, pumping weights, driving. He listens to music while giving directions to someone on campus. He even listens to music in the classroom. "Like if it's a history course," he says, "I really could care less. The teacher is talking in a monotone. I turn it up. I put in one earbud and turn my head a little and the teacher can't tell."

The article also mentions he listens to music upon waking up, when working out, when sitting in a coffee shop relaxing and drawing, and when going to sleep.

I'm all for listening to music as much as possible, but it occurs to me that this might be a case of too much of a good thing. I'm wondering when this guy (and many, many people like him) has time to interact, you know, with people. To me, part of the fun of being a music lover is being able to geek out and talk about music with other people -- friends, strangers, whatever. Maybe if he took his earbuds out from time to time, he'd meet some new folks and hear about some new music. Then maybe the poor guy find something better to listen to than Nickelback. Shudder.

When your love of music (and the devices you choose for listening) isolates you, instead of bringing you closer to people, I think you're kind of missing the point.