What's With Everyone Wearing Headphones Recently?

[zHellas]

Honestly, it seems to be everywhere at my school.

And it wasn't a gradual change, either. One day, BOOM! Fucking headphones EVERYWHERE. Mostly Beats by Dr Dre or Skull Candy. Only once have I seen a pair of headphones there not of those 2 brands.

Also, how did headphones suddenly gain a huge boost in popularity? Before, barely anyone wore them unless you were/you're an audiophile or a late '90s anime character. Now, everyone has them. Hell, even I'm getting some (though it's for a piano class that can be loud as fuck, plus a possible online language class).

Not saying that this is a bad thing, just a trend that I've seen that, for some reason, showed up out of fucking nowhere.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I'm not really sure, but I've noticed it as well. Personally, I think it looks rather silly to be wearing a big set of full headphones when out and about.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Not sure. The buds have always been better because they can fit in your pocket. Looks weird man, a bit bulky, but at least they don't fall out of your ears if you twitch your toes.

 

[RKOking226]

Well I don't wear headphones at school but I do when I walk around just to people don't bug me.

As for others I think thats it has something to do with dubstep being popular recently. Everyone wants to have deep, solid bass in there headphone so they can brag about it to their friends.

That's my opinion anyway.

 

[Lilani]

Trends and group mentality.

~10 years ago: Hey guys, these walkmans sure are awesome! And so are these sweet headphones. You can even get these big ones that cancel out noise and have sweet bass! And they look so awesome when you wear them! We will make our statement with our headphones!

~5 years ago: Hey guys, these iPods are frickin' sweet! The headphones are so tiny, you can just roll them up and store them anywhere! And you'll look as awesome as the commercials. We will make a statement with our headphones!

~<1 year ago: Hey guys, everybody's got those little iPod headphones now, but they are just so lame and ugly and DULL. But hey look, the university technology store has got these awesome big headphones! Just like we used to have with our Walkmans! And they're so big and bright and sleek, we'll DEFINITELY make a statement with our headphones!

 

[zHellas]

~<1 year ago: Hey guys, everybody's got those little iPod headphones now, but they are just so lame and ugly and DULL. But hey look, the university technology store has got these awesome big headphones! Just like we used to have with our Walkmans! And they're so big and bright and sleek, we'll DEFINITELY make a statement with our headphones!

I first noticed headphones about late December to early January.

Specifically a "friend" (more acquaintance, really) at school with Skull Candy brand headphones.

 

[SageRuffin]

Well... I know that I and a lot of other people like to listen to music from our mp3 players...

What? I'm being serious! Walking around with giant boomboxes isn't exactly the fashion statement it used to be. And given that I often use public transportation, have you any idea how homicide-inducing it is to have to listen to other people's conversations?!

Also, a quick note: Beats by Dre are terribly overpriced. I have a pair of Sony headphones that have a comparable bass and overall sound output and they only cost about half - at worst - as much as a pair of Beats headphones. And only certain types (forms?) of Skullcandys are actually worth shit (Uprock's are pretty good, and they only cost about $30).

 

[smearyllama]

I'm part of this, I must say. I wear freaking massive amp headphones (I have to use an adapter to standard audio jacks) because of my amazing ability to get defective pairs of earbuds (my last pair was amazing, but one earpiece fell of one morning while I was running for the bus and they are now pretty useless) or to lose pairs that work.
As for other folks, I think it's just a style thing. The new headphones are also apparently super good, from what I've heard (I've got a good Bose pair lying about, but the audio connection has issues, and they're somewhat beat up) and people just like listening to music in high quality.

 

[Jasper Jeffs]

Hipsters! Obviously the larger and more expensive your headphones are, the more you like music. It's like slim fitted hoodies, those skinny cargo pants, frameless glasses, untied high tops, gaping asshole earlobes, sweaters printed with nostalgic icons etc. They all showed up outta nowhere and started being the norm, or at least that's how it is for where I live.

 

[JasonBurnout16]

I'm part of this 'fad', I must say. I noticed the trend too, but I quite like the big headphones.

I enjoy wearing them when I'm out as I don't get annoying background music. Wearing them on the high street means I don't get people working for charities or beggers asking me for money.

Plus mine are real sleek and I broke my last pair of small headphones. The music comes through really clear though. However they aren't SkullCandy, mine is of O'Niel and Phillips doing a collaboration.

 

[Hazy992]

It's retro isn't it? 1980's pop culture has made a resurgence in recent years, which is why we see things like Thundercats and Transformers getting new TV shows and movies and people walking around in TMNT t-shirts and the like. It's also why things like snapback hats have made a comeback:

Personally I like big headphones. They sound better than earphones and they look cool, especially if you're wearing a cap or a wool hat ^_^

 

[Melon Hunter]

For whatever reason, the Beats by Dr. Dre range of headphones have been advertised loads recently. I've seen several phone adverts making a big thing out of the Beats headphones/earbuds you get with them, so perhaps that's contributed to the trend? Also, whoever mentioned dubstep and other bass-heavy types of music being in fashion recently is right as well, I reckon.

In fact, I'm a part of this trend, as I got some headphones for Christmas. They're the really nice noise-cancelling range by Bose, so they have terrific sound quality and block out pretty much every outside noise (which may or may not be a good thing, depending on whether anyone's trying to get your attention)

 

[smearyllama]

In fact, I'm a part of this trend, as I got some headphones for Christmas. They're the really nice noise-cancelling range by Bose, so they have terrific sound quality and block out pretty much every outside noise (which may or may not be a good thing, depending on whether anyone's trying to get your attention)

Make sure you take good care of those. The material on the earpieces can get torn up if you aren't careful, and you'll get little flakes of black material falling out of your ears all day.
It's what happened to me. Also, keep that battery charged. It'll last a long time, but then the day will come when you run out of charge, and then they're pretty much useless as anything but earwarmers.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Hey, I have a pair (Sennheisers though). I only wear them if I'm not going to be talking to people though, otherwise they're really, really inconvenient. It doesn't really bother me, if Skull Candys didn't break all the time (and I didn't already have a sweet pair of headphones), I'd love an R2-D2 coloured pair of headphones.

 

[Melon Hunter]

In fact, I'm a part of this trend, as I got some headphones for Christmas. They're the really nice noise-cancelling range by Bose, so they have terrific sound quality and block out pretty much every outside noise (which may or may not be a good thing, depending on whether anyone's trying to get your attention)

Make sure you take good care of those. The material on the earpieces can get torn up if you aren't careful, and you'll get little flakes of black material falling out of your ears all day.
It's what happened to me. Also, keep that battery charged. It'll last a long time, but then the day will come when you run out of charge, and then they're pretty much useless as anything but earwarmers.

Oh, I do. I only ever wear them indoors (although I didn't realise the material was that fragile, so I'd better make sure to handle them properly. Thanks for the heads up.)

And as for the battery, yeah, I think I'm already on my third AAA battery for them. Considering each fully charged battery should keep them going for 30-35 hours, that's a hell of a lot of usage, now I come to think of it!

 

[Connor Lonske]

I've seen a guy wearing beats back before they were cool! I also got to wear them before they were cool also. So cool.

Oh, head phones? Yeah, most people get the crappy ones. Beats are cool though. So so cool.

If only I had some.

 

[Craorach]

Like laptop bags and phone holders, I have a rule with headphones.

Small, cheap, as hard to notice as possible. Wire goes down inside my shirt and into my pocket, I don't mess around with it more than I have too.

Wearing something that screams "I like expensive gadgets like the ones I have on me right now" is pretty much waving a "Mug Me" sign over your head in neon.

 

[Vault101]

you mean big ones?

I have a set but would never ewar them out in public..they make me look retarted

hence ear plugs...nice quality ear plugs

 

[Hero in a half shell]

I've seen a big increase in people wearing headphones, 4 years ago I only knew one guy that used them, and he was an art student. Now they're all over the place.
I personally use buds, mine are Sony, cost £15 about 3 years ago, and still work, the sound quality is fairly decent.

One of the buds broke a year ago, so I lined the inside with blutack and it holds fine. Also helps me work out which bud is which really easily before I put them into my ears.