Earbuds and Memories

I am an Apple person, and generally I've had good experiences with the brand. The hardware, while costing more, has generally been worth the expense, and customer service, especially with an Apple Store in town, is excellent.

The one problematic exception is the earbuds. Bear in mind that I'm not a real audiophile. Mostly I listen to podcasts on my phone, or some YouTube or Netflix on my iPad, and I use the buds to keep from bothering my wife. But the earbuds are always a problem. I replaced my old ones three times because they always stopped working. Usually I'd have to fiddle with them to make sure both sides got sound, or I'd have to make sure the plug was seated perfectly to hear anything.

When I bought my iPhone 5 a few months ago, I got the new generation of earbuds, and darned if they didn't start acting up. Meanwhile, my old ones, which had stopped working on the left side altogether, still at least gave me sound. Monoaural sounc, but for podcasts it was fine. Heck, they even survived being put through the laundry.

But the button started acting up, so I went ahead and took my new pair in to be replaced, which they did without a hitch. It was free, which was great. Now I have a new set of earbuds, and from experience I expect them to work perfectly for about three to four months before crapping out. Anyway, now that I had these wifty new buds, I decided to try them out. But as luck would have it, my list of podcasts had been all listened to. So I went with the music that I do have on my iPhone, most of which dates from around college.

It was kind of amaing, really. I hadn't listened to my music in so long, it was like being surrounded by a fog of nostalgia. I experienced the 'shuffle whiplash' of having Paul Simon followed by Red Hot Chilli Peppers, followed by Mozart. But all of my musical purchases were from over fifteen years ago. So there I am, walking through the Taj-ma Teeter in Friendly Center, awash in 90s music and memories. I'm remembering friends from college, projects from my first years at JBDA, driving three hours every weekend to visit my girlfriend in Greenville. It's amazing what two little earbuds can do for me.

At least for the next three to four months.

 

Posted with Blogsy