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Aplet, 32 as well as a former rock musician, rarely separates himself from his iPod, and that includes while he's at work. When he's not enjoying his downloaded music, from Bob Marley to the White Stripes, he listens to podcasts about Web style. Recently he plugged his iPod into the office's audio system and blared holiday music, much to the delight of his fellow staffers.

Aplet, 32 as well as a former rock musician, rarely separates himself from his iPod, and that includes while he's at work. When he's not enjoying his downloaded music, from Bob Marley to the White Stripes, he listens to podcasts about Web style. Recently he plugged his iPod into the office's audio system and blared holiday music, much to the delight of his fellow staffers.

"My iPod's a lifesaver," says Aplet. "If I'm coding a Web website and I need to be focused and not distracted by conversations, I'll put on a headset and tune out. Then I'll just pound away on the keyboard."

Tuning Out to Get Cranking

Office drones everywhere have been performing the exact same thing for years, and their ranks appear to be growing.A recent survey by Spherion, a recruiting and staffing business, found that practically a third of U.S. workers now listen to music on their iPods or similar devices while on the job. About 80 percent of those workers said the devices boost their job satisfaction and productivity.

"I am in favor of any technology that will be used for entertainment whilst seeking specifically like work to the casual observer," jokes "Dilbert" cartoonist Scott Adams in an e-mail interview. "And any entertainment you are able to locate in the course of a business meeting is nicely worth the risk of being detected."

Nonetheless, what do bosses and colleagues think about the iPod invasion? That's where issues can get complex.

Closing Doors

Is listening to music at work actually a increase to productivity, they wonder, or is it a distraction?

Does plugging into an iPod isolate listeners from their coworkers, shutting down natural communication and driving wedges between younger employees and their less-technologically savvy colleagues? Will an employee who is wrapped up in a Jordin Sparks song hear her telephone, or a fire alarm?

What about security issues? Is it achievable for a disgruntled worker to download sensitive corporate information as effortlessly as he can a song from iTunes?

Some companies, normally smaller, tech-oriented firms, are fine with their employees firing up iPods and MP3 players on the job. A few, including international firms like National Semiconductor and Capital One Financial, have even purchased them in bulk for employees who can use them to listen to training sessions and other business communications at their desks, although traveling or even at house.

You've Got to Be Careful

However, not all organizations are excited about the invasion of the iPod people.

Asked about iPods at Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) in Folsom, Calif., business spokesperson Teri Munger pauses. "I have by no means observed any person with an iPod within the workplace," a minimum of in her developing, she says. The tiny players aren't as innocuous as they look, some companies insist, and raise some severe workplace questions.

"They're fantastic devices," says Barbara Pachter, an office-etiquette and communications specialist in New Jersey. "With all of these kinds of technologies, although, it is about how you use them inside your individual work space. You have got to be careful."

The Spherion survey, conducted by Harris Interactive (Nasdaq: HPOL), found that younger workers are most likely to listen to music on their iPods while working. Almost half of adults ages 25 to 29 say they do so, compared with 22 percent of workers ages 50 to 64.

Those iPods, MP3 players as well as the like seem to be most generally utilized among workers with "more monotonous jobs," like filing and photocopying, and solitary jobs that call for small interaction with colleagues or the public, says Brett Wiatre, Spherion's Western region director of operations.

"In that type of niche situation, the music seems to keep individuals motivated and moving," Wiatre says. Not All Workplaces Correct for iPod

Daniel Robin, a workplace consultant in Santa Cruz, Calif., agrees that the devices have their place at some work sites.

Nevertheless, at other people? Not so significantly.

"It seems fine if a person is flying solo, like an information-technology technician who spends lots of time in transit to user internet sites," Robin says. However, they're "safety no-nos," he says, in other cases.

"What should you can't hear a forklift approaching?" Robin asks.

Or a colleague complaining?

One of the most fantastic and irritating factor about iPods within the office, says Pachter, is their ability to cut workers off from the real world.

"The 'pro' part of it is that their music doesn't really bother other people, and it may help some people focus," says Pachter, coauthor of the book New Rules@Work ($13.95, Prentice Hall, 272 pages).

"The downside is that people get so caught up in what they are listening to that they don't hear other people talking to them. When their headsets are on, it is impossible to tell if they're listening to you, or listening to their music. It drives me crazy!" iPod iSolation

"Dilbert" creator Adams, who has poked fun at the phenomenon in his wildly well-liked comic strip about life in the work cubicle, says he doubts that anybody "is much more productive with distractions than with out."

"Still, anything that makes your coworkers much less likely to talk to you has to be an excellent factor," he jokes.

Dale Carnegie Training takes the matter a bit more seriously. The company advises caution when utilizing iPods at work.

"Even if your office sanctions iPod use, very first think about your specific position and goals," Dale Carnegie's Web website reads. "Are you new and attempting to form excellent working relationships?

"The iPod may isolate you and discourage interaction with others."

Setting Policies

At Intel, the choice about whether or not using iPods is appropriate is up to individual managers, says Munger. Typically, it is acceptable if "work is not impacted, employees are acting in a safe manner and their cube mates are not being distracted," she says.

Wiatre of Spherion says some organizations are setting policies about when and how iPods can be utilized on the job, just as they've placed restrictions on the use of cell phones as well as other personal technological devices.

"Some of our clients ban them," he says. "Others are setting policies particular to the job and also the work environment. We encourage employers to set established, consistent standards, so that you will find no misunderstandings."

Folsom startup SynapSense has no such policies. Most of its 40 employees, who hail from such far-flung places as South Africa, India and Barbados, embrace iPods at work, says spokesperson Patricia Nealon.

"We have a extremely diverse set of folks, and they listen to all kinds of different music," she says. "In a cubicle environment where folks retain their own space and need to focus on what's correct in front of them, it works out great."

For software program developers or code writers, anyway. Nealon herself leaves her iPod at residence. "I'm a advertising individual, and I adore interacting with individuals around me," she says. "I only use my iPod when I work out."