It predates Covid Bluetooth speakers on hiking trails were a thing even before the pandemic
t-3•6mo ago
Maybe it's the prevalence of noise-canceling headphones, especially the modern airpods-type bluetooth kind with active noise canceling. When "everybody" can turn off the noise on demand, noise is no problem. They also reduce the sensitivity of the user to their own noise, which might lead to making more. The modern culture of conspicuous consumption that demands loud and flashy probably has a part to play as well.
s1mplicissimus•6mo ago
I noticed supermarkets in my area changed their in-shop audio ads to use screechy loudness-enhanced tone in recent years and attributed it to people like me wearing headphones becoming more frequent - the loudness-enhanced tone cuts through the headphones like a megaphone, thus forcing me again to hear the ads even with headphones.
Black mirror saw it all coming :/
robotapertama•6mo ago
Not in Japan. So, perhaps a cultural thing?
clipsy•6mo ago
> Not in Japan.
I didn't see this called out in the article; can you provide evidence?
nothercastle•6mo ago