Spring is arriving and the trees are beginning to bud. Likwise, so are the ears of many a jogger, many a cyclist, and pretty much everyone under the age of 25. Since the arrival of the iPod and its powerhouse marketing department, earbuds have become not only a hip way of listening to music on the run, but even a mode of fashion expression. Wasn’t it just a few years ago that it was cooler to just walk with a fake limp and carry an entire stereo on your shoulder? We’ve come a long way since Run DMC, but I’m concerned that by plugging our ears, we might be missing out on a lot of what happens between our temples.
I visited an apple store last week, and after my eyes had adjusted to the glistening light of 1000 stainless steel products and packages, I made my way to the earphone racks. There were the usual array of options – everything from low-profile ear buds to the weighty “Beats by Dre,” which I’m pretty sure are just repurposed chopper pilot headsets from the Vietnam War.
What really got my attention, though, was that an entire rack was dedicated to earphones for “athletic use.” I’m not surprised that manufacturers have caught on. Some of us want earphones that match our cute running outfits and that the rest of us think those iPod armbands make us look dangerous in a hip, tribal kind of way. But a whole rack of athletic earbuds?
