essay about headphones

How Headphones Changed the World

A short philosophical history of personal music

If you are reading this on a computer, there is an excellent chance that you are wearing, or within arm's reach of, a pair of headphones or earbuds.

To visit a modern office place is to walk into a room with a dozen songs playing simultaneously but to hear none of them. Up to half of younger workers listen to music on their headphones, and the vast majority thinks it makes us better at our jobs. In survey after survey , we report with confidence that music makes us happier, better at concentrating, and more productive.

Science says we're full of it. Listening to music hurts our ability to recall other stimuli, and any pop song -- loud or soft -- reduces overall performance for both extraverts and introverts. A Taiwanese study linked music with lyrics to lower scores on concentration tests for college students, and other research have shown music with words scrambles our brains' verbal-processing skills. "As silence had the best overall performance it would still be advisable that people work in silence," one report dryly concluded .

If headphones are so bad for productivity, why do so many people at work have headphones?

There is an economic answer: The United States has moved from a farming/manufacturing economy to a service economy, and more jobs "demand higher levels of concentration, reflection and creativity." This leads to a logistical answer: With 70 percent of office workers in cubicles or open work spaces, it's more important to create one's own cocoon of sound. That brings us to a psychological answer: There is evidence that music relaxes our muscles, improves our mood , and can even moderately reduce blood pressure, heart rate, and anxiety . What music steals in acute concentration, it returns to us in the form of good vibes.

That brings us finally to our final cultural answer: Headphones give us absolute control over our audio-environment, allowing us to privatize our public spaces. This is an important development for dense office environments in a service economy. But it also represents nothing less than a fundamental shift in humans' basic relationship to music.

A SHORT HISTORY OF PRIVATE MUSIC

In 1910, the Radio Division of the U.S. Navy received a freak letter from Salt Lake City written in purple ink on blue-and-pink paper. Whoever opened the envelope probably wasn't expecting to read the next Thomas Edison. But the invention contained within represented the apotheosis of one of Edison's more famous, and incomplete, discoveries : the creation of sound from electrical signals.

The purpose of the headphone is to concentrate a quiet and private sound in the ear of the listener. This is a radical departure from music's social purpose in history. "Music together with dance co-evolved biologically and culturally to serve as a technology of social bonding," Nils L. Wallin and Björn Merker wrote in The Origins of Music . Songs don't leave behind fossils, but evidence of musical notation dates back to at least Sumeria. In 1995, archaeologists discovered a bone flute in southern Europe estimated to be 44,000 years old.

The 20th century did a number on music technology. Radio made music transmittable. Cars made music mobile. Speakers made music big, and silicon chips made music small. But headphones might represent the most important inflection point in music history.

If music evolved as a social glue for the species -- as a way to make groups and keep them together -- headphones allow music to be enjoyed friendlessly -- as a way to savor our privacy, in heightened solitude. In the 1950s, John C. Koss invented a set of stereo headphones "designed explicitly for personal music consumption," Virginia Heffernan reported for the New York Times . "In that decade, according to Keir Keightley, a professor of media studies at the University of Western Ontario, middle-class men began shutting out their families with giant headphones and hi-fi equipment." Headphones did for music what writing and literacy did for language . They made it private.

ALONE, TOGETHER

Loneliness is one of the first things ordinary Americans spend their money achieving.

So wrote Stephen Marche in last month's cover story for The Atlantic . "Loneliness is at the American core, a by-product of a long-standing national appetite for independence," he said. "The price of self-determination and self-reliance has often been loneliness. Americans have always been willing to pay that price."

It is easy, and therefore popular, to say that headphones make us anti-social . But Marche is right. Wealth can buy -- and modern technology can deliver -- the independence that people have always sought. People have always had private thoughts. Headphones have the capacity to make our music like our thoughts. Something that nobody else can hear. Something we can choose to share.

Dr. Michael Bull , an expert on personal music devices from the University of Sussex, has repeatedly made the larger point that personal music devices change our relationship to public spaces. "People like to control their environment," he told Wired magazine, and "music is the most powerful medium for thought, mood and movement control."

Controlling our public environment is more important now that Americans have stopped moving away from density. Sunbelt suburbs today are languishing. Urban centers are thriving. "Today, the most valuable real estate lies in walkable urban locations," Christopher B. Leinberger reported in a new Brookings study last week. In a re-urbanized United States, the earbud is the new car stereo. "With the urban space, the more it's inhabited, the safer you feel," Bull says. "You feel safe if you can feel people there, but you don't want to interact with them."

Personal music creates a shield both for listeners and for those walking around us. Headphones make their own rules of etiquette. We assume that people wearing them are busy or oblivious, so now people wear them to appear busy or oblivious -- even without music. Wearing soundless headphones is now a common solution to productivity blocks. Baldwin's invention for the Navy has become a social accessory with a explicit message: I am here, but I am separate. In a wreck of people and activity, two plastic pieces connected by a wire create an aura of privacy.

SOUND AND WORK

We still haven't answered the first question I posed: If headphones are so bad for productivity, why do so many people work with headphones?

It's not just that headphones carve privacy out of public spaces. It is also that music causes us to relax and reflect and pause. The outcome of relaxation, reflection, and pausing won't be captured in minute-to-minute productivity metrics. In moments of extreme focus, our attention beams outward, toward the problem, rather than inward, toward the insights."When our minds are at ease -- when those alpha waves are rippling through the brain -- we're more likely to direct the spotlight of attention inward," Jonah Lehrer wrote in Imagine .  "The answers have been there all along. We just weren't listening."

In a crowded world, real estate is the ultimate scarce resource, and a headphone is a small invisible fence around our minds -- making space, creating separation, helping us listen to ourselves.

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Against Headphones

By Virginia Heffernan

• Jan. 7, 2011

One in five teenagers in America can’t hear rustles or whispers, according to a study published in August in The Journal of the American Medical Association. These teenagers exhibit what’s known as slight hearing loss, which means they often can’t make out consonants like T’s or K’s, or the plinking of raindrops. The word “talk” can sound like “aw.” The number of teenagers with hearing loss — from slight to severe — has jumped 33 percent since 1994.

Given the current ubiquity of personal media players — the iPod appeared almost a decade ago — many researchers attribute this widespread hearing loss to exposure to sound played loudly and regularly through headphones. (Earbuds, in particular, don’t cancel as much noise from outside as do headphones that rest on or around the ear, so earbud users typically listen at higher volume to drown out interference.) Indeed, the August report reinforces the findings of a 2008 European study of people who habitually blast MP3 players, including iPods and smartphones. According to that report, headphone users who listen to music at high volumes for more than an hour a day risk permanent hearing loss after five years.

Maybe the danger of digital culture to young people is not that they have hummingbird attention spans but that they are going deaf.

The history of headphones has always been one of unexpected uses and equally unexpected consequences. Headphones were invented more than a century ago. According to some accounts, modern headphones were the brainchild of Nathaniel Baldwin, a tinkerer from Utah who grew frustrated when he couldn’t hear Mormon sermons over the noise of the crowds at the vast Salt Lake Tabernacle. Baldwin’s device, which was designed first as an amplifier, came to incorporate two sound receivers connected by an operator’s headband. Within each earphone was, according to legend, a mile of coiled copper wiring and a mica diaphragm to register the wire’s signals with vibrations. When the Navy put in an order for 100 such Baldy Phones in 1910, Baldwin abandoned his kitchen workbench, hastily opened a factory and built the prosperous Baldwin Radio Company. His innovations were the basis of “sound powered” telephones, or phones that required no electricity, which were used during World War II.

It’s not incidental that Baldwin imagined headphones first as a way to block out crowd noise and hear sermons. Workers and soldiers have long used them to mute the din of machinery or artillery while receiving one-way orders from someone with a microphone. From the beginning, it seems, headphones have been a technology of submission (to commands) and denial (of commotion).

When World War II ended, submission-and-denial was exactly what returning veterans craved when they found themselves surrounded by the clamor and demands of the open-plan family rooms of the postwar suburbs. By then, they knew what device provided it. In the ’50s, John C. Koss invented a set of stereo headphones designed explicitly for personal music consumption. In that decade, according to Keir Keightley, a professor of media studies at the University of Western Ontario, middle-class men began shutting out their families with giant headphones and hi-fi equipment. Further, they recalled the sonar systems they saw at war.

The Walkman appeared in 1979, the invention of Sony, and headphones became part of a walking outfit. Headphones and earbuds are now used with MP3 players, mobile phones, tablet computers and laptops.

Most discussions of the transformation of music by digital technology focus on the production end. But headphones transform sound for the consumer too. Headphones are packed with technology. When an audio current passes through the device’s voice coil, it creates an alternating magnetic field that moves a stiff, light diaphragm. This produces sound. If you think about all the recordings, production tricks, conversions and compressions required to turn human voices and acoustic instruments into MP3 signals, and then add the coil-magnet-diaphragm magic in our headphones, it’s amazing that the intensely engineered frankensounds that hit our eardrums when we listen to iPhones are still called music.

Whatever you call it, children are listening to something on all these headphones — though “listening” is too limited a concept for all that headphones allow them to do. Indeed, the device seems to solve a real problem by simultaneously letting them have private auditory experiences and keeping shared spaces quiet. But the downside is plain, too: it’s antisocial. As Llewellyn Hinkes Jones put it not long ago in The Atlantic: “The shared experience of listening with others is not unlike the cultural rituals of communal eating. Music may not have the primal necessity of food, but it is something people commonly ingest together.”

Headphones work best for people who need or want to hear one sound story and no other; who don’t want to have to choose which sounds to listen to and which to ignore; and who don’t want their sounds overheard. Under these circumstances, headphones are extremely useful — and necessary for sound professionals, like intelligence and radio workers — but it’s a strange fact of our times that this rarefied experience of sound has become so common and widespread. In the name of living a sensory life, it’s worth letting sounds exist in their audio habitat more often, even if that means contending with interruptions and background sound.

Make it a New Year’s resolution, then, to use headphones less. Allow kids and spouses periodically to play music, audiobooks, videos, movie, television and radio audibly. Listen to what they’re listening to, and make them listen to your stuff. Escapism is great, and submission and denial, too, have their places. But sound thrives amid other sounds. And protecting our kids’ hearing is not just as important as protecting their brains; it is protecting their brains.

Points of Entry: This Week’s Recommendations POLYPHONIC Who will make the biopic of Nathaniel Baldwin, the inventor of headphones? He was a polygamy defender who blew his fortune on gonzo polygamy-oriented causes but was himself married only once. Read all about him at history.utah.gov .

SKULL AND PHONES In the great Utah gadget tradition, Skullcandy, the leading-edge American headphones retailer, is based in Park City. Skullcandy.com showcases the thrills and risks of the headphoned life; it also sells some of the best headsets around. Use in moderation.

YOUNG EARS It’s a Noisy Planet is a campaign by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders aimed at kids 8 to 12. See noisyplanet. nidcd.nih.gov for facts and advice on protecting their hearing.

The Medium column on Jan. 9, about headphones, referred incorrectly to their origin. While some sources do credit Nathaniel Baldwin with inventing them in 1910, early models were used in the late 19th century.

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Headphones Everywhere

By Amanda Petrusich

Anyone who has recently spent time in a public space—traversing the aisle of an airplane, say, lurching toward your seat adjacent to the toilet, trying to shift your backpack without thwapping a fellow traveller on the forehead—has likely noticed the sudden and extraordinary ubiquity of headphones. “Do people really like music this much?” I have wondered, incredulously, while tallying endless white earplugs. The outside world, once a shared auditory environment, has been effectively fractured. We now lilt about in our own bubbles of self-programmed sound.

In 2012, the headphone industry saw a quick thirty-two-per-cent leap in revenue (concurrent with the increasing availability of smartphones and other devices that store and play back audio), and since then the market has only continued to swell. A 2014 survey by the “music lifestyle brand” Sol Republic found that fifty-three per cent of millennials—defined, for the survey’s purposes, as adults between eighteen and thirty-four years old—owned three or more pairs, and wore headphones for nearly four hours every day. Seventy-three per cent admitted to having slid a pair of headphones on to “avoid interaction with other people.” That same year, GQ, in a spread on its Web site, reconfigured headphones as the au-courant ornament for modish men: “The newest fashion accessory isn't a fashion accessory at all. It’s head-swaddling, high-style headphones that make as much of a statement as anything else you’re wearing,” the copy read.

Certainly, headphones are an obvious method of exercising autonomy, control—choosing what you’ll hear and when, rather than gamely enduring whatever the environment might inflict upon you. In that way, they are defensive; users insist upon privacy (you can’t hear what I hear, and I can’t hear you) in otherwise lawless and unpredictable spaces. Should we think of headphones, then, as just another emblem of catastrophic social decline, a tool that edges us even deeper into narcissism, solipsism, vast unsociability? Another signifier of that most plainly American ideology: independence at any cost?

It turns out that observers have been fretting about headphones—and the disconnection they facilitate—for decades. Early Walkman prototypes included a second headphone jack so you could share your tunes with a buddy; Sony C.E.O. Akio Morita later admitted that he “thought it would be considered rude for one person to be listening to his music in isolation.” In 1981, just two years after the Walkman was introduced to the U.S. market (at two hundred dollars, it was an upper-middle-class indulgence), a Times writer described the view on the streets: “Suddenly, waves of people were walking about with little foam-rubber circles on their ears and expressions of transport on their faces in a scene that was almost Orwellian.” Another story, from 1980, described a man having to sell his Walkman to save his marriage: “ ‘My wife insisted that I was tuning her out for reggae,’ he said sadly.” In 1999, in an article commemorating the Walkman’s twentieth anniversary, the reporter Phil Patton wrote, “The Walkman and its rivals quickly became a landmark in the history of media and a symbol of an inwardly focused era.”

Read enough archived editorials, and you begin to believe that as long as human beings have wandered the Earth’s surface, reluctantly grunting at each other about the weather, we have also been entrenched in “an inwardly focused era.” Portable audio, then, is likely more a reflection than an engine of our egotism. The sociologist Edward Hall, in his book “The Hidden Dimension,” from 1966, introduced the discipline of proxemics, which he defined as “the interrelated observations and theories of man’s use of space as a specialized elaboration of culture.” Hall is responsible for the notion of so-called personal space, or the invisible force field most Americans ensconce themselves in while moving through public places; a breach of implied boundaries (per Hall, the human ego extends about a foot and a half outside the body) is neither welcome nor tolerated. No indiscriminate or uninvited contact, the social contract goes. Certainly never any uncomfortably close talking! As W. H. Auden wrote in his poem “Prologue: The Birth of Architecture,” “Some thirty inches from my nose / The frontier of my person goes.” Headphones help demarcate personal space. They allow us to feel cloistered, safe, and comfortably alone.

One of the more interesting revelations included in the Sol Republic survey is the news that empowerment anthems—like Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” Katy Perry’s “Roar,” Kanye West’s “Stronger,” and (no joke) the “Chariots of Fire” theme—are especially popular among headphone devotees. People like to stomp around to jams that instantly position them as scrappy and determined underdogs, overcoming tremendous odds. (The original music video for “Eye of the Tiger” features the members of Survivor marching down the street in combat formation, their collective gaze unblinking, their strides assured; it turns out they’re simply walking to band practice in a garage.) These days, people seem to be perpetually gearing themselves up for the epic battle of merely existing. At the end of the day, jogging up to our front doors, we are all Rocky, reaching the summit, conquering that last step: “Just a man / and his will / to survive!” We rip our headphones off, triumphantly. We did it! Another day closer to death!

As more and more people choose to listen to music on headphones—and we are now nearly forty years deep into portable audio; I have a friend who claims he only listens to music on headphones—it seems silly not to wonder how that technology might be beginning to dictate content. If headphones allow for more introspection, do headphone users favor introspective sounds? If there’s been a thematic through line in the past several years of pop music, it’s been messages of self-reliance and liberation, songs that place us at the center of our own heroic arcs. Obviously, that’s hardly new terrain for pop, but I’d argue that it has reached a noticeable apex this decade. Are headphones partially responsible for the shift?

I wondered, too, about writers like Kanye West and Drake, two of the most critically and commercially successful rappers of our time, both prone to bald confessionalism. Drake’s album “Views,” released earlier this year, is fat with hyper-emotional asides. “Why you gotta fight with me at Cheesecake? / You know I love to go there,” he pleads in “Child’s Play.” Drake is not an un-self-aware figure—when he refers to enjoying a meal at the Cheesecake Factory, he is doing so with deep knowledge of his audience, and of what they find funny, and of what they find real—but a lyric like that is still revelatory, intimate, pure. It is precisely the kind of embarrassing thing we shout at the people closest to us right when we are at our most vulnerable; it is a sentiment intended for an audience of one.

Regardless of whether that intimacy is performative, it is, at the very least, magnified by the cocoon of headphones. In that moment, it’s you and Drake, alone—telling secrets, admitting frailty. “You know I love to go there.”

When I asked the Grammy-winning record producer Bob Power—who produced Erykah Badu’s “On and On” and D’Angelo’s “Brown Sugar,” and recorded A Tribe Called Quest’s first three albums—how hearing music through headphones technically varies from hearing it on an in-room stereo of some sort, he pointed out three differences (though all playback systems, he acknowledged, have their own sonic anomalies). The first is a heightened sense of the stereo field, as the left and right signals aren’t as intermingled as they would be via speakers connected to a receiver. (Some audiophiles will argue for the superiority—the more coherent feel—of mono sound, in which the channels aren’t separated out at all.) The second has to do with how extreme frequencies are rendered: “Because the bass and treble areas are hard to reproduce accurately, factory earbuds will often sound harsh, emphasizing the mid-range and upper mid-range. This is not necessarily because they are actively boosting the signal in those areas; it’s often because they are not handling the rest of the signal—the highs and lows—very well,” he explained. Finally—and most important—he noted “a sense of being closer to the music, usually referred to as presence. Even if the track has a lot of ambience, it will appear closer to the listener—[it’s] literally right in their ear.”

When I asked the same questions of Nick Sansano—who co-produced Sonic Youth’s “Daydream Nation” and “Goo,” and engineered tracks for Public Enemy’s “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” and “Fear of a Black Planet”—he also spoke to the ways in which widespread headphone use has begun to transform his job.

“Headphones—especially shitty ones, which are mostly what you see on the street—computer speakers, and small Bluetooth speakers have changed a great deal of what we do in the mixing and mastering stages of record production,” he wrote in an e-mail recently. “While good mixers have always switched on a single summed mono speaker to check important individual levels in a mix, we didn’t listen small to judge impact and visceral reaction. In a way, now we do.” He continued, “Headphone checks used to be just that, checks. But now I spend more and more mix-time on headphones, knowing that a huge portion of the audience will be doing the same. Along with greater ear fatigue on my part, a direct result of this reality is a stronger limiting of dynamic range, and a more deliberate limiting of the overall frequency bandwidth. We have to provide music that will translate within the limitations of earbuds, small speakers. Less dynamics essentially makes listeners perceive the song's sound as loud and present.”

Ambling down a city street with headphones on—you know, maybe it’s dusk, maybe it’s midsummer, maybe you had a really nice day—is, without a doubt, one of life’s simplest and most perfect joys. Humans have long enjoyed secret communions with sound, and headphones allow for the development of a particularly private and tender relationship. How headphones’ sudden omnipresence might affect the ways in which musicians attempt to communicate with their audiences—how it might dictate what people require of or appreciate about songs; how it will change the way records are made and produced—is, of course, still being sorted out. It seems possible, though, that we are slowly reconfiguring music as a private pleasure—that, in fact, all pleasures, soon, may be private. We are all the lone stars of secret films, narrated by and in our own minds, and we seek out music that validates that position: separate, but forever plugged in.

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By Julia Cho

By Marie Howe

Don’t wear earphones all day – your ears need to breathe

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Associate Professor of Science & Medicine, Bond University

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Wireless earphone sales are booming, with Apple alone selling an estimated 100 million sets of AirPods in 2020. Being untethered from our phones or devices means we are likely to wear earphones for longer periods.

As a result, you might notice your ears feeling more sticky or waxy. Is this common? And what happens to our ears when we wear earphones?

Although wireless earphones are fairly new to the market, there is a large amount of research investigating the long-term use of hearing aids , which in many cases, have a similar mechanism. From this research, it appears prolonged use of in-ear devices can cause problems with earwax .

Read more: Are your kids using headphones more during the pandemic? Here's how to protect their ears

What does earwax do?

The production of earwax (also known as cerumen ) is a normal process in humans and many other mammals. There should always be a thin coating of wax near the opening of the ear canal.

This wax is a waterproof and protective secretion. This acts to moisten the skin of the external ear canal and works as a protective mechanism to prevent infection, providing a barrier for insects, bacteria, and water . Wet earwax is brown and sticky, whereas the dry type is more of a white colour.

In fact, earwax is such a great barrier, in the 1800s there were reports of it being used as an effective balm for chapped lips !

Earwax is a naturally occurring substance produced in the external portion of the ear canal . It is created by the secretions of oil glands and sweat glands released by the hair follicles , which then traps dust, bacteria, fungi, hairs and dead skin cells to form the wax.

The external ear canal can be thought of as an escalator system, with the wax always moving towards the outside, preventing the ears from becoming filled with dead skin cells.

This migration of earwax is also aided by natural jaw movements. Once the earwax reaches the end of the ear, it simply falls out.

Read more: Curious Kids: how do scabs form?

How earphones might affect this system

The ear is self-cleaning and best performs its function without interruption. However, anything that blocks the normal progression of earwax moving outside can cause issues.

Normal use of in-ear devices don’t often cause a problem. But prolonged earphone use, such as if you leave them in all day, could:

• compress the earwax, making it less fluid and harder for the body to naturally expel
• compact the earwax to the extent the body induces inflammation. This results in white blood cells migrating to the area, increasing the number of cells in the blockage
• impact air flow and stop wet earwax drying out. When earwax retains its stickiness for prolonged periods of time, it encourages build-up
• trap sweat and moisture in the ears, making them more prone to bacterial and fungal infections
• create a barrier to the earwax’s natural expulsion, which ends up stimulating the secretory glands and increasing earwax production
• reduce overall ear hygeine, if the pads of the earbuds are not cleaned properly, or contaminated with bacteria or infectious agents
• damage your hearing if the volume is set too high.

If the build-up accumulates, excessive earwax can cause hearing problems , along with other symptoms such as pain, dizziness, tinnitus, itching, and vertigo.

If you need to listen for a prolonged period of time, using over-ear headphones may help a little. These offer a small amount of extra airflow compared to the in-ear earphones and earbuds. However, this is not as good as leaving the ears open to the outside air, and an accumulation of earwax can still occur.

As they sit outside the ear canal, over-ear headphones are also less likely to cause any earwax compaction, or introduce bacteria or pathogens to the ear canal.

Read more: Health Check: is it bad to regularly sleep wearing earplugs?

Nothing smaller than your elbow

In most cases, the best way to control earwax is to leave it alone . It is not recommended to use cotton buds frequently, as this can force earwax back into the ear canal. The longstanding advice is not to put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear – in other words, don’t put anything in there!

Some traditional methods, such as olive oil drops or ear candles, may also have adverse effects and are not helpful.

If your have ear wax or related hearing concerns, your family doctor will have a range of treatment options to assist, and can also direct you to the correct health service if it requires longer-term management.

Initially, they will look into your ear with a special instrument (otoscope) and see the extent of any blockage or dysfunction .

In the meantime, the ear has a wonderful process of self-cleaning, and we should do our best to let this occur naturally. In most cases earphones are fine, but it might still be helpful to stay aware of how long you spend wearing them. Finally, be sure to always keep the volume at safe levels.

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Apple’s AirPods are so easy to wear you’ll forget you have them on

AirPods are “just” wireless headphones about as much as the Apple Watch is just a watch and iPhone is just a phone.

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A version of this essay was originally published at Tech.pinions , a website dedicated to informed opinions, insight and perspective on the tech industry.

After a delayed start , AirPods finally started appearing in Apple Stores this morning, and inventory quickly sold out in many locations.

Before they went on sale, we had quite a bit of information about AirPods and what they were capable of doing. We knew they would pair easily, and that there were sensors built in that knew when you are wearing them and when you weren’t. But some things just have to be experienced to appreciate their magic, and AiPods are one of them.

First, you will never see a more seamless pairing experience than the first time you pair the AirPods. Open the case, press Connect and they are instantly paired with all your iOS devices, including iPad and Apple Watch. As soon as you put one AirPod in your ear, a subtle sound lets you know they are on and ready to be used.

Perhaps my favorite feature is when you take one AirPod out, the music automatically pauses. Put it back in, and it resumes flawlessly. This is useful when someone is talking to you and you need an ear free to listen and respond. I have some context with this experience, having used the Plantronics BackBeats Pro 2, which offer a similar smart sensor that pauses your music when you take off the headphones. For whatever reason, I found taking one AirPod out much more convenient than lifting the entire headset off my head. Perhaps just personal preference, perhaps not. In either case, the seamlessness of this experience is fantastic.

Whenever you need to know the battery level of the AirPods or the charging case, simply open the case next to your iPhone and this screen instantly pops up. Apple is using some sort of close-proximity solution, because if you move the case even one foot away and open it, nothing happens on the phone.

I’ve been using Bluetooth headphones for years, so the awesomeness that is wireless headphones was not new to me. But these were the first I’d used that are independently wireless — not connected to anything. With sports Bluetooth headphones, you notice and feel the wire on the back of your neck as you move. Similarly, with over-the-ear wireless headphones like the Bose QuietComfort or Beats Wireless, you feel the band that goes over the top of your head. The point is, they don’t disappear. I was surprised and delighted by how comfortable the AirPods are in my ears, and how easily you forget they are there.

Interestingly, I feel the same way about my Apple Watch. It seems that the theme with both of Apple’s wearable computers (and yes I consider the AirPods to be wearable computers) is comfort to the degree of making them feel as though they disappear. This may be ear-shape-dependent, so my statement may not be true of everyone but it is with me.

Many others who have tried them have commented on how well they stay in your ears. I found this to be true. I used them while doing light exercises like yoga and even some living-room cardio (via the Apple TV app Zova) and they stayed in perfectly. The lack of a cable makes a difference in helping them stay in your ears. I took it one step further and played a singles tennis match with my playing partner. I’m sure Apple wouldn’t recommend them for an intense run or similar activity, but I figured I’d try it. I’ve tried every form of sport Bluetooth headphones and, because of the wire behind my neck and some of the violent movements of tennis, they all fall out regularly. Here again, not having the wires attached made all the difference in the world. Maybe the AirPods shape fit my ears like a glove — they didn’t fall out one time during my match. In case it matters, I’m a fairly high-level (by USTA ranking) tennis player, so I go at it pretty hard.

When I was tweeting my thoughts about AirPods, I got resistance from some saying, “Aren’t they just wireless headphones?” Apple’s AirPods are “just” wireless headphones about as much as the Apple Watch is just a watch and iPhone is just a phone. Nothing makes this more apparent than the Siri experience.

Siri in your ear

It is remarkable how much better Apple’s Siri experience is with AirPods, in part because the microphones are much closer to your mouth and, therefore, Siri can more clearly hear and understand you. I’m not sure how many people realize how many Siri failures have to do with the distance you are from your iPhone or iPad, as well as ambient background noise and the device’s ability to clearly hear you. Thanks to the beam-forming mics and some bone-conduction technology, Siri with AirPods is about as accurate a Siri experience as I’ve had.

In fact, in the five days I’ve been using AirPods extensively, I have yet to have Siri not understand my request. Going further, the noise-canceling built into AirPods is impressive as well. I’ve intentionally created noisy environments to test AirPods and Siri to see how it handles loud situations. Perhaps the most intense was when I turned my home-theater system to nearly its peak volume, blasted Metallica and activated Siri. Remarkably, it caught every word and processed my request.

Furthermore, having Siri right in your ear and available with just a double-tap on the side of either AirPod profoundly changes the experience. In many ways, AirPods deliver on the voice-first interface in the ways I’ve been impressed with Amazon’s Alexa.

There is something to not having to look at a screen to interact with a computer, especially in a totally hands-free fashion. The AirPods bring about an experience which feels like Siri has been set free from the iPhone. This was something that enhanced the experience, but also pointed out some holes that I hope Apple addresses.

Voice-first versus voice-only interfaces

There is, however, an important distinction to be made where I believe the Amazon Echo shows us a bit more of the voice-only interface, and where I’d like to see Apple take Siri when it is embedded in devices without a screen, like AirPods. The more you use Siri with AirPods, you very quickly realize how much the experience today assumes that you have a screen in front of you.

For example, if I use AirPods to activate Siri, and say, “What’s the latest news?” Siri will fetch the news and then say, “Here is some news — take a look.” The experience assumes I want to use my screen (or it at least assumes that I have a screen near me to look at) to read the news. Whereas the Amazon Echo and Google Home just start reading the latest news headlines and tidbits. Similarly, when I activate Siri on the AirPods and say, “Play Christmas music,” the query processes and then plays. With the Echo, the same request yields Alexa to say, “Okay, playing Christmas music from Top 50 Christmas songs.”

When you aren’t looking at a screen, the feedback is important. If I was to ask that same request while I was looking at my iPhone, you realize, as Siri processes the request, it says, “Okay,” on the screen but not in my ear. In voice-only interfaces, we need and want feedback that the request is happening or has been acknowledged.

Again, having Siri in your ear and the ability to have a relatively hands-free and screen-free experience broke down when you asked Siri something which required unlocking your phone. For example, one of my most common Siri interactions is to locate a family member, particularly my daughter, who takes a bus home from school that has a variable drop-off time due to traffic or student tardiness. Nearly every day, I ask Siri to locate my daughter. But, when I do so via AirPods and my phone has been off long enough to lock, it says I need to unlock my iPhone first. I hit this wall due to Apple’s security protocols, which I appreciate greatly. I wonder if, in the future, we can have a biosensor in AirPods that authenticates with me and thus gives me security clearance to process a secure request like reading email, checking on a family member or other sensitive requests without having to unlock the phone first.

There were cases where Siri assumes I can look at my iPhone to deliver the request. There are certainly plenty of queries where Siri, in a voice-only experience, works — when you ask Siri to read your new emails, or set timers, appointments, ask what time a sports game is, etc. — but the sweet spot here will be when you can thoroughly use Siri and not need any screen for the full experience. I’m confident that Apple will increasingly go in this direction.

Creating the Siri experience to be more than just voice-first but voice-only will be an important exercise. I strongly believe that when voice exists on a computer with a screen, it will never be the primary interaction input with that screen. Take the screen away, and things start to get really interesting. This is when new behaviors and new interactions with computers take place, and it’s what happens when you start to integrate the Amazon Echo or Google Home into your life, as both are voice-first experiences.

Looking ahead

There is a great deal to like about AirPods. Those who buy them and use them will be pleasantly surprised and delighted by their performance as wireless headphones, and impressed with the upside of Siri in your ear. I consider the AirPods an important new product in Apple’s lineup, and in the same category as the Apple Watch regarding importance for the future.

A significant observation of both the Apple Watch and the AirPods worth pointing out: Apple has a tendency to push engineering limits at times to learn or perfect a technique it believes is important for the future, or to learn from it in order to integrate into other products. While iPads and iPhones are getting larger, the Apple Watch and AirPods are pushing the limits of miniaturization — something that is key when we start thinking about future wearables, where companies will pack tremendous amounts of technology — sensors, microprocessors, batteries and more —into extremely small objects and manufacturing them at scale is an incredibly important skill set to develop for the future.

Ben Bajarin is a principal analyst at Creative Strategies Inc. , an industry analysis, market intelligence and research firm located in Silicon Valley. His primary focus is consumer technology and market trend research. He is a husband, father, gadget enthusiast, trend spotter, early adopter and hobby farmer. Reach him @BenBajarin .

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School Headphones – A Disruption 
Or A Benefit?

Should Headphones Be Allowed In School?

Benefits of school headphones, things to consider when picking out school headphones, best headphones for students.

Besides, others think that it will be unfair as some students may not be able to afford to have headphones in school, feeling the odd one out. There are numerous theories as to why they should be allowed or not. Well, let's discuss whether should the school allow headphones.

Agreeing to the proposition that headphones should be allowed in school is purely based on the benefits and drawbacks of having them. The biggest argument against this is that allowing headphones in school can be a distraction. However, those who have tried this are of a different opinion.

Those in support are based on the claims of students that they prefer to listen to music while working. Music significantly helps students stay on a task and be more productive. To clearly understand this, let us unveil the importance of having headphones designed for education in school.

According to several research studies, music has a lot of benefits for school going students. Among the key benefits include the following.

Helps students concentrate and learn faster

For obvious reasons, no headphones should be allowed in a classroom environment when a lesson is underway. However, according to several research studies, students work better when listening to music.

Listening to music through headphones helps the student's mind focus more. Others claim that when students think of a certain song while studying reignites the ability to remember answers quickly.

Students, with the challenges of their teenage age, will begin sharing music and make noise, probably arguing about some lyrics. Well, in such cases, it is advisable that the teacher takes this privilege away. Therefore, whilst music helps to enhance concentration, there needs to be some discipline and rules guiding its use.

Decreases noise levels in school

When students work on their own during class times, there often arises a chat every few minutes. This is because pure silence freaks everyone out and can cause students to stray off their focus and concentration.

However, if you allow students to use their headphones while working, they will be able to work, especially with white noise playing in their background. This will limit the need to talk or engage in personal stuff while in class.

Lowers stress levels

As with many other people, students may find it difficult to focus on their studies when stressed. For music lovers, the main way of relieving stress is placing some headphones on their ears and listen to their favorite playlist. This helps them get rid of stress and focus on their work. This is the same case with students.

That said, the current school environment isn't like the old days. There is a lot of pressure for students to get good grades, excel in sports, play some musical instruments and even look after the elderly.

With all that accumulated stress, headphones during class sessions allow students to stop thinking about the outside world and focus on themselves, and what they are required to do at that moment – read.

When implementing the use of headphones during class time, there should be ground rules that ought to be followed. First, headphones shouldn't be used all the time. They should only be used when students are working on an assignment, filling some worksheets or studying before their tests. Students should be allowed to socialize during break time as headphones may limit the normal social chats.

Helps with bullying

Believe it or not, bullying still happens in school to date. Well, some people claim that using headphones during class may help with bullying. Bullying in the school environment cannot be completely eliminated.

How exactly headphones help with bullying isn't clear, but some theorist argues that some kids may find out that they like the same taste of music. This develops a bond between the two instead of one bullying the other.

With schools working round the clock to stay up to date with technological advancements as they prepare students for the real world and federal education standards, finding the best headphones for school testing may become quite challenging. Some of the main factors that should be considered when searching for headphones for school use include:

Obviously, the school districts will have to grapple with the process of buying bulk headphones for school. To save on the budget, tough decisions ought to be made if the schools need durable headphones that last through testing and year-long use or disposable headphones for use in testing only.

Disposable models retail at a smaller price point compared to long-lasting headphones. Whereas you shouldn't expect top-notch quality from disposable models, they are enough for school use.

Most school budgets don't get bigger. This is especially true if there is a challenge to find room for equipment needs such as headphones. This is why some schools prefer to make bulk headphones for school purchases of durable models, which come with manufacturers'warranty.

When searching for headphones, you ought to ensure that they can stand to the wear and tear subjected to by young students. In this case, you might need to pay something extra to get something with a longer lifespan. Other additional features to look out for include the thickness of the cord, steel shaft, flexibility, and ear pad stitching.

Learning in a school environment requires focus and concentration. Testing the quality of headphones is stressful if students have to fiddle with the headphones every time they need to use them. Find models that are comfortable for students to help them stay focused and at ease during engaging classroom activities and testing. This directly translates to higher achievement.

As for comfort, over-the-ear headphones are often preferred due to their comfort. They are also best in blocking external noise and easier to clean compared to earbuds. Keep in mind the fact that the more comfortable the headphones are, the less likely for students to abuse them. This significantly increases their lifespan.

Check for other features affecting the comfort of the headphones such as ear pad padding, adjustable fit, weight, and leather ear pads.

Future Needs

Initially, students only required headphones for listening to music and audio files. However, with advancing technology, students might need headsets with microphones for use with oral test questions. Some headphones have an in-line mic or a boom mic.

Even retailers who order school headphones for sale identify the importance of planning and accommodating for future needs. therefore, when ordering for headphones, ignore old-school headphones models that will be written out after few years of usage due to advancing technology. To avoid ordering every year, anticipate the needs of the school and place an order accordingly.

Having mentioned the various factors to consider when searching for the best headphones for school use, consider the following top models.

Sennheiser HD1 Headphones 

The Sennheiser HD1 wireless Headphones feature a behind-the-neck cable with stainless steel end. The earbuds are designed to produce powerful bass alongside detailed vocals. Their wearing design offers unmatched security. Without forgetting, they offer significant passive noise cancellation.

Bose SoundSport Free Headphones

These are perfect wireless headphones of choice for students who enjoy early morning jogs or after class exercises. They provide high-quality audio without distractions, thanks to its excellent noise isolation feature. Worth noting is the sweat and weather resistant feature.

Apple AirPods

Students who need a discrete set of wireless headphones may consider this model. They are best for listening to audio-based books, study guides, favorite music, and other educational content.

Boss QuietComfort Series II

For those who stay in a quiet dorm, the Boss QuietComfort Series II should be their headphones of choice. They are actively noise-canceling headphones with various levels of noise canceling, ranging from full, low to off. You can take these Bluetooth headphones to school for every time use.

Sony WH-1000XM2

These are a perfect set of headphones for students who choose to major in acoustics and audio engineering. These over-ear and active noise-canceling headphones use powerful 40mm drivers that cover a full range of frequencies.

Parents, teachers, and regulators of the education sector have individual opinions about the use of headphones in class and why they should or should not be allowed. However, if you focus on the studies, and how music may help a student concentrate, you will agree that headphones for school use should be allowed.

If the use of these gadgets is controlled and students made to understand the consequences if they don't follow the rules, the use of school specialty headphones will be positive and improve the level of education.

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Competitor Analysis: Exemplar Essay To Follow

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The Bidding Charterparty invited tenders for the construction of a new cruise-liner, to be called the Ocean Carpathia. Donelly was invited to tender. However, the person responsible for receiving tenders left work early.

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Consumer Behavior Report Report Sample

Beats Audio Consumer behavior report

Situational analysis This paper gives clear explanations of the processes of decision-making, the internal and external factors that influence purchase of headphones and earphones from Beats Audio. Earphones and headphones are the main products of Beats audio and the managing director needs to know everything about the company from the influence to target market. (Loudon, 2008)

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