Shut out the world, shut in the cool

When I was in New York I got myself this pair of Philips Noise Cancelling Headphones.

I think that they have changed my life.

Years ago when I lived in New York and iPods were just beginning to take hold, if you saw someone else wearing those white Apple ear-buds, there was a wonderful tingle of recognition. Not that you would ever say anything of course this was New York after all, but if your eyes happened to meet there it was OK and, in a very un-NYC way, there was a sense of un-spoken camaraderie.

Of course this could not last.

Now that even the Queen has an iPod that moment of being bonded by being "in the know" has well and truly passed.

So while people are still using the iPod as a music device, more of us are choosing to lose the white ear-buds. If you look on the tube or on the bus in the morning you'll see the size of headphones are getting bigger , more retro-looking and they are certainly not white.

When I see someone else with similar large headphones it feels a bit like those white Apple ear-bud moments back in 2002...

So not only do I have the guilty pleasure of feeling like a hip 1970s DJ as I commute to work with my super-fly headphones on, they are also useful at work. I only ever worked in open plan offices. And they are impossible to get proper thinking work done - it's just too noisy. The fact that when you are physically at work, it is physically impossible to do work strikes me as ironic. Anyway, noise problems vanish with these bad boys.

Brilliant. I am just not sure how I lived without them.

Hmmmm, I wonder when it's time to up-grade to the Bose ones?

Comments

[Charles Edward Frith]

C'mon.. It's about the music (and podcasts), not the fashion accessory side of it. Bigger headphones, better quality than the white offerings, but there are some very high end in ear noise cancelling 'buds' by Shure and Bose. I'm told the quality is astonishing.

[Adrian Lai]

I hear ya. I too work in an open office and sometimes I'll put on my big Technics DJ headphones even when I'm not listening to music, just to get a bit of peaceful concentration!

[dan at innocent]

I hear good things about those noise cancelling earbuds too, especially the Shure ones. But in my humble opinion, all you need are a pair of Sennheiser PXC-250s. Cheaper than Bose and just as good. For good sounds, not for fashion.