Public stereos

I apologise for the absence of Abstracts of late, and further apologise that this one is a little uninspired and straight forward. The truth is, my Abstract radar is not working as well now as it was previously. I intend to make real efforts to rectify that, however.

Anyway, this Abstract focuses on the phenomenon I have witnessed over the last year or so, mainly on the bus or simply walking around my manor in East London. I refer to the practice of playing music (mp3 files?) through the loud speaker of one's mobile phone.

I can see the general reasoning behind personal stereos, whereby one can listen to loud-ish music without (a) using much juice or (b) disturbing others much.

However, this new practice seems to fall down on all counts! The music quality is hopeless through the puny loudspeakers (crackles, no bass), many onlookers are driven to distraction, and presumably the battery runs flat very quick.

So the motivation for this practice seems to be called into question. Is it a fad, against which no rational reasoning can be set? Is the main reason precisely
because it drives others to distraction? Or perhaps an innate desire in us all to share our musical taste with everyone?