Fewer iPods on Inauguration Day: People Want to Connect

I'm listening to NPR's Morning Edition coverage of Inauguration Day. The reporters sound excited, not just because they're in the tank for Obama (they are, and so am I... and so should you be!), but because they get front-row seats for America's finest moment yet of the 21st century.

One reporter (a lady reporter, but I missed her name) makes an interesting techno-sociological observation. She says that usually when she walks down the street in Washington, D.C., she sees the little white cords running from folks' iPods to their earbuds. Usually folks on the Metro and on foot want to close out the world around them. This morning, says the reporter, no white cords. People's ears are open, their eyes are wide. People want to connect with each other and the moment.