This is article one of an up and coming series where I discuss my transition from the old Apple headphones to the AirPods. While I cannot purchase these AirPods till my first paycheck this summer, I am slowly counting the remaining days I have to no longer deal with the infamous cable. My headphones are with me every day and are essential to my everyday kit. The stereotypical guy pat down for me every day is: Phone, wallet, keys, headphones. I've been using headphones daily for only the last couple of years and have gone through many hardships. I felt as era of wired headphones comes to an end, it would be fun to look back to the past and talk about my headphone phenomenon.
I first started my journey with headphones junior year of high school. At the time, my school became more lenient on phone usage outside of class, so I was able to put on my headphones while walking to and from class. Putting on my headphones was my chance to escape from the annoying college-prep boys that I roamed the halls with every day. The transition into wearing headphones practically every day was jarring. A shock I know, but there are a lot of minute things that are associated with headphones. Like remembering to pack them every morning in your school bag. Nothing is more tragic than going through your day with no music. Life is really boring without headphones.
The cord was another thing I had to get used to. Back in the day, wireless headphones were not that reliable, unless you were able to fork over a couple of hundred dollars. The Bluetooth range was very unreliable and most of the time they didn't connect properly to your phone. Trust me, I've been there. Nowadays you can find a decent and reliable pair of Bluetooth headphones online. Anyway, so I had to learn how to master the cords. It's interesting to watch people today with wired headphones and see how they manage having a cord dangle around.
Twisting and turning and getting stuck on your arm or leg. Just by simply looking around campus, it seems people accept the cord and don't bother to move it. While they seem to manage, I am too stubborn to conform and become a sheep like them. All jokes aside, I don't like having the headphone cord out on display like everyone else. I can recall many instances where I would be walking down a flight of stairs or opening a door and the cord would snag on the railing or the doorknob. Also, it sometimes clashes with my outfit. Here I am, ready to walk out the door with my black pants, maroon shirt, custom black hat, and Converse high-tops. The cord just doesn't work with all of that. So, a solution to my conundrum had to be made.
To avoid this problem, I manage by grabbing my headphones first in the morning, lodging them into my ears and then putting a t-shirt or jacket on top of it. A very simple tactic that I see hardly anyone else do. When I was in high school it was easy because I would simply be wearing a jacket over my school uniform throughout the day. As I have gotten older, however, I've noticed that I need to pull out my phone more. Answering calls or text or needing to scroll through Instagram (Yes, a priority). This seems to be the only downside to this under the shirt maneuver with the cord sometimes not being long enough for me to easily pull out my phone. Or vice versa, the cord is super long resulting in the earbuds dangling all the way down to my waist.
Regardless of the trials, I need my headphones to get through the day. The only problem is that Apple likes to be different. Since the company switched to headphones tailored to their products, it has become more and more expensive to keep having to buy and replace headphones. Apple products are notorious for the end of their cable ripping apart, forcing the consumer to buy more (me). The style of headphones that I use constantly have the volume gauge and microphone on the cord. And back in 2017I could buy a new pair for $7.99 off Amazon. Now it's somewhere in the $20 range. And the alternative options that claim to work with Apple iPhone are not that reliable (More on that next week). After my most recent pair of apple headphones broke, I decided enough was enough. So here I am, on this trivial journey to make some money and buy these AirPods. A simple story may appear as at first, but this is me we're talking about. Things always get out of hand.
