Headphones reduce (not eliminate) distractions from noise, they don't do anything for visual distractions. And they don't stop people from approaching and interrupting you (this of course still occurs in non-open layouts, but less frequently).
Of course, if you had an office with a door you could close when you needed uninterrupted focus time, that would pretty quickly stop the interruptions. This is the premise behind why C*O's supposedly need their own offices (to concentrate on all the important decisions), and there are some who advocate this approach for all programmers (look up Spolsky's offices for programmers).
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Headphones reduce (not eliminate) distractions from noise, they don't do anything for visual distractions. And they don't stop people from approaching and interrupting you (this of course still occurs in non-open layouts, but less frequently).
Of course, if you had an office with a door you could close when you needed uninterrupted focus time, that would pretty quickly stop the interruptions. This is the premise behind why C*O's supposedly need their own offices (to concentrate on all the important decisions), and there are some who advocate this approach for all programmers (look up Spolsky's offices for programmers).