By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady

I never cease to be amazed at the mind-opening range of responses that this column generates. Although some of you agreed with my no-iPods-at-work thesis (and I'll report your comments first!) most of you disagreed, and many of you credit your iPods for maintaining your sanity.

Here's a selection of your comments:

“Just say no … to iPods”

"You bet listening to music, radio, blah, blah, blah, affects productivity!"

"If you are paying people to work they should not use their iPod on work time. We work, then play."

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"I find it very frustrating when you approach an employee’s desk and because they are listening to the iPod, they don't even know that you are standing there."

"I can't think of any work that could be done while listening to whatever, without some decline in attentiveness that lowers consistent productivity and quality."

"Get your head out of your headphones and give your employer the day's work they are paying you for. Wake up and do an honest day of work and be proud of it."

“A radio-free workplace? I don't think so.”

By far the bulk of the readers believed that at least some workers do better work with their earphones on. In fact, many think of their iPods as their lifeline to sanity.

"Sitting in a silent office on my own all day with no music or talk radio??!!! May as well send the little men in white coats, because I am off to the funny farm."

"Even in higher level positions, there is a lot of rote work that doesn't require enough thought to light a candle—hence radio has saved my sanity."

"Most days I have commercial-free music playing through my computer at a low volume...just enough to break the horrible silence in the room!"

"Often the routine part of my job is maddening to me. If I have talk radio on, I am encouraged to stay in my seat and finish up what has to be done in less time."

"Sometimes my boss will make a mess of the formatting on Word documents, and if I didn’t have my ‘white noise’ I couldn’t get through it."

"If I were not able to listen to classical music at work I would probably kill some of my co-workers. They are constantly talking about their personal lives, which I am not interested in. I use the iPod to block them out."

"I strenuously disagree. I am a very serious worker and I have my iPod on almost all day playing music. It is ‘white’ noise to me."

"If I am trying to work in total silence my brain wanders off and the next thing I know I’m making a grocery list. The music occupies the parts of my brain I’m not using at the time."

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"I was listening to my headphone while I read your email and while I'm typing this response."

"It drowns out the constant whining and complaining from co-workers and increases my concentration. I've seen my productivity go up by as much as 20%."

"It is an honor system and self evaluation should take place before listening. Will this prohibit you from hearing someone else trying to contact you? Will the device create a safety hazard? Are you a person that can handle this type of sensory stimuli and still be able to perform?"

“… Less likely to say something stupid”

Several readers had more surprising reasons for supporting iPoders:

"People are less likely to say something offensive or stupid if they aren't talking."

"Many of us have lived through the nightmare of being forced to listen to music well out of our normal and tolerable genres, so I am personally thankful for the evolution of the boom box to the MP3/IPod."

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"Actually, my boss approached me to ask if I would mind working with music in the background. He wants to be sure that I can't overhear conversations of a sensitive nature."

And finally, one brief rejection of my thesis: "Brains aren't the same on everyone."

I guess I'll have to admit that some people can do some tasks as well or better with an iPod—and I don't want any readers to lose their sanity—but my iPod still stays home.

Thanks for reading and taking the time to respond. You can still add your thoughts by using the Share Your Comments button below.