Walking in Silence

The relationship between walking and writing has been amply discussed. There has historically been a connection between the meditative act of walking and that of writing--both solitary and thoughtful activities. As Friedrich Nietzsche aptly put, "All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking." I wonder what Nietzsche (and, indeed, all other walker/thinkers of old) would think about the advent of the 'walkman,' 'discman,' ipod or mp3 player. If we can walk everywhere with our own music, podcasts, audiobooks or radio playing all the time, are we not de-activating our natural thinking process?
In the last year I have become addicted to listening to podcasts and audiobooks all the time--while I'm cooking by myself, walking to the grocery store, watering the garden, getting ready for work, going for a jog. This, I feel, is brilliant multi-tasking; suddenly I can do it all and learn/read while I'm doing it.
Recently, however, my ipod broke and I have since been walking and running and doing everything else in silence. My dependency on the constant stimulation became apparent; I had the frantic sensation that I wasn't accomplishing as much as I could be. This was especially painful when it came to exercise. Instead of running/walking and 'reading'(hearing) the front page of the newspaper or some good short story, I was now only exercising. However, I found that my mind, now unfocused, bounced freely from idea to idea, moving without boundaries or any traceable trajectory. Now with no stimulating narrative being fed to me as I ran, I focused more on my body as well as on my surroundings. I wondered about the people in their houses, who were they and why had they chosen to paint their house that color? I heard my own breathing; was I always so loud? Even my muscles screamed a little bit louder than usual.
My ipod is now fixed, but I am trying to use it in a more balanced manner. I am still an avid believer in the audiobook, the podcast, talk radio, etc. and I am not about to give it up in the name of silence. However, I think that there is something to be said about just going for a walk, totally unadulterated. After all, if I am feeding myself information all the time, when will I have time to formulate any 'truly great thoughts' of my own. So, for Nietszche's sake, I will now walk home from the coffee shop in silence.