Apple Earbuds and Static Electricity

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It’s not *bzzt* in your head *bzzt* (well, sorta), those *bzzt* earphones you got *bzzt* with your iPod or iPhone *bzzt* are shocking you. It’s Apple’s way of thanking you for buying their products *bzzt*.

This condition is very similar to dragging your feet across a carpet and receiving a static shock by touching a door knob. However, instead of the static charge building up on your body, the charge builds up on the device that the earbuds are connected to. Likewise, instead of the static buildup discharging through your finger when you touch a door knob, it discharges through the earbuds.
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lol this is why I don't wear earbuds at the office in the winter anymore. Everytime you need to adjust your seat (or even move) you get zapped in the ears.
 
What I don't understand is why people who spend all that good money on an iPod don't go out and get a decent set of earbuds.....

The Apple ones SUCK. Hell, my $20 SkullCandy earbuds destroy the sound quality of the Apples ones and they fit better.

Also, there's no metal touching my ears so no chance of getting shocked.
 
You'd figure for the premium you spend on apple products you'd get something engineered better........I guess it's no different than their computers which zap your wallet. :)
 
I see all Apple earbuds now incorporate iZap -- "free" electric shock therapy :p
 
How is this news..... Anyone who has used earbud type phones knows that this can happen. Hell, I remember my Sony Walkman headphones shocking me sometimes when I would walk around and build up static.

What I don't understand is why people who spend all that good money on an iPod don't go out and get a decent set of earbuds.....
The Apple ones SUCK. Hell, my $20 SkullCandy earbuds destroy the sound quality of the Apples ones and they fit better.

Also, there's no metal touching my ears so no chance of getting shocked.
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This++ a thousand times
 
VolvoR said:
What I don't understand is why people who spend all that good money on an iPod don't go out and get a decent set of earbuds.....

The Apple ones SUCK. Hell, my $20 SkullCandy earbuds destroy the sound quality of the Apples ones and they fit better.
Click to expand...
Because people are stupid and don't give a flying fuck about audio quality. They think spending $200 on a pair of headphones is a waste. "All I cares about is the beats, dawg!" they say in their ignorance. Don't worry, with a little luck they'll all get struck by lightning, picked off one-by-one - those iPod earbuds seem to be great conductors.

Also, SkullCandy sucks, but that's beside the point.
 
IMO, include cheap shitty headphones so you don't waste money (give to Apple) for headphones you end up replacing anyway. It gives the consumer freedom to get a quality set from somewhere else. I'd prefer they didn't even include any - save me some money rather than toss them in the garbage.
 
VolvoR said:
What I don't understand is why people who spend all that good money on an iPod don't go out and get a decent set of earbuds.....

The Apple ones SUCK. Hell, my $20 SkullCandy earbuds destroy the sound quality of the Apples ones and they fit better.

Also, there's no metal touching my ears so no chance of getting shocked.
Click to expand...

sear said:
Because people are stupid and don't give a flying fuck about audio quality. They think spending $200 on a pair of headphones is a waste. "All I cares about is the beats, dawg!" they say in their ignorance. Don't worry, with a little luck they'll all get struck by lightning, picked off one-by-one - those iPod earbuds seem to be great conductors.

Also, SkullCandy sucks, but that's beside the point.
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Most people that actually care about music certainly prefer a good audio system over any pair of headphones. Rolling Stone Magazine published an article about dynamic range compression in today's recordings directed towards these hand-held devices. Bod Dylan also said it. And if you add to that the quality of the composition, well you're not killing the music precisely.
 
They should advertise it as a feature on S&M websites. I use Shures myself because apple ear buds suck.
 
Yeah, all the one which come with a player usually are bad. A small investment in better ear buds makes a difference, especially if you listen much to music.
 
How are people gonna know I'm rockin'/sportin' an eyePawed if I don't use their white hipsterific $3.00 earbuds?
 
Reminds me of my Dyson vacuum cleaner. It's a great machine, with one problem; the metal extension wand (connected to the Van de Graff generator - err, carpet brush) is where one naturally wants to place his index finger when vacuuming. Result: a nasty static shock every ~10 seconds.
 
VolvoR said:
What I don't understand is why people who spend all that good money on an iPod don't go out and get a decent set of earbuds.....

The Apple ones SUCK. Hell, my $20 SkullCandy earbuds destroy the sound quality of the Apples ones and they fit better.

Also, there's no metal touching my ears so no chance of getting shocked.
Click to expand...

Lol skullcandy is crap, I would rather not listen to music then listen through skullcandies.
 
randomdean100 said:
Lol skullcandy is crap, I would rather not listen to music then listen through skullcandies.
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QFT

I've never had this 'shock' happen to me. Though anymore I use $70 Sennheiser noise-cancelling buds that have rubber ear canals. I literally cannot hear someone talking, I can't even hear myself talking or know how loud my farts are.

If you buy an iPod, IMMEDIATELY throw the ear buds away. Don't even take the twistie-tie off. What's really sad is Apple KNOWS that everyone knows their buds suck, yet not only does Apple continue producing them, but the buyer keeps using them.
 
Most people just want to listen to the music...they don't give a shit about the quality of it. The Apple headphones quality is nowhere near "horrible", like some like to pretend. I mean, seriously, how do they sound next to most other audio players? Or what about the peice of absolute trash headphones that used to come with a lot of CD players back in the day? The people who complain about the iPod headphones quality are those who probably complain about WAY too much. If you want to listen to some music with "ok" quality headphones, then good for you. If you want to listen to your iPod but are expecting uncompressed studio, home theater quality sound - well then, you're pretty much just a douchebag. :D
 
hm, i used to use those apple earphones with this ipod touch that someone gave me while i was at the gym or at work because i didnt want to get sweat or dead people germs on my sennheisers.

i would get shocked every few minutes by the ipod buds, but i thought it was just because i was sweating into the earbuds while i was a the gym and it was conducting electricity to my ear.

well, this is good to know.
 
The only reason it is news is because of Apple's market dominance of MP3 players. This is going to happen with any earbuds due to static electricity. I've experienced it with several movels of Sony as well as my current Vmodas. The sony were mostly plastic and rubber while these are metal and nylon. I just rmember to pull them out of my ears if I need to shift position when seated at work. Problem solved.
 
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