My wife just picked up a new 160GB iPod classic from the Apple online store. We opened it up and everything worked fine, until she noticed that there were no foam earbud pads for the earphones. When we had ordered our 30GB classic two years ago it came with two pairs. She phoned Apple customer service, and after 45 minutes of total waiting and being transferred several times, she was told that iPods do not include the foam earbud pads and that she could order 5 pairs for $10.
WTF?
I know that Apple has been gradually decreasing what it includes in the box with its iPods, but no earbud pads? How are we supposed to get the headphones to fit in our ears? Not everyone’s ears are the same size and these make them fit, not to mention they help improve the sound. And what does a pair of these things cost Apple? Like 10 cents? The Classic cost us $250. Is this really worth it to them, to save 10 cents per iPod sold and in the process to piss off their customers? Sure, not everyone cares about the pads, but I bet most people do expect the iPod to come with them and probably a good 10-20 percent, like myself, are actually annoyed that they are not included. Is that actually worth it to them?
My wife and I am pissed off enough by this and by the shitty customer service process that we have decided not to go in for the new 3G iPhone. That’s one more for Blackberry…
I don’t recall iPods having foam pads, but I do know that earbuds suck; they don’t fit in your ear (too big), so they just sort of hang there (and drop out at the slightest movement), and they start to clip when you turn the volume up past, oh, a third of the way up. Complete ripoff!
What’s worse is there this whole big bunch of syncophants who actually have such a paucity of real life that they line up outside Apple Stores at midnight just to be the first on their block to get prison raped with the latest geek porn gadget.
Count me as another dissatisfied Apple customer. I specifically bought a black Ipod because it’s not, well, boring white. But it came with a white cable and white earbuds. Yeah, I feel like an individual now.
Between that, and the horrid resource hogging UI that is Itunes, the awkward UI on the Ipod itself, and the eye-numbingly iNsipid iNitial lEtter aBuse, I don’t think I’ll ever buy another Apple audio appliance again.
I bought a crappy $10 pair of Sony earbuds with ear hooks (like training wheels, I know), yes, they’re black, and yes, I love them.
I think I have an unused pair of foam pads I could send you. I’ll need to scrounge around when I get home. Let me know if you’re interested.
I have come to the realization over the past few months that I have freak ears. iPod buds are the most comfortable buds that I’ve ever had. I’m hardly an audiophile so I can’t speak to the sound quality but they’re the best fit ever.
Those earbuds suck so much ass, I don’t even bother taking them out of their little plastic envelope. Do yourself a favor.
Here’s what I’m tweaked about. I got a 32GB Touch several weeks back with my Amex reward points and a couple days ago, paid $9.95 for a software upgrade. WTF? You’d think that after paying what Apple wants for its music players, you’d get software upgrades free for at least a year.
Training wheels? Are there people who actually think that? I’ve had my hooked earphones for something like 10 years and I refuse to give them up. It’s a fantastic idea; I’ve never liked regular-style earbuds.
Oh the merciless teasing I get at work for wearing them.
Then I get jiggy with the music and start to dance, and bang my head, and the ear buds STAY IN, and suddenly I’m the only one laughing. And, oddly, I’m dancing with myself.
<cough, gag, sputter> Um, there’s no fucking way I’m spending $400 on *earbuds * so I can listen to my music at the gym! I think I can probably make do with something with slightly lower fidelity for, oh, 1/20th the price.
YMMV. If someone invents a device that allows you to carry your entire music collection on something the size of a pack of cigarettes, I’d want something nice to listen with. I spend at least three hours on a train every weekday, so for me, this was a reasonable investment.
I, too, came in to mention the earhooks - they are much better for your ear. I don’t really think it’s a good idea to put earbuds in your ear anyway, and they never fit me…
Thespos, I spluttered, too. I spent $300 on my iPod. Well, no, I didn’t - I asked for money from my family and his for Christmas to purchase one. That was my gift two Christmases ago. A tiny pair of earbuds is most definitely not worth it…I could see myself losing them. $400?! I have only a couple of pieces of *jewerly * worth that much, and I treasure them.
Joining it the Apple Earbud Hate-Fest! Who the fuck thought human ears have any place for a perfectly ROUND insert! They look like they were designed for use by a mannequin, not a human being. Even more loathsome is the color! Bright white? All it does is announces “Hey, thieves! I have something in my pocket that costs quite a bit of money! Nope, no cheesy $20 CD player here!” When my young niece got an iPod, I insisted that she get a pair of black earphones.
I could give a shit about who owns what particular brand of phone. In fact, I was embarrassed to have one of the first iPhones. There’s such a stigma against it. But I chose the original iPod because I used iTunes. Apply has tightly integrated software and hardware and I appreciate that. I realize that there are hundreds of different MP3 players with tons of features etc, but for me, i just want something that is seamless and easy. I indeed did have one of those Archos thingies before and I hated it. It was very user unfriendly on the computer to player connection. The shittiness of those MP3 players who gave no thought to PC-side software is what made me choose an iPod, thankyouverymuch.
The felt thingies? I dunno, I hate them. They always get lost anyway. But really what I HATE is the fact that the iPhone has a sunken headphone jack which means you need a special adapter or headphones for it. Compound that with the fact that the Apple headphones disintegrate within 3 months and you have a problem. I had a pair of fancy scmantcy in-ear headphones for it for a while, but they broke too. Those things sucked anyway. I don’t want to be deaf while listening to music.
That’s another thing. I have heard people look for those headphones. Besides, you do immediately know what somoene is listening to!
I also almost never buy what is “trendy” but the fact is the iPod/iTunes is easy. So I went with it. I’m not going to differ just for the sake of contrariness, that would be stupid, too.We already had iTunes and a ton of songs on it, so it made sense to go with it. Now he has a hand-me-down iPod, too, so we can both make it work.
Again, YMMV. If you listen to your iPod as often as I do, you want to have something nice to listen through. Plus, I use them for other things, including listening on my computer. The Ultimate Ears come with a number of adapters, including an attenuator so you can plug them into an airline seat and not have your eardrums blown out when the pilot announces you’re over the Grand Canyon.
And they’re noise-isolating. I’ve been just a few feet away from a screaming baby, plugged these earbuds into my iPod, and been blissfully unaffected, happily listening to my Van Halen bootlegs and not hearing a single baby wail.
I didn’t mind spending the money on the Ultimate Ears, mainly because I paid for the iPod with American Express reward points, so I didn’t go out of pocket for the iPod itself.
I’ve had my hooked earphones for something like 10 years and I refuse to give them up. It’s a fantastic idea; I’ve never liked regular-style earbuds.