Earbuds were once thought to be the future. Before the days of Bluetooth, the wires that delivered that sweet sensation of isolation and musical bliss were thought to be the future.

Not that it wasn't a totally original concept, but the campaign that Apple sent with silhouettes dancing with the obvious white earbuds and wires was not only a massive success but a movement of music on the go. Of course, wired earbuds have since been rendered obsolete due to advancement in Bluetooth technology, but time has not kept them out of the limelight.

Earbuds, especially when wired, were innovated closer to the beginning of the second millennium, a simpler time when the evolution of pop consisted of a comeback from Britney Spears and the first inklings of Bruno Mars's Career. A modern age required private listening, and debates raged about the zombie-esque walks of teenagers while switching songs on their fancy iPods.

Obviously, this topic has piqued during the height of the earbuds career (which I was informed was the 'correct term' for earphones that connect at the base and holds a long wire that goes into the headphone jack, thanks, John), but to reminisce about the years following the turn of the millennium cannot be done without the complaints of the disadvantages versus the more modern Bluetooth.

Since 2010, I have used earphones nearly on the daily during my teenage angst years to ignore parents and listen to Green Day at the height of their career. Their use has served me well but I and the general public have common complaints about the technology. They are still being mass produced on a scary scale and are commonly used as the earphones of choice for those with a limited budget. However, their cheap cost comes at the tradeoff of value and often their quality is sacrificed first.

The first and foremost on the list of problems come with their age: the quick wear and tear of the product. The deterioration of such devices is almost as quick as the excitement of buying the product initially. When the plastic of the earbud starts to fade from it's stark white and the wires themselves stick together better than you wished your shoelaces ever could, you start to realize that it is nearing the end of its life. When you get to the point where you use spare duct tape to prevent wires from sticking out, you're just putting life support on a cancer-ridden victim; it's their time.

However, the above difficulties are caused, more likely than not, by the age of the technology. The real problem is when it becomes very apparent when the angle of the headphones somehow affect the quality of the music. Kept in their original state, they lose their ability to play music, and it becomes so much worse when on earbud works, and the other doesn't. But when bent, they regain their original properties of tinniness, with the added bonus of only prolonging the inevitable. It only becomes worse when the user doesn't respect their fragility, and children become the number 1 money maker for broken jacks, earbuds, or headphones.