In what, 11 years? That's not so bad. I average only about 1.5 hrs a week in here cumulatively. Most of that is on my 3 hour show-go leads for a 7 hour hot spare period anyways.

Anyways, like I said, it's not as much the iPod as it is that our owners pay LOTS of money for pilots to NOT listen to iPods in flight. Right or wrong, they perceive it as better piloting, and that's what they pay for. That's all I'm saying here. Personally, on ferry legs I could give a flip, so long as I'm not flying with someone who "shuts down" when his iPod is on. I hate that look of "do not disturb" that appears when they plug in, so I can sit there twiddling my thumbs the whole week. Just plain rude.
Well, if someone chooses to have a conversation with you or not on long flights is a personal thing, and may not be related to Ipods.
As for the rest of it, do owners pay us to discuss our families and kids on flights? How about politics? Women and dating? How to save the world with alternative energy? Do they pay us to tune into AM stations on the ADF and listen to that?
I know what the regs say about when a sterile cockpit is required, but that's not what I'm talking about. We're talking about cruise flight here.
I can also honestly tell you that I've missed more radio calls discussing the aforementioned topics, along with company and union things, than I ever missed with my Ipod playing softly in the background (NEVER missed a call when just listening to the Ipod!).
But, as previously mentioned by myself, company policy says no more Ipods, and I simply won't risk a great job over an Ipod. Therefore, goodbye music.
As for conversation, you must be one talkative guy! I can tell you that on those long transcons, most of the time we just run out of things to talk about a couple hours into the flight. Especially after we've been with each other for several days on long flights.
And sometimes, it really is nice just to hear quiet. If I fly with you and give you a "don't talk to me look" at some point, maybe, just maybe it's not because I'm a mental midget when it comes to conversation. Maybe I have some things I'd prefer to think about uninterrupted without figuring out how to save the world with you, or lamenting all the shortcomings in our contract. Or maybe I'm just talked out and was wishing I could listen to some nice music.