No David Bowie, The Killers, Nine Inch Nails or the latest podcast from National Public Radio’s “Wait Wait ? Don’t Tell Me!” Just silence as everyone else on campus walks around plugged into earbuds.

Technically speaking, it’s a problem that could easily be solved. Given the time, money and inclination, I could probably pick up another — probably one much better than my old-school iPod shuffle. Consumerism is just neat like that.

But the issue goes deeper than the iPod itself. It’s the need for the iPod. I “miss” an inanimate object — something I don’t usually do.

Without the small device, which I affectionately named “George,” the world is a much stranger place. There’s always something missing.

Riding the bus, walking around, driving in the car or simply spending the evening studying at home — it’s as though that time would be better spent with an iPod included.

It’s as if I’ve lost a limb. In fact, I catch myself rummaging through my purse or backpack looking for my trusty iPod, only to sit back in quiet sullenness at the memory of my dearly departed gadget.

Almost everyone has an iPod, MP3 player or some other handheld, music-playing device. There’s no denying how popular of a trend it is, but I doubt that’s entirely the reason many people have one.

I challenge any habitual iPod user to quit cold turkey for a few days and see what happens. Chances are, the same feeling might come up — that “How did I live without the iPod?” notion.

What is it about the iPod that’s put me in this dependent state? What does this item have that other gadgets don’t?

Every once in awhile, there are those people — usually older — who stubbornly resist technology. The most popular reason tends to be the assumption that these things isolate people and are ruining society.

As the logic goes, people become slaves to their cell phones or BlackBerry devices, portable music-playing devices make people antisocial and video game consoles simulating actual activities, such as tennis or strumming a guitar, are a sign of laziness.

Obviously, they’ve never actually played Guitar Hero.

What’s especially interesting is there are a few people that sometimes practice what they preach and go so far as to not own a cell phone. And I’m sure they definitely wouldn’t splurge on an iPod.

I’ve always prided myself on being a take-it-or-leave-it sort of person when it comes to technology.

I can turn off the cell phone without worrying, leave the e-mail unchecked for days and I’ve resisted the Guitar Hero craze. I probably shouldn’t, but I do.

But after weeks of not having my iPod handy, I’m undergoing severe withdrawal pains. I wrote this column expecting to find an answer, but I’m not entirely sure I’ve found it.

What helps is how other people have responded to my iPod query. Each discussion has zeroed in on the same subject — personalization.

The modern iPod is what the mixed tape or CD was — it’s a method of expression and has meaning attributed to most of its contents.

And the fact that it’s portable makes it convenient.

Everyone can probably come up with a song that has special meaning to him or her. Certain songs evoke memories and emotions.

Picking songs for a playlist is akin to choosing what great — or horrible — times in your life you want to replay. It’s selecting a slice of life, which is replayed over and over again.

Perhaps that’s it — it’s not the iPod, but how I can use the iPod. The world I can create for myself.

Sure, eventually, I could live without one. But I really want Bowie back.

Lindsey Poisson is the State News opinion writer. Reach her at poisson4@msu.edu.